I've stopped buying EA games when they turned Battlefield 2 into a pay-to-win game back in the mid-2000's. But I remember distinctly how bad EA was with those stupid unskippable splash screens. My guess is that they've never improved, from what I can see. What's the point of those anyway, other than annoy your players and make them hate your company?
The 2005 game. I had paid full price for the game and enjoyed it for a while. Then they released the expansion pack BF2:SF. The players who owned that expansion pack had access to more powerful weapons which they could use online against players who didn't have that pack. Essentially turning a paid game into a "pay to win" format. I since then haven't given EA a penny.
Huh. I guess I got the pack with both but was always such a casual player I never even noticed. I remember the games having two separate sets of servers.