I don't like the idea of paying someone for a service, only to be at their mercy in terms of what services they actually provide back to me. Yeah, it may be great if a game you want to play is on there, but they pick what they think should be in "the vault". It's a gamble, and you're gambling that what EA decides you will get is what you actually want, when you actually want it. I don't like that concept on principle. Also, let's say EA has a big game coming out that you may want, like Battlefield: Hardline or Star Wars: Battlefront. My understanding is that they'll allow you to play it for a small window of time before it's released to give you a small taste of it, but you'll have to buy it on release day if you want to keep playing it. Yeah, they'll probably add it to "the vault" several months after release, once they think the interest has waned and people aren't playing it as much, so your options become A) pay damn near full price for the game on release day on top of your EA access fee, or B) hold off and hope people are even still playing the multiplayer by the time it makes it to "the vault". Being patient enough for option B, or finding enough value in the games already in "the vault" to justify the $30/year or $5/month is pretty much the only way to beat the system. They're counting on people paying for EA Access and then also taking option A to buy their new games when they're released. Hence, why games with heavy multiplayer components and annualized sports franchises will be on the list. A large part of the appeal of those games is to play with that year's sports teams or to play the new shooter along with everyone else. Yeah, it sounds great that Madden is on there, but it's Madden 25. Who wants to play with the 2013 NFL rosters now, especially when Madden 15 is out?
EA Access essentially boils down to pre-paying them to play their games later than most do. In certain circumstances for people that would already buy a bunch of EA games, but don't care about playing them when they come out, value can be had. Even that, though, can probably be done in the used game market similarly or perhaps even cheaper. Or I guess it could pay off for someone who has the time to binge play the new games in their pre-release window, who can be satisfied with that as their time with the game. In most cases, though, EA will win because they'll get people to pay them both a subscription fee and near-full price for their new games. Don't be fooled into thinking they're doing consumers a favor here; they're pretty much just trying to capture the market for their used games. It's a fairly brilliant business tactic. It can be outfoxed by some patient and/or crafty consumers, but it will mostly serve to exploit those who "have to have it now".
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