Is playtesting of big patches an option? Has it ever been discussed? Something akin to the elite spec previews we had for the expansions (some might argue they weren't necessarily that effective but prob better than nothing!). Also, what is the point of posting a patch preview if there is no opportunity to act on the less vitriolic feedback. I mean, it definitely generated hype of a sort...
Its hard to imagine what kind of context would explain some of these changes. The intention, for the most part, seems OK. I think its the implementation that needs some explanation.
Perhaps the silver lining is that if people really had no expecations, then the response wouldn't have been so... explosive. I had high hopes for this patch given the mostly positive noises that have been coming from ANET of late. I'm not gonna throw my toys out the pram and quit, but it is pretty disappointing to see these changes and it definitely dampens my enthusiasm for the game.
I think one thing that I've kept hearing that I couldn't agree more with is how final GW2 patches feel. Changes are made and then they tend to stick around for much too long/forever. I guess there is a balance to be struck between being too reactive (I think the early Catalyst changes are perhaps an example of that) and not nearly reactive enough.
I don't normally bother with forum posts, but I found a lot of the toxic stuff to be really pretty awful. People taking certain private conversations way out of context and honestly just wallowing in their own rage. I just wanted to add a voice of criticism that isn't just pure malice. So, the patch sucks, there needs to be some sort of internal debrief on this whole debacle and then I think there needs to be some strategy for how player feedback is gathered - perhaps specifically for the implementation of changes, not just the broad strokes.
Good Luck! 🙂