Yeah, I do think there's a lot of truth to that as well. There is a bit of a "mob mentality" with the internet, and it seems that fanbases in general (not just Star Wars) tend to complain about every little detail of their favorite franchise (whether its comics, SW, Joe/Transformers, etc.) Heck, I've even seen people that came out of one or more of the prequel movies excited, only to continually see (either online or in general media) people "hating" on the same movies - and eventually come around to agreeing with the masses.
That being said, obviously some of Lucas' decision making might seem flawed with the prequels, and I can see where some complaints come from. At the same time, I don't really understand the "hate" for Lucas, like he's purposely trying to piss us off. Just like with the general population, I think his contributions to the original trilogy stories is starting to get overlooked. He may not have the touch he once did, or has too many "yes men" around him now to tell him differently, but those Original movies are magic to me and many others. I like the prequel movies for the most part, they just "feel" totally different to me than the Star Wars I knew before. That being said though, I don't know that anything could have lived up to the OT - short of having sequels with that same cast shortly after Jedi was released or something (and even then it probably wouldn't be the same). One thing I've noticed in some reviews/opinion pieces over the past few years (like the IGN one I posted above) seem to lump Revenge of the Sith in with the other prequels as being "horrible". I thought that ROTS was fairly well accepted, even among the fan community.