I think it's fairly obvious that if you're the kind of person who unsubs when they are bored and resubs when something new comes out, then this deal isn't great for you. If you're not that kind of person, though, then there is pretty much no downside to it.

I don't think Blizzard is doing anything nefarious by offering it. And for them, the big advantage is that they get a handle on how much guarenteed income they are going to get for then next year. For those of us who are fairly confident we would be subscribing anyway - we get free stuff.

Assuming D3 is a $60 game, as long as you would have played for at least 8 out of the 12 months you got the annual pass, then you're breaking even.

And for people in Australia the whole free D3 is worth so much more considering games cost more; despite our dollar is essentially the same as the american dollar. This is including digital games by the way (which just makes no sense). Going off SC2 which costs $90 AUD whereas its $60 USD in america on the battle.net store.

Did you see the Blizzcon Coverage ?

It was one of the most content filled Blizzcon so far. What they showed of MoP was pretty complete. Not much left to finish on it IMHO.

They even hinted of releasing it sooner rather then later. Within the year definitely. Next 6 months if I would hedge a bet.