Jimquisition: SimShitty

[Hitchmeister]

You know what's the worst thing? When this game sells poorly or is pirated to hell and back, EA will blame Maxis and say it's because simcity isn't a viable property anymore and stick it in the vault forever.

And then EA will wash it's hands of the whole thing, and not learn a damn thing until the industry blows up, and then whines that it was all the consumer's fault.

Except, at this point, Maxis is EA. EA trying to dodge out of this by blaming Maxis is like Globbo Corp. saying the house fires are not their fault, but that of the Globbo Corp. Toaster Division.*


*A purely fictitious and hypothetical example which I hope will be clear to most who stop and think about it.

 

[uchytjes]

You wanna know what will happen to EA if this game really does go down the toilet? Nothing! They will keep going and doing this stuff for as long as they can. Wanna know what will happen to the developer, their studio, and their games? no longer existent. Why? because the publisher can do no wrong and it is the developer has ALL the sway over what goes into the final product.

In all seriousness, however, I was looking forward to this game SOOO much but EA just had to go and fuck with the system and put in this bullshit. Online multiplayer in Sim City is a BEAUTIFUL thing but only if it is OPTIONAL.

 

[lostlevel]

Scumbag EA:

Says always online is needed to play the game due to calculations being done on servers.

Calculations for city building are done client side. [http://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/19yoxk/simcity5_does_not_have_to_be_online/]

I'm glad I didn't get it.

*installs Sim City 3000 Unlimited and Sim City 4*

EA ruining the classics again, they forget that enough people liked the originals for them to buy it legitimately without the need for always online DRM. I'm glad I skipped this one although it's partly because I stopped buying anything EA related after they ruined SSX for me, that was my final straw. I could put up with stupid codes initially.

 

[cynicalsaint1]

Jim - you live in a country where until fairly recently it was perfectly kosher for credit card companies to set your minimum monthly payment lower than the amount of interest charged to your account for that month, and you're asking why videogame companies are allowed to pull this kind of BS without being held accountable?

 

[Best of the 3]

Interesting that Jim also mentions it as soon as CleverNoob also puts out a documentary related to it, that the game industry is going through, or might possibly go through similar change to that of the 80's. I was not around back then so I can't really say. But it'd be interesting if it did. A massive crash will clear up the crap. It'll cause innovation and possibly turn the game industry around for the better. But something I have to ask, to Jim or to anyone who wants to / can answer, will it happen? Or is it just a case of speculation.

the documentary in question is this:

[youtube=XZxXEidtxHk

 

[Zen Toombs]

EA's logic is kind of backwards. If they were really afraid of us, you'd think they'd be doing everything they could to appease us.

Not really. Appeasement is one valid option, and so is exerting control. EA's problem is not that they are trying to control the behavior of gamers, but that they are doing it poorly and that they are worried about the wrong things.

 

[jehk]

Jim, do you think always online games just shouldn't exist?

 

[jehk]

Jim - you live in a country where until fairly recently it was perfectly kosher for credit card companies to set your minimum monthly payment lower than the amount of interest charged to your account for that month, and you're asking why videogame companies are allowed to pull this kind of BS without being held accountable?

Haha its true. The freemarket probably won't punish EA but reward it. The kind of shit they get away with is part of a much larger cultural ill.

 

[kaizen2468]

I'm disappointed in myself for not seeing that pun before Jim.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

EA's logic is kind of backwards. If they were really afraid of us, you'd think they'd be doing everything they could to appease us.

Not really. Appeasement is one valid option, and so is exerting control. EA's problem is not that they are trying to control the behavior of gamers, but that they are doing it poorly and that they are worried about the wrong things.

EA needs to study it's history. Pulling that kind of shit just leads to revolution, or in this case, a crash.

 

[Fappy]

Good episode as always... though, I kind of have a hard time feeling bad by the people getting dicked over. They knew this would happen after all, so why would they put themselves through it?! >.<

 

[TheMemoman]

Thank god for Jim!

Seriously, thank you for having the balls and integrity to place your face and condemn disgrace. Did you see Friday's Office Chat from Dtoid? How they basically bent over and said: "Yeah, we knew it was going to be bad, people who still complain about it are idiots." WTF!? This are not PR spin doctors, nor corporate shills, these are videogame journalists.

Videogame journalism takes stereotypical flak for being immature, for being about a naive, childish subject or just for being unprofessional. Fact is videogames are a huge market, they move billions and if mainstream media and public opinion think it still is cool to dismiss videogames as puerile escapism for social outcast minorities, they are living in an 80s bullying mindset. The real problem with videogame journalism is professional videogame journalists that actually feel this way, that take their job shallowly and dismiss it themselves as puerile escapism and thus behave as if ethics and morals have no place in their job, and this does a great disservice to it's audience.

Yes, most gamers eat up corporate bullshit with a shovel, but as gaming generations grow older they wise up to this manipulating and deception. As they grow older, goes in hand with companies growing greedier and more cynical, almost to farcically dystopian levels. Journalists should privilege from their position of leaders as sources of information and adhere a moral high ground in a path of public education. Too many gamers, and sadly too many journalists, seem happy to bend over and take it hard in order to keep on the publisher's good side; in order to have access to the down trickles their greed sees fit to sweep on their plates. Publisher's need to be held accountable, gamers need to know they are the ones in power and journalists are the ones to move this gain of conscience forward.

Videogame journalism is still not completely under corporate rule, as sadly mainstream media or "real journalism" is. The internet gives videogame journalist leeway to be brave, to be leaders and have integrity. To aspire to become recognized, respected or equaled to mainstream media is a profoundly naive, anachronistic pipe dream. Truth is, videogame journalism has the tools and potential to ascend to a higher status of integrity and be a much more efficient tool for the people.

So thank you, Jim. For caring and making an effort, and being damn good at it. I am continually surprised by the quality and political sharpness of your pieces. Always hard hitting and unapologetic. Thank god for Jim!

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

Excellent video as usual.

I've been nearly off of EA, Activision, and Ubisoft games for about a decade now (think I got Lich King and Cataclysm) which was post merger). Sure that means I miss out on "AAA" games but it also means I'm not supporting corporations whose controllers care nothing for the art of games and only for how games impact numbers on their spreadsheets.

My money is limited, and I would rather spend it supporting independent developers or companies who at least pretend to care. I bought several copies of D2 and LOD and 0 copies of D3 due to the always online bullshit. I didn't buy Starcraft either.

If the game is single player "always on" can go screw itself. If a developer takes a single player genre and turns it into a "service" to try to justify their DRM then they don't get my money.

 

[Vegosiux]

Well, what can I say. This week he actually sounds truly, genuinely pissed off, not just the usual snarky tone.

And yeah, he wrapped it up pretty well too, especially the parts about "Just wait a few weeks." That's all.

 

[Doom972]

I agree with everything except for the part where he say that one day we'll get angry enough to take revenge on EA.

Let's face it: While there are many adult (or mature) gamers, who have the experience and sense to not support this sort of customer abuse, but there are also far more younger (or childish) gamers who get hyped and defensive about their favorite franchises and will take whatever abuse will be inflicted on them. Once they'll start seeing sense, plenty more will come to take their place.

Fortunately, we have an alternative: Indie games.

 

[FFP2]

That last line... Oh, Jim you crafty devil

I really hope that this game has horrible sales numbers. We need to stand up against this shit like we did for ME3, A:CM and All The Bravest.

 

[SinisterGehe]

You should have seen the shit storm that started to brew at Finnish Customer Rights Bureau - friend and ex-coworker works there as a regional manager. They were one hairsplit away from having to sue EA-Finland and demand global "no excuses" refund from banks. Sadly EA-Finland couldn't be reached for a response over these accusation because the regional branch only has a communications email under EA's contact information tab.

Also I think my friend has turned alcoholic has perfectly monochrome white hair and at least 40+ years on hes age. The global legal adviser must be at least taking next 20 years worth of paid vacations at once or dead...

Good thing that SimCity -Origin edition- (not original...) is on Origin. A system which ToS is still literally illegal and whole client is considered spyware (legally) in Finland. So I ain't touching it. And by sounds of it, I ain't missing anything.

 

[Legion]

I do love it when you create videos such as this Jim, you sum up the problems perfectly. It's not criticising the games, it's not criticising the people working on them, it is pointing out that the people giving them to us do not have our best interests at heart.

Not that they should release games just to please us, but if they are going to use practices that are there solely for their benefit, at the very least they should not be detrimental to ours.

You know what's the worst thing? When this game sells poorly or is pirated to hell and back, EA will blame Maxis and say it's because simcity isn't a viable property any more and stick it in the vault forever.

And then EA will wash it's hands of the whole thing, and not learn a damn thing until the industry blows up, and then whines that it was all the consumer's fault.

Sadly this seems to be EA's modus operandi. They never blame a games problems on their decisions, but rather punish the developer or claim it's down to it not being a game people want.

 

[Costia]

You brought up diablo 3, it's a good example.
After a few days of server troubles it became stable and sold 12 million copies (source: http://diablo.somepage.com/news/1489-activision-blizzard-q4-2012-earnings-report)
I expect the same to happen here. After the rage-storm is over, people will buy it and enjoy it.

And saying that maxis\EA did this on purpose sounds ridiculous to me. Not only they are loosing money, but they are also hurting their brand, which is in trouble as it is. It's Maxis's first "MMO" title, and i don't think that blizzard was willing to share their secrets.
They screwed up. Badly. But saying that they don't care is an exaggeration.
I don't like always online DRM either, but I am not going to make stuff up to justify my opinion.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I absolutely despise corporate apologists. We have a few here, on The Escapist. People who actually bought into the whole rhetoric that video games are services. How the fuck do these apologists justify that level of naivety? How much more shortsighted can they get before we can say that they are completely blind?