I agree with the OP. It looks like the servers are down half the time with that message, which DOES make them look really bad AND doesn't let them know they ought to set one up, which just compounds the problem.
I'd change that first thing with that patch. Honestly, compare the number of games sold to the number of people in this forum, and the number isn't even close. Most people who see that are going to think what I did, that the servers are jacked