Man, I really wish I didn't have to pay for online services or multiplayer access or early release or pre-download...oh...wait...I don't...I game on a PC.
EDIT: To actually contribute:
Wulfram77 said:
I don't see the logic in refusing a pretty good deal on the grounds that it will cause water to run down hill, bears to defecate in the woods and the pope to convert to catholicism.
Being an inveterate critic of the status quo and an unthinking conservative makes no sense.
This is NOT a good deal for anyone but EA. Let's break it down.
Okay, 5 bucks a month. And you get some things that should be free already (early access, pre-download, demos, etc) and some things you'd have to pay for (games). But why do you think EA is giving you access to this stuff? What's their motivation?
MONEY. Any other motivation makes no sense. EA doesn't love you. They don't care if you're happy. They just want your money. So, apparently, that good deal you think you're getting, well, it's a better deal for EA.
Somehow, the people behind this project at EA convinced some shareholders that they would earn MORE money doing this than not doing this. This MUST mean, by extension, that if this service didn't exist, you'd give EA LESS money than you'd give them if this service did exist.
But how is that possible? You're getting free games, right?!? I mean, surely free games > 30 bucks a year? That short answer is no, the free games, for the VAST majority of people, will not be > 30 bucks a year. EA will pull all sorts of shenanigans to make sure you get little to no value out of your 30 bucks a month. You'll get games you already own, games you don't want to play, and games without DLC or pre-order content. That's all for sure. You might also get games missing key features. Say a version of Battlefield where you don't get to play Single Player at all, and you're limited to 1 type of map or 1 type of game mode. Things like that (although that last bit is pure speculation).
At the end of the day, the key thing to remember here is EA wants to give you LESS content for MORE money. If they suddenly come to your door and say "LOOK AT ALL THIS CONTENT! It's only 30 bucks a year! Isn't that super?" You can be 100% positive that nestled in that content somewhere is a giant turd sandwich. In fact, you can be pretty sure that the vast, overwhelming majority of that "content" IS a turd sandwich.
Just remember. EA doesn't care about ANYTHING except getting you to give them your money. This is NOT a good deal. How can we tell? If it was a good deal, EA wouldn't be offering it to you. It's that bloody simple.