Maxis Developer Takes SimCity Review Lumps Gracefully

[Karloff]

Maxis Developer Takes SimCity Review Lumps Gracefully

Maxis' Lucy Bradshaw describes SimCity reviews as "fair."

Maxis' Lucy Bradshaw - the general manager in charge of the whole Sims shop - has gone on record, in a CVG interview, as saying that she accepts that SimCity's woes [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122590-Electronic-Arts-Suspends-SimCity-Marketing-UPDATED], due mainly to server accessibility, is "our fault." Bradshaw went on to say that SimCity's review scores, based to a large extent on its connectivity issues, were fair, and that she hoped the reviewers would revisit those scores now that connectivity wasn't a problem.

"SimCity is an online game," says Bradshaw, "and everyone - fans and critics - have every right to expect the experience to be smooth from start to finish." Unexpectedly high player numbers on launch, combined with servers that didn't perform as well live as they did in testing, were the two main reasons why SimCity suffered such a catastrophic server problem. Bradshaw believes that new servers, and upgrades to the existing ones, have solved its issues.

"Maxis performs at its best when it is challenged," said Bradshaw, "and this is the most challenging situation that any of us have ever faced." Challenging for Maxis, and for her team, which worked for years to make SimCity the best it could be, but which had to watch as the launch turned into a disaster. "I feel like I let them down, this was my responsibility," says Bradshaw, "but I tell them what we all know: SimCity is a wonderful game and that we should all be proud of the effort that went into making it."

Her final words are to fans of SimCity. "We made this game for you because you asked us for another SimCity," she says. "It's our fault that we got a little too ambitious and I'm disappointed that the Live Service didn't live up to its end of the bargain." But things should be improving, she says; hopefully improving enough that Maxis can win those fans around.

Source: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/395899/interviews/simcity-interview-lucy-bradshaw-reflects-on-a-disaster-launch/]

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[cynicalsaint1]

I honestly have a hard time believing anything out of this woman's mouth.

With every passing day it looks like playing offline is more and more feasible and fairly simple to accomplish - there's already rumors of a debug mode where you can disable the check to see if you're online, plus the developer who claimed that it would be fairly simple to get the game running offline, plus Kotaku being able to play the game for 20min offline without any problem other than the game killing itself after it failed an online check, plus my own instincts as a software developer that tell me that running any significant part of the game on a server would be a colossally stupid design choice.

I have a hard time believing that this wasn't a mandate from EA and they're now just distancing themselves from the whole debacle as much as they can by throwing Maxis under the bus.

The way she keeps trying to push that SimCity is totally an "Online game" when its looking less and less like that's the case really calls into doubt anything that she says.

 

[Novuake]

"'m disappointed that the Live Service didn't live up to its end of the bargain."

I Just LOVE how the "live service" is to blame as if it was a person with responsibility.

 

[mfeff]

Bradshaw is either a liar or woefully ignorant of her own products she is shilling for, just a willful ignorance... which is worse?

As far as an online game which would require major engineering to make into a single player game? Ha!

Just leave this little guy right here....


As far as wonderful? Only in fantasy land could someone create path-finding this bad and be proud of the results.

 

[Hitchmeister]

"We made this game for you because you asked us for another SimCity," she says.

But I don't think anyone asked for a server dependent, always online, multi-player only SimCity.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

"'m disappointed that the Live Service didn't live up to its end of the bargain."

I Just LOVE how the "live service" is to blame as if it was a person with responsibility.

Considering the service isn't even needed....

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/14/modder-runs-simcity-offline-maxis-remains-silent/

 

[Jumwa]

But I don't think anyone asked for a server dependent, always online, multi-player only SimCity.

Undoubtedly we did, we just didn't realize it! So it's really our fault when you think about it.

I'm normally willing to accept apologies, and this one would be great for most gaming controversies. However, in this case it's still sorely lacking after the shabby handling and deception all to preserve a system of DRM that punishes paying customers.

To come out and act like it's a blip that's over and now you can re-review it after it's being proved more and more that we were lied to about the game and decisions made? It's a desperate attempt to draw attention away.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

"We made this game for you because you asked us for another SimCity," she says.

But I don't think anyone asked for a server dependent, always online, multi-player only SimCity.

But EA and its investors did.

I mean come on! Making games that customers enjoy and want to play? How the hell do you make a profit from that?

 

[CriticalMiss]

I wonder if this whole debacle has taught EA a lesson or they will just come up with an even less popular DRM scheme in the hopes of making always online DRM look good by comparison. And I have my doubts as to whether that many reviews will change since overall trust in Maxis has gone through the floor.

 

[ASnogarD]

A proper beta test would of shown the issues, not this 1 hour crap they used as a marketing gimmick ... or as some cynical people may even hint that the hour limit was the longest the game could run before coming apart at the seams.

Servers wasnt even tested as there was rarely more than 50 or so on at anytime... who would of thought servers tested to 50 users would strain with 50 000 users.

The games simulation is also a major smoke and mirrors trick, all the much hype about individual sims is a joke, a lie... freaking 'sims' in this game barely manage to use simple routing to and from destinations... go to the nearest available 'work' and return to the nearest available 'home', go to the nearest unfilled shop/casino/commercial structure and return to the nearest unfilled house, go to the nearest unfilled park, return to the nearest unfilled house.

The absolute worst part of the game however is that the city building is actually good, its fun and addictive as hell... its the much vaunted simulation that is broke and as it is not a bug but rather a code hack its not likely to be fixed.

Ironically the whole reason players have to put up with the online rubbish is not working properly, and is damn hard to setup... the playing with pals on a region, getting more than 2 pals on the same server so they can play the same region is hard when the servers get so overloaded that half the guys are advised to go to another server.
What good is going to server 6 when my pals and my region, and my half built city is on 5 ?
The available server changes by the hour...I have cities on 4 , 5 and 6 (EU West) because sometimes 6 is up, but 5 is down, then later 5 is up and 6 is down, and occasionally 5 and 6 are down and 4 is up, then 4 goes down and 6 is up until later then 5 is on and 6 is down.

... sigh, good game messed up by EA's corporate greed and need to create a DLC drip feed machine instead of a solid customer friendly game... and dont believe Bradshaw she is basically the fall girl here while EA hides behind the PR and CM's, and counts the money they grabbed.

 

[rasta111]

I forgive you Maxis... I forgave you before any of this happened.

I'm still not buying into your online service anymore than I'd ever make a Facebook account. Simcity 2000 is still my favourite, classic gameplay, not to mention the fact I could still play it on my PC if I wanted.

Too bad I'll never know what could have been. ^^

 

[FFP2]

We made this game for you because you asked us for another SimCity

Well maybe you should have made a SimCity game instead of this piece of shit? Seriously, the videos that the people have posted above goes to show how "complex" this game is.

 

[Callate]

An unfortunate side-effect of the way things are distributed throughout the company right now is that individuals like Ms. Bradshaw can show grace and honesty without it appearing to reflect back on EA as a whole. There's just enough autonomy that a display of integrity can be seen as stemming from a branch of a sub-branch, but not enough that blunders and misdeeds from anywhere in the structure are similarly isolated.

 

[Aikayai]

Anyone else get Tropico in the steam sale? Did it to spite SimCity but its actually really good. The DRM requires you to sign in once but that's it. Gotta say, with all this fuss about SimCity its made me realize even if there were no launch problems, there are better alternatives out there.

 

[BoogieManFL]

I have always liked and extensively played the Sim City games since back the old one on SNES. But I decided not to buy this one. And I likely will NEVER buy it. I played the beta and was instantly put off by them putting arbitrary limits on it, such as not being able to save the game and having a time limit. I was instantly annoyed by the game. I'm here to help test the game, and you're limiting me likes it's some kind of demo? Really? You're that terrified I'll be playing your game without paying for it?

That instantly put up a red flag for me, that when I thought about their always online direction sealed the deal for me. I refuse to accept that it's just outright required. What if I don't want to play with other people? This series has always been about the single player experience. That's how it earned it's name. Deciding now to completely change that? How does modding work in such an environment?

The whole thing just screams that they crave to control you and everything about the game. And I also believed that their launch would ultimately fail because virtually every large scale online game has a terrible opening because they invariably lowball their server estimate. And as far as I know they have limited experience with such things. I can't accept that this method is necessary, that's pretty much all there is to it. Make it a feature that you can participate in if you choose, that's fine. But forcing it and deliberately making the game dependent on remote servers just tells me you're willing to insult your fans and desecrate your game in an attempt to make it harder to pirate. Not even counting you are as of yet incapable of offering a service you accepted money for.

So no, you control freaks, I won't by your game. And I hope this infectious need to control everything doesn't infect the whole industry.

Way to alienate your fans by fundamentally changing a time honored series.

We asked for this? No, I don't think so.

 

[Angnor]

"We made this game for you because you asked us for another SimCity," she says.

But I don't think anyone asked for a server dependent, always online, multi-player only SimCity.

This is the heart of the problem. I was a big SimCity fan, but I'm not interested in any of the social aspects they think are needed. I'd only consider buying it if I could play it on my own, offline.