Diddy Kong
Banned
It's the Nintendo curse
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EA suspends SimCity marketing campaigns
- Thread starter iMax
- Start date
But you're assuming that the primary reason for this was piracy only. Where's the evidence to back that up? Other than just "lol EA"?
All the interviews with the Maxis producers, designers and Creative Director Ocean Quigly have indicated that the primary reason for online only was gameplay. I assume though you won't take their word for it and assume they're lying right?
Pie and Beans
Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
You'd like to think the decision makers behind this will be fired, but they never are.
CaptainTiptop
Member
Increase city size for single player and allow single player games to be played offline with local saves.
That's all anyone wanted anyway.
That's all anyone wanted anyway.
I haven't played this new Sim City, but I was under the impression that it was an online-integrated world, with players interacting with each other.
Isn't the game literally built around that concept? I'm not arguing, just asking for clarification because I'm not very informed about the game.
Exactly! No one understands this or everyone just assumes "well, I wanted to play offline". But it's been known since the game's announcement that this was an online only game.
Also, in the ultimate twist of irony, EA/Maxis likely didn't want to include options at the outset such as increased city size based on system specs and such because that would be perceived as a "Barrier of Entry" to the consumer (someone would complain, "why do I have to buy a $2000 machine to have a super huge city!?"), which again, is funny given the current circumstances.
The issue is EA's utter incompetence running Origin.
Thats bullshit. EU wasnt sorted after a day, it wasnt even sorted in a week as a matter of fact. People could play at nights and in the morning, but evenings were unplayable for most.
Simcity's problems have nothing to do with Origin ...
It's not a valid excuse as it still doesn't make sense why I can't play in my own region offline by myself. Why can't they just keep the servers up for those who want to play with others, but give everyone else a single player offline option? SimCity has never ever been about multiplayer, there has to be a motive behind forcing multi into a franchise that really doesn't need it at all.
stufte
Member
That's actually a very small part of the problem. Origin =/= Simcity servers.
You *can* play it in a single player way though; there's absolutely no reason for why they couldn't have had an offline mode.
You can set up a Private server and just play with yourself, managing the other cities just fine... but you're STILL playing online. And thus because the servers aren't running right now you're cockblocked from doing that.
The multiplayer is being forced in a series that has been a single player experience for years.
SolarPowered
Member
EA does count this as the third generation of gaming(since 3D's birth), right?
The third generation curse rears it's ugly head.
SteveWinwood
Member
Explain to me how trading oil to a different plot of a city requires me to be online please.
In what world do you live in where I couldn't create two different plots on the same computer and trade between them?
It's so ingrained in the game right? Should be simple to understand why it would be required and how such a thing could never happen offline.
Yes. Absolutely. I do believe they are lying.
YodaGoneMad
Banned
Not just the ones people can live without either. Leaderboards I wouldn't miss, but cheetah speed? It totally changes the game, it is now like watching paint dry a lot of the time.
link1201
Member
May have something to do with them having the power to decide who gets fired and who doesn't. lol
This seems very fair to me.
Xbox 720 with Origin support.
There's absolutely no reason this game has to be online only. You could do the similar regional interaction in Sim City 4.
Only slight improvements connection wise but that's all going to go away anyway once the weekend hits (it's also Spring Break for most of the west coast)
there has not been much change, no. they've added additional servers (which are fresh, so your old cities won't carry over) but they're also having problems.
so. yep. "SimCity servers are down. Attempting to reconnect."
ebullientprism
Member
I must say, as someone who absolutely despises always online DRM for (what essentially could/should be) Single player games, I am getting more than a little smug satisfaction from it.
Of course these issues will be fixed at some point. And like Diablo 3, the same people will forget about it and go on to buy the next game that pulls this crap. And it wont work on launch again. And the usual suspects will go on defending this as the way of the future.
Of course these issues will be fixed at some point. And like Diablo 3, the same people will forget about it and go on to buy the next game that pulls this crap. And it wont work on launch again. And the usual suspects will go on defending this as the way of the future.
Yuuuup. On the east coast everyone's gonna be coming home from work soon or whatever other obligations as well. So there's noooooo chance these servers are going to be in tip top shape today.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
Actually, yes I will go ahead and assume they are lying.
I haven't played a SimCity game since SimCity 2000 when I was a kid, but even as someone with no vested interest in the franchise or even one who wants to purchase this game, this whole situation is making me fucking livid and changing my entire point of view.there has not been much change, no. they've added additional servers (which are fresh, so your old cities won't carry over) but they're also having problems.
so. yep. "SimCity servers are down. Attempting to reconnect."
Kinky John
Member
That would be a good move by EA. You'd get a whole heap of people who are currently complaining signing up for the next EA always-online potential clusterfuck thinking "Ah well, if it all goes tits-up I'll probably get a freebie".
HoodWinked
Member
good guy EA, makes always-online DRM look terrible so the industry goes away from it
amirite?
but in serious note is it possible to decouple the online off simcity? they removed cheetah speed from the game because it was causing extra load on their servers does that mean some of the calculations are being done server side?
amirite?
but in serious note is it possible to decouple the online off simcity? they removed cheetah speed from the game because it was causing extra load on their servers does that mean some of the calculations are being done server side?
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
Rename Maxis EA Clown College
Now Amazon has stopped selling it maybe we should target other major retailers and ask them to stop selling it also.
I still see it at Amazon...
Flying Toaster
Member
The game was originally designed and then later developed to be always online. Even if it did not have always online DRM the game is built to be played on the cloud. Yes the server does do a lot of calculations.
Joe Shlabotnik
Banned
The high-visibility of this screw-up is different from Diablo III as well. And I'm not saying D3 wasn't a massive, high-profile game, but SimCity really is trying to advertise to as many human beings as possible. The target demographic is everyone. I can't even remember when I've seen a title airing so many television commercials.
So when something this broadly appealing falls apart out of the gate, there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of people experiencing this particular brand of bullshit for the first time. If we're annoyed about this, imagine all those people who heretofore didn't even know a game could just *not work* for a week or more. It's a disaster.
So when something this broadly appealing falls apart out of the gate, there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of people experiencing this particular brand of bullshit for the first time. If we're annoyed about this, imagine all those people who heretofore didn't even know a game could just *not work* for a week or more. It's a disaster.
SteveWinwood
Member
I had my old roommate text me this morning because he just found out there was a new simcity. He only heard about it because of some news story he heard about (in his words) "was completely broke and wasn't going to ever work". He asked if there was anywhere he could just buy simcity 4 again.
So this might not be the thread to ask this in (don't really want to start a thread about this), and obviously the situation is not going to be the same what with the single-player experience shoehorned into multi-player not really applying, but is Destiny going to face the same kinds of issues? It's supposed to be only playable online, right?
Obviously the outrage over a primarily single-player experience being always online won't apply as much, with Destiny being designed around it, but I don't doubt there will be difficulties, with it being one of the first console games to do it. (PSO was like that too?)
Obviously the outrage over a primarily single-player experience being always online won't apply as much, with Destiny being designed around it, but I don't doubt there will be difficulties, with it being one of the first console games to do it. (PSO was like that too?)
terrdactycalsrock
Member
This thing is a real cluster fuck
IISANDERII
Member
Don't forget that they have to also pay for all their lawyers and lobbying efforts so that they can continue to get away with their appalling priorities.
I would hope that Bungie have asked Blizzard for advice on how to create a functioning server base for high load. While D3 suffered, WoW hasn't really had much of a an issue on that front in the last few expansion packs
TheGreyHulk
Member
attn publishers.... if you plan on creating a game that requires an always online connection to servers, you better be damn well sure you have the capacity to meet demand at launch.
diablo 3 was the first example. classic franchise with a huge following that were waiting for the next iteration and they underestimated demand and their servers were punched in the nads.
simcity is the same shit. a classic franchise with a huge following that wanted the game but they underestimated the demand and clearly miscalculated how things should have been run on the servers. people play simcity for hours at a time.. you're not going to get free slots quickly, so you gotta have the capacity to cover this.
please don't let there be a third turd.
diablo 3 was the first example. classic franchise with a huge following that were waiting for the next iteration and they underestimated demand and their servers were punched in the nads.
simcity is the same shit. a classic franchise with a huge following that wanted the game but they underestimated the demand and clearly miscalculated how things should have been run on the servers. people play simcity for hours at a time.. you're not going to get free slots quickly, so you gotta have the capacity to cover this.
please don't let there be a third turd.
lordfroakie
Member
EA better fucking leave Maxis alone
Yeah Amazon put it back up for sale. Which is disappointing. Methinks EA gave them a call. At least there is a big warning message on the game page.