I may be the only consumer on the planet who feels this way, but I'd actually like to see some companies try a subscription-based model.
It provides a much stronger incentive to fix/improve games after release, and to release titles that have replayability as opposed to ones that look cool but become boring quickly.
I hate to break this to you, but that wouldn't happen. Paying a subscription does not guarentee timely updates. In my few ventures into MMOs, I've seen many glaring balance problems and bugs that took months to fix. Stuff that should have been easy, like broken quests and abilities not working right, or at all. I was paying $15 a month for this patching service, and did not see fixes to many well known issues before I left the game. I've had friends say things like, "I'd pay $5 a month for this RTS if they released patches constantly." The devs can only release patches so fast. And that's not always a bad thing, as sometimes rushing out barely tested fixes and balance changes break things along the way.
To me, releasing timely patches and fixes is basic PC customer service. It they show they care about their customers and want their game to be the best it can be, customers will return the favour by being much more likely to buy future games and expansions. MMOs are different of course, but generally speaking customers should not have to pay extra for bug fixes and tweaks.
As for the OP, this is the way of the future unfortunately. EA started it, and others are quickly realizing this is a great way to completely control their customers reduce piracy. Yeah, that's it.