If you had come out and said "it's too dark for my taste" that would have been fine, and no one would have really cared. That hasn't been what people have said though. They've instead make snarky "Why are they trumping up new crowds when it's too dark to see the upper bowls?" That's not even remotely the same and I'm sure you know that.
I actually am not a former member. I'm a long time lurker who just got sick of the constant negative about everything in regards to this title. Constructive criticism is one thing, I think most developers welcome that sort of thing. OS in recent years has gone so far to the opposite end of the spectrum however it's comical that I could probably list off users by name who I know will go out of their way to be negative every year around this time in regards to NHL.
The Show guys trumped up 1000 different people in the stands as well, and then they retracted that and it became around 150 actual people in the stands and that the system in that case, the PS4 could theoretically do 1000. And to be honest? I am not sure on that. The Show already has noticeable chug often enough as it is, especially on screen swipes and presentation transitions. We're still very early in this console cycle, the optimizations and tricks developers often figure out will come to make games play a lot smoother, but we are no where near that point yet this early in.
Again this is where opinion differs, I don't think NHL is lackluster at all. It has smooth online play, online team play, HUT, a solid GM mode that certainly has it's issues but it's functional, single seasons, playoff modes, be a pro, hell it likely has just about more modes than any other sports title on the market. It's getting an entire presentation overhaul said to be on par with the pinnacle of sports game presentation in NBA2k as well. It got a very solid fluid skating engine last year that totally changed how the game plays and feels.
If that's considered lackluster either your standards for what you expect are through the roof and likely unrealistic for a yearly sports title that has 10 months on average to go from design to gold master.
So to me when people parade their little NHL 10.5 comments, or whatever, yes I eye roll, because it's a ridiculous statement to make.