I'm probably one of the few people who liked the first few episodes too...
I appreciate how much better the quality of the arguments has become over time, but I felt that it was a lot "funnier" at the start. The opening, ending, and occasional stingers still make me bust out laughing, but there was a lot more humorous satire and ribbing during the actual discussion of the content in question -- er, after the first four weeks or so, I should clarify --, as opposed to now where it's seemed to become more angry ranting again. I dunno if that's more an observation of the gaming industry and community in general or the actual show in question, though...
OT: It's a bit of a slippery slope, but I'll admit that it is one that publishers like EA could easily fall down. Always-online DRM isn't necessarily a deal-breaker for whether I'd play a game or not, but I'll put it this way: The only reason I actually played Diablo III was because Blizzard gave it to me for free because of my WoW subscription. [small]Granted I hadn't played either of the previous games so had no vested interested in the franchise anyway, but that's beside the point.[/small]
I don't think calling it a 'service' would really fool the customers though. It hasn't so far, at least, and the intertubez have gotten clogged up with rage and bile every time while the games still sell because it seems to be a vocal minority who voice their displeasure for this sort of thing on forums such as The Escapist.
I do hope that isn't the direction things take, though. I don't buy games for multi-player or online components.