SimCity announced, 2013 release.

[Tonci87 163]

I do not understand how people can blame things like this on the user. When people buy the game, they are surely not buying it support the company, even though they technically are, they are purchasing it for themselves.

Yeah but why do people preorder it? Every big Game with always online DRM had massive problems on launch. People mostly weren´t able to play the game they just bought. Why do people still believe in the "our servers are great" PR BS? You know that they will most likely shut down the servers shortly after the next installment of the series is released, if not earlier? What will you do with your game when it comes to this? You can still install and play Sim City 4 if you wish. I doubt that you will be able to do the same with Simcity 5 in 4 years.

People need to cancel preorders as soon as always online DRM is mentioned. Sales is the only language those big publishers understand. If they see that People cancel preorders en masse, then, and only then, they will rethink their decisions.

[jblackrupert 14]

Yeah but why do people preorder it?

Why are Nigerian scams still going strong after 40+ years?

Why do people still believe in talking snakes and a woman made from a rib?

Why is Kim kardashian famous?

Simple, there is no shortage of stupid people who will line up like sheep to be take advantage of no matter how blatantly full of shit something is.

[.Taffy 10]

Over the last few days the EA/Maxis' claim that the always online connection was necessary because it handled some of the simulation calculations has been increasingly doubted. In fact Kotaku pretty much disproved this by conducting of an oh so scientific experiment...yanking out the internet cable and observing the simulation running for a full 19 minutes without imploding before the game noticed the lack of a sync and arbitrarily disconnected.

http://kotaku.com/5990165/my-simcity-city-thrived-offline-for-19-minutes

Following this comes what may quite possibly be the final nail in the coffin of their claims. An unidentified but verified Maxis employee sways from the party line to say that running the game off line would be a simple process!

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/12/simcity-server-not-necessary/

I was truly excited when this game was announced but overtime my enthusiasm weakened and now it would take more changes than simply an offline mode for me to buy it. Instead I bought Tropico 4 on sale at Steam, full bundle for £7.50! I don't regret it.

Other future alternatives are also out there. If it's transportation you find lacking in the new SimCity keep an eye on Cities in Motion 2 which now has dynamic cities rather than the fixed ones of old.

http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/cities-in-motion-2

I have also been keeping an eye on this something called Synekism (named after an economic concept I believe) which has some very ambitious goals for the future. It may amount to nothing but the guy seems very committed and has made good progress. If it follows the type of devlopment process Kerbal Space Program has been going through it could work very well.

http://www.synekism.com/

Finally this has popped up on Kickstarter, Civitas. I'm a little wary as the timing is a bit off, the SimCity bashing a little underhanded and the funding goal suspiciously low for its aims. There was apparently a reddit discussion on the possibility of it being a hoax though I don't know hwat the outcome was. Are there ANY guarantees that teams can't just run away with the money after a successful Kickstarter?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1584821767/civitas-plan-develop-and-manage-the-city-of-your-d

[Deadfast 43]

The plot thickens: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/14/modder-runs-simcity-offline-maxis-remains-silent/

Are there ANY guarantees that teams can't just run away with the money after a successful Kickstarter?

None.

[kavoven 4]

http://answers.ea.com/t5/Miscellaneous-Issues/Traffic-quot-AI-quot-This-is-why-services-and-traffic-are-broken/td-p/737060

Also interesting! Why traffic AI and so on is broken!

[Tonci87 163]

The plot thickens: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/14/modder-runs-simcity-offline-maxis-remains-silent/

None.

Now lets see how they are gonna talk their way out of this after they have claimed that this is completely impossible...

http://answers.ea.com/t5/Miscellaneo...en/td-p/737060

Also interesting! Why traffic AI and so on is broken!

Doesn´t this render whole parts of the "simulation" completely pointless?

[.Taffy 10]

He was building OUTSIDE the boundaries! This was supposed to be impossible too!

[Messiah 2]

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1aedru/15_dlc_to_get_a_marina_in_sim_city_xpost_rsimcity/

pay 15 dollars and buy a marina for SC5.... for a game that was already expensive, broken and utterly shocking in its implementation. I'm lost for words...

[kavoven 4]

Does someone remember about EA being the worst company on earth? =)

Edit

Here it is:

http://consumerist.com/2012/04/04/congratulations-ea-you-are-the-worst-company-in-america-for-2012/

Edited March 16, 2013 by kavoven

[4 IN 1 0]

Does someone remember about EA being the worst company on earth? =)

Edit

Here it is:

http://consumerist.com/2012/04/04/congratulations-ea-you-are-the-worst-company-in-america-for-2012/

They are looking for the same title this year.;)

[NeMeSiS 11]

I was suddenly reminded of this article.

If you want a vision of the future, imagine SecuROM slapping your face with its dick -- forever." -George Orwell

[kavoven 4]

I was suddenly reminded of this article.

Great article! :D

[Nicholas 5]

So which free game should I get?

Battlfield 3 (Already Own)

Dead Space 3

Mass Effect 3

Medal of Honor: Warfighter

Sim CIty 4: Deluxe Edition (Already Own)

Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Bejeweled 3

Plants vs. Zombies

[.Taffy 10]

John Riccitiello, CEO of EA, is stepping down from his position following EA's poor financial performance. Not directly related to the SimCity fiasco but perhpas symptomatic.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/03/18/ea-ceo-john-riccitiello-steps-down/

[Nicholas 5]

John Riccitiello, CEO of EA, is stepping down from his position following EA's poor financial performance. Not directly related to the SimCity fiasco but perhpas symptomatic.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/03/18/ea-ceo-john-riccitiello-steps-down/

If this has nothing to do with SimCity, why post it here? This is a thread about SimCity, no? I think it deserves it's own thread.

[Mr. Charles 22]

I'd get Mass Effect 3 :)

[k3lt 3]

I lol'd at this selection, all these games are heavily dlc powered.

Well played EA.

[Messiah 2]

I laughed more that one of the choices is SC4.

[Placebo 29]

That's the one my wife wants from the selection, although I'm tempted to simply buy her the non-Origin version instead.

[mrcash2009 0]

Brilliant, ....

"Sorry we decided to create a situation for ourselves that fucked you over as a customer for one of our games you wanted to enjoy but cannot. So heres some free options to still come into the fold under origin, of which insult the full purchasers of those particular titles using origin currently. It still means your stuck with not enjoying the game you actually purchased & wanted to enjoy by our stupidity, have a good day & thank you for your continued Origin support."

So in one swoop they ruin Simcity enjoyment & insult those who paid full for those games listed. Why dont they do the honest thing and stop insulting everyone who bought those other games and actually "fix" the game in question.

Priceless (excuse the pun).

A truly "free" game would be standalone without Origin.

They have fucked this up monumentally :)

Edited March 19, 2013 by mrcash2009

[Messiah 2]

That's the one my wife wants from the selection, although I'm tempted to simply buy her the non-Origin version instead.

SC4 deluxe? Cracking game, still gets me addicted when I juimp on for 'only an hour'. You could have picked it up in the steam sales for under a fiver recently, think it's about Seven these days. Still a bargain (and a slap in the face from EA)

[Placebo 29]

Yeah she hasn't played that one, she stopped playing sim city years ago when it became too much like The Sims (her words, these games aren't my thing!), she prefers Anno/Tropico/Civ, but didn't like the last Civ or Anno :) she likes a strategy game where you get to build and explore and research etc but without too much reliance on being a warmonger :)

[Mr. Charles 22]

Yeah she hasn't played that one, she stopped playing sim city years ago when it became too much like The Sims (her words, these games aren't my thing!), she prefers Anno/Tropico/Civ, but didn't like the last Civ or Anno :) she likes a strategy game where you get to build and explore and research etc but without too much reliance on being a warmonger :)

My Civs always get invaded without a big standing army, she should try to build up an army and use it for deterrence. Worked for the USSR and USA and works in Civ ;)

[Placebo 29]

Just bought her Cities XL Platinum, seems to be more her kind of thing :)

[sickboy 13]

I've bought the game over the weekend and must say I am hooked!

I think the gameplay is pretty amazing, especially the multi-city dynamics, and the capability to specialize and grow these cities yourself and have the interaction between them.

I must admit the last Sim City I played was probably SC 2000, and before that the older Sim City's.

I think this new Sim City definitely has retained the old addictive feel, and added a bunch of interesting new aspects.

I'm looking forward to try out Multiplayer with friends - multi-city gameplay can get a little taxing on your own :P

So far I was able to play the game every single time I wanted to, without hassle/issue.

I guess the initial wave has passed, optimizations and some of the more taxing (social) features they disabled indeed helped.

I read this new Sim City is built pretty much like an MMO and they plan to keep making additions and improvements. I for one am excited :)

Edited March 19, 2013 by Sickboy