EA app stuck on preparing/downloading/repairing/updating

Totally understand your frustration — I had a similar issue recently. What finally worked for me was clearing the EA app cache (from the app's Help menu) and then doing a clean reinstall of the EA app. Also, make sure the EA Background Service is running in the background (check Services in Task Manager). It's not a perfect fix, but after that, my games started working again. Hope it helps!