So here's a less pleasant bit of speculation: what do we suppose the live service elements are going to be like? We know courtesy of
jschreier that DA4 had a structural reboot in order to accommodate the live service model in some way. Casey Hudson (I think?) got on the twitter mic shortly thereafter claiming that all "live service" means is a continual flow of post-release content, or something to that effect. (Do not quote me directly on this one; I'm going off of memory here.)
While I've seen the overall Dragon Age fanbase take Hudson's remarks at face value -- seriously, I am scared to even attempt to bring this one up in certain online circles that shall not be named -- it makes zero sense to me whatsoever that the game would need a reboot so that it can offer a ton of DLC. That's the narrative I've seen passed around, is that the reboot claim is false and we're just going to be spoiled with bucketloads of DLC is all. I... trust all of us here concur that Jason is correct on this front, and something big changed.
So here's my guess. In a sense BioWare isn't lying and we'll be given quite a bit of DLC if the planned structure pans out. But what we'll discover is that plenty of plot threads will go unresolved in the release version of DA4, and it will have a short starter campaign which will be greatly expanded upon over the course of a year or more. In the vanilla version, a major threat will be brought down but other major threats will not be dealt with at all, being saved for ongoing material. In between story updates, we'll also see event months with crossover themes for not just BioWare IPs but other EA properties. Last but not least, cosmetic options at launch will be a far cry from what Inquisition offered, enabling a wider sphere of cosmetic microtransactions.
Just a hunch. I'd love to be wrong about this plot approach. But if Mike Laidlaw left the company when he did because of anything pertaining to the structural reboot, I could totally see it being this drastic. And it had to be drastic to some extent anyway, right? Why else would the team need to go back to square one from a development (but probably not narrative) standpoint?
It should go without saying that this is all pure supposition on my part. Furthermore, it's 4:13 in the morning over here and I'm texting this all up on my mobile while half-asleep, so it's possible I've mistakenly attributed paraphrased quotes to Casey Hudson. Regardless, it is my understanding that BioWare steeply downplayed fan concerns over Dragon Age 4 shooting for live service elements, and it would be rad if we really are just mainly looking at bonus optional story stuff (and live event fare, I guess). I'm just not sure that would be nearly enough reason to toss out plenty of work.