It sounds like GameFly would be a good option for you or just simply renting the games before buying them. There is an absolute plethora of information on games after they are released. I bought NCAA this year on release day because I've never been disappointed with it. Madden, I have been disappointed with in the past, so I haven't bought it yet. I'm going to let some time pass and see if it stands the test of time. Then I'll rent it. If I like it, I'll buy it.
In this day and age... I just can't feel sorry for people who buy games and then slam the company when they aren't satisfied. I am not an EA fan boy by any means, either. But with the price of games, I'd think more people would give games some test drives through reading online reviews and message boards and letting some time pass.
About the glitch... It's there. Yeah, it sucks and hopefully EA can fix it. But I don't play online with people that I don't know. I won't expose the glitch and I can just pretend that it's not there. But I understand the frustration with this issue, but I still don't see it as a game killer.