Do you like the game Mass Effect? Do you like playing games on PC? Do you like DRM?
Okay, that last question was a trick one – no one likes DRM.
Well the good news is that Mass Effect 3 doesn’t come with DRM in the traditional sense. You won’t need a constant online connection, and it won’t check you for authentication every 10 days.
You will, however, need Origin to play Mass Effect 3 on PC, whether you have the retail or digital version, and whether you like it or not – which may be worse.
Cue NERDRAGE.
According to the official Mass Effect 3 FAQ on the BioWare forums, it’s been confirmed that having Origin installed on your system is a prerequisite.
To play, you won’t need constant online connectivity to Origin (unless you’re playing multiplayer) – but you will need to do the one-time activation and authentication.
If you were hoping to pick up ME3 on Steam, forget it. According to BioWare, the game will be available on Origin and “a number of other 3rd party digital retailers” – but Steam is not one of those.

I’ll get this on Xbox because Xbox is the best place to experience it. However, it’s just a matter of time, EA probably anticipated the resistance from the public at first, but sooner or later people who want to play EA games on their PC’s WILL switch to Origin.