New SimCity Will Require Always-On Internet - UPDATED

[AngleWyrm]

I won't be buying this game. I did buy Anno 2070 though.

 

[harvz]

I seriously have more of a problem with the origin requirement then the internet requirement (I still havent installed it). It would be nice to have a single player but I think having others to connect with would be worth it and hey, if you dont have the internet, simcity 4 still works great while you wait for your friendly neighborhood hackers to disable the online because, they will.

 

[A-D.]

Hrm, graphically it does look very nice from what i've seen so far, but lets consider all the facts here first.

Always-on DRM is annoying, plain and simple, maybe the net goes down, or you dont want to be or simply cant be connected all the time when you wish to play, but its not a deal-breaker. So we probably could live with the always-on drm thing, but why am i forced into a Multiplayer version? I mean having the option is one thing, but why do i have to play with literally thousands of other Players doing their stuff in their cities? Do i get to walk around in other People's Cities? Or can they look at mine? Trade ressources and stuff? Wait a minute..

Thats Cities XL all over again. All it now needs is a monthly subscription for all that and its exactly the same thing. So if i consider having the choice between a game which visually looks very similar but can be played entirely on my own, including multiple cities which i can manage (ressource trading most of all) and not having to bother with any always-on DRM or multiplayer i dont feel like..uh yeah the game exists already.

So im going to give this a pass and continue playing Cities XL and have fun with that, or if i need my SimCity fix i can just play any of the old titles i still own.

 

[Neonit]

i remember that someone has already tried to make "multiplayer sim city". if i recall correctly it didnt last a year.
sure! go ahead! i see absolutely no way how this could POSSIBLY fail.....


nah, maybe it will be good who knows, i played sim city 2000, it was awesome. i played sim city 3000, it was better. i played sim city 4, it was better. i see a trend here you know? - still, we cant judge the game yet, so lets judge their stupid decisions.

One thing about your chart of progression you are forgetting, SimCity Societies sucked.

i forgot it, because i have chosen to forget it. thanks for reminding.
ya, it wasnt very good.
then again it was a spin-off......
therefore it didnt exist ok?!

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Oh good. Another chance for pirates to try and justify their pirating of every game they see.

"This is why people pirate, herp derp! My internet is bad, so I, like, can't play my game I paid for and stuff. I won't get it this then I guess. Or maybe crack it or something. *goes to pirate half the Steam library*"

Ugh.

>>Live at college
>>Can't connect to Steam because ports are blocked to stop torrents because sysadmins are not functionally retarded
>>Can't play games I purchased (including some single player games because Volition are cuntrags)
>>People still wonder why others crack games they bought legitimately

Here's my question, open to all!

What's the difference between using an emulator for games you own (legal, so say most people) and using a crack for games you own? And if there is a difference, what happens if you emulate Steam? That's still emulation for use of things you own.

In my eyes, cracking or modifying a game you purchased in any way is perfectly fine. Crack it, mod it, change it, emulate the platform--do whatever you want. You paid for the ability to play the game. BUT, emulating a platform you don't legally own is not okay. Like, say, you don't own a DS and you download a DS emulator (which is very popular).

My little rant (lol) was aimed at the people who pirate everything anyway, and simply use the anti-DRM banner as an excuse to be more open about it and feel better about stealing.

 

[Hateren47]

Fuck that. And I was looking forward to it as well, but the only 3 games I will ever get on Origin is BF3 alpha, BF3 beta and BF3 LE. My computer runs BF3 just about perfectly on ultra settings so it's not even about system resources I just don't like Origin or EA for that matter.

For the people pondering getting Cities XL make sure you have a very fast processor because while the game is a decent although simple city management game it only runs on 1 core and even on my i5-2500K @ 3.5 GHz (I should buy better cooling and OC more soon) it lags like shit every time I reach a milestone, unlock new stuff and textboxes fill up the screen. On my old Agena @ 2.2 GHz the game became almost unplayable as soon as my city had 50.000 people in it. It's fun and all but Focus needs to rewrite the whole thing for more than one core if possible (since it was made by Monte Cristo and not Focus originally).

It's a real shame about the new SimCity though, I'd only want to play that in singleplayer.

Also if anyone has a solution for Cities XL (2011) running like crap please let me know. My system is a i5-2500k, a HD 6950 and 8GB RAM so it should run pretty well I would think.

 

[rvdm88]

And then they'll be wondering why this game would become the most pirated game of the year...

The stuff they are doing to "prevent" piracy actually drives people to pirate these kinds of games. which is a waste since the game is already looking so good

 

[marurder]

Not gonna buy it now. /over

You don't need an internet connection to do it before, the *excuse* is just an insult, much like Diablo 3. There could be 'connected' cities and unconnected.

 

[Frostbyte666]

Just great my computer throws a wobbler because of simcity 4 so I was looking forward to a new one that (probably) won't give me trouble but now that hope has a died a brutal messy death. Here's the thing EA, I DON'T want to have a multiplayer simcity where others can influence my glorious city. The idea of always on drm is sickening and just like diablo 3 you've lost a potential customer. Also those thinking of pirating it, what would be the point it would still be an online game anyway? I do admit however I would think of buying it if an offline single player option becomes available.

 

[Bordersane]

Thsi has nothing to do with preventing piracy...its a money-making thing. You have no idea how much this information pisses me off. They're forcing you to use online companies like Origin that I personally want nothing to do with.

 

[Bordersane]

This has nothing to do with preventing piracy...its a money-making thing. You have no idea how much this information pisses me off. They're forcing you to use online companies like Origin that I personally want nothing to do with.

 

[Snotnarok]

I'm stumped when other companies hop on the always on DRM boat because it always gets universal hate and resentment. The sales HAVE to be lower because of this stupid bullshit, why would people buy games they don't own, that's all you're doing with these games.

Also, it never, ever stops pirates from stealing their games. This will be on every torrent site 2 weeks after it's launch, without the dumb DRM while paying honest customers get to eat shit.

 

[Griffolion]

And with that, a sale to me disappears into the abyss forever.

You've just reminded me of this:

http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/08/08

 

[VonKlaw]

And with that, a sale to me disappears into the abyss forever.

You've just reminded me of this:

http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/08/08

xD Nah, it's just a stock response I hurl out whenever I see a game will have always online DRM.

Besides, I said a sale. Not that I wouldn't play it. *joke before before say I condone piracy*

And with that, I'm going for a walk. Because you made me feel awkward. >.>

 

[Griffolion]

And with that, a sale to me disappears into the abyss forever.

You've just reminded me of this:

http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/08/08

xD Nah, it's just a stock response I hurl out whenever I see a game will have always online DRM.

Besides, I said a sale. Not that I wouldn't play it. *joke before before say I condone piracy*

And with that, I'm going for a walk. Because you made me feel awkward. >.>

Haha, I only kid. I too have an aversion to always on DRM. I just disagree with the principle of controlling a user that has paid full price for the legitimate software. I think it was our own Jim Sterling that was saying that DRM fundamentally doesn't work because the ones that get hit with DRM are the legitimate users. The pirates that the DRM is aimed at will get around it somehow, and be totally unaffected by it. So the entire process completely back fires. I can't remember pirating a game (if at all), I also have an aversion to piracy, I just prefer to do everything by the book, even if such a practice screws me over, I don't want to lower my own integrity just to get back at "them".

 

[Vampire cat]

I feel I can compare it in a way to Just Cause 2, or the experience I got from that game and Sim City 4. I think JC2 had potential, and Sim City 4 is one of my faovorite games ever. What both lacked in my personal opinion was a multi-player mode that let you interact with your friends in the game. JC2 would be brilliant if they just added the posibility to connect a small group of people together in that big open world with those fun crazy toys and go nuts (and cheats... that damn game needs cheats!).

I like this idea of a multi-player Sim City, but I also agree with people that it needs a single player option... At least an option to create your OWN "multi-player" world with a password or over a LAN connection or something, a way of creating a private place for your cities or just sharing that world with your close friends. If it's going to be all open-world Stronghold Kingdoms style... That I wouldn't be so happy about, then again very VERY little is known about this game and Maxis has delivered some good titles in the past so I remain optimistic.

As for having to stay connected all the time to play, personally I'm not bothered. I'm always connected, the only downtime I've had in 6 months was 2 minutes yesterday because they are blowing up the mountain under me to make a tunnel and the shockwave somehow knocked out the fiberoptics for a little while X3. I can see why people are annoyed though. I also don't mind Origin that much. I'd rather NOT have it, but it's not a major problem for me that it's there. I can live with it.

 

[El Luck]

Well that's a game off of my list.

Just because the techs there, doesn't mean it should be bloody used.

we're not idiots.

For thinking such DRM should be used... I'm not too sure about that.

 

[survivor686]

hmm....so what if you have a crappy ISP (aka: Rogers)?

So is Sim city trying to encourage a sort of Meta game? (cities trade with each other)

 

[Murmillos]

Online DRM wouldn't be so bad if it allowed for the occasional network "hit". It would keep on playing for at least 10-15 minutes after the internet dropped, giving you a warning that said connection had dropped - so save your game. This isn't a online completive game, if your net drops, there is no need to force quit the game to desk top with no option to be able to save...

Origin sucks, online DRM sucks. I'm on the fence for buying, but I'm not going to rush out on day one. If anything EA has taught me now, is that its better to wait a few weeks then to get it on day one.. or even pre-order.

 

[Andy Chalk]

hmm....so what if you have a crappy ISP (aka: Rogers)?

Ha! I would suggest that if you have Rogers (and there's not something broken in your cable line), you're doing just fine.