This is over on Toms Hardware. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/EA-SimCity-Marketing-servers-problems,21441.html
Quote
With the SimCity server situation still dire, despite Maxis cutting non-essential game functions, EA's decided to put a hold on the game's marketing probably with the hope that with fewer potential customers hearing about the game, there will be fewer new players joining the game and making the situation worse.
In a letter to EA Origin LinkShare affiliates, which Polygon has managed to get its hands on, EA's stated that it's "deactivated all SimCity text links and creative," and asks its affiliates to "please remove any copy promoting SimCity from your website for the time-being."
SimCity has had so many issues with its servers that Amazon pulled the digital download from its shelves at one point. It's only recently back on sale on Amazon, with a warning to expect connectivity issues until further notice.
The entire situation is reminiscent of Blizzard's disastrous Diablo III launch, though the worst of the connectivity issues were worked out within the first three days. Despite Maxis's frantic work into fixing servers, it looks it'll still be a while before all the kinks are worked out, especially since EA's decided that getting fewer players to buy the game is the current best solution.
Ouch.
Sixteen men on a deadman's chest
YoHo!!!!! And a bottle of rum!
I am really glad I did not rush out and get this game. I am sure I will get it one day but only after it is deeply discounted.
Yeah complain and bash all you want. I have no problems with Sim City now after the first week fiasco.
But this is a persistent problem due to the nature of the game. They need to continually invest in servers as users increase. But it will bite them back once player population dwindles. It's a problem they (EA) brought upon themselves.
I'm glad I deleted my anti-DRM post in the other Sim City thread so I can bash it here instead.
There is NO reason for a mandatory "always online" DRM at this stage of the game. There are plenty of other effective DRM schemes, and the always-online DRM is simply insulting. I'm glad they're having trouble, and I hope there company goes broke because of it.
>:(
Quote from: TheCommandTent on March 11, 2013, 06:51:56 PM
I am really glad I did not rush out and get this game. I am sure I will get it one day but only after it is deeply discounted.
I'm thinking the same, but I suspect that by the time its a $5 bargin bin deal, EA will have shut down the servers...and since you need to be online to even play single player...forgetta bout it >:(
Quote from: jomni on March 11, 2013, 07:20:30 PM
Yeah complain and bash all you want. I have no problems with Sim City now after the first week fiasco.
But this is a persistent problem due to the nature of the game. They need to continually invest in servers as users increase. But it will bite them back once player population dwindles. It's a problem they (EA) brought upon themselves.
True. But not much in the way of good news for Maxis.
^Yeah. EA will just shake it off like a grizzly bear shakes of creek water but Maxis and the Simcity name are going to get hurt in a long convalescence required kinda way.
This is not good.
Why the concern for Maxis? According to MobyGames (http://www.mobygames.com/company/maxis-software-inc), EA bought Maxis out in 1997.
Because EA will turn them into fish food if they don't crank out the winners. Then, no more simcities.
It's EA's fault and they'd have a hard time trying to blame it on Maxis considering what happened at launch.
EA doesn't need an excuse.
Disappointing. EA is supposed to know better than to let this kind of stuff happen.
People are voting by their wallets. Buyers are still there despite the DRM.
From what I read, the game is fundamentally broken, with or without the DRM. Barnum was right.
The game doesn't feel "fundamentally broken" to me... ???
It's a fun, very different take on SimCity.
Funny how people condem things when they first appear and are not exactly what they want or are not just a straight upgrade of the last interation.
Civ V went through the same teeth nashing when it first came out, because it wasn't a straight port of the Civ IV.
Yes there are bugs in the game, yes the always on DRM blows. But lots of people I read, and myself, are having fun with the game... hardly "fundamentally broken"....
Saw this on Rock-Paper-Shotgun site. A scathing review, almost a condemnation, but not about the game play itself....more about the drm/must be online aspects. I was interested in the release but haven't and won't pull the trigger on it. From what I have read in these forums it seems to more an mmo than a solo experience (which is what I would want to play). Anyway, for what it's worth, here it is....http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/11/simcity-is-inherently-broken-lets-not-let-this-go/#more-145044
John Walker is a man after my own heart. Thanks for the link, Rayfer.
But what about this bit
Quote
I feel very bad for many of the developers at Maxis, who would have set out to make the best game they could. They, of all people, should possibly be the angriest – to see their creation so needlessly broken, so cruelly and stupidly trapped in an online-only prison, cursed to piss players off where it should be providing them fun. I would like to see them speak out too – they should have their voices heard, let them express their frustration.
Didn't Maxis go into bed with EA knowing about the DRM? If not - or if it was pounced on them once the deed was sealed then fine - they are innocent - but did they
really not know about the DRM? Where they (like so many developers) not enticed by the promise of more money and less piracy?
I find it difficult to believe they were innocent in it.
As for DRM? I don't really care one way or the other - so long as it's not intrusive.
EA purchased Maxis years ago, so it's not a matter of "getting into bed with them, DRM be damned".
Aside from the DRM, I've read that pathfinding doesn't work right, importing and exporting money or resources to neighboring cities (the fundamental hook of the game) doesn't work right, there are frequent crashes not DRM-related, and water and power allocation doesn't work right.
Sounds fundamentally broken to me.
And now a Maxis insider steps forward: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/12/simcity-server-not-necessary/
It seems its possible to play the game up to 20 mins with out server contact....
'fundamentally broken' eh?
Well then this is the first 'fundamentally broken' game that has literally soaked up the hours of the day from me. And I am having a blast with it!
The 'nonsense and screaming the loudest' train seems to be going full steam ahead on many websites. Not to say that the release wasn't a debacle, because it was. And the DRM sucks indeed, but the sheer anger and bloated articles on the net are just eyebrow raising.
I lean more towards Barth's comment.
Quote from: Rayfer on March 12, 2013, 10:57:22 AM
Saw this on Rock-Paper-Shotgun site. A scathing review, almost a condemnation, but not about the game play itself....more about the drm/must be online aspects. I was interested in the release but haven't and won't pull the trigger on it. From what I have read in these forums it seems to more an mmo than a solo experience (which is what I would want to play). Anyway, for what it's worth, here it is....http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/11/simcity-is-inherently-broken-lets-not-let-this-go/#more-145044
from the article..
QuoteBut no! cry EA and their more loyal defenders. The online is there for the players! It's not DRM, it's about enhancing the game, it's designed that way, it's it's it's... It's all bollocks. Yes, SimCity offers some multiplayer options that sound a lot of fun. Being able to build cities near your chums, create trade routes with them, share resources, be affected both positively and negatively by your neighbours. Ranked leaderboards, cloud-saved cities, perhaps even world-wide events at a later stage? And of course everything is always up-to-date, latest patch, etc. This is all brilliant stuff. If I want it.
What EA and Maxis have done with SimCity is attempt a year-long PR assault to suggest that the online-only nature of SimCity is designed to offer enhancements for gamers. This is simply not true. It's utter rubbish. It's a backward step for a format that seemed to be managing for years to offer single player and multiplayer options for games without the universe cracking in two. The idea that multiplayer-only is an enhancement is such an obvious piece of newspeak, such a ridiculous untruth, that we can only loudly and furiously react against it if we're to not see it incredulously accepted as fact. I do worry it's maybe already too late.
These are the exact points that were made regarding Diablo 3's always online DRM (along with the Ubisoft crap before that) and this writer is stating the obvious facts as I've seen so many others do in the past regarding the subject. It's the only sane view, from a consumer viewpoint, that I can see.
I'm just appalled that some customers buy into these publisher's nonsense about it having to be online only - enough so that they're publicly repeating the official EA line about how it's so much better this way, a great leap in features, as opposed to having the online gameplay being a separate option as it traditionally has been and should be.
I was kinda curious about this new SimCity but even if it's in perfect shape, this bullshit online DRM has got to go before I do anything but watch the carnage unfold (once again).
It probably is better online with others - the maps seem so small.
I would like to buy - I loved the original and 2000 - but I have no intention of playing online and therefore no need to be online.
So until they drop that (and make the maps bigger - I've seen several videos of people playing and the maps they've used are really small) I'll keep hold of my money.
Didn't you buy Diablo 3 Nefaro? :P
Quote from: Bison on March 12, 2013, 05:57:28 PM
Didn't you buy Diablo 3 Nefaro? :P
Yes. And it still pisses me off. I had to have it .. because it's Diablo. But in the end I don't think it (and it's DRM) was worth what they wanted for it.
Quote from: JudgeDredd on March 12, 2013, 05:55:38 PM
So until they drop that (and make the maps bigger - I've seen several videos of people playing and the maps they've used are really small) I'll keep hold of my money.
Actually I appreciate the small maps. They make the game so much challenging as you need to maximize all your space. There are real-world cities with those kinds of constraints like Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. Definitely not a relaxing game of just placing things at random without any thought. A lot of thinking needs to be done this time around which makes it a better strategy game.
Quote from: Nefaro on March 12, 2013, 06:13:15 PM
Quote from: Bison on March 12, 2013, 05:57:28 PM
Didn't you buy Diablo 3 Nefaro? :P
Yes. And it still pisses me off. I had to have it .. because it's Diablo. But in the end I don't think it (and it's DRM) was worth what they wanted for it.
I would have skipped
Diablo III due to the DRM but Blizzard gave me a free copy for subscribing to
World of WarCraft for a year.
Now I no longer play WoW or
Diablo III.
You could be correct Jomni - but still - it seems there's "limited" play with such small areas.
That's not fact as I haven't got the game - I'm just going by the videos I've seen. The areas to build on are very small and seem to fill up rather quickly - and after that you seem to be "firefighting" issues.
I don't know...I just don't like the idea of my gameplay area being reduced for no apparent reason. It seems a limit for some other underlying reason than "gameplay".
The players do not seem to be sitting on their laurels mind you - but making a game a clickfest by speeding it up, reducing the gameplay area and making things happen very often doesn't necessarily make a good game for me.
Again - I am only going by the videos of gameplay I've seen on Youtube.
I think if they were to get rid of the requirement for servers I may well jump in - issues and gameplay area size aside because I used to love Sim City.
Mind you that most of the livestream vids I have seen play the game on turbo speed constantly.
Something I only do when I am waiting on something to finish building or getting a certain amount of cash.
Simcity is not a clickfest by any stretch.
It has a pretty relaxed pace. I am allergic for clickfest games like multiplayer Starcraft. :)
I agree on the small mapsizes though.
EA/Maxis claim this was a business decision as the game is mainstream and smaller mapsizes ensure most people can play the game. They claim the level of 'sim' (or tracking of individual units) in the game is at such a high level that bigger mapsizes will affect performance significantly.
They also stated they are, in fact, looking at increasing mapsize later on, though.
For now it doesn't bother me that much. It makes the game pretty hard because planning is paramount for keeping things efficient later on in your city, where before you could just spread out.
But it does detract from the 'city' feel of the game.
CitiesXL, for example, has a pretty similar way of approaching your city buildup, but has far bigger maps to play on. In that game you can indeed create huge metropoli.
^ok...thanks.
I didn't know there were varying speeds. All videos I've seen have played at what seemed to be a very fast speed and I didn't see any where the gameplay speed was mentioned or tinkered with
Yeah there are 3 speeds, turtle, llama, and cheeta. I play mostly on turtle and llama. These are speed settings you can change on the fly.
The small maps bug me too. I want the sprawling metropolis' of the past games.... maybe some day.
Game is still fun to play. I have never had a crash from day 1, just lucky I guess. First few days I did get booted and could get in to play, but never lost a city.
Now I can log in ever time, no problem.
This is not a defense of the DRM or EA's business practices... I just like the game they are trying madly to wreck. :P
What is the appeal between this and Cities XL then?
I mean Cities XL is £19.99. From what I gather it's been around a while so "might" provide a flawless game. There are huge maps. The graphics (from screenshots and videos of both titles) appear superior to Sim City.
So why Sim City over Cities XL Platinum (if at all) given the considerable price difference also?
Quote from: JudgeDredd on March 13, 2013, 06:05:37 AM
What is the appeal between this and Cities XL then?
I mean Cities XL is £19.99. From what I gather it's been around a while so "might" provide a flawless game. There are huge maps. The graphics (from screenshots and videos of both titles) appear superior to Sim City.
So why Sim City over Cities XL Platinum (if at all) given the considerable price difference also?
the brand?
CitiesXL has a pretty bad reputation.
It was originally developed by Monte Cristo, but they went bankrupt pretty soon after the first CitiesXL game was released. Rumours have it that it was because of server maintenance costs for the online component of the game (they pioneered the inter-city relationship Simcity has now too).
Anyway, the publisher aparently kept on 'working' on the game. It's in parenthesis, because the game still suffers from some annoying bugs to this day and the 'Platinum' version is nothing more than a building pack which every modder could have done too.
Support has been slow with only a few patches divided over all titles, never adressing the glaring bugs that hamper gameplay.
Soltan Gris, a modder, has created a bugfix mod and that is included (or going to be, I can't remember) in a last patch in fact.
Mind you, the game is playabale. Most bugs have a workaround.
The interface is a bit cumbersome, though and your cities feel a bit sterile. At least I think so.
Nevertheless its a fun city builder and looks gorgeous, zoomed out. Besides, its the only recent city builder where you can actually create huge cities!
Trains are not in, though. Trams are a mod, as are ferries.
So the public transportation side of things is pretty lacking.
Does Cities XL have the "complex" interrelationships (due to the per-sim tracking)... and depleting resources that Sim City 2013 has?
No it does not.
The whole inter-city stuff pretty much never got finished or as featured as they originally intended due to them going bankrupt.
You can trade cash and resources with your cities and with an AI corp called Omnicorp.
Resources don't deplete as far as I know, but certain maps lack certain resources.
What's the big deal about resources depleting? Having to move from coal to oil to windpower or, worse, being at the behest of someone else (in this multiplayer environment) selling you energy?
What about when water is depleted? Iron (I think I saw that in a video)?
And if you are not playign multiplayer? What happens when resources are depleted?
Quote from: jomni on March 13, 2013, 08:01:02 AM
Does Cities XL have the "complex" interrelationships (due to the per-sim tracking)... and depleting resources that Sim City 2013 has?
Yes it does and it does it in very much the same manner as Simcity. You have a class of people required to work certain types of business, industry, jobs. It is driven by numbers not necessarily joe sim here and there but x number of lower income jobs, middle income, and high income jobs.
TBH I don't recall off hand if the resources deplete like they are supposed to in Simcity. However you have a greater array of overlays to determine various factors influencing the city. And of course there are elements in Cities you do not find in Simcity like there are elements in Simcity you do not find in Cities.
Just read and article on foxnews.com tech section about SimCity...apparently, there is an issue with the programming so that the People will always go to the closest job, fire trucks and such cant find destinations if its not a direct route, etc. People have to build cities with one road shaped like a snake so the firetrucks don't get lost.
I haven't experienced a fire truck getting lost, but I have experienced a fire truck stuck in traffic and/or taking a round about way to get to different locations.
I have seen my buses going around in circles instead of a longer route.
I think the going in circles has to do with the idea of each individual sim. So if you have a bus stop, rather than the kid sims being there at the stop they are walking around and the bus circles and circles and circles until it picks them all up.
I gave it a cursory glance on Origin last night - I know - I'm nearly as bad as Gus...and I say nearly 'cos I did stop myself!
But - yeah right - Limited Edition @ £44.99 (which looked like the basic game to me) and the Deluxe Edition @ £69.99 (which looked like some extra DLC).
Those were the options. I think not EA.
Its just keeps getting more and more interesting with this game. Now a modder has been able to play offline and outside the small city borders.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/14/modder-runs-simcity-offline-maxis-remains-silent/
Quote
Obviously this hack doesn't allow saving, loading or regional features when playing offline, but he has found a way to have unlimited offline play. However, when connected to the servers, it still remembers the road placement outside of the boundaries. This all amply demonstrates that the game can very easily be modded to run offline, rather than the "significant amount of engineering" Maxis repeatedly claimed. A local save is now all that's required.
http://www.videogamer.com/pc/simcity/news/simcity_modded_to_enable_indefinite_offline_play.html
Sounds like this was in the cards for him, but the SimCity launch debacle may have hastened his departure: http://kotaku.com/5991181/ea-ceo-john-riccitiello-steps-down
A good comment on Twitter that pretty much says it all for the legion of simpletons who think every EA misstep is 100% his doing :
QuoteBlaming Riccitiello for EA's decline is like blaming the Emperor for the Death Star's thermal exhaust port.
Well those who registered Simcity before 25 March get a free game on Origins.
Here's the list:
Battlefield 3 (Standard Edition)
Bejeweled 3
Dead Space 3 (Standard Edition)
Mass Effect 3 (Standard Edition)
MOHW (Standard Edition)
NFS Most Wanted (Standard Edition)
Plants vs. Zombies
SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition
Quote from: Bison on March 18, 2013, 05:05:34 PM
Well those who registered Simcity before 25 March get a free game on Origins.
Here's the list:
Battlefield 3 (Standard Edition)
Bejeweled 3
Dead Space 3 (Standard Edition)
Mass Effect 3 (Standard Edition)
MOHW (Standard Edition)
NFS Most Wanted (Standard Edition)
Plants vs. Zombies
SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition
or your money back
fixed what I imagine most people would like to see
I don't think the game is broken beyond repair. In fact it is quite playable right now. I think it's a good effort on the part of EA to pay back their customers for a botched released.
Apparently SimCity isn't really meant to be a single player game
"Lucy Bradshaw, head of SimCity creator Maxis, said an offline, single-player mode did not fit with its "vision" for the urban-planning game.
She said many players preferred the multiplayer version of the game."
From this article on the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21828799
Quote from: Wolfe1759 on March 18, 2013, 06:09:02 PM
Apparently SimCity isn't really meant to be a single player game
Rock Paper Shotgun already called bullshit (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/16/simcity-bosss-straight-answers-seem-pretty-wiggly/) on that one.
I'm not saying that Simcity should not have an offline, single player mode. I think it does. However the fact that Simcity was going to require an internet connection and be multiplayer was known long before release. I find it rather humorous that now after release it's garnering this much attention. Sorry folks but this was a known quantity. It wasn't like they sprung it on the community at the last minute just prior to release.
Quote from: Bison on March 18, 2013, 07:23:03 PM
I'm not saying that Simcity should not have an offline, single player mode. I think it does. However the fact that Simcity was going to require an internet connection and be multiplayer was known long before release. I find it rather humorous that now after release it's garnering this much attention. Sorry folks but this was a known quantity. It wasn't like they sprung it on the community at the last minute just prior to release.
+1
Yeah, I'm getting tired of reading all the "EA lied" rants.... :P
On the plus side I got Medal of Honor:Warfighter for free! 8) (Well almost, it's VERY slow doanloading...)
Not that I wanted it but it was the only one of the freebees that looked interesting. I suck at FPS's......
Somebody jumped or was pushed today: http://investor.ea.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=749234
Quote from: Barthheart on March 18, 2013, 08:09:21 PM
On the plus side I got Medal of Honor:Warfighter for free! 8) (Well almost, it's VERY slow doanloading...)
Not that I wanted it but it was the only one of the freebees that looked interesting. I suck at FPS's......
I'm sort of torn between that Dead Space 3 or Mass Effect 3.
Quote from: Bison on March 18, 2013, 07:23:03 PM
I'm not saying that Simcity should not have an offline, single player mode. I think it does. However the fact that Simcity was going to require an internet connection and be multiplayer was known long before release. I find it rather humorous that now after release it's garnering this much attention. Sorry folks but this was a known quantity. It wasn't like they sprung it on the community at the last minute just prior to release.
There are always complaints about such things before release. It happened with the previous ones, such as Diablo 3, too. It all comes to a head when they actually do it on release day and the larger masses of people finally realize that it affects them - otherwise they didn't give a damn about the implications until the moment it inconvenienced them, in their short-sightedness.
I don't know. I brought it up here and not many folks seemed overly concerned.
Quote from: Bison on March 18, 2013, 09:24:17 PM
I don't know. I brought it up here and not many folks seemed overly concerned.
I'm just generalizing. I've seen it numerous times before and it goes down the same every time. A few people complain when draconian DRM is announced beforehand, but most people don't care. Until they get the game and run into the headaches. Then the fit hits the shan, ya know?
I'm pretty sure a large amount of consumers don't know details about bad DRM.. just that something isn't working properly (and that it shouldn't be that way). Us hardcore gamers do, of course, but I've met plenty of people who don't know much about it other than occasionally being an annoyance.
Quote from: Longdan on March 18, 2013, 08:28:58 PM
Somebody jumped or was pushed today: http://investor.ea.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=749234
The cars just keep piling on the slow-moving train wreck that is SimCity. Wow.
My guess is 'pushed'. This doesn't sound like Riccitiello falling on his sword in some selfless noble act of taking responsibility.
I dunno. I think people kind of hope the DRM won't be too much of a pain in the ass since that is the promise...(you'll love it!! you won't notice it!! you want it!!)
that it won't ruin your fun. Then when they get to the DRM and it sucks, then they are pist.
I just spotted this: "SimCity Offline Mode Now Available To The General Public (http://www.cinemablend.com/games/SimCity-Offline-Mode-Now-Available-General-Public-53739.html)"
It seems that all you have to do to play
SimCity offline is to remove the code
QuotekNoRepeatNetworkAlertSeconds : 15,
kNetDownForceQuitAfterMinutes : 20,
From the article linked to above: "You just have to edit the package files, find the two lines above and remove them. Two lines."
Now someone needs to figure out how to save the game locally.
But you can't save so we need to wait. Maybe make a dummy server or something.
Quote from: Barthheart on March 18, 2013, 08:09:21 PM
Quote from: Bison on March 18, 2013, 07:23:03 PM
I'm not saying that Simcity should not have an offline, single player mode. I think it does. However the fact that Simcity was going to require an internet connection and be multiplayer was known long before release. I find it rather humorous that now after release it's garnering this much attention. Sorry folks but this was a known quantity. It wasn't like they sprung it on the community at the last minute just prior to release.
+1
Yeah, I'm getting tired of reading all the "EA lied" rants.... :P
On the plus side I got Medal of Honor:Warfighter for free! 8) (Well almost, it's VERY slow doanloading...)
Not that I wanted it but it was the only one of the freebees that looked interesting. I suck at FPS's......
MoH:WF was so bad, owning it grants you automatic acceptance to the BF4 beta!!
Yeah MOH:WF sucks. The first one was better.
I may have posted this before, but back in my days at the old ANTIC magazine, I had a lot of dealings with EA. This was the good times, the time of Archon and Pinball Construction Set, when every title they produced was golden, and they were the poster child for innovation in gaming. Even back then, management was a bunch of pricks.
I forgot to say earlier...lol at offering SimCity 4 to people who can't play SimCity 5!
"Here...have the one that works!"
Quote from: undercovergeek on March 19, 2013, 07:37:36 AM
MoH:WF was so bad, owning it grants you automatic acceptance to the BF4 beta!!
That alone would make it worth it to choose the free copy of MOHWF but then i read the fine print: OFFER EXPIRES OCTOBER 22, 2012
Beware! >:(