I've been curious to see how the direct distribution model would work as well. I wouldn't go so far as to call anything a 'deluge' but skimming various forums, it seems that those who are having problems (which is only a small percentage) are encountering some, ah, kinks in the way that non-centralized CS works.
Specifically, those having 3G issues are being told by T-mobile that it's HTC's hardware at fault, and by HTC that it's T-mob's network. There also seems to be some confusion regarding insurance, with some people emphatically saying that T-mob offered them insurance and others emphatically saying that insurance claims for the N1 wouldn't be honored.
The fact that no single entity is responsible for you having a functional phone does seem like it could cause systematic problems (I say this as someone who had to replace my droid and was very happy to be able to just call 611 to do so.) I honestly wonder what the VZW distribution model will look like, and hopefully they'll get a clear CS hierarchy established soon.