Noooo, Sir Perkins don't give in. That's exactly what ea wants you to do.
...They are a company, and they are creators, they do deserve to get paid for the things they create don't they? I mean, sure EA has a crappy record, but Bio knocked it out of the park with DAI. A good game that they've been supporting for free deserves some more in depth additions to it, and I think they deserve to be paid for it!
Games that are full of glitches and poor design that haven't been fixed, or are total money grabs, now THOSE are the kind that you refuse to pay for *AHEM* destiny *AHEM*.
My biggest concern would be what Creme said above about difference in maps dividing the community.
... if some maps are locked behind paywall it divides the community when this is not the sort of game that benefits from that...
He's right, splitting up the maps available to the players greatly limits the people you would be able to matchmake with. That would suck. But character classes have no such effect. You can still play with players who have the other classes you don't.
Then you said,
I'd rather have Gameplay stuff be free with them charging for vanity / cosmetic items (i.e. funny looking armors, color-changing runes).
I think the reality is that the player base in general definitely wants (or is at least indifferent to) more customization for our visuals whether it be through crafting or looting. I personally (along with what seems to be like many others) want this, but I'd also like a LOT more loot to collect... That might be a free addition like it was for dragonslayer loot, but the amount of content I'd like to see added might be worth a couple bucks. It adds a lot of replay value for me.
I find it more interesting when END GAME loot is varied but not imbalanced in comparative power. In other words, the DPS might be similar, but the perks or abilities are GREATLY diverse-- that makes the end game FUN because now you're not looking for higher power but you're looking for uniqueness, (maybe even to create a character build around?)-- that's the fun of collecting.... you might keep several pieces and switch between them each match because of how unique each one Plays or LOOKS...
Though I will take issue with a couple things,
I'd prefer if important gameplay content like classes are not locked behind a paywall, since originally the multiplayer part of the game is already paid for, too.
The original single player content was paid for as well... but they added content to that and had us pay for it... the same thing goes for multiplayer... the fact that they've charged us nothing for it has been a sign of their good will toward, or at least trying to get into the good graces of, the players (I think). I for one am impressed with how well they've supported the game after their previous blunders.
I do see why character classes are a big enough addition that it would feel like leaving original purchase players out of the loop, but i think if the content is significant enough, it merits paid DLC-- for example, dragonslayer had 3 classes a new map and a totally new gameplay type (the dragon fight is pretty unique). That plus the silent sister and the darkspawn enemy type, plus the addition of creatures, was definitely worth 10-20$, though realistically most devs would charge more... but we got it all for free.
Bottom line: I don't think we should have to pay for 1 more class with a few more items, and a map... but if the content is siginficant, say... a new gametype, with a new map or 2, with a couple new characters, and LOTS more loot, priced appropriately at 10-20$ (again depending on content) oh yeah, yeah I'd definitely pay for that.
Also, could include some shortcuts in the paid DLC, like promoting automatically reverts you to level 10, instead of 1, but same amount of exp to reach 20.
...somebody would riot dude, lol. It's co-op so not nearly as much as a pvp game, but still, paying for power advantage like that and people would get PO'd