One soak test on either thr Maxx or Turbo was released to the soak group and while in the soak phase did indeed get mass release. It was like, why soak it? Even if it was perfect software to update, give it a chance to get the A-OK before going truly live.
But whatever. Not a big deal or anything to sweat over. Better than the one they released and then stopped due to massive issues before resuming weeks later. That was the Maxx I believe.
Right, you're talking about the same update/soak both times. The Maxx started a soak for the original 4.4 KitKat update and, the same day, Verizon announced the release. It definitely felt weird at the time. My only guess was that it was because it was the week before Christmas and Verizon didn't want to wait for the soak to finish and then do a general release during the holiday week.
And, as you say, it was the one recent Moto update I can recall that was problematic, which would have been revealed with a proper soak test. Some upgraded phones (not mine) ended up bricked, and had to be replaced under warranty (I think some people ended up successfully flashing an FXZ with fastboot, but I don't think that was Motorola-sanctioned). Moto ended up pulling the update and pushing it back out again a few weeks later.