SimCity General Thread

[Traece]

Originally Posted by Duo Maxwell

Pretty sure he was talking about people who are "raging" about the game, yet still shell out money to make a purchase. If you are enjoying it, who cares how much you throw into their hand. It's people who keep on complaining yet still buying their products that is annoying and need to learn a thing about how to deal with this kind of business.

Is the always-online DRM annoying? Yes. Does it get in the way of me playing during the release week? Yes. Will it next week? No.

Do I care? No. Even though I've played previous Sim City games, I still enjoy this title. I've yet to see many legitimate reviews of this game that actually focus on the actual features, and not just what people are generally unhappy about at first glance. If you don't want to buy Sim City because you don't like the map size, or you don't like the DRM, DON'T. That doesn't give anyone permission to crusade against it. I've seen very little constructive criticism out of this topic, and a whole lot of flaming from people who admit they have little to no interest in purchasing the game.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Lovely, EA accidentally make a fake post praising the game while still on the EA account.

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Lovely, EA accidentally make a fake post praising the game while still on the EA account.

-snip-

Actually, SimCity UK is just a fan page. They just happened to share the same profile picture with EA's SimCity account.

[Kyuu]

Well kudos to this lady:

http://www.ea.com/news/a-simcity-upd...r-your-trouble

That's how you speak to a pissed off audience. None of those "other" EA responses did much to quell the fire. Reading this actually made me feel a little better.

[MrTerrorist]

Congratulations. Everyone gets a free game.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Congratulations. Everyone gets a free game.

The question is which one ? A cheap one? A old one? One than the consummers could choose?

[Witch of Uncertainty]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

The question is which one ? A cheap one? A old one? One than the consummers could choose?

Probably a cheap and old.. One that no one wants, anyway.

[TJR]

Originally Posted by Irenicus

I'm pretty sure we all know and agree that you and a million other angry people aren't in any way pleased about this and support always online DRM BS (though there are slavish fanbois out there...and gaming "journalists" :/). But Tempester has a point in that the message EA chooses to hear from your and other people's purchases is exactly that -- they got your money and they will get it again.

With the F2P revolution, it's ultimately a moot point. I think backlash may tell EA that always-on DRM hurts the reputation of full-priced retail games, at least for the moment.

However, the $60 game is a model that publishers are shifting away from anyway. Command & Conquer will be a free-to-play game. These things are services by nature (like any MMORPG), and they've proven to be immensely popular without attracting the same outrage.

Diablo III and SimCity are transition points. As I see it, the failure of this approach will simply quicken the F2P transition, which is what investors are banking on. There's way less money going into traditional packages now, and I think the decline can already be felt this year (and will be especially noticeable once the next generation of consoles kick off, hence the talk of an uncertain future. Players will find far fewer retail games to choose from).

[Ak3mi]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

The question is which one ? A cheap one? A old one? One than the consummers could choose?

Big Rigs That would be so insulting.

[Keroko]

And the train of hilarity continues to crash. Now EA apparently thinks it's okay to hold your other games hostage if you attempt to take legal action.

Remember all those old complaints the doomsayers used to preach about Steam? About how leaving your games in the hands of the companies could only go wrong?

EA's showing us just how wrong this can go.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by TJR

Diablo III and SimCity are transition points. As I see it, the failure of this approach will simply quicken the F2P transition, which is what investors are banking on.

Then please explain why DIII on PS3/4 would be offline?

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Then please explain why DIII on PS3/4 would be offline?

Have you ever tried playing on a PS3 when wireless?

It's terrible.

[Kyuu]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Then please explain why DIII on PS3/4 would be offline?

Is there a story mode?

Starcraft is online for the multiplayer. It is playable offline for the campaign missions, which only needs online access for achievements.

If developers want to enforce DRM for games, fine. But at least, they could dump unnecessary processing power into home computers, so that company servers can be used for DRM purposes, like authentication, updates, and multiplayer.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Have you ever tried playing on a PS3 when wireless?

It's terrible.

How is that different from playing DIII on PC Hardcore mode?

There is a reason most people don't even bother. Because your character would die from lag at random.

[Flying Dagger]

There are ways for EA to make money via SimCity through microtransactions: unique building packs, special events, etc

or maybe they are already in the pipeline.

There are quite a few simple games which imo does not justify the concept of being always online. SimCity for example is a game which I would like to play while travelling, but cannot do so because of the internet requirement.

Interactions with neighboring cities can be emulated easily - you just do not get the full experience if not connected online.

In fact, I believe that if the game is good, a pirate may be encouraged to get the full version with online capabilities to enjoy the game at its full glory.

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

How is that different from playing DIII on PC Hardcore mode?

There is a reason most people don't even bother. Because your character would die from lag at random.

Alternatively, the server hiccups and you get hundreds of people losing their HC characters...

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Simcity2013 was shown to be playable for up to 20 minutes while disconnected from the internet, if it was unplugged during play.

Whatever simulation limitations that prevents offline play are a lie. The worst thing that can happen is a lack of interaction with neighbouring cities. EA sales people are simply lying. It's not that they can't make it offline, it's that they don't want you to.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

How is that different from playing DIII on PC Hardcore mode?

There is a reason most people don't even bother. Because your character would die from lag at random.

Because PS3's so bad, you'd die on easymode. If you got to play at all with all the disconnects.

[RRW]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Have you ever tried playing on a PS3 when wireless?

It's terrible.

No problem what so ever

[Waven]

Originally Posted by Keroko

And the train of hilarity continues to crash. Now EA apparently thinks it's okay to hold your other games hostage if you attempt to take legal action.

Remember all those old complaints the doomsayers used to preach about Steam? About how leaving your games in the hands of the companies could only go wrong?

EA's showing us just how wrong this can go.

Wow, if this is real...

I wonder what it's like to work in the EA PR department, must be pretty similar to working for the tobacco industry or an arms manufacturer these days.

[Duo Maxwell]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Have you ever tried playing on a PS3 when wireless?

It's terrible.

Used to play BlazBlue on it. No problem.