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EA suspends SimCity marketing campaigns

I

iMax

Member
Michael McWhertor @Polygon said:
Publisher Electronic Arts has suspended some of its online marketing campaigns for SimCity in the wake of ongoing server issues, asking its affiliates to "please stop actively promoting the game" until further notice.

In an email sent this morning to affiliate partners, EA Origin says it has "deactivated all SimCity text links and creative and we ask you to please remove any copy promoting SimCity from your website for the time-being." The email, obtained by Polygon, is directed at affiliates of EA Origin's LinkShare program.

"To be clear we are continuing to payout commissions on all SimCity sales that are referred, however we are requesting that you please stop actively promoting the game," the email reads. "We will notify you as soon as the SimCity marketing campaigns have been resumed and our promotional links are once again live in the Linkshare interface. We apologize for any inconveniences that this may cause, and we thank you for your cooperation."

SimCity launched earlier this week and has struggled to meet player demand. Developer Maxis has deactivated certain gameplay features and says it will continue to roll out fixes to address "server instability" and player frustration."

Polygon has contacted Electronic Arts seeking comment and will update with any information the company provides.
Click to expand...
Source
 
C

Cipherr

Member
Just..wow. I expected things to clear up after a few days. Server problems aren't unheard of, I have experienced many. But this sounds a little extreme. Disabling game features?
 
G

GlassBox

Banned
Lol, what's even worse is how likely it is EA put more funds into their marketing (and grossly overpaid marketing staff compared to other dev salaries) than into their server infrastructure.

Just goes to show the faulty priorities of publishers like EA that they'd invest more in trying to "get the word out" of a product than firstly ensuring that it actually works!
 
D

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
Glad I'm waiting for the Mac one.


423727983_dac49569c5.jpg
 
D

Darklord

Banned
What in the fuck did they expect? They literally launched this game with 2 servers, then so kindly brought it so 5. It died as soon as people started playing. They have NO intention of having servers capable of a 1/100th of what they were selling. At least with Diablo 3 they probably had a lot of servers but sheer mass numbers hit them hard. This? It died with a few thousand at time of release.
 
B

Branduil

Member
Cipherr said:
Just..wow. I expected things to clear up after a few days. Server problems aren't unheard of, I have experienced many. But this sounds a little extreme. Disabling game features?
Click to expand...

Well this whole thing started when they disabled the "play offline" feature.
 
L

la flama blanca

Banned
Cipherr said:
Just..wow. I expected things to clear up after a few days. Server problems aren't unheard of, I have experienced many. But this sounds a little extreme. Disabling game features?
Click to expand...

The realization that this game should just have been a great offline single player experience is what really looms over their heads.
 
S

Sputnik Sweetheart

Neo Member
Eurogamer articles that were previously emblazoned with Sim City ads (despite being somewhat negative on the game) are now displaying Tomb Raider ads instead. So very possibly true!
 
RiccochetJ

RiccochetJ

Gold Member
But what of the debacle of the Diablo III launch and the fury of players who couldn't play a game they wanted to play solo because Blizzard had trouble keeping its servers up and error-free?

"We've got experience from Spore and Darkspore," Katserelis said, citing other recent Maxis games. "EA is an on online company. We're definitely watching what's going on at Blizzard, and we're putting in backstops and checks to try to prevent those kind of things from happening."
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via Kotaku

This article gets funnier and funnier as this train wreck continues.
 
G

GlassBox

Banned
Can Crusher said:
How about taking a step back EA, and stop this online DRM bullshit?!
Click to expand...
It's not just a case of DRM. The game is designed with core features of the simulation to be run on the cloud. It's a completely different beast than simple "Digital Rights".

And despite what a lot of uneducated people think. You can't just "flip a switch" and turn that functionality off like DRM
 
R

R1CHO

Member
Why this shit storm didn't really happen with Blizzard and D3? There were complains from fans, but no this level of media cover, and at the end, they didn't give a shit, got the moneys and run.
 
H

Heshinsi

"playing" dumb? unpossible
I hope those console makers who are thinking about implementing an always online-DRM bullshit, are watching this and thinking, "yeah, not worth the PR headache"
 
B

BorkBork

The Legend of BorkBork: BorkBorkity Borking
It's kind of surreal watching this all unfold. I didn't think it was a big thing at first, but obviously the backlash has found some significant traction.
 
K

kadotsu

Banned
GlassBox said:
It's not just a case of DRM. The game is designed with core features of the simulation to be run on the cloud. It's a completely different beast than simple "Digital Rights".
Click to expand...

Why can't they run shit client side? There is nothing that needs to be computed in the cloud. Games with more complicated MP have run without this shit.
 
T

timetokill

Banned
BorkBork said:
It's kind of surreal watching this all unfold. I didn't think it was a big thing at first, but obviously the backlash has found some significant traction.
Click to expand...

If it was a one day thing, then sure, this would've just gone away.

But instead, it's now day 4 with no end in sight. EA keeps disabling features and issuing patches, and it's not getting better.

The fact that they keep adding "a few" servers at a time, all of which become instantly busy, isn't helping matters.

What they need to do is quadruple the current server count, and if that doesn't work, quadruple it again.
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
Can Crusher said:
How about taking a step back EA, and stop this online DRM bullshit?!
Click to expand...

It's really amazing to have this happen right in the middle of all the horrible online-only DRM rumors for next-gen consoles. It should show console manufacturers and publishers just how much of a disaster they have on their hands if they actually try to push such a policy. This is a single game. Just imagine that unbelievable clusterfuck of a console launch where online DRM was in place for every game.
 
B

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Maybe that will convince them(and others) that this system doesn't work, or that it isn't ready yet at least.
 
P

PastorOfMuppets

Banned
iMax said:
SimCity launched earlier this week and has struggled to meet player demand. Developer Maxis has deactivated certain gameplay features and says it will continue to roll out fixes to address "server instability" and player frustration."
Click to expand...

Just playing Devil's Advocate for a second here because of this quote. Is it possible that this game sold so well that it overloaded the EA servers or do you guys think this is just PR spin?
 
I

inky

Member
GlassBox said:
It's not just a case of DRM. The game is designed with core features of the simulation to be run on the cloud.
Click to expand...

Yes. To justify the DRM as there is no reason that needs to be the case.

And despite what a lot of uneducated people think. You can't just "flip a switch" and turn that functionality off like DRM
Click to expand...

You should educate yourself then on what people are saying. Few if anyone actually believes it's a matter of flipping off a switch. People want to play the game they payed for and there are ways and changes EA can make (but won't) to allow for offline play.
 
Garcia

Garcia

Member
R1CHO said:
Why this shit storm didn't really happen with Blizzard and D3? There were complains from fans, but no this level of media cover, and at the end, they didn't give a shit, got the moneys and run.
Click to expand...

Because Sim City's fanbase is really hardcore. Just google how many mods have been released (and are still being updated) for SimCity 4, 10 years after its launch.

I'm both sad for Maxis and relieved to see the overwhelming backslash that came as a consequence of implementing that online-only DRM.
 
T

Tenrius

Member
EA is taking a lot of bad steps, first Origin and now this. Depressing how it gets in the way of enjoying actual games.
 
D

Deadbeat

Banned
GlassBox said:
It's not just a case of DRM. The game is designed with core features of the simulation to be run on the cloud. It's a completely different beast than simple "Digital Rights".

And despite what a lot of uneducated people think. You can't just "flip a switch" and turn that functionality off like DRM
Click to expand...
You yourself have no idea how much of the game is done server side so you shouldnt be calling other people out as "uneducated". People said this crap with AC2 and a random group of people on a forum figured out how to emulate the server side data in 3 weeks.
 
S

Seiru

Banned
PastorOfMuppets said:
Just playing Devil's Advocate for a second here because of this quote. Is it possible that this game sold so well that it overloaded the EA servers or do you guys think this is just PR spin?
Click to expand...

"Well the problem is the game just sold SO well!" is always the PR spin in situations like this.
 
X

x-Lundz-x

Member
PastorOfMuppets said:
Just playing Devil's Advocate for a second here because of this quote. Is it possible that this game sold so well that it overloaded the EA servers or do you guys think this is just PR spin?
Click to expand...

EA has been in the games business long enough, there is a science behind pre order numbers and what that means for approximate launch day sales. They knew damn good and well what was coming and didn't prepare for it.
 
E

ekim

Member
I don't think the main problem is the fact that you have to be always online for the DRM but rather the fact that there is really calculations and synching running on those servers and that.

The alleged console always online DRM is "just" like the ubi-launcher. So I won't bet my money on the industry thinking about not implementing always online DRM.
 
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