As an old Maxis fan seeing the potential for a game that I personally would have enjoyed squandered here, I further rue the day Maxis was absorbed into the Gelatinous cube that is EA. I will NEVER buy a game that requires always online DRM. EVER.
Jimquisition: SimShitty
- Thread starter Jimothy Sterling
- Start date
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I always said Always Online DRM just goes to prove that developers hate our troops. Our brave soldiers of freedom, stationed over seas, they play games too and the places they're stationed at don't have stable internet connections! And so these games are obviously specifically designed to spite them. EA hates our troops.
That makes sense, anywho thanks for pointing out meh mistake. Again it's an interesting point that the format wars could be perceived as a driver towards a digital distribution platform. It makes sense, and is right in line with MS business practices. I used to argue all the time that the Xbox existed as a thing simply because Sony pushed hard to get their own platform in as many living rooms as possible.Zachary Amaranth said:
That is, as a counterbalance to disrupt the Sony platform. MS plays the game like Madden would play... on both sides of the ball. Either way considering how much leverage MS has in technology as a whole... it is a foregone conclusion that they win, either way a coin falls.
The quintessential lord of war.
Just to let you know Jim, I am directing people to your videos periodically to make points. We always seem to have posts here asking what the big deal with EA is and why people dislike them. Clearly these clueless posters aren't watching your videos, and I simply cannot think of anyone who puts it better then you do.Jimothy Sterling said:
Watching the Jimquisition should be a mandatory qualification of being an Escapist.
After hearing this, EA falls off the wagon and begins its drug habit again. Two weeks more and EA will kill itself, leaving Jim... Prime Minister of Games. A position he will hold for 17 years and relinquish only as he falls. Prime Minister of Games Jim "Urquhart" Sterling.
This is basically what I was going to say since it's my main gripe with this 'always online' business. I'm no PC gamer (this will change one of these days) but being from Australia the internet here is, while adequate, not reliable, especially when it comes to the complications of gaming servers. It's the implications of the future that will directly inconvenience my gaming life, trampling onto my preference for single player games even.Magmarock said:
Thank you, Jim, for so clearly expressing why what EA has done is a bad thing. Explanation is the difference between whinging and complaining, and you've hit the nail on the head.
All too often we (gamers) lose sight of why any one particular business practice by a games publisher is bad. Even when we suspect it is bad, if can be hard to know when. I've debated on these forums before about the pros and cons of digital distribution platforms, but had real difficulty drawing out why some things are bad when talking to people with whom I disagreed in part.
It is really refreshing to hear a case well put.
1. EA's DRM requiring a constant internet connection is bad because...
2. EA demand constant connection with a service that not everyone uses in the same way and because...
3. The "service" provided is constantly and predictably dysfunctional.
'If a game demands that we always be online solely for its benefit, it should damn fucking well always be online for ours.'
How could you argue with that?
All too often we (gamers) lose sight of why any one particular business practice by a games publisher is bad. Even when we suspect it is bad, if can be hard to know when. I've debated on these forums before about the pros and cons of digital distribution platforms, but had real difficulty drawing out why some things are bad when talking to people with whom I disagreed in part.
It is really refreshing to hear a case well put.
1. EA's DRM requiring a constant internet connection is bad because...
2. EA demand constant connection with a service that not everyone uses in the same way and because...
3. The "service" provided is constantly and predictably dysfunctional.
'If a game demands that we always be online solely for its benefit, it should damn fucking well always be online for ours.'
How could you argue with that?
Believe me, I am.Zachary Amaranth said:
The video games industry hasn't gone past a point of no return, but if you had told me just five years ago about some of the video game controversies of today, I wouldn't have believed it. I used to be skeptical of complaints of the past because they were vague and unqualified, as well as economically unsound. People used to complain about stuff like "games are getting worse and worse." Really though, companies have been mostly marketing stuff that people will buy, and stuff like crowd funding and more established indie developers have started to fill in the market void that big companies have left unfilled. I'm sure that people would continue buying new call of duties indefinitely if allowed to and I see nothing wrong with it.
Now, both the aforementioned DRM issues that we've come across, as well as the lesser touched on issue of budget inflation, we are seeing companies engage in very risky and concretely unsustainable business practices. It's kind of hard to argue about the games industry going out of of business because of bad design when people they are being sold more are more. What can be argued objectively is that if customers buy a game that they are physically unable to play, it doesn't matter how "low" their standards are.
I'm not about to defend valve for some of the shit that they do. I refused to use steam when it first came out for various reason, and I still think all of them are true. The point was more to say that things are bad because valve does pretty much just a the base line of what you'd expect from a company, with a few good and bad things that balance each other out, but people treat it like it's some sort of saintly thing that they are doing. I also never made mention of Origin, because I don't consider it that much worse than steam as a service (steam makes far more from a pricing standpoint though, since deals are the only reason I ever started using the service.)
My concern was more along the lines of comparing it to the always on services that companies have been pushing lately. I guess I should have emphasis the "because of internet connection part" because I have had trouble launching steam games. However, I still think that it's worth recognizing that if my steam collection wants me to constantly verify the cache before launching, it's a problem that I can ask someone to help me fix. If I can't get an ubisoft game to work, not because I'm not connected to the internet, but because my isp is preventing me from connecting, I get told "tough shit." The distinction should be obvious.
I'm sure that EA has probably made it's money back on SimCity by now. However, is someone who buys SimCity and left unable to play it going to be a repeat customer. To be economically successful, a company has to have repeat customers. Again, people had complaining about big companies for years, but I generally tuned them out because a lot of it was just serving a different audience. I used to always tune out complaints about DRM because the majority of users weren't affected by it. Now, it's gotten to the point where two different games within a year of each other where the DRM issues went from a user experience issue for the majority of users to a major usability issue. Having a product with an annoyance does far less to erode a customer base than a product that strait up doesn't work.
I'm not picturing a riot of organized players actively boycotting the games industry. I'm picturing a bunch of unconnected people giving up on games that they would have wanted to play, but just can't justify buying.
I think your vid is just a bit late, and I think everyones outrage waited far too long as well. It's a good summary of whats already been said though. I'm sure this could reach more people, but a lot of the EA defenders don't care for anyone else as long as it works for them, which is what I see a lot of unfortunately.
I love how I hear about all this new technology bringing new potential, but instead it's being made as something we have to rely on and make things less convenient, as well as sometimes ripping off the customer. I was hoping the future would provide more options, instead I see terrible business practices over and over. I shouldn't have to do bloody research to see if new releases have annoying DRM and other shit! Fuck these greedy assholes!
I love how I hear about all this new technology bringing new potential, but instead it's being made as something we have to rely on and make things less convenient, as well as sometimes ripping off the customer. I was hoping the future would provide more options, instead I see terrible business practices over and over. I shouldn't have to do bloody research to see if new releases have annoying DRM and other shit! Fuck these greedy assholes!
I long for the Jim Sterling that had the balls to say casual gamers were better consumers than "hardcore" gamers. Now that he's got a web series, he's just become a mouthpiece for everything everyone else on the internet is already saying. Yes, thank GOD we have Jim to tell us SimCity sucked and EA was a bad company, cause NO ONE else had the guts to voice that particular controversy. Goddamn, there's being current and then there's just making a video based on whatever's hot on the forums.
Jim's been on a roll recently.
BTW every time someone like Pachter wants to talk about piracy from there high horse I can't not think about how fucking greedy these publishers are. As if fairness or providing the value they should is ever a concern for them.
BTW every time someone like Pachter wants to talk about piracy from there high horse I can't not think about how fucking greedy these publishers are. As if fairness or providing the value they should is ever a concern for them.
https://twitter.com/simcity/status/310490053803646976
I thought it might be interesting that Maxis takes the full blame and says the DRM is not the fault of EA. I wonder why they would take the blame?
I thought it might be interesting that Maxis takes the full blame and says the DRM is not the fault of EA. I wonder why they would take the blame?
EA and other publishers are incapable of thinking that their sales are dropping merely because their games are bad. No it must be piracy and used games that are to blame. So they introduce crippling DRM account registrations along with all the rest and in the end provide a service that is far worse than the one you can get for free. They are naive enough to think they can ever permanently beat back the pirates. They obviously think their consumers are the sheeple that will eat up anything they throw at them and do what their told so why would they try and improve their crappy games.
I have to disagree with you on this one Jim I dont think EA did this intentionally as some sort of master fuck people over plan remember never attribute to malice what can be aducately explained by stupidy. Still great episode and your right about waiting it has saved me alot of money.
This is a server issue, and EA being unprepared despite the Diablo 3 fiasco. Everyone knew it was going to happen this way. I may not be fond of Always-On DRM, but so long as it's made incredibly clear that it's a requirement of the game it becomes just another PC Requirement.
That said, it does mean that the company had DAMN WELL BETTER have servers that can support the fucking game. That was the failure here. Or as Jim put it "If a game demands that we always be online, solely for its benefit, it should damn well fucking always be online for ours"
That said, it does mean that the company had DAMN WELL BETTER have servers that can support the fucking game. That was the failure here. Or as Jim put it "If a game demands that we always be online, solely for its benefit, it should damn well fucking always be online for ours"
1 - The calculations aren't done server side, they are all actually on your computer.dbenoy said:
2 - Pirates are not your customers, so don't design your game around them.
3 - If I buy the game, Do not saddle me with DRM designed to keep pirates at bay. I am not a pirate by the simple fact that I bought your game!
4 - Piracy is not a problem. It is a scapegoat.