I misspoke. I made a small assumption that you don't know "a substantial amount" of the people who will play A17-E. I mean, the average person doesn't know more than about 1,000 people, and that already disqualifies your statement even before we subtract the fact that (it's a good bet) not everybody you know plays 7dtd and that you (probably) didn't speak individually to all of your friends who do and that (by your admission) not all of them are skipping A17-E. Are we down to like 100 people? What a blow!
What if, instead of assuming that I'm "rabidly defending TFP if someone even slightly criticises something," you see that I'm just targeting your hyperbole which you used to justify making an absolute statement. Criticise all you want, but keep it in emotional/perspectival tones rather than attempting to globalize your position. (By the way, to negate an absolute, I only need one counter-example. I think I far exceeded that.)
Finally, as you can see, it was "well thought out," and I don't think it was particularly impolite. If what I said was "jumping down your throat," I'm going to need you to explain your definition of that phrase. (I didn't even address you directly, for crying out loud.)
Given that the current average player base of 7DTD is high 6,000's (around the 6,800 mark with some fluctuations for last month. No complete data for this month YET), I would not disqualify anything less than 1,000 for a sample size as that figure is pushing close to 20% of the active player base. Definitely anything less than 100 though. I've also only spoken to friends, acquaintances and members of various 7DTD communities... so yes, all the people I have spoken to DO or DID play the game. The reason for that is because I was curious on their opinions of FO76, if they were going to play it at all.
I also used those stats, coupled with the viewer stats on twitch to see if what I've been hearing is even slightly accurate. 7DTD only had 510-ish people watching it last night. It usually has 800+.... 1,000 is much more normal. The streamers with the most viewers (at the time of checking, which was 2:30-ish AM GMT, so approx 9:30-ish EST) had 121, 71, 59, 24 and 19. Those were the 5 right at the top of the directory which is not normal for 7DTD during the evening... at all.
And that is why I am concerned that releasing within the same week as Fallout 76 is a bad idea. It's not hyperbole in the slightest. I actually did some research and checking on how that game has impacted viewer figures (and what my friends/acquaintances/accomplices are playing right now and if they are interested in A17-E) before I made any kind of post.
As for critizicing, I did so from a logical and reasoned perspective. You replied to it with the following...
I love how things like "my narrow group of friends" and "since I can't see any logic" become "I'm absolutely right in my position." Classic!
So no. Your reply did not come across as even slightly well reasoned. At the time, no counter-example was given (And you still haven't done so), no evidence was given (which you can clearly see... there's no evidence at all where-as I have now provided some numbers for you) and thus your post DID come across as the typical defensive style I've had to deal with whenever I criticise TFP in any form.
I never accused you of being impolite. I simply stated how the reply came across based on my interactions thus far on this forum. If that was not your intent, then I sincerely apologize for my interpretation of the second quote listed above.

That is also why it felt like you were "jumping down my throat", because even you have to admit you provided no evidence, no counter argument just a "my narrow group of friends" and "classic!" argument, neither of which lend themselves to discussion.
So, again, that was probably a bad interpretation on MY part due to past experiences, but it basically read like "I have nothing to add, but I disagree with you and I'm gonna quote you and word my reply in a way to start a fight" for which I can only apologise for being wrong in that regard.
But surely you can see WHY I thought that.