EA Admits That SimCity Could Have Been Offline
- Thread starter Earnest Cavalli
- Start date
So making it offline capable would have compromised their "artistic vision" for the game? Better stop complaining now guys and just play the game and be glad to have it at all. Lots of people are dead against anyone compromising their integrity like that. Just look at the Mass Effect 3 debacle. Tons of people defending Bioware's right to their vision there as soon as they made that claim.
Not to mention they're claiming that thousands of people are loving the always-online requirement. Just like Bioware claimed that the majority loved the endings. Can't argue with the companies, right? They MUST be telling the truth. I mean all of you people complaining about SimCity must be only a fraction of the total people who bought the game, so the rest MUST be just enjoying it, right? I bet there's lots of people telling people who dislike SimCity to stop being childish and entitled in here.
*looks through thread*
...wait, why aren't there tons of people jumping to Maxis' defence here? Oh, perhaps because the very concept of "vision" in a mass produced commercial product is an absolutely terrible argument to make when your customers are furious at the mess you've made of the game that they have paid for. I find it even more hilarious that the publisher in BOTH cases is goddamn EA.
That said I'm glad everyone is finally starting to come around to the idea that these are companies selling a product for mass commercial consumption and that people have every right to be unhappy with any part of it and to demand better. Many of you are about twelve months late and it took two even more major failures and flagrant displays of contempt than ME3 to get the hang of it (Aliens:Colonial Marines and now SimCity) but that's ok. Can we start looking at actually supporting consumer rights now rather than throwing the whole "integrity" thing about?
My point here? These companies are getting increasingly arrogant and altogether too disdainful of their customers. It is absolutely disgusting how complacent they're becoming and then the try to hide behind their "vision" when huge numbers of customers reject the garbage they serve up. I can't help feeling its all going to come crashing down over the next couple of years. A year ago it was perhaps understandable that some people wouldn't admit the problems with ME3 (not just the end in fact), because it was all much lower key and easy to dismiss as a one-off. But now I think everyone has noticed the elephant in the room, now its up to customers how to react.
Not to mention they're claiming that thousands of people are loving the always-online requirement. Just like Bioware claimed that the majority loved the endings. Can't argue with the companies, right? They MUST be telling the truth. I mean all of you people complaining about SimCity must be only a fraction of the total people who bought the game, so the rest MUST be just enjoying it, right? I bet there's lots of people telling people who dislike SimCity to stop being childish and entitled in here.
*looks through thread*
...wait, why aren't there tons of people jumping to Maxis' defence here? Oh, perhaps because the very concept of "vision" in a mass produced commercial product is an absolutely terrible argument to make when your customers are furious at the mess you've made of the game that they have paid for. I find it even more hilarious that the publisher in BOTH cases is goddamn EA.
That said I'm glad everyone is finally starting to come around to the idea that these are companies selling a product for mass commercial consumption and that people have every right to be unhappy with any part of it and to demand better. Many of you are about twelve months late and it took two even more major failures and flagrant displays of contempt than ME3 to get the hang of it (Aliens:Colonial Marines and now SimCity) but that's ok. Can we start looking at actually supporting consumer rights now rather than throwing the whole "integrity" thing about?
My point here? These companies are getting increasingly arrogant and altogether too disdainful of their customers. It is absolutely disgusting how complacent they're becoming and then the try to hide behind their "vision" when huge numbers of customers reject the garbage they serve up. I can't help feeling its all going to come crashing down over the next couple of years. A year ago it was perhaps understandable that some people wouldn't admit the problems with ME3 (not just the end in fact), because it was all much lower key and easy to dismiss as a one-off. But now I think everyone has noticed the elephant in the room, now its up to customers how to react.
Well, your main rebuttal will be that ME3's story did not render the game completely unplayable whereas Simcity's online requirement and the once again failure to predict launch numbers did. Don't get me wrong, I think Mass Effect 3's story was a pile of re-fried garbage fisted out of a mandrill's anus for more than just its ending, but that's off topic.Lightspeaker said:
I do agree with you that I'm happy to see people annoyed that games are released in such am unfinished manner. Hopefully, this debacle will serve to show developers and publishers that the customer does indeed expect a content complete game when its released, not a poorly tested mess that they still feel justified charging $60+ or the regional equivalent for.
The "WoW Effect" actually has a name in economics: Network good or sometimes Network Effect.wombat_of_war said:
And yes, it is the chief reason behind EA's goal for a dominant multiplayer title.
Call of Duty (like Halo before it) stays immensely popular year after year, despite innovating or changing very little precisely because of this effect.
This release has effectively killed the SimCity brand. The last Simcity wasn't great at all. I hope some indi company makes some kind of simcity clone, releases it like minecraft (cheap betas) and steals EA's customers for this clearly deficient product. I feel bad for Maxis, but they should have known better.
I think I speak on behalf of MANY disgruntled gamers, not just about SimCity, but forced multiplayer integration as a whole:
Multiplayer is an OPTION, it is NOT mandatory and should never be forced upon the player. When gaming companies start turning previously single player or multiplayer optional titles into multiplayer dependent titles, they are effectively alienating a particular portion of their audience who may in fact have no interest in playing that particular series or style of gameplay with other players.
And it seems to be pretty clear that SimCity is one of those series wherein players ACTUALLY exist who have no desire to be FORCED to participate in other activities with other gamers. There are plenty of titles out there which offer people to have social experiences through video games, not every single one requires these features.
...But this still doesn't excuse their laziness for not offering some form of non-multiplayer dependent content. If anything, it really seems like they're dodging the reasons why always on DRM exists and no option for offline saving is there.
Multiplayer is an OPTION, it is NOT mandatory and should never be forced upon the player. When gaming companies start turning previously single player or multiplayer optional titles into multiplayer dependent titles, they are effectively alienating a particular portion of their audience who may in fact have no interest in playing that particular series or style of gameplay with other players.
And it seems to be pretty clear that SimCity is one of those series wherein players ACTUALLY exist who have no desire to be FORCED to participate in other activities with other gamers. There are plenty of titles out there which offer people to have social experiences through video games, not every single one requires these features.
...But this still doesn't excuse their laziness for not offering some form of non-multiplayer dependent content. If anything, it really seems like they're dodging the reasons why always on DRM exists and no option for offline saving is there.
You know what you can do?
Turn it off.
I am sure you could patch in no always on DRM within a week, or ask the modder what he did.
Otherwise...
Well, if the modder can figure out how to turn off the DRM, the pirating sites will be flooded with the game by tomorrow.
Turn it off.
I am sure you could patch in no always on DRM within a week, or ask the modder what he did.
Otherwise...
Well, if the modder can figure out how to turn off the DRM, the pirating sites will be flooded with the game by tomorrow.
Well just prepare for this to be the norm because people don't have a backbone anymore. If people see a game they want but have really bad systems for their consumers they don't give a shit and hit that buy button. Pretty much just gonna need to abandon AAA titles and go for the indie games.
The fact that you can create a private region and play by yourself with one city proves that this not "MMO-like". They would have clamped down on that functionality if that was the case. As it stands, they do let you play alone. They just don't let you play offline.
It's not a fucking artistic decision. It's fucking DRM. If they could stop pretending it's not, that would be just great.
It's not a fucking artistic decision. It's fucking DRM. If they could stop pretending it's not, that would be just great.