Thing is, i would actually PREFER paying a sub, not only is it easier on my pocket, but paying for an "annual sub" ahead of anything is a slippery slope into disappointment. With a monthly sub, i can gauge progress on a regular basis and show my unhappiness by stopping the sub, which will keep the devs on their toes. There is also a real concern that i might not even be playing the game after 3 months, so forcing me to pay for content that might only release in 12 months is a bit disingenuous.
I guess this model will work great for the fanboys and hardcore space sim players, but for the more casual players, this will never fly. It actually makes Star Citizen's eternal rounds of community funding (without actually releasing anything into production) look like cake.
Either way, i will stick to vanilla Elite and wait for a price drop. The real problem with something like this is, it splits the community (this is an online game after-all), you will eventually get people who is going to remain in different versions of the game because it is just too much of an initial investment to "upgrade" .
As for Star Wars Battlefront, i'm not comparing a shooter with a space sim here, i'm comparing business models. The concept is identical, be it an online shooter with new maps / new weapons / new game modes vs. a space sim with new ships / new game modes / new planets ... same concept of paying for a "season pass". You might argue it is really DICE vs. Frontier and how they work with the community, then yes, big difference there, but doesn't mean i am suddenly comfortable with paying for season passes because it's not EA.
