Is ME:A Dead?

Moshi moshi. Baito desu!

It's getting some MP content and we will sill see at least one more patch. But that's about it.

Nope.

How is MP these days? Last I heard it wasn't very busy.

Well, assuredly it's not dead. It launched, so it's out there. Got patches, more MP content, and the free trial right now is logically a step to show off the better state it's in now and get more people playing before they announce DLC, so...

No.

Don't you dare lie to actual Mass Effect fans. You're talking completely out of your ass.

Basically, it's Schrodinger's Franchise. Anyone saying it's dead is quoting unconfirmed sources with no additional evidence besides developer silence. Anyone saying it's flourishing and DLC and sequels are coming is speaking from a place of hope and, often, critical appraisal of facts. Either is equally true at the moment.

I feel like it could moreover be a strategy to get more players trying multiplayer - it's almost like a free-to-play mobile game strategy with microtransactions.

They need to give it up and just make a remaster of the original trilogy.

MP is free. Nobody is obliged to buy points. But it's a fact that MP microtransactions are cashcows. More than 900 million pounds in the UK alone went into microtransactions of any kind in the last year. As long as they can hype MP, they will earn a tidy sum. And if it doesn't pay off at anytime, they just need to pull the plug.

Of course they are. The Forbes article in the OP even implied that. Less effort to create MP maps and guaranteed revenue, since there's always a sufficient amount of people not wanting to grind for points. As long as there's an audience for MP it will rake in revenue.

One position takes into consideration the game's sales, official sources regarding the game, and THE FACT that the game is still being promoted and still being supported.

The other is rooted entirely in hearsay and promoted solely by people who shamelessly pander to trolls who hurl abuse at the developers and fans.

So no, don't try to pretend there's any sort of equivalency. One is based entirely off of common sense; the other is based solely off of a sociopathic selfishness and spite towards people enjoying something trolls don't.