Interesting take. I would argue Funcom made quite a bit of money off apologists and speaking up too much.

They've been more conservative since launch (though I feel they still overpromised a bit during the initial salvage), but I wouldn't say they've been silent. And they may still redeem themselves, if the critics let them. It's convincing the critics they have to worry about in their case though, not the other bunch. Though I agree communication is a good way of getting those turned (if they survive long enough).

If you're talking customer support specifically, yeah plenty of work could be done there for a lot of communities. If your honest, consistent and open (I'm sure there's a cool acronym in there but I'm tired) in the long run that'd surely do more good than bad.