From what I've seen the level of communication is on par with a typical patch. I received an email announcing the patch, content creators released pre-patch videos reviewing the patch, and then patch notes on this forum (also on Steam and probably other places.) I may be wrong but I think this is normal for a regular patch? From other companies I mean. They tend to go bigger for bigger releases. I'm sure that the Bridges expansion will get a lot of hype (coming soon...maybe...no soon!) I am old school and I only look for information on this site, or Youtube so I can't really say what's happening on other sites. Ok, boomer.
The problem is their lack of communication in general. There are some really interesting threads on here discussing aspects of the game that need work on. Such as industries. We really need somebody to come explain the mechanics of industries, what is working, what is not, and what they are planning on doing about it. What about the traffic issue? Threads that receive hundreds of replies, a lot of them well thought out go ignored (I'm sure they are read but we need more.) This breeds hostility and dampens any new information that we receive.
Personally I think the patch is a good step in the right direction. But I want more and better communication and I think the people who are calling for just that are in the right.