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[TheNamelessOne]

I mean, not to be snarky here, but really, why did we have these "Beta tests" of Sim City (2013) then? I mean they said it was a beta right, and now a commercial demo for means of solely getting people hyped for this game? I just am wondering why they are having server issues if they forcasted the amount of people who would buy it. I am sure they know it is not some unknown IP right? Hell, didn't they even get the guy from Workaholics to put those TV ads on blast for the last few weeks? And they knew they were going to have to have every person constantly connected to their servers (lets be clear... it is for DRM, not for gameplay). This is not 2000 anymore where I would have said, eh, okay, bugs are getting worked out. 0/10, lets move onto Sim City 4 again.

There is ONE reason EA don't have the server capacity at launch - it costs more money. In a few days, this peak will die down and people will be able to play. They just don't give a fuck at launch to save them some money on server costs.

 

[Vire]

 

[Snuggles]

So your uncontrollable desire for a new Sim City game is contributing to a trend that will see me miss out on playing games that I want to play because of this very same crap?

Thanks. Much appreciated.

Uncontrollable desire? It's not like I robbed a convenience store to pay for the game. I weighed the positives and the negatives, and the positives won out. I dislike EA's handling of the game but I'm not going to punish myself but not buying the game to make some point that, in all likelihood, will not make a difference.

 

[Xbudz]

The Origin logo looks like the icon they use on the news when mapping out hurricane trajectories, which is pretty appropriate in this situation.

Grab those Sandbags, EA

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

And here I came, expected some quirky and fun easter egg or in joke.

Reticulator's busted

 

[Steve Youngblood]

We shouldn't blame consumers for the game not working but we should point out the inevitable result of their actions. Money talks.

That's fine. But I just think it would behoove us to do so in a more constructive fashion, and less so with passive-aggression and righteous indignation.

 

[Tmac]

This is an industry, EA has to make a profit, but wait, did they forget the main rule of industry? They have to deliver a f***** product!

If i buy a soap i expect it to work.

 

[TheGreyHulk]

so i guess i won't be playing this tonight...

from 6:45 PM till nearly 2 AM, i was only able to play about 2.5 hours and that's only because the east coast went to sleep and i was finally able to sign into a US server at that point...

the game is fun when you're actually playing it... this sucks. i was really hoping to play more tonight. DRM/Server issues FTW!!

 

[Oppo]

What I want to know is - if EA/Maxis can anticipate not being able to meet authentication demand at launch (for whatever reason - money, cynicism, practicality, whatever) then they should turn off the auth requirement for the first few weeks, until they sort their shit out, at the very least.

That's fine. But I just think it would behoove us to do so in a more constructive fashion, and less so with passive-aggression and righteous indignation.

I completely agree. It's a weird form of victim-blaming happening from some posters. "You gave them money! part of the problem!!" - I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Which was a mistake, clearly, but it's not our goddamn fault the game is broken.

 

[Cynar]

Unfortunately, yes.



Game is still good. Just got a shit DRM. Unfortunately if we still want to game going forward, we'll have to get used to this.

Don't support EA and these games. Way easier solution.

 

[seb]

Now I'm wishing I jumped on that SimCity 4 sale.

Don't. It's completely broken on recent windows. You can somewhat mitigate the problem with windows compatibility, single core parameters and stuff, but you just can't play it for a long period of time without a crash.

 

[nhlducks35]

There is ONE reason EA don't have the server capacity at launch - it costs more money. In a few days, this peak will die down and people will be able to play. They just don't give a fuck at launch to save them some money on server costs.

Yup, this same thing has happened in every EA game I've played on launch (BF3, BC2, etc.).

 

[GoddyofAus]

It is for this reason that the game is yet to cop the belting it deserves.

 

[BrokenEchelon]

Pretty much anyone who jumped the gun with a review wasn't serving the best interest of their readers by neglecting to consider this pretty large issue.

Oh hey Polygon. 95 on MC. Cool. Good work. Didn't those clowns get funded by a Kickstarter?

 

[DaBuddaDa]

Don't. It's completely broken on recent windows. You can somewhat mitigate the problem with windows compatibility, single core parameters and stuff, but you just can't play it for a long period of time without a crash.

I run it with mods on a very modern, windows 7 64-bit, quad-core i5 PC without issue. Setting it up right to begin with is a hassle, but it works absolutely fine. YMMV.

 

[Alcoholikaust]

is it really though?

why are you rewarding a disappointing product?

like someone above me said: its a GREAT game, WHEN it works not defending EA's servers by any means...

 

[Tmac]

If we seeing this amouth of outcry can't wait to see the reaction when peoples savegames disapear, or hours of work vanish....

 

[Saroyan]

This seems like a case where nobody wins. I find it hard to believe that this drm will help sales of the game, and it will keep me from buying the game until it is either patched out or I can buy it for dirt cheap.

I'll just keep playing Sim City IV whenever I want to get my city building fix I guess.

 

[rrs]

Seriously, EA spent nothing on the server end and it's biting them hard.

 

[Branduil]

Uncontrollable desire? It's not like I robbed a convenience store to pay for the game. I weighed the positives and the negatives, and the positives won out. I dislike EA's handling of the game but I'm not going to punish myself but not buying the game to make some point that, in all likelihood, will not make a difference.

That's great. Just be aware that your actions impact others as well, and EA will certainly take it as consent to their anti-consumer policies. If that doesn't bother you you're free to buy whatever you want.

 

[neorej]

http://www.polygon.com/game/simcity-2013/2630#review_update_3815485

Polygon have revised down their review score to 8. Lol, the benefits of hindsight, amirite.

An 8 for a game that's unplayable for reasons beyond the players' control.

Seems a bit high.

 

[JABEE]

Ain't that the truth. The person in charge of reviews needs to take the fall for this.

 

[Iacobellis]

Well, they fucking sabotaged Will Wright's franchise BIG time.

 

[Interrobang]

Nah, they should be playing something from their backlog. Doesn't everyone have a backlog? Why support a shitty company with a day 1 purchase?

Silly post is silly.

Really hope one of the Polygon dudes respond to this. It's an obvious shot to yesterday's debacle.

 

[BigDug13]

Why is it that I feel like I already grew up in the golden age of gaming and that we're now in a downhill spiral?

 

[Snuggles]

That's great. Just be aware that your actions impact others as well, and EA will certainly take it as consent to their anti-consumer policies. If that doesn't bother you you're free to buy whatever you want.

Haha, am I supposed to feel guilty?

But for what it's worth, I've spent exponentially more on DRM-free gaming (through GOG and others), so following your line of thought my karmic balance still leans heavily towards the positive side of things.

 

[Hellsing321]

What I want to know is - if EA/Maxis can anticipate not being able to meet authentication demand at launch (for whatever reason - money, cynicism, practicality, whatever) then they should turn off the auth requirement for the first few weeks, until they sort their shit out, at the very least.


I completely agree. It's a weird form of victim-blaming happening from some posters. "You gave them money! part of the problem!!" - I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Which was a mistake, clearly, but it's not our goddamn fault the game is broken.

From what people are saying the online requirement isn't just for authentication purposes. A portion of the game's logic runs on the servers and is served to the clients.

 

[Tiktaalik]

We need a small team like Runic to come in and make a SimCity-like game that is simple, stripped down, offline and everything this game isn't.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

The righteous shall suffer with the wicked.

To limit piracy they activate this silly DRM and now legit players get affected by online feature updates. Sad state of affairs.

 

[Iacobellis]

Pretty much anyone who jumped the gun with a review wasn't serving the best interest of their readers by neglecting to consider this pretty large issue.

Oh hey Polygon. 95 on MC. Cool. Good work. Didn't those clowns get funded by a Kickstarter?

They were backed by Microsoft.

 

[TheNamelessOne]

Seriously, EA spent nothing on the server end and it's biting them hard.

I really, really hope so. They better get hit hard financially by this - or they will do the same thing all over again with the next franchise. The problem is that they are tainting the name of franchise after franchise by doing this.

 

[grimshawish]

Oh hey Polygon. 95 on MC. Cool. Good work. Didn't those clowns get funded by a Kickstarter?

Microsoft Windows.

 

[JeTmAn81]

So how long until there is a hacked version of the game that doesn't require you to be online? Good job EA, you gave the pirates another win. SMH.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

http://www.polygon.com/game/simcity-2013/2630#review_update_3815485

Polygon have revised down their review score to 8. Lol, the benefits of hindsight, amirite.

fuckin polygon.

only hurts their credibility further.

So how long until there is a hacked version of the game that doesn't require you to be online? Good job EA, you gave the pirates another win. SMH.

never. a large part of the game runs on their servers. it's not just a DRM check. a la Diablo 3.

 

[FStop7]

Pretty much anyone who jumped the gun with a review wasn't serving the best interest of their readers by neglecting to consider this pretty large issue.

Oh hey Polygon. 95 on MC. Cool. Good work. Didn't those clowns get funded by a Kickstarter?

No, they got funded by The Verge. With a $750,000 kicker coming in from Microsoft.

 

[rrs]

Why is it that I feel like I already grew up in the golden age of gaming and that we're now in a downhill spiral?

Because it's what actually happened, and still is

 

[JABEE]

Pretty much anyone who jumped the gun with a review wasn't serving the best interest of their readers by neglecting to consider this pretty large issue.

Oh hey Polygon. 95 on MC. Cool. Good work. Didn't those clowns get funded by a Kickstarter?

No, venture capitalist, Vox Media. They have the money to not put up with this shit. I guess more money was the option chosen.

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

There's not much to learn. Hugely popular online service will have struggles at the start since everyone is slamming the servers at the same time.

And it's a waste of money to devote more servers just for the initial rush.

Seeing it this way it's no wonder that almost every launch of an online only game has major problems.

 

[methane47]

There's also some of us who just wanted a new Sim City and decided to put up with all the bullshit that came with it. I certainly have no interest in defending EA's bullshit but even a disappointing Sim City is better than no Sim City.

A disappointing Green Lantern Live action Movie is better than No Green Lantern Movie Live action movie Amirite?

 

[Emitan]

Based GoG.com showing whey they're the best distribution system

 

[volturnus]

Ain't that the truth. The person in charge of reviews needs to take the fall for this.

As for Polygon, isn't that Justin McElroy? He's as bad as game journalists can get.

 

[DaBuddaDa]

So how long until there is a hacked version of the game that doesn't require you to be online? Good job EA, you gave the pirates another win. SMH.

I don't think it's as easy as just making a traditional hack. Unknown amounts of data required for the game to function is held 100% on EA's end. It's not just a handshake.

 

[Kayhan]

Polygon is the Windows 8 of the gaming press world.

 

[-PXG-]

And my friends wonder why I have no interest in this game.

 

[Saty]

The sad\funny thing is that no one bought Simcity thanks to its always-online DRM or those interconnected online features. I would be interested to see Origin surveys of people who bought Simcity as to why they bought it and what they like most about it after they play it.

 

[seb]

I run it with mods on a very modern, windows 7 64-bit, quad-core i5 PC without issue. Setting it up right to begin with is a hassle, but it works absolutely fine. YMMV.

Really ? Last time I asked for help on steam forum I was led to believe it was impossible short of running it in a winXP VM. Well, I guess I'll try again, I'd really like to play this game

 

[Grief.exe]

It's a sad day when tons of people spent $60 and now can't play the game on day 2 of its release.

On the other hand, it's good to see Always-on DRM bullshit continuing to show people why it's a bad practice and needs to be axed completely.

Vote with your wallets people. I ain't going anywhere near this game.

Someone help me out here.

I really need that gif with Arnold Schwarzenegger and that black guy doing that cool handshake.

 

[sangreal]

And it's a waste of money to devote more servers just for the initial rush.

in the age of on-demand servers?

 

[Branduil]

Haha, am I supposed to feel guilty?

But for what it's worth, I've spent exponentially more on DRM-free gaming (through GOG and others), so following your line of thought my karmic balance still leans heavily towards the positive side of things.

You're supposed to feel whatever you want to feel. If passively supporting a distributor's anti-consumer practices doesn't bother you, then it shouldn't matter to you what other people say. I'm just saying, if it does bother someone, even a little bit, then they should carefully consider their purchasing habits. If an AO-DRM future does not bother someone, they should not worry about buying what they like; but if it does, then they should consider what they can do to work against that trend.

 

[Paches]

Maybe a Polygon guy will make some kind of statement on tomorrows Vergecast.