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It's 'trolling' if by that you mean that GW have contempt for the intelligence of their customer base. Actually, I shouldn't say 'GW' as one entity; by that I mean the upper/executive level and sales department that dictates some of the more dubious policy decisions. I don't think for a moment the artistic/design or shop level staff think in those terms.

I heard some pretty horrendous stuff as a staffer and that was more than 10 years ago now, the word 'sheep' from at least a couple of people that would have no reason to lie about such things (and you can guess the context in which it is used).

Although, I don't think this is unusual in business by any means (one only has to think of Gerald Ratner's speech about his company's jewellery, here is a good list that illustrates: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1573380/Doing-a-Ratner-and-other-famous-gaffes.html ), but the amount in which it is visible to the consumer certainly does differ. If you look at the level of self-importance, the prices, the legal policies and targetting of fan sites, the constant vacuous updates (with added DLC) then I think it's fair to say that there must be a certain low estimation of at least the repeat customers of their products.

But as said this isn't by any means unique to GW, and seems to happen to most companies (to a lesser or greater extent) once they reach a certain size. If it bothers you, or you're conscientious at all, you're probably better off sticking clear of blogs and forums and reaching about it..