I have had the same experiences you've had with 4.6 and it was ever since they brought out 4.7. It's fairly obvious they're doing something like you've said here.
My son is really into soccer, so I wanted to get the latest ~~Fifa~~ FC game. Oh it has anticheat and doesn't run, at all. Frustrating because I wouldn't want to play online anyway.
Happy to not give EA any money if they're so set on shoving online play and therefore anticheat down the players throats.
Plus, they've dumbed down their models to the point where the value just isn't there like it was. If I have to go in and clean up after it, or constantly wrestle with it through prompts, what's the point? Just spending $200 a month to be frustrated at a machine.
This is not optimism, it's delusional.