Dustin Matheny said:
I would argue that even if you don't purchase a single resource pack, you are being negatively affected by them. I am arguing that the game is intentionally unbalanced and broken to some degree. The game has a problem built into it (the grind), and EA will sell you the solution.
These micro transactions are a feature that has no upside for the player. If I purchase a game I should be able to play it however I want. I should have cheat codes for free. It's anti-consumer, insulting, and bad and awful and no good and also bad. It's a bad thing.
Edit: EA is not some horrible nightmare company. Evil is too strong a word. Perhaps Zynga is an evil company but EA is not anywhere near as abusive. And as a company they have made some very innovative original titles. ESPECIALLY Dead Space. I think they'll have some amazing next gen titles at this next E3. I just don't like the things they try to get away with.
When you think about it, EA is not the evil Empire. EA is Darth Vader, and its investors are the Emperor!
The problem with your argument is that it ignores the fact that that the "grind" was present in the previous incarnations of the game. You know before EA put in the microtransactions. Heck, by all accounts, this entry is less grindy than the previous.
If a trait of the game existed before a certain change occurred, then logically, that change cannot be the catalyst for the trait. It's that simple.
The MT, in this case, was actually put in to allow players to break the game. The players choose to make it unbalanced, as in too easy. Its really no different than starting the game with the DLC force gun in DS2. Having that weapon in the early chapters makes it ridiculously simple.
Edit: and, as has already been pointed out, this "exploit" existed in one form or another in both of the previous titles, making it hard to believe they are really lying about this.