To be fair, he's been getting fed BS intel for years.
One of the funniest looks of shock I've seen from him was a few years back at a Fanfest speech (long after the 'Summer of Rage', as I recall), and he asked the room if they should 'open the door'... There was a resounding 'yes', with maybe a dozen 'noes'. The look on that face was priceless. Clearly his intel had told him to expect the opposite.
(Personally, when it comes to WiS, I hold Torvi to blame for a lot of it - but CCP in general, for their hubris in thinking they could actually pull it off with their new tech, instead of settling for something lesser.)
Personally, when it comes to WiS, I hold Torvi to blame for a lot of it
Your "blame" is entirely misplaced.
Also, "blaming" people does nothing but form a culture where thinking outside the box never happens and progress is heavily stunted.
Accountability is everything and learning from mistakes is key, but blaming people and chastising them for trying something new is a decent way to kill a project.