Ahh... the analogy between WoW servers and BF 2142 servers is like comparing a mountain and a molehill.
Blizzard HAS to have consistently reliable and very powerful servers, because they provide the game, and nobody will buy it if they don't hold up their end. Also, if you are simultaneously supporting... what must be hundreds of thousands to over a million players simultaneously, you really just want to do it right.
BF 2142 servers are privately owned for the most part, and EA/DICE has no control over whether some people create shitty servers.
Also, if a 2142 server crashes (especially repeatedly), whoop-de-doo, you may have lost your field unlocks, but you can just wait a few minutes or hop on another one.
If a WoW server crashes, that means you can't play that 60 priest you worked your butt off making (long story, but I did wind up ditching WoW and a 60 priest of my own a few weeks after I finally, FINALLY hit that mark. And then my sister wound up getting our account banned, so I can't even pick it back up later when I've got time to play it). If it repeatedly crashes, that means you can't raid. Period. And hitting any decent level would be difficult.
In short... WoW servers are a whole different matter than a 2142 server, and analogies/comparisons between the two are flawed.