I assume they'll release a super big patch in like 6 months, which we will again test for about 2 weeks and provide them with the info they need to develop the remaining parts of the game.
I think it would be make more sense to release several smaller patches with overhauls for different systems, so each major change can be assessed on its own in terms of game impact. If you make a huge patch with many changes, it will be harder to track what is responsible for what problem. If you release one thing at a time, you can clearly see how the whole system reacts to it, how the gameplay changes. And if a patch has one exciting shiny new thing, all the players will rush to test it out.
For example, we know we'll be getting more classes and races during EA. I expect a new class to drop every 2 months or so.
