EA Removes Forum Posts for SimCity Offline Mod

[itsthesheppy]

Well of course EA is all going to be for a modding community that are essentially unpaid content designers for their game, but will nuke anything that threatens their bottom line of controlling customers through their iron-fist always-on DRM.

To be expected. Reviled, but expected.

 

[Something Amyss]

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

Yes.

Unless, of course, they've applied this policy to other such items, as would appear to be the case. In that case, they are likely following the same policy with nothing sinister.

But it won't stop the conspiracy theorists.

 

[Frostbyte666]

Well can't blame EA for that. Now we just need some mods/hacks for improved ai pathfinding and larger cities and the game might be worth buying.

 

[Nihlus2]

Welp... I guess EA Maxis was right when stating that it is not possible to play it offline - because they consider it hacking and breaking ToS!

Of course it is not that black and white if I have to play the devil's advocate - they are legally in the right here.

At any rate, at least EA must be having a field day in their legal and PR departments, this past year or two have probably given all of them more experience than most get in a lifetime in that field. Maybe also a headache or two.

 

[cynicalsaint1]

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.

If you think EA's bad take a look at some of the things that companies that control things that are actually important to society as a whole - banks, credit cards, oil & gas companies ... EA's just a bunch of incompetent clowns who don't actually understand the market they're trying to serve.

 

[Lightknight]

That's hilarious, this is clearly a mod, it isn't hacking anything. They aren't changing anything other than their own software and it does nothing to harm other players or the server. Someone get those people a dictionary with the two terms highlighted.

http://www.thetechgame.com/Archives/p=834584.html

"Modding/Mod - Modding is a slang expression that is derived from the verb "modify". Modding refers to the act of modifying a piece of hardware or software or anything else for that matter, to perform a function not originally conceived or intended by the designer. The term modding is often used within the computer game community, particularly in regard to creating new or altered content and sharing that via the web.

Hacking/Hack - In common usage, a hacker is a person who breaks into computers, usually by gaining access to administrative controls. The subculture that has evolved around hackers is often referred to as the computer underground. Proponents claim to be motivated by artistic and political ends, and are often unconcerned about the use of illegal means to achieve them."

Even though it may sidestep their always on DRM it does not make it a hack. The intention can be neutral (used to play legitimately purchased games offline).

 

[BaronIveagh]

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.

My suggestion is that we take all the money we save NOT buying EA's games and buy a few Congressmen to pass laws against this.

I mean, if game publishers can have high priced lawyers and lobbyists, and they get their money from us, why don't we get a few of those too?

 

[McMullen]

I wonder what their definitions of mod and hack are, and how much those definitions change when convenient.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

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

Agreed. I'm having more fun reading about SimCity than if I had bought the game

 

[Turner Shanks]

I guess it's because anything EA related is fun to be angry with (I hate them too) or maybe because people only read the title, but I am surprised that everyone is being disappointed/up in arms about this whole thing. I was rather pleased with the twitter response of Mr. Reynolds, he explained why they HAD to remove the forum posts and then quite clearly told everyone NOT to stop using the offline mod but to instead just talk about it somewhere else. It's very nearly official approval of the mod.

Or am I just reading this whole thing wrong?

 

[Davroth]

If you think EA's bad take a look at some of the things that companies that control things that are actually important to society as a whole - banks, credit cards, oil & gas companies ... EA's just a bunch of incompetent clowns who don't actually understand the market they're trying to serve.

The part that bothers me is that they quite clearly got caught lying here, for no good reason at all. That should have repercussions of some sort, right? Right?

My suggestion is that we take all the money we save NOT buying EA's games and buy a few Congressmen to pass laws against this.

I mean, if game publishers can have high priced lawyers and lobbyists, and they get their money from us, why don't we get a few of those too?

So wait, there aren't already laws in place to protect the public from snakeoil salesmen? What strange times we live in...

 

[loa]

Well this is circumvention of copy protection so them deleting it is no surprise, really.
Funny how they're straight up lying without even trying to cover it up in order to justify the DRM.

 

[cynicalsaint1]

If you think EA's bad take a look at some of the things that companies that control things that are actually important to society as a whole - banks, credit cards, oil & gas companies ... EA's just a bunch of incompetent clowns who don't actually understand the market they're trying to serve.

The part that bothers me is that they quite clearly got caught lying here, for no good reason at all. That should have repercussions of some sort, right? Right?

Under what laws?
Lying in and of itself isn't illegal.

There really isn't an angle for false advertising here seeing as saying they can't add an offline mode isn't really advertising and even if it was "significant engineering" is a phrase thats vague enough that you'd have a hard time disproving the truth behind it.

Claiming that the "Always Online" totally isn't mostly about DRM when it clearly is? Again - how are you going to prove anything? Its all subjective - you can sit there and go on and on about how important the region BS is to the game's experience all day. Even though its clear to us how much BS this is - its still your word against theirs and they made the game.

 

[Davroth]

Under what laws?
Lying in and of itself isn't illegal.

There really isn't an angle for false advertising here seeing as saying they can't add an offline mode isn't really advertising and even if it was "significant engineering" is a phrase thats vague enough that you'd have a hard time disproving the truth behind it.

Claiming that the "Always Online" totally isn't mostly about DRM when it clearly is? Again - how are you going to prove anything? Its all subjective - you can sit there and go on and on about how important the region BS is to the game's experience all day. Even though its clear to us how much BS this is - its still your word against theirs and they made the game.

You literally just have to remove a line of code that kicks you out of the game after 20 mins of lost internet connection. That is all. In what world is that "significant engineering"?

 

[Agayek]

You literally just have to remove a line of code that kicks you out of the game after 20 mins of lost internet connection. That is all. In what world is that "significant engineering"?

Depending on how they do the server checks, it can actually be fairly significant.

Of course, if that were the case, their programmers would have to have been pants-on-head retarded and/or pumped full of hallucinogens when they first wrote the code, but it is possible.

 

[Adam Locking]

Under what laws?
Lying in and of itself isn't illegal.

There really isn't an angle for false advertising here seeing as saying they can't add an offline mode isn't really advertising and even if it was "significant engineering" is a phrase thats vague enough that you'd have a hard time disproving the truth behind it.

Claiming that the "Always Online" totally isn't mostly about DRM when it clearly is? Again - how are you going to prove anything? Its all subjective - you can sit there and go on and on about how important the region BS is to the game's experience all day. Even though its clear to us how much BS this is - its still your word against theirs and they made the game.

It is clearly a case of false advertising. They advertised that they would compute major parts of the game for you, so your computer didn't have to. This could be considered an advertised "service". Seeing as it's been proven that they compute nothing server side (aside from authentication), they are not delivering what was promised to their customers.

 

[CriticalMiss]

This is shocking, people use a forum run by EA? I imagine there is more freedom in North Korea than on those boards.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

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.

Unless you're talking about EA's idea of success (we already got all their money from preorders and day-1 sales. WE HAVE VICTORY!), never assume that a game won't crash and burn until the public gets a chance to play it for themselves. A:CM, ME3, D3, and now SimCity should be proof enough of that.

 

[pilouuuu]

I think all this debacle is being much more fun than the game itself. Single player games shouldn't be on-line only, unless there's a good reason that benefits players for that (DRM it is not).

I hope this hurts EA so badly that they re-think how they approach their whole business. The costumer is always first.