I don't mind when servers are shut down. But i think if i buy a online pass then servers must be up at least 5 years.
Especially a game where online multiplayer is important. Such as Fifa, Cod, Basketball etc.
But those games have new releases each year that need servers too, they do keep them online for a while after though. Longer than I would keep them running if I was running those servers as the strain would be huge over 2 titles. If you want to get the most out of a game then buy it from release to give you the most time with it. If you cant afford it new then buy it 8 months down the line or something around there, as its not going to get any cheaper after 4 years as its price after 1 year. So if your interested there is no excuse to be waiting so long to purchase a game then moaning they have closed servers soon as you get it.
I guess I can sympathise with their reasons because what we do on the forums isnt that different. I mean we have a subscriber option you can pay for, for extra features & a donation option to help us cover the server costs. We also used to have more forums than we do now, however the members online had dropped so much it was costing more to keep them running & they were using bandwidth we could have used elsewhere so had to close them. There were still people on there & using them but we had to regretfully close them to save money as they were costing more than they were generating, its not that different of a situation.
I think games published by EA have something like "we can shut down servers for game after 3-6 months" in their EULA.
A lot of companies have silly little disclaimers that most dont read & these little terms like that, just helps cover their asses from getting sued. Also covers them from closing little MMO games that flop early in their life (even the free ones) as they cost a lot to keep running & they dont want to be tied into keeping them online leeching cash that could be better used on another title.