I got into a minor flame war with a friend on Facebook when I stated that Bioware's silence, and 80% average fan anger (based on polls at the time) was not going to help their business.
Here is my post that ended the argument (for now) which, hopefully, sums up why this was a bad business decision in my view.
And if you want to talk business, let me point out Star Wars. That series made it's money not in box office, but in MERCHANDISING. And who bought merchandise? Fans. Without the fans, Star Wars would have shriveled and died four decades ago. But US SATISFIED FANS bought toys, and games, and comics, and books. If Bioware and EA want Mass Effect to be the Star Wars of video games, which they have countless times, then they need to satisfy the people who buy ****. The average guy who buys ME3 isn't going to then support it with a sh*t ton of swag, WE DO. As it stands, Bioware and EA are, in my opinion, pushing our dollar away.