PC SimCity

[Thelona]

So anyone got the new simcity yet? anyone got it to actually WORK?

Heard the launch has been an absolute disaster, In true EA fashion the game requires you to use an internet connection even when playing single player(by far the most infuriating game "feature" many games seem to like having nowadays)

And now there servers have been overloading and crashing constantly making it so people cant even play the game.

It's gotten so bad that Amazon has stopped selling the game cause there so many people pissed off and demanding their money back.

Great job EA! think i speak for many gamers when i say, we all knew you had it in you to completely screwup the launch of a game that's already been done right so many times before.

Why do game makers do this shit? there's nothing more infuriating then being away from a internet connection for a few days and thinking "hey at-least I can fall back on my single player games" only to find, whoops nevermind, you need an internet connection to play single player as well! joy!

whoever thought up this "feature" of no offline gameplay should be deported to a leper island.

Maybe EA will learn a valuable lesson here about pissing on their customer base, I doubt it, but one can hope.

 

[Elemmire]

I refuse to buy EA games so long as Origin is required :\ I don't like their invasive policy it has. Sim City WAS tempting me though cause I love Sim City, but I hate Always Online DRM and after the BS with Diablo I refuse to buy an always online drm game that was traditionally single player.

I don't get why others can't boycott >< so many of the gamers are bitching and bitching and bitching, but no one else seems to be willing to outright quit buying EA games boycotting their crappy business practices.

I mean, I'll be honest, the feature of playing with friends and such isn't a bad idea, and if they wanted the game to default be online, then do what the Souls series does. If your internet is working, you are online (though can easily disconnect to be offline if you don't want to be), if your internet dies, then you play just fine offline.

But, hey, apparently Sim City's twitter said they're looking into making an offline mode.

 

[Thelona]

Yeah I can't remember the last EA game I paid for other then swtor, "a guy i know" >_> torrent'd mass effect 2 and 3. lol, which SHOULD go to show EA something, your pissing off you're entire customer base to try and stop pirating and IT DOESN'T EVEN WORK!

You're probably creating even more piracy because people who are pissed are more likely to just download it rather then pay their money for it, and atleast when you torrent you can usually get a crack that lets you play offline, unlike the legal version.

Alot of other companies doing this shit to tho not just EA.

 

[Elemmire]

I know :\ it really pisses me off. And no change will come because there are only two real ways there'd be change. We all organized and petition/boycott the companies doing it or we have laws passed banning them of such anti-consumer business practices. Ideally it'd be the former, but if people are going to be so lazy/complacent then it could fall to the latter except for the problem that in the US the government no longer represents the people I mean, there's a reason companies get in shit in Germany, France, South Korea, etc when they try these bad business practices. They still have governments that somewhat look out for the people and have laws protecting against anti-consumer/pro-greed behavior.

 

[Thelona]

well, its not something the government needs to get involved in, I don't think the government should waste time and taxpayer dollars on triviality's like video games with always online drm

legally the company can put whatever they want with the game and its our choice as a consumer if we are willing to pay for it, I think the government getting involved would be bad for both sides.

Only way its going to change is threw declining sales and pissed off customers, from EA's tweet MAYBE they are starting to get it.

 

[Elemmire]

It's a larger issue than video games I mean. The bullshit idea that "software is a service, not a product." It most certainly is a product. Just because it's a digital does not mean it's a service :\ it's a consumer rights issue. And it's one OTHER nations have been happy to tackle already (France, Germany, South Korea) and why many corporations (Blizzard for example) come under fire in those countries for the bs they pull.

This guy is kinda amusing and makes a point about boycotting though:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vid...-Why-Boycotts-Fail-Where-Whining-Tantrums-Win

I do think he's wrong that it can't work or is a bad idea though. If people PROPERLY boycott EA and make sure their reasons are known (aka letters, petitions, etc sent to EA or Activision or whoever you're boycotting) then, ya, you'll see success. It does need to have a large gathering though and that's been fairly rare in games for the most part.

 

[Thelona]

The reason boycotting isn't all that likely to work is because most people aren't likely to do it. We gamers like our games and most of us aren't just gonna sit out and not play a game we really want, just to make a point.

As far as government goes. I see what you're saying now. Yeah really need some progress on our definition of digital rights. Do you OWN a digital file once you purchase it? Or does a producer maintain rights over how you use it? We are likely to see legislation addressing this issue soon, but I doubt we're going to like who's side Washington comes down on

Should it be legal to make copies of a digital product? To distribute those copies? To profit off that distribution?

 

[Thelona]

And to be clear elem there's no cut and dry wrong side/right side to this. Manufactures raise alot of really legitimate legal arguments here. This new digital age DOES bring out a whole lot of really grey areas to property rights, and copyright law. There's not gonna be an easy answer.

We can't just say game companies need to roll over and stop attempting to stop the piracy of their games. They have to maintain a profitable system here.

Let's not kid ourselves here. The REASON these companies put out these games that we love so much, is that they stand to make lots of money. If thier profits suffer, future games are going to suffer inturn.

 

[Elemmire]

I dunno, I think very black/white often my brother comments on that a lot. But I kinda think if you boil everything down to its basest element, situation by situation, there is a right and wrong. From the macro level, ya, things look very gray, but when you get to the micro you can see the dots of black and white. Kinda like all that white and black merges together to seem gray. If that makes sense.

And I never would claim that you can distribute a copy of a the digital thing you own, but you can copy it to back it up for yourself I'd say. But ya, it's gonna be a lot of working out the details to be fair. I'm not saying screw over corporations entirely because if they create something they deserve to be compensated for their work if it's wanted by the person and acquired by the person, but they usually are hurting legitimate consumers with their actions

You know what I really want? I want studies showing the impact of DRM on piracy rates. If DRM increases piracy or decreases it. Would be hard to do that though.

 

[Thelona]

I'd bet DRM reduces piracy a bit but not substantially, as there's almost always a crack for the drm.

What I'd like to know is how the decrease in piracy relates to the decrease in sales from the people who steer away from it because of the drm, or people who don't have consistent internet access so therefor wouldn't even be able to play the game.

 

[Elizara]

Yeah, I think the more intrusive the drm, the worse it gets pirated. At least that's how it's been in the past.

I'd think people would like a kind of DRM that makes life rough for anyone who pirates, but leaves innocent players alone. Forget the game, but there was a game I read about that if the game sensed it was hacked/cracked, you'd get this immortal scorpion chasing you, and it'd crash randomly. THAT is the kinda drm I wouldn't mind. Would of rather they made the DRM in this new Sim City in such a way that it'd make it unplayable for pirates and normal players have no trouble at all. ^^ (Disasters right after another, perhaps? So fast it makes it very unfun?)

But from what I'm reading about this..I'm sticking to Sim City 2000 if I get a sim city itch for now, I got better things to spend my money on.

 

[Elemmire]

you know what else would be interesting? To find out how many buy the game, then get a crack to break the DRM so they don't have to deal with the hassle. The statistics of that would be intesting.

And I've been playing Sim City 4 I haven't played 2000 in awhile. I should go back (well if I can find my disc) and see how Sim City 2000 compares to 4.