This is the problem with providing a closed beta. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. It's a great idea to do the beta in the hopes of finding bugs and stress testing your servers, but then you get meatheads like this that are unable to abide by the NDA and are posting conclusions about the game in a public forum. A post like that (as true and accurate as it is) runs the risk of unfairly scaring away potential customers for the developer...all based on an unfinished product.
While I am not a big EA supporter (NHL 13...ugh), I am with them on this decision. I think banning him from playing the game is an over-reaction though.
I never understood why it has to be online for the single (lone) player mode. I guess for piracy. Still, seems weird.
They have a bunch of BS reasons like "it enhances the gameplay experience" and stuff, but it's 100% because of piracy. Until a viable option of combating piracy is developed though, this is just the way it's going to be.
They have a bunch of BS reasons like "it enhances the gameplay experience" and stuff, but it's 100% because of piracy. Until a viable option of combating piracy is developed though, this is just the way it's going to be.
Just like that article indicated, it's going to be a grinder for me. I remember when Diablo was released. There was no point in trying to play for the first week, since the authenticator servers were over-run.
I fear the same for Sim City. I might as well wait a week after release, before picking it up. Save myself the headache.
It's a great idea to do the beta in the hopes of finding bugs and stress testing your servers, but then you get meatheads like this that are unable to abide by the NDA and are posting conclusions about the game in a public forum. A post like that (as true and accurate as it is) runs the risk of unfairly scaring away potential customers for the developer...all based on an unfinished product.
Except he did post the feedback into the Closed Beta forums where they were setup to let testers give feedback.
There's tons of similar posts on there at this moment where people are criticizing EA because they had problems getting in in the beta, so unless all those posters are also violating the NDA and they're all being banned for posting feedback in the feedback forums that EA provided...
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They have a bunch of BS reasons like "it enhances the gameplay experience" and stuff, but it's 100% because of piracy. Until a viable option of combating piracy is developed though, this is just the way it's going to be.
Here's a viable option: sell it on Steam, then put it sale. Then put it into a Humble Bundle.
Always online only ever hurts legitimate gamers. People who are going to pirate SimCity are going to do so regardless. Why do these companies insist on hurting their customer base? The small map size and crap like this might just keep me from buying this game.
Always online only ever hurts legitimate gamers. People who are going to pirate SimCity are going to do so regardless. Why do these companies insist on hurting their customer base? The small map size and crap like this might just keep me from buying this game.
Well to their credit it looks like this form of always-online will prevent piracy entirely, unless someone sets up their own servers to run the simulation rather than the Maxis ones...
I can't say too much since I was in the beta and don't want to violate the NDA but I would very strongly urge you to try the game before writing it off.
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Maxis announced Sandbox Mode today, allowing you to (if you want) create a region where you can cheat, get infinite money, turn off fires and disasters, etc.
I expect a lot of people will use this mode to goof around and plan out things they want to try in normal mode.
You can't participate in challenges, achievements, and leaderboards obviously with this mode but I think it is a useful addition.
I understand a bit better the other reasons behind why the always-online thing is there besides DRM.
So, while you are not playing, your cities will continue to operate both in your multiplayer regions and your solo regions. The Maxis servers will perform the operations needed to keep the simulation of the cities running. Also the cloud save thing, being able to move from computer to computer seamlessly, is cool.
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I understand a bit better the other reasons behind why the always-online thing is there besides DRM.
So, while you are not playing, your cities will continue to operate both in your multiplayer regions and your solo regions. The Maxis servers will perform the operations needed to keep the simulation of the cities running. Also the cloud save thing, being able to move from computer to computer seamlessly, is cool.
Always on-line is for DRM no matter how they sugar coat it.
Yes, for the multiplayer and the cloud you need online, but there is no good reason for online only solo play other than DRM.
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I still don't like the idea of an "always on" city, I mean not everyone can play a game constantly.. If I save my city then I can come back in 3 months and keep playing. This way I'll come back in 3 months and it'll be abandoned, or at least not anything close to the way I left it.
Cmon Maxis, sandbox mode is half way there, I realize load/save could break the integrity of leaderboards and stuff so do the same thing, give us a load/save that applies the same way as sandbox mode.
Of course then it'd just be a small step to complete offline mode.
__________________ Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
Well to their credit it looks like this form of always-online will prevent piracy entirely, unless someone sets up their own servers to run the simulation rather than the Maxis ones...
I can't say too much since I was in the beta and don't want to violate the NDA but I would very strongly urge you to try the game before writing it off.
Honestly, the small city sizes are what is really killing my interest. I want to build huge cities. Get rid of the regions and let me build one city on that entire area of land and I'll be excited..
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The option to have a larger city would be nice, as would having more natural borders. No city in the world is perfectly square. These constraints limit what kind of city you can create.
I still don't like the idea of an "always on" city, I mean not everyone can play a game constantly.. If I save my city then I can come back in 3 months and keep playing. This way I'll come back in 3 months and it'll be abandoned, or at least not anything close to the way I left it.
Cmon Maxis, sandbox mode is half way there, I realize load/save could break the integrity of leaderboards and stuff so do the same thing, give us a load/save that applies the same way as sandbox mode.
Of course then it'd just be a small step to complete offline mode.
I didn't realize this was a possibility. So if you don't play for X amount of time, your city is going to be completely different? As in time still passes by in the game even if you're away?
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I am 100% sure this will come off as me being a fan boy but oh well, I will try to explain what they are doing.
So the reason the city size is small is because of the simulation engine. Maxis decided that they wanted to make a game with an incredible simualtion engine, where the things that happen actually happen (sims actually go to work, go shopping, commit crimes, go to protest at city hall, get sick, get injured, die, etc).
The (somewhat) unfortunate side effect is that the game is very taxing on hardware, especially at top graphics settings.
So, in order to stop hundreds of thousands of gamers from yelling at them because the game runs poorly on amazing hardware with huge city sizes, they decided to make the city sizes smaller and make it such that a fully developed and realized city on a smallish plot of land with still up to hundreds of thousands in population, runs well on current top end hardware.
They plan to expand city sizes in the future, they just wanted to get THIS size right with the new simulation engine for launch.
I know that will still not satisfy many people but there it is anyway.
Ocean:
SimCityWorld.net @SimCityForum @oceanquigley last and big question. In the full version, the cities have different sizes in one region, or all cities the same size?
Ocean Quigley @oceanquigley @SimCityForum For now, all the same size -2k square. Ocean Quigley @oceanquigley
whyman @whyman @oceanquigley@SimCityForum What is the thinking behiend that? It really seems way to small.
Ocean Quigley @oceanquigley @whyman@simcityforum Performance tradeoffs for more realistic simulation. We can (and will) go bigger as machines allow.
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