As much as I would "LOL" from this, the community as a whole would be all pitchforks and torches for some time unless we did like a social media release, forum release, portal release, pop up in port and IN BATTLE to say "IT WAS A JOKE" and TBH, I wouldn't want to deal with that!
The big thing that people don't really want to take into account.
We're all people, we all play the game differently. And if I am being truthfully honest, some reviews and statements that get released about ships before they go live are well, just complete over exaggerations and most times tarnish opinions about ships. So yes, as stated above this is ACTUALLY why we changed how information can be released about WiP ships.
Remember, just because someone screams "OP" or chest pounds about how horrible something is, YOUR results may vary...
-Hapa