This is so sad and a testament of just how little the Bioware Team truly values it's fan base. It's pretentious and assuming that every fan can keep track of product news, releases and other information through the use of other venues as they described. I for one am very busy and do not participate in these forums to post, however, I do come here to keep track of news and other important information that may be relevant to the games or upcoming events, not to mention from time to time it's nice to be able to reach out to other fans for help with tech issues or other helps in game, etc.
In the past I have been members of other gaming boards and long after the final published products were released those boards are kept open and still up and running today. Because it's the fans' community not just a place for the game developers to pop in with updates. It's a shame they want to tear down this rather tight nit community and expect the fanbase to try to maintain contact and connection with each other and their products. In my opinion this is a death move, especially right before the release of Mass Effect Andromeda. True in any community you are going to have negative comments or feedback regarding the game or decisions made by the company, it's mainly venting and that is but a fraction of feedback that represents the entire fanbase community.
Honestly, this is not meant as a stab or a snarky comment, but I am a member over at CDPROJECKT RED forums and if you pop over there and read some of what's going on you'll see how important it is in keeping your fan community together! It really does show support for the fans and allows them a space to vent and make friends and keep up with all manner of going's on.
All I can say is good luck Bioware....you're gonna need it!