EA Exec Claims DRM Is a "Failed Dead-End Strategy"

[sXeth]

Well, the fact that you could disconnect it as easily as you can does somewhat hint that it wasn't intended as a DRM measure. EA may not be great at PR, or Innovating Games, or recognizing demographic concepts, but I doubt their tech department is inept enough to try and copy-protect something with a trivially hacked java script.

I can also very easily buy that EA leaned in and said the game had to have an MP component to appeal to a "broader multiplayer gaming demographic", and the half-assed implemented MP component of Simcity is the result of that.

Either way (or even if Maxis just had more ambition to make an MP game then actual talent or ideas), they're still the twits who, even after Diablogate, didnt bother putting up enough servers to handle their product.

As to the more general topic, DRM has never really worked, as those seeking to pirate seem to quite readily outnumber the poor slogs trying to code methods to stop them. Whereas quality products have managed to pick up sales (alongside the pirated copies) in fairly impressive numbers, and build loyal customer/fan bases. Which we're now seeing pay off significantly with some of the recent waves of Kickstarters for franchises and developers who've established that relationship.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

Apparently forcing you to constantly stay online isn't DRM, it's a FEATURE!

Hmm reminds me of one of EA's other games.

Spoiler

Why does this remind you of TOR? Unlike Simcity, TOR actually is an MMO. No-one expected to be able to play it offline.

 

[Timzilla]

If the whole point was to make an MMO like game, then why not just add an "Online" subtitle? That way atleast the consumer has an idea what the focus is and what they're getting into. Is anyone really gonna complain when "SimCity:Online" needs a connection?

The issue is that Simcity is really not a MMO.... like at all. Civ 5 is more of a MMO then SimCity because atleast then you're interacting with other people when you play online.

I read the Title and thought "OMG they finally read the paper I wrote years ago on how nothing positive can actually come from DRM!" then I read the article and remembered that this was EA and that this was another PR scam trying to weasel out of the shit storm that rages around EA's higher rung.

They claimed in this and a couple other interviews that designed this SimCity with more of a focus on multiplayer. Now, whether or not that was a good idea for a sequel to a game that was a single player experience (See Sims Online), that was there focus during development, hence the small city spaces and the need for sharing resources. All Im saying is they could have made this more of a "spin off" kinda thing, like Ultima online back in the day or Ghost Recon online more recently.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I know this is completely off topic, but the dude in the news thumbnail (From the main page) is cute . Really, really cute.

Look at taht.

You're right, I can't help but trust EA again.

I wonder if this means they will be cancelling Origin.

 

[Siege_TF]

EA has a long history of talking the talk, and failing to walk the walk. Almost like it's some kind of ploy to make them look less villianus.

 

[Altorin]

as shocked as Maxis seems to be by all this, I'm actually going to give them the benefit of the doubt. their game is still massively flawed due to actual design choices though, even giving them the "we didn't mean to make DRM, we only wanted to have an online experience" argument.

 

[Karathos]

Flat-out DRM does not work, true. Anything company execs in gaming say, I pretty much -always- take with a truckload of salt, but still nice to read I suppose. People complaining that always-online is DRM - in a way, yes it is. But on the other hand it is the developer's choice to create a game they want. Unless I'm mistaken, I'm pretty sure Maxis never said SimCity would have a playable offline mode prerelease. Pretty confident Blizzard never said that for Diablo 3 either (offline or LAN, in the case of D3).

We can argue day and night about all this, and it would all be 99% semantics. The basic fact remains that such games as Diablo 3 and the new SimCity were made with online play in mind. As such, the new SimCity requires you to be online. Boohoo waah. Vote with your wallet, and don't buy it. Unless a developer outright lies pre-release (see also, Aliens: Colonial Marines demo) I don't see what the massive goddamn hissyfits are about. Just DO NOT BUY PRODUCTS FROM PEOPLE YOU DON'T WANT TO SUPPORT. That's what I do.

Personally I don't care if the always-online stuff is because they honestly wanted the game to a more online experience, or if they just wanted to use that as DRM. Both things achieve the exact same thing; the only difference is the reason they give you. (In before: BUT THEY LIED AND THAT'S NAUGHTY D

 

[NoeL]

At first I thought he was legitimate, and I still believe he somewhat is (that SimCity was designed to be an MMO, though the ended up making it pretty light on the MM aspects). It seemed oddly familiar to me... then I remembered something I saw on youtube the other day:

Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY]
and the response:
I Hate Religion, And Jesus Too [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBo7Z_abiLE]

It's always risky going off on a religious tangent so please try to resist hijacking the thread if you disagree (you're more than welcome to PM me), but this is the same marketing campaign as modern Christianity. No one likes religion - not even the Christians. The word "religion" is tarnished, so what do you do? Just replace it with a word that sounds better but ultimately refers to the exact same thing!

"It's not a religion, it's a 'relationship'".

"It's not DRM, it's an 'online service'".


(Note: Didn't mean to hate on Christianity there, just noting the similar PR strategy)

 

[weirdee]

"See guys, we're on your side! Granted, before the other side was us, but now that we're fighting against the big...something that isn't us together, you can totally trust us! Simcity being online only wasn't even about DRM and the whole thing was their decision with no influence on our part, even if some silly old modder got it to work offline...hey, what are you doing? Stop trying to look back there, we're not crossing our fingers or anything like that!..."

Frankly, if we were to hurl all of the EA bullshit artists into the sun right now, not a single person would care. The fact that they have to hire people specifically to polish their turds is the sign of a broken company.

(on the other hand, they must have some interesting business cards)

 

[danon]

Nah guys you got it all wrong it was creative people wo wouldn't let players choose a easily implementable single player. We started making it and then the creative guys ninja kicked us in the face. We were like dudes what's up and they were like players can't choose lol. And that's why art players no drm not evil what?

 

[weirdee]

The really sad thing about all this is in the two scenarios I can think of, one of them involves actually being aware that what they're doing is bad and they're just trying to appear good by saying the thing they should actually be doing, and then trying to slip a roofie under it, and the other being that they have absolutely no idea what they're talking about or doing at all, and they're just saying things that were recommended to them by script writers.

 

[Something Amyss]

Well that nicely demonstrates how out of touch (or desperate, delusional) EA's head honchos are.

Our DRM isn't DRM, it's a service!

No Frank, Origin and Simcity's 'vital' online connection are not services, they are DRM, arbitrary walls between customer and product. This is why I'm don't buy your games you idiot.

Sadly, it sounds like a lot of people will take away the notion that this represents some sort of sea change for EA, rather than just trying to advertise why their DRM is good DRM by a non-DRM name.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

EA: DRM only fails when others do it, when we do it, it's not DRM!

 

[MammothBlade]

What on Earth? April Fools is three/four days away. Calling it.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I never thought I'd say this, but I actually respect this guy's opinion. He's forthright and hasn't tried to hide anything or skirt any issues. I agree with his opinion on DRM, and the need to innovate. The fact it royally failed with SimCity doesn't mean people shouldn't try.

But if the games industry execs actually cared and wanted to make titles that weren't controversial or reviled, some simple tips:

- No Day 1 or On-Disc DLC, unless they're free (patches are fine)
- No Online Passes/"Project $10"
- No always-on internet requirements
- No ancilliary software requirements
- No microtransactions
- Stop cramming multiplayer into everything. We don't want it.
- Stop spending time trying to wreck second hand sales, nickel-and-dime customers
- Don't rush a game. Seriously, you will ALWAYS be better off waiting till it's ready, than shipping early. ALWAYS. Fans would rather wait for a better product than get something half-arsed that leaves a sour taste.

There are many other ways to innovate. The above should not be among them.

And if you're EA specifically:
- Stop diluting all your games. If I want to play a shooter, I'll play a shooter. If I want to play an RPG, I want to play an RPG, not a shooter.
- Games are not worth full-price after 18months. Anyone who was willing to buy it at full price bought it 18 months ago.

 

[Judas_Iscariot]

I can't remember, have we always been at war with Eastasia? Or was it Eurasia?

I love you so much for referencing this. Doublethink moment

 

[Skeleon]

You may not use Steam, and you may consider it a distraction, but surely you're not so clueless as to realize you're in the minority? The adoption rate of Steam among PC gamers is incredibly high, and the percentage that actively complain is fairly small. There are plenty of reasons to complain about Steam (Steam-Exclusive games topping that list) but saying it didn't work for Valve is blatantly false.

Thanks a lot, but no. I wasn't talking about "working" in the sense of "people buying from them anyways". It's a response to this:
"it's arguable that EA could claim to have abandoned DRM simply by making Origin a requirement of using its games. It's semantics, of course, but it worked for Valve".
It didn't work, it didn't undo that fact. Steam is still DRM, even if people buy... I'm sorry, subscribe to the games on it despite of that.

 

[Innegativeion]

*Notices title*

!

*Commences reading intently*

DRM is a failed dead-end strategy; it's not a viable strategy for the gaming business,

...


*Continues reading*

What we tried to do creatively is build an online service in the SimCity universe and that's what we sought to achieve. For the folks who have conspiracy theories about evil suits at EA forcing DRM down the throats of Maxis, that's not the case at all

...


President of Labels indeed. 'An MMO that isn't an MMO' are weasel words for always online DRM, ya twit.

*snip*

I believe your grievance is rendered moot by the fact that the sentence you are referencing uses the phrase "could claim", implying that it is not necessarily true.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Personally, this whole SimCity debacle doesn't really effect me much, but I will say that the image used for the article is absolutely priceless.

 

[Brad Shepard]

Hind-sight is 20/20 huh?