Gabe Yaden said:
"A game that in the past , you could just buy , install and play," Yes I believe that's how the previous games worked
"Now requires you to be online all the time" ...It has elements that require it to be online...not sure how to use those offline? Its also a new installment of the franchise heading in a new direction ...So Yes still no problem
Alright, here's where I'm going to start you're quote 'cause TBH I couldn't give two shits whether you're OK with it or not. That's your opinion.
Here, though, is something to argue.
May I ask, what are the elements that force it to be online?
Multiplayer?
You mean that thing that every other game in existence [Minus Always Online DRM games like Diablo 3] have had an option for?
That other games don't force on you?
That only connects to the Internet when it needs to?
Yeah, totally seeing how that works out. Its like leaving your car running all the time because you MIGHT want to drive somewhere at some point. Good for the people who are driving almost consistently [I.E: Almost no-one unless its their job], shit for the people who drive maybe 1 or 2 hours a day, and something worth complaining about - especially if you don't have enough money for a load of good gas/Internet.
"to play alone", For #&*(& where are you going with this you have implied that the older versions were superior because they were single player. Now you're pissed that you have the option to play with other people if need be?
Seriously, sometimes I have to ask... Are you deliberately misinterpreting things?
Nobody is pissed at the OPTION of being able to play with other people. Those people are the "Oh no, Its got Multiplayer, the game is ruined!" types that generally get shot down quickly. What he's saying is that its no longer an option. You HAVE to play Multiplayer. You don't necessarily have to have other people in your multiplayer, you can play it yourself if you want, but its still forcing you to be multiplayer.
That makes no sense?
Maybe, but that's 'cause I'm not using multiplayer in terms of multiple people playing, I'm saying it in terms of a multiplayer server. If a server is online and able to take in extra players its still a multiplayer server. Just because there is only one person on it at that point does not make it a singleplayer game. The gameplay at that point isn't multiplayer, but the server still is - and this is forced by the game. Thing is that people WANT OPTIONS. They don't want to be told how to play a game and then forced to do so.
Also, older games were better 'cause they had the option of offline single player. That's one key feature that this Sim City is sorely missing, and which has lost it a lot of sales from a lot of people I know.
To wait in Queues, you can't play when you buy it because the servers are down/full" Its launch day grow up, how many countless titles have had issues with their launch servers take a chill pill.
You see, here's the thing.
You're making a game. You're forcing the players to be online. If this is an MMO, fine. Sadly, its not. It never was, and if its trying to be one, its fans have the right to ***** as much as they like about the stupid change in direction.
Because of this, none of these issues needed to ever happen, and the fault lies entirely with the publisher.
In addition to that, knowing you're releasing a forced-online game, you should have your servers set up beforehand. Its just good service. Know how many retail copies you've sent out, know how many digital copies you've sold, and set up enough to accommodate them all. Stress test the servers. Get this shit sorted before release. If its dealt with before release, there'd be no problems. Well, maybe there'd be a couple, 'cause life is unpredictable, but a few slight problems are acceptable. Long queues and locked servers the likes of the Diablo 3 launch, which I haven't seen enough of this to know how close it comes, are not acceptable. You know how many copies could possibly be in circulation, you're hoping to sell them all so be bloody prepared to sell them all.
"A game where many people bought and cannot play because of a policy that EA continues to implement" More bitching about EA that can be ignored, if you have issues state them don't just, Herp Derp EA.
Ok, really, you need to get this EA thing out of your system. He's not pointlessly bashing EA. "If you have issues state them" - he has. EA has implemented a policy of always online DRM and Origin that he does not like. It could be targeted at Valve and Steam and I doubt you'd say "More Herp Derp Valve", or Ubisoft and Uplay, or Blizzard and Battle.Net. He's not saying "EA are terrible", he's saying that they continue to implement anti-consumer policies that he does not like, and that is a legitimate concern for some of us. You have an issue identifying any arguments against EA because you are, quite plainly, blindly defending them. Normally I won't criticise people for this, but when your only defence as soon as EA is mentioned is "You just hate EA, bring up some actual points" rather than addressing the points that are bought up... Yeah, I can't say its anything else.
Now for the rest, Its my money, non of this is deal breaker stuff cause its not actually as big of an issue as people like you, like to make it out to be. For F__King crying out loud its a GAME, EA didnt break into your house and force you at gun point to buy the latest SIM. You've stated that you don't like these policies, Don't support them, easy as that you clearly don't want this game so why the hubub you don't like EA either.
Started off good, went sour quickly.
"Its my money" is a fine statement. Its true. Its your money, do what you like with it. Nobody has the right to judge you for that.
However, the rest of your post is kinda stupid. "You don't like those policies, don't support them". He's not. He's arguing against them. Thing is, he might really want to play the game 'cause it looks fun and enjoyable, and there you're left with a tough choice; Buy the game and enjoy it, whilst having said policies get in the way of your enjoyment, or boycott it and miss out on the enjoyment the game could provide. I'll leave Jim Sterling to the rest of the Boycott Argument; http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/6187-Why-Boycotts-Fail-Where-Whining-Tantrums-Win
Also, for some people such issues are big issues. There are some parts of America, a highly developed first world country, that struggle to get 3Mb/s Internet. One of my friends here in Australia had dialup until last year. Not everyone is able to get good Internet speeds, or a high enough Internet cap, to have the processing for their single player game be done on some other server, and their saves kept away from them on said server too. Its not even an issue of them not being rich enough for it, quite often areas just don't have the infrastructure. These things CAN be big issues for some people, just because they are not for you does not mean they are not for everyone.
Additionally, just because he has complained about EA does not mean he hates them. Odds are he does as they do a lot of things to piss of their customers at times, and really its not even an argument or point. You're just trying to use it as an insult and something to remove justification for their points, but it really doesn't work. Its ok to dislike EA. Its also Ok to like them. Why this needs stating to some people is beyond me.
Let me give you a bit of life advice, these are games...entertainment, do you have nothing else going for you then to get on forums and complain because a company you don't like is making a product you don't want. Id really consider stepping away from the screen and like maybe just trying to enjoy these things, instead of spending all day getting angry at forum posts and other games.
Hypocrisy and again misunderstanding.
Once again, its not necessarily that someone doesn't like the game. I love the look of the new Sim City and when it drops to $20 or so I'll get it. It looks like a fun game. Why wait for it to drop to $20 instead of the $60 it launched for? 'cause the shit that has been stapled to the game - forced online and very flawed multiplayer [Not able to kick other players, nor delete cities, which leads to one mistake fucking over your entire region] - reduce its value in my eyes. The game could be great, the business practices surrounding it are not in my favour though.
Hypocrisy comes from the line "do you have nothing else going for you then to get on forums and complain because a company you don't like is making a product you don't want?" onwards.
Let me rephrase it for you:
"Do you have nothing else going for you then to get on forums and complain because some user you don't like is making a post you don't want to see?"
Really, complaining on forums about people complaining on forums... The irony is cracking me up, not to mention the fact that forums are meant for discussion, and complaining about something you're not happy with is a perfectly legitimate discussion. God knows its better than the repeat sexism threads we've finally seemed to stop getting.
If you think," Have fun not being able to play your game unless EA says it's okay" is true then you really need to calm down and re-evaluate how you play your games, you don't always need to have express written consent to enjoy your media outlets
Somewhat.
Thing is, with its always online DRM, EA can, at any point, say "You no longer own this game", and lock you out of it. Its also in the TOS that you agreed to upon installing the game, and Origin.
Normally this wouldn't be an issue. It becomes an issue though because I plan to be playing this game 3 years down the line, even 5 years down the line. What happens when lots of people quit because of this online DRM? EA no longer sees the servers as profitable, and closes the entire game down.
Also, Origin is rather shitty in its banning systems. If you get banned from these forums I'm pretty sure you can still come here and watch the videos, read the site's content, just not comment on it or anything. Origin you get banned, you lose ALL of your games on Origin. They cease to work. Could be $60 spent. Could be $600. You could get such a ban for saying "Fuck" in an EA-owned forum. It has happened. Rages were had. Additionally, people have lost games and been banned for running graphics modifiers such as the FXAA injectors to improve the look of their games. EA isn't exactly nice with their banhammer, and the heavy punishment for even minor offences leaves a lot to be desired. If EA were fair with these sorts of things, the argument would hold less weight. Maybe they've improved since I last checked - I've long since uninstalled Origin as I no longer need it, so I no longer follow that side of things - but they do have a history of unfair bans and locking people out of their game libraries for some stupid reasons.
