Electronic Arts Suspends SimCity Marketing - UPDATED

[sid]

Okay, I kind of need to call it at this point. Cutting off ads to a non-functioning game is post-apocalyptic corporate protocol 101, it's not like anyone would be better off if they hadn't done that. Seriously, half of you sound like my wife at this point.

I'm always down for some EA wristslapping, but only when a wristslapping is in order. Now you're just reporting on their daily lives, this article tells me nothing.

Also don't get me wrong, they dun goof'd. I just think we should only say that in the articles where they did actually fuck up.

 

[lancar]

My god, this is hilarious

This has got to be the best EA drama yet.

/popcorn

 

[Atmos Duality]

Well. This is a first for me.
I've seen marketing and ads pulled for many reasons, but to keep people from buying the game to save face and stand up servers is a new one.

 

[squid5580]

Can we not make it 1 week without someone in the industry shitting the bed?

 

[kaizen2468]

People need to stop buying these DRM controlled pieces of shit. Whining for refunds isnt going to make a publisher change their minds on DRM. theyll just say to themselves damn they're really made, we should make the DRM better next time.

im so so sick of reading about gamers and reviewers complaining about drm then either buying it or reviewing it. make a stand. say no. if they push his drm bullshit on us refuse to buy it, websites refuse to review it or even talk about it. this crap needs to die and it never ever will if you people keep buying the games just because you like the series regardless of the garbage they're making you deal with in order to play it.

 

[Ickabod]

I'm actually getting a bit of entertainment out of this trainwreck. Considering that I spend $60 on the game, it does help offset that expense.

Tune in next week when Starcraft 2 blows up the internet too.

 

[SonOfMethuselah]

People need to stop buying these DRM controlled pieces of shit. Whining for refunds isnt going to make a publisher change their minds on DRM. theyll just say to themselves damn they're really made, we should make the DRM better next time.

im so so sick of reading about gamers and reviewers complaining about drm then either buying it or reviewing it. make a stand. say no. if they push his drm bullshit on us refuse to buy it, websites refuse to review it or even talk about it. this crap needs to die and it never ever will if you people keep buying the games just because you like the series regardless of the garbage they're making you deal with in order to play it.

It's kind of a reviewer's job to review them. The average consumer isn't necessarily going to know about all this always-online DRM stuff, and a review is potentially the only way they're going to learn about it.

OT: With all this talk about the DRM problems, I've never actually heard anyone comment on whether or not the base game is any good. It's almost moot at this point, but at least with Diablo III, I knew about the title of the quality as a whole, in addition to the DRM problems. The only thing I know about this game is that it's having DRM problems, which, let's face it, we all saw coming a mile away.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

How could they not see this coming? It happens with every game that demands constant connection in order to run.

 

[Karathos]

It's like people have never been part of a release-day server fuckup in a game. Honestly, people being up in arms about this is so 2002. If you care that much, get a refund. Otherwise, have some patience and wait it out.

Other than that: Bla bla bla, EA hate, bla.

 

[sneakypenguin]

People need to stop buying these DRM controlled pieces of shit. Whining for refunds isnt going to make a publisher change their minds on DRM. theyll just say to themselves damn they're really made, we should make the DRM better next time.

im so so sick of reading about gamers and reviewers complaining about drm then either buying it or reviewing it. make a stand. say no. if they push his drm bullshit on us refuse to buy it, websites refuse to review it or even talk about it. this crap needs to die and it never ever will if you people keep buying the games just because you like the series regardless of the garbage they're making you deal with in order to play it.

I honestly don't think that many ppl outside the echo chamber of gaming sites really mind drm. Uplay, Steam, Blizz (starcraft 2 D3) whatever it is I'm actually fine with it cause its usually been relatively invisible for me. Granted this sims launch has been screwy for some but outside that drms always been a non issue. (for me)

 

[Cecilo]

What refund. EA is refusing any and all refunds.

 

[DaxStrife]

Funny, I just started up Origin and the first thing that hit me in the face was a pop-up begging me to buy SimCity.

 

[rodneyy]

The plus side to this mess is that it seems highly unlikely that EA is going to try always-on DRM again anytime soon. The SimCity launch has just been too much of a disaster. Hell, this may even encourage other companies to not do similar things in the future.

We saw how well that worked out with Diablo 3.

yeah but it was less than a year ago that diablo 3 came out, with the way sim city was made and runs it might not have been possible to reverse the decision to have always on drm. it was scrap the whole thing or go ahead and try and not make the same mistakes.

another angle might be they wanted to try it out for themselfs. the big guys need to each make the same mistakes, and see it from the inside, as they would be unwilling to share how badly they have messed up with their competitors. it might not stop any games in the works but it might well stop any new games going into production with this from the start.

 

[Longstreet]

Man, all these Simcity / EA news messages is like a gift that keeps on giving
Let's see what happens next.

I'm cooking up some popcorn, any takers?

Ah, awesome, I'll have a bag!

Here ya go!

Spoiler

Anyway, like Dax said, Origin does keep begging you to buy the game. Guess Ea rules / demand only apply to everyone else but EA?

has ANYONE that roams around this forum been able to actually play?

 

[KeyMaster45]

You know how the lead guy from the A-Team says he loves it when a plan comes together? Well I love it when I get to watch a plan implode in on itself like a house of cards held together by globs of shit. Fingers crossed they shit-can the launch and release it again in a few months sans servers; and maybe fire the people who ever thought this was a good idea.

 

[FEichinger]

The plus side to this mess is that it seems highly unlikely that EA is going to try always-on DRM again anytime soon. The SimCity launch has just been too much of a disaster. Hell, this may even encourage other companies to not do similar things in the future.

We saw how well that worked out with Diablo 3.

yeah but it was less than a year ago that diablo 3 came out, with the way sim city was made and runs it might not have been possible to reverse the decision to have always on drm. it was scrap the whole thing or go ahead and try and not make the same mistakes.

another angle might be they wanted to try it out for themselfs. the big guys need to each make the same mistakes, and see it from the inside, as they would be unwilling to share how badly they have messed up with their competitors. it might not stop any games in the works but it might well stop any new games going into production with this from the start.

EA had the opportunity to delay the game release, if the retail version wasn't shipped yet.
EA also had the opportunity to stock up on infrastructure prior to release.
And finally, EA had the opportunity to give their existing infrastructure a stress test - and evaluate interest - during an actual beta.

Neither of which they successfully did, even though they had enough of a warning in advance thanks to the Diablo 3 debacle. There is no excuse for this failure.

 

[direkiller]

What refund. EA is refusing any and all refunds.

They can't in most places outside of the US.

 

[geldonyetich]

"Listen, we've been running some projections and have decided it's no longer in our best interests to market the game."
"What?! How can that be?!"
"Well, according to the server stats, we've already sold as many copies than there are people who exist on the planet, so it would be physically impossible to sell even more copies than that."
"LETS KEEP TRYING, THE SERVERS CAN TAKE IT."

 

[Abomination]

What refund. EA is refusing any and all refunds.

They can't in most places outside of the US.

The fact that they only do it in countries they are legally obliged to do it and not in nations where they can get away with not doing it does them no credit.

It's also a sign that consumer laws in the United States are a joke.

 

[1337mokro]

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!! STOP SELLING OUR GAMES!!!

We can't handle it anymore! It's a disaster! We fried 7 server farms already just trying to handle all the login attempts! Please stop buying our game! We beg you."

You know things are FUBAR when EA takes steps to prevent more game sales.

It's like people have never been part of a release-day server fuckup in a game. Honestly, people being up in arms about this is so 2002. If you care that much, get a refund. Otherwise, have some patience and wait it out.

Other than that: Bla bla bla, EA hate, bla.

Guess we should just accept it and move on. Also yes getting a refund from EA would be nice. Next I am going to ride my purple unicorn of into lala land where you are apparently permanently residing

EA refunds. Ha! They refuse to offer refunds because the current situation is "not exceptional" enough to qualify.