What do you think DA4's live service will entail?

I don't see how the world changing in a way that went against the choices you made simply because more people chose the other option would keep anyone invested, other than the few who manage to always be on the lucky side. 

The service itself isn't what makes them money. It's the monetization side that does. Live service is what facilitates the revenue made off the purchase of certain items with real world money. Said items are often created to have an alluring appeal to them either because they're (1) aesthetically pleasing, or (2) will be removed from the game at some point, and the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) drives the player to purchase the item. The latter is often done through what are known as "Seasons", where content or themes are sunset for entirely new content, themes, and premium items.

You maintain the games live service for an extended period, with new content, which allows you to retain your playerbase numbers. Keeping a consistent playerbase also keeps a consistent number of players buying your premium items, thereby making both the developer (and publisher) more money.

Edit: I should also point out that premium items can have tangible impacts on your gaming experience as well. For example, the loot boxes in Mass Effect multiplayer could be purchased with real world money, and it had a tangible impact on your gaming experience because it meant getting new weapons, consumables, mods, or upgrades.

I’m very wary about the notion of them making companions effectively optional and what effects this might have on their content going forward.

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Fuck that. If they do this and infect the game with this nonsense, I’ll have to buy a forty to pour. 

I just remembered Inquisition actually had multiplayer because of this post. I played it exactly once and shut it off. Shame, too - I quite enjoyed ME3's multiplayer. But, alas, I'm sure microtransactions will be aplenty.

I think the other idea behind Live Service, in general, is to...keep games at their highest price point for as long as possible. If a company is releasing new content continuously over months or even years then the theory seems to dictate that game can still be at a higher price point for as long as possible because more people might want to buy it as they are hearing about it and its still in the public eye...and that game will just continue to be more relevant and continue to be valuable long term.

Yeah I know. I'm speaking purely from the perspective of a hypothetical scenario where this happens 
The multiplayer of Inquisition was live service but the single player wasn't. There was also no connectivity whatsoever in the single player of Inquisition. There was never a moment in Dragon Age Inquisition where I received a message that "redbadger69 has just looted some useless crap from a cave and is now #1 on some bullshit leaderboard".

If Bioware want to keep that separation in Dragon Age 4 that is absolutely fine. I would rather of course that no resources get squandered on multiplayer - but that's life. 

The big fear is that we don't get that separation. We get Anthem instead.