arcgisUtils.createMap(webmapJSON, elementId, options).then(onSuccess, onError);
I agree. I'm frustrated that I can catch the error and load a backup base map, but I can't keep the original error from propagating, causing the map loading process to halt.
I want to set up a failover process for the base map so that my users will see some type of map underneath my data, instead of just a blank background.