EA Removes Forum Posts for SimCity Offline Mod

[Timothy Chang]

EA Removes Forum Posts for SimCity Offline Mod

Want to talk about how to play SimCity offline? You'll have to do it somewhere other than EA's official forums.

SimCity players preferring to play the game offline would certainly be very interested in the recently announced mod that allows them to play without an internet connection [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122702-Modder-Proves-That-SimCity-Works-Offline]. EA, on the other hand, believes the mod violates its Terms of Service, and has promptly removed any related threads, discussions and guides on the subject from its official forums.

Erik Reynolds, senior director of worldwide communications for EA Maxis, explained the situation on Twitter after the threads were removed:

[tweet t=https://twitter.com/buzzspinner/statuses/312342876581416961]
[tweet t=https://twitter.com/buzzspinner/statuses/312343408754700288]

Reynolds confirms that the Terms of Service are dictated by the legal department, but enforced by the whole company.

He also says that Maxis has supported the modding community in the past and will continue to do so in the future, adding that "hacks are not mods". Whether or not the change is a game modification or a straight-up hack is up for debate, but Reynolds says that he welcomes any discussion on the matter. "I love debate too and can't wait to see what fans create for the franchise. [SimCity 4] mods proved that there is greatness ahead".

SimCity modder "UKAzzer" was able to overcome the game's always-online requirement by enabling the game's debug mode and removing prompts for the user to connect to the internet. Without the mod, anyone who attempts to play offline for more than 20 minutes is kicked from their game and redirected to the main menu.

Earlier in the week, Maxis general manager Lucy Bradshaw said that an offline mode for the game was "just not possible" as the entire region is debunked the claims [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122604-SimCity-Offline-Mode-Patch-Wont-Be-Arriving-Any-Time-Soon], saying that the servers do not handle any computation in regards to simulating the city.


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[Legion]

Meh.

I am sure lot's of people will see this as a chance to jump on the EA hate bandwagon, but people agree to the TOS when they join these forums. If EA feel that it's breaking those TOS then there isn't any reason to complain. It's not like they tried stopping people from being able to do it. They just don't want it on their forums.

 

[StubbornGiant]

I was thinking that this whole "offline mod" would cause a much bigger uproar. Don't know if this is better or worse >_>

 

[Jamane]

sigh the only emotion I find myself able to feel toward EA right now is dissapointment, I am straight up out of anger and even if I wasn't I don't think this would get to me that much.

 

[lancar]

Seems fairly straightforward, really. If EA want to define mods as hacks (imho, the terms are fairly interchangable) and block discussion about them on their own forums, it's their prerogative. It changes nothing and doesn't really put EA in any worse light than they already are.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

I'm honestly surprised this didn't happen earlier.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

So basically they're going, "OH SHIT! We're made! DELETE EVERYTHING AND HOPE THEY FORGET IT!"

I think the only thing that can save them from the shitstorm is if Bioshock Infinite crashes and burns. Which is unlikely.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

What are EA getting out it, I wonder, that they would rather see people play an incomplete game?

 

[Scars Unseen]

News Flash: The official forums for AAA games tend to be the worst place to discuss said games for this very reason. Even mod friendly forums (e.g. Elder Scrolls) run into this problem because content creators don't always play by the publisher's rules and get themselves banned from the forums.

Nothing really controversial to discuss here. The Tweets pretty much tell it plain.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Not too surprised. The mod goes against the way they'd like us to play the game, which is online. No persistent connection = no DRM.

In any case, the damage has already been done and the benefits already been reaped, depending on where you stand. UKAzzer's mod might make work on some sort of crack more probable in a short time frame. Pirates cheer, Corporate weeps.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I wonder how many people lost their Origin account due to those posts... completely accidentally of course.

 

[FalloutJack]

"You can't stop the signal, Mal."

Silly EA. You'll never learn...

 

[rofltehcat]

Meh, not surprised. Any other company would have removed those posts.

I just hope this doesn't end in zealous retribution from EA... though that could really finish their trust with gamers off.

 

[Mister Six]

God, this whole debacle is quality entertainment, and here I am almost out of popcorn.

 

[Monsterfurby]

Meh.

I am sure lot's of people will see this as a chance to jump on the EA hate bandwagon, but people agree to the TOS when they join these forums. If EA feel that it's breaking those TOS then there isn't any reason to complain. It's not like they tried stopping people from being able to do it. They just don't want it on their forums.

Yeah, EA hate has been going a bit far lately.

The key problem here is basically a missing shared understanding of what a game actually is. EA sees it as a service which is provided continually until they sunset the servers, some people see it as a product to be bought once and then used at one's leisure.

At some point, the industry needs to find an answer to this, because this is really going to hurt as long as publishers and at least some customers speak a different language.

 

[Airon]

Not surprising at all.

The mod discussions will simply have to go on in one of the other 999.999 places that they already are.

It's not like the people who run that forum have an incentive to keep that discussion going.

They don't.

"Hack our game to expose our somewhat clumsy PR." Not going to express that in any way.

A shame people were not given the choice from the get-go AND the architecture was setup in a better way.

"Today I want to play a region with my friends. Let's connect to the SimCity game service. It'll check my game for cheats and we can get going."

Why didn't they do that.

 

[ViciousTide]

Soo mods are like requesting free labor from the consumer slaves, and hacks are banned as theives and evil...

 

[Davroth]

So.... companies are just allowed to lie into our collective faces and get caught red handed and face little to no legal consequences? Cool. Cool cool cool.

I'm so glad I resisted buying SimCity.