Topic: New SimCity

[Shorty McNostril]

I can't wait for this.  Looking pretty spiffy.


Total Biscuit played a few hours of it on his live stream.  A link to a vod below if you want to watch.  A great view if you got a couple of hours. 
Anyone else going to pick this up?


http://www.twitch.tv/totalbiscuit/b/373197925

[Louieturkey]

Never been a Sim City person but this looks neat.  I wonder how many Nintendo fans would turn it down due to the hostile nature of EA's and Nintendo's relationship.

[pokepal148]

Never been a Sim City person but this looks neat.  I wonder how many EA execs would turn it down due to the hostile nature of EA's and Nintendo's relationship.

fixed :-)

[Pixelated Pixies]

The GB quicklook is streaming live now. I think it looks neat. The only Simcity game I've ever played was the one on the SNES, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

[Morari]

Origin? Always-on DRM? Forced cloud-based saves?

No thanks. It's junk.

[Pixelated Pixies]

Origin? Always-on DRM? Forced cloud-based saves?

No thanks. It's junk.

Yeah, now that you mention it, I guess the SNES version wasn't all that great.  :

[lolmonade]

Origin? Always-on DRM? Forced cloud-based saves?

No thanks. It's junk.

Hostile attitude aside, as a fan of city/economy building games like Sim City, Roller Coaster Tycoon, etc, this is the reason I'll wait for a steep discount before I consider purchasing a game like this.  My internet connection isn't reliable enough for me to be confident there won't be some snafu in my ability to play the game, and even if that weren't the case, I don't like the concept of having to have a persistent internet connection to play a single-player game (I'm less hostile towards the idea of some sort of one-time online verification, but still don't like it).
 
I also have no trust that EA would maintain the servers indefinitely, and from what i've read, this is truly a game that will be unplayable once the servers are shut down.  I still play Sim City 2000, Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, and Civ II & III from time to time.  I don't like the idea of having no means to play a game like this that relies heavily on replayability 5 to 10 years from now.
 

[UncleBob]

I also have no trust that EA would maintain the servers indefinitely, and from what i've read, this is truly a game that will be unplayable once the servers are shut down.

This.  So much this.  Not a SIMCity fan anyway, but I'm reluctant to ever get into a game that is online-only.  I still have my Intellivision hooked up and still play it occasionally (although, with Intellivision Lives on the DS, I can get my Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Adventure fix, even if it's a bit buggy, I don't need to get it out as much).

The idea of liking a game and *not* being able to play it later makes me sad.

[TJ Spyke]

There is nothing wrong with Origin, so Morari's complaint about that is invalid.

However, there is no reason this game needs to always be online, and that is the reason I was not interested in it when they announced it months ago. I want to be able to play the game even when I don't have Internet access.

[UncleBob]

There is nothing wrong with Origin, so Morari's complaint about that is invalid.

Nothing?  What about all of the issues the system has been having for Day 1 SIM City players?

That seems to be something wrong to me...

[TJ Spyke]

I was talking about Origin as a service, not problems that specific games are having (which is a problem with the game, not Origin itself).

[UncleBob]

The fact that the service can't handle the amount of traffic of a launch-day game would seem to be a problem with the service...

[Oblivion]

I was under the impression that that's not Origin's servers fault, it's the game's servers fault. That's like saying Steam's a piece of **** because TF2's servers are down.

[UncleBob]

https://twitter.com/OriginInsider/status/309046087728119809

We’re making changes to prevent further issues, and are confident that Origin will be stable for international launches later this week.

We’re making changes to prevent further issues, and are confident that Origin will be stable for launches later this week.

Sounds like Origin says the issues were with Origin.  Awfully kind of them to take all the blame if it isn't their fault.

[Oblivion]

Enough with the fucking sarcasm. I was mistaken, no need to rub it in my fucking face.

I was under the impression

impression

[UncleBob]

And I was providing a credible source that you could use to educate yourself and re-evaluate your impression. 

Sounds like Origin says the issues were with Origin.  Awfully kind of them to take all the blame if it isn't their fault.

if.

Didn't even say "You're wrong, haha eat dirt."  Said if you're right, it was awfully kind of Origin.

[Ian Sane]

You know if it wasn't for the always-online I would be interested in this.  I'm not buying any game with a remote off switch.  Nintendo could make the next Zelda always-online and it could get the highest ranking on GameRankings and I wouldn't buy it.  I still play games that are over 20 years old.  A Sim City "purchase" is just an extended rental.

If you're reading this, EA, your stupid restrictive bullshit cost you a sale.  I want the game but I won't buy it in these circumstances.

[Ceric]

From what I read if I want to go back and play Simcity I be better off picking up Simcity 4.

[UncleBob]

So, I'm curious.  For forum members who say that the publisher shouldn't matter, that we should only look at the gameplay... what are your thoughts on this?  Typically, always-on DRM and such don't get in the way of your gameplay... so, should that be ignored as well?

[Ian Sane]

So, I'm curious.  For forum members who say that the publisher shouldn't matter, that we should only look at the gameplay... what are your thoughts on this?  Typically, always-on DRM and such don't get in the way of your gameplay... so, should that be ignored as well?

I'd argue they do get in the way of the gameplay.  If my internet connection goes down and the game abruptly quits in the middle of play, that affects gameplay.  Turning off the server at some point in the future ensures that I cannot enjoy the gameplay again.  If a game crashing bug affects the gameplay, then so does this.

[UncleBob]

So, I'm curious.  For forum members who say that the publisher shouldn't matter, that we should only look at the gameplay... what are your thoughts on this?  Typically, always-on DRM and such don't get in the way of your gameplay... so, should that be ignored as well?

I'd argue they do get in the way of the gameplay.  If my internet connection goes down and the game abruptly quits in the middle of play, that affects gameplay.  Turning off the server at some point in the future ensures that I cannot enjoy the gameplay again.  If a game crashing bug affects the gameplay, then so does this.

Meh, if power goes out, then I can't play the game.  It's not the game's fault if you lose your internet connection.

[Morari]

I still have SimCity 2000 installed on my laptop. I still play it now and then, 19 years later. I guarantee that SimCity 2013 will see forced obsolescence long before that. Requiring a server connection in order to gain access to vital game code and even save files is nothing but a scam. EA had already shot themselves in the foot by shoehorning their games into a broken and bloated distribution system like Origin, so I guess they don't have much else to lose.

[Shaymin]

From what I read if I want to go back and play Simcity I be better off picking up Simcity 4.

SimCity 2000 or bust.


I'll give my comments on the new one on <Parameter:String>

[S-U-P-E-R]

At least "always online" and "doesn't work" is a step up from installing a rootkit on your PC, I guess. I am looking forward to maybe playing this after a patch pirate release that fixes these issues.

[Ian Sane]

So, I'm curious.  For forum members who say that the publisher shouldn't matter, that we should only look at the gameplay... what are your thoughts on this?  Typically, always-on DRM and such don't get in the way of your gameplay... so, should that be ignored as well?

I'd argue they do get in the way of the gameplay.  If my internet connection goes down and the game abruptly quits in the middle of play, that affects gameplay.  Turning off the server at some point in the future ensures that I cannot enjoy the gameplay again.  If a game crashing bug affects the gameplay, then so does this.

Meh, if power goes out, then I can't play the game.  It's not the game's fault if you lose your internet connection.

Internet hiccups are more common than power outages.  Plus now there are TWO things that can kibosh my game instead of just one.  Also this is a single player game so having an extra potential failure point with the internet connection is unnecessary.  It's like making my bicycle require electricity to "unlock" it when the bicycle itself doesn't require it.