SimCity Debacle: Could EA have messed it up any more?

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Weeth

Gawd
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Sep 7, 2011
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The writing was on the wall from the first minute that they announced server-based SimCity. I warned them so much on their forums that they freakin' banned me, and then I turned out to be 100% right. How can a billion-dollar company be that shortsighted and just plain stupid? If it was up to me I'd set it up with a sandbox mode for single player which was not entirely server based, so that you could have bigger city maps (current ones are pint sized) on capable PCs. If they're so damn fixated on DRM let the sandboxed PC call home once an hour just to get a reverification of legit serial number. Would certainly be better than the current buttf##k they're making players go through.

So what do you think is the best way to fix this mess?
 
Oh they could have screwed it up a lot worse. That said, this is still pretty much the worst game launch I can think of in recent history.

I'd say the best way to fix it really depends on two ways of going about it.

1. The RIGHT thing to do would be to disable the always on DRM and let players play offline. This would mean Maxis would likely have to release a significant patch to change quite a few things, but it would be the right thing to do.

2. The best solution while keeping the DRM is basically what they are doing now. Keep adding servers and trying to manage the load and continuing to update the community. Giving a free game is potentially a nice gesture, depending on exactly how that is done. If it's something stupid like "get any $19.99 and under game free" then it's bullshit but if it is "any game on the Origin store of free" or that with the exception of newly released titles then it's a nice show of goodwill.

No matter what EA and Maxis do they need to be upfront with the community and all levels of people involved in this mess need to publicly apologize. Also, fire the moron from PR that blamed users.
 
Just like how we tell politicians that don't have a clue, "Its the economy stupid", game companies need to understand, "It's the DRM stupid!"
To save singleplayer from DRM, I wouldn't mind multiplayer go F2P as a standalone feature separate from the core game.
Singleplayer games now can be installed without DRM checks, and not be connected to services like Origin and Steam.
 
They have a right to make sure their product is not stolen, but morally, they don't have the right to hassle legal paying customers.

Copyprotection should be unobtrusive. A legal owner should not have to verify they are honest constantly

But... That is where the whole software industry is going. Microsoft started it with XP.
 
I've seen alot of game launches and this is probably the worst one, by far. It's worse than Ultima IX, which was pushed out before it was ready to a dismayed gaming populace. Though that game was patched to a playable state afterwards, the audience had already given up and moved on to better things. The ironic thing is that Ultima IX was also an EA title, sigh. Repeating the mistakes of the past, how is it that EA destroys everything it touches and yet remains a billion dollar company?
 
Customers have a right to not buy stuff until its reviewed and real world feed back comes in. And so far they all seem to miss that over and over. Companies will fix their practices when customers stop pre ordering crap.
 
rudy said:
Customers have a right to not buy stuff until its reviewed and real world feed back comes in. And so far they all seem to miss that over and over. Companies will fix their practices when customers stop pre ordering crap.
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+1

Although a server suddenly going down and turning an otherwise good game into poop is always a possibility, especially with DRM. If Steam ever had a big issue like that you can bet a ton of people will be pissed.
 
Youn said:
+1

Although a server suddenly going down and turning an otherwise good game into poop is always a possibility, especially with DRM. If Steam ever had a big issue like that you can bet a ton of people will be pissed.
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Well it's not Origins fault. It is the game servers, not the client that provides access to that game.
 
According to Eurogamer, they still reacted now better than Blizzard. They will give free game of your choice to everyone who redeemed SimCity code.

I still don't understand why Blizzard who did launch of D3 much worse, and did nothing to improve quickly the situation gets so much love and everybody praises them, while EA, who installed additional servers, apologized and giving free game as apology is hated. Hypocrisy at its best
 
MorgothPl said:
I still don't understand why Blizzard who did launch of D3 much worse, and did nothing to improve quickly the situation gets so much love and everybody praises them, while EA, who installed additional servers, apologized and giving free game as apology is hated. Hypocrisy at its best
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Same reason people hate "linear DX9 6 hour shitty story corridor shooters" but love Half Life 2 (and Portal 2)... :D
 
MorgothPl said:
I still don't understand why Blizzard who did launch of D3 much worse, and did nothing to improve quickly the situation gets so much love and everybody praises them, while EA, who installed additional servers, apologized and giving free game as apology is hated. Hypocrisy at its best
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At least Blizzard offered and gave users refunds within 30 days of launch no questions asked.
 
This makes me glad I'm always behind the curve on getting the latest games. I bought an SNES when PS2 game out, haha.

Also, I think EA made this perfectly clear: its your guys fault. Somehow....

In all seriousness, I'm infuriated for you guys. Really unacceptable on EAs part.
 
MorgothPl said:
According to Eurogamer, they still reacted now better than Blizzard. They will give free game of your choice to everyone who redeemed SimCity code.

I still don't understand why Blizzard who did launch of D3 much worse, and did nothing to improve quickly the situation gets so much love and everybody praises them, while EA, who installed additional servers, apologized and giving free game as apology is hated. Hypocrisy at its best
Click to expand...

I gave Blizzard / Diablo an equal amount of hate for it's horrid release, incomplete/fundamentally broken and did I mention unfun game, evil practices, and of course the RMAH. What really set consumers off with this release is that it is the 2nd one to use such means, and thus was being watched by more people. As far as the press goes, I don't trust or believe any of them so I'm not sure if them *finally* writing stories / bad reviews about it is because they want page views or if they weren't paid off by EA.

The whole free game thing is pathetic. Customer Service cop out rule #1. What you'd never see them doing is releasing the next major DLC for free to customers.
 
The game is more flawed than the whole not being allowed to play, which actually disappoints me.

When moving from server to server, your cities do not. This makes sense as you're setup with a city within a region, but is a crucial flaw in what should be a primarily single player game. So they want us to work together in the region, ok, I like that basic concept. But is seems to me that cities are actually too finite. There actually is a lifespan of a city. Those of you that can get on and play probably noticed that there is a water table. Once that runs out, the city will have to import water... until that city runs out too. Same thing with resources you mine: coal, oil, etc. Yes, this makes sense in the grand scheme of things. But should it really only be a few days or weeks before a city implodes? This should be a long term, slow process.

For the emphasis they put on the region, you really have limited control of things. You cannot control how much of a utility to sell a city, or at what cost. Same thing with resources. You put those on the global market... which may be a good thing, but I'm corrupt and want to charge city 1 an arm and a leg, but city 2 next to nothing.

As mentioned before, the actual space of a city is tiny. You are pretty limited by this. Also, roads... you can only upgrade roads to an avenue. No more highways or anything. No monorail or subway option.
 
If i recall correctly the water table is supposed to replenish, but of course its bugged. and once you have a nuclear plant you dont really need coal or oil for your city to survive. and like all natural resources it will run out which is realistic, though it may run out a little too quick.
 
You guys act like they do this shit on accident. They aren't stupid, they just DONT CARE. They got your cash, why should they care? When are you going to wake up?
 
I actually like it, having loads of fun. and since its ea i expected a ship poor launch so wasn't to put out by the cluster fck.
 
I prepurchased it through Amazon but I am traveling so it is sitting at home with the Amazon box not even opened. I have already requested a refund and will be mailing it back as soon as I return.
 
shifty68 said:
I actually like it, having loads of fun. and since its ea i expected a ship poor launch so wasn't to put out by the cluster fck.
Click to expand...

How do you enjoy...
Shitty AI
small map size
Server problems
losing saves
?
 
darkstarcow said:
How do you enjoy...
Shitty AI
small map size
Server problems
losing saves
?
Click to expand...

the ai isn't that bad once you learn how to work around it, but granted it is kinda on the poorer side.

i like the map size since it makes the game more challenging as compared to other simcity games. if you got the game and then were pissed that the city were small, then that's on you EA wasn't hiding that.

server problems were never that bad except for the first 12-18 hours. i never had to wait too long to get in. and who ever though EA was going to pull of a stable launch of a drm heavy online only game is out of their mind. so the shitty launch didn't bother me too much.

and i never lost a save ever. my friend lost one once but it only reverted about 20 min or so.
 
I agree that it is a colossal failure. Your initial comment is funny, it sounds like you are saying that you told EA this wouldn't work and they were crazy for not listening to you...I don't think any individual players opinion would matter much to them.

Anyway, we'll see what happens. I was listening to a Podcast yesterday, they were talking about login issues for games (specifically Starcraft 2). None of them could remember if the game had login issues or not when it was first released. It just goes to show, given a few years, this will probably be forgotten by most as well and they will be able to get away with similar practices in the future.
 
Failure? The launch or the game? The game is fine, the launch was / is bad.
 
huxley said:
I agree that it is a colossal failure. Your initial comment is funny, it sounds like you are saying that you told EA this wouldn't work and they were crazy for not listening to you...I don't think any individual players opinion would matter much to them.
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It wasn't just a few individuals. It was a LOT of players. Beta users, people following the game, fans. It was definitely foreseen that these problems would exist. They were just ignored by EA. Sure, consumers don't know a lot on the business side of the gaming industry, but they really did call this one. The online content that warrants an always on internet connection is crap. It is a bad excuse for shitty DRM. That's it. It could have been done so much better, but it wasn't, and the excuses are still flying.

Game isn't great, but it's not horrible. Still a lot of bugs, but it looks like the dev's are working on those.
 
Ur_Mom said:
It wasn't just a few individuals. It was a LOT of players. Beta users, people following the game, fans. It was definitely foreseen that these problems would exist. They were just ignored by EA. Sure, consumers don't know a lot on the business side of the gaming industry, but they really did call this one. The online content that warrants an always on internet connection is crap. It is a bad excuse for shitty DRM. That's it. It could have been done so much better, but it wasn't, and the excuses are still flying.

Game isn't great, but it's not horrible. Still a lot of bugs, but it looks like the dev's are working on those.
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Sure, we thought the same thing for Diablo 3, that had some bumps but overall it wasn't that bad and everyone predicted is disaster. I think the general consensus for any "always online" product is that it will be an absolute disaster. That has been the case in some examples and not as much in others. This, being EA, disaster was definitely imminent. I would put Blizzard at the upper echelon support...if they had any issues at all with this process, that spells disaster for other companies. I can understand why Sim City owners are furious.
 
Given my past experience with EA I am thinking they were well aware that there would be issues, but assuming they are only above capacity for the first few weeks, why invest in more hardware. Let the public eat it in the crazy beginning, let things settle down, then maybe think about adjusting. EA says they are sorry and is ‘working on the issue’ when in reality they are just waiting for fewer people to be online. Total speculation, but totally plausible in my book... /cue conspiracy theory music

I was really looking forward to this game in concept, but was fearful it could not deliver. I was a huge fan of Sim City 4, but lets look at why; fan base and fan support. Things like the STEX collections gave this game life well after its due. The actual game was okay, but things like Network addon Mod and fan built models made the game very customizable and very personal. This worked only because of the open nature of the program. I am sure EA saw this as missed opportunities for revenue and have decided to lock things down under the guise of DRM and offer microtransations and DLC all for a low additional fee. Same thing happened with BF3. Long gone are the days of Point of Existence and Project Reality. Again, lost revenue for EA.

Games will no longer be what the player base wants, but what the game makers think they can charge you for. Vote with your wallet or assume they will continue on this path. If they have your money, they have no reason to change their behavior. Granted, they will just blame the 1337 pirates rather than their behavior, just ask ubi.
 
aarcam said:
Given my past experience with EA I am thinking they were well aware that there would be issues, but assuming they are only above capacity for the first few weeks, why invest in more hardware. Let the public eat it in the crazy beginning, let things settle down, then maybe think about adjusting. EA says they are sorry and is ‘working on the issue’ when in reality they are just waiting for fewer people to be online. Total speculation, but totally plausible in my book... /cue conspiracy theory music

I was really looking forward to this game in concept, but was fearful it could not deliver. I was a huge fan of Sim City 4, but lets look at why; fan base and fan support. Things like the STEX collections gave this game life well after its due. The actual game was okay, but things like Network addon Mod and fan built models made the game very customizable and very personal. This worked only because of the open nature of the program. I am sure EA saw this as missed opportunities for revenue and have decided to lock things down under the guise of DRM and offer microtransations and DLC all for a low additional fee. Same thing happened with BF3. Long gone are the days of Point of Existence and Project Reality. Again, lost revenue for EA.

Games will no longer be what the player base wants, but what the game makers think they can charge you for. Vote with your wallet or assume they will continue on this path. If they have your money, they have no reason to change their behavior. Granted, they will just blame the 1337 pirates rather than their behavior, just ask ubi.
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I think your speculation is probably spot on, its been game after hit game that we have seen these problems with servers. Companies just don't care to expand capacity because they know it will only be bad for a couple weeks.
 
MorgothPl said:
According to Eurogamer, they still reacted now better than Blizzard. They will give free game of your choice to everyone who redeemed SimCity code.

I still don't understand why Blizzard who did launch of D3 much worse, and did nothing to improve quickly the situation gets so much love and everybody praises them, while EA, who installed additional servers, apologized and giving free game as apology is hated. Hypocrisy at its best
Click to expand...

I really don't understand why D3 haters feel the need to straight up LIE to make that game look bad.

I don't like D3 just like the rest of you, but there's no need for untruths. The D3 servers had problems for the first ~8 hours of release, and then were mostly fine. There were no ongoing save game issues, and most people were very happy with the game for the first week or two.

Blizzard offered refunds for anyone that wanted one as well, that's MUCH better than what EA did, they tried to refuse refunds to all players (just look at the customer service ticket logs that have been posted).

It's not hypocritical at all to give EA more shit than Blizzard.
 
I for one have mixed feelings about the game.

1) The server issues were/are inexusable, and continue to be a problem. I routinely see a loss to the servers in the upper-left hand corner of the screen, but is usually followed with a reconnection with no problems.

2) The cities are small, but force me to pre-plan the city prior to building even the first road. When the zones get denser, I'm forced to move them around (less industry, more residential).

3) The population has got to be bugged. I watched half of my city change from trailers (low density) to apartments (medium density) and my population dropped by over 5,000... WTF?

4) Placement of buildings/parks SUCKS. Placement is extremely restricted and must be placed along a road and at predefined angles, sometimes making me lose valuable space.

5) Limited transportation options that are no doubt lurking in future DLC irk me to no end (subways and highways). This is obvious by visiting the mass transit tab and seeing the limited options.

6) It's too damn easy! Raising taxes to ridiculous rates doesn't cause mass emigration like you would expect, it only slows the growth of expansion. I never once have experienced a negative budget, regardless of how quickly I try to grow and expand the city.

Conclusion: It's fun, but wears off after the first region. The fact that this game has such high review scores just shows how corrupt and utterly ignorant game reviewers are nowadays. I'd give Simcity (2013) no higher than a 6 of 10 (and that's without the server issues).
 
Russ said:
I really don't understand why D3 haters feel the need to straight up LIE to make that game look bad.

I don't like D3 just like the rest of you, but there's no need for untruths. The D3 servers had problems for the first ~8 hours of release, and then were mostly fine. There were no ongoing save game issues, and most people were very happy with the game for the first week or two.

Blizzard offered refunds for anyone that wanted one as well, that's MUCH better than what EA did, they tried to refuse refunds to all players (just look at the customer service ticket logs that have been posted).

It's not hypocritical at all to give EA more shit than Blizzard.
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uhh i wasn't able to play d3 for any length of time for at least 3 days after launch. where was it ? Korea that no one could play for weeks.

But ya most everyone let blizzard off easy.

Where as EA screws up their launch and then actually makes an effort to appeas the masses. for once and every one is still ranting. I think they are more pissed that's its not a sim city 4 clone than any thing. even though it was very clear it was going to be a different game.

i didn't see blizzard doing crap besides saying sorry and offering refunds to the. Koreans.
 
Russ said:
I really don't understand why D3 haters feel the need to straight up LIE to make that game look bad.

I don't like D3 just like the rest of you, but there's no need for untruths. The D3 servers had problems for the first ~8 hours of release, and then were mostly fine. There were no ongoing save game issues, and most people were very happy with the game for the first week or two.

Blizzard offered refunds for anyone that wanted one as well, that's MUCH better than what EA did, they tried to refuse refunds to all players (just look at the customer service ticket logs that have been posted).

It's not hypocritical at all to give EA more shit than Blizzard.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: The difference...? My blizzard account was compromised and all my D3 items were stolen within 2 weeks of buying that shitty game and creating a Blizzard account...my Origin account and games are all still intact after 7 years of having one.
 
Russ said:
I really don't understand why D3 haters feel the need to straight up LIE to make that game look bad.

I don't like D3 just like the rest of you, but there's no need for untruths. The D3 servers had problems for the first ~8 hours of release, and then were mostly fine. There were no ongoing save game issues, and most people were very happy with the game for the first week or two.

Blizzard offered refunds for anyone that wanted one as well, that's MUCH better than what EA did, they tried to refuse refunds to all players (just look at the customer service ticket logs that have been posted).

It's not hypocritical at all to give EA more shit than Blizzard.
Click to expand...

I think you misremembered the D3 launch...first 8 hrs my arse.
 
Russ said:
I really don't understand why D3 haters feel the need to straight up LIE to make that game look bad.

I don't like D3 just like the rest of you, but there's no need for untruths. The D3 servers had problems for the first ~8 hours of release, and then were mostly fine. There were no ongoing save game issues, and most people were very happy with the game for the first week or two.

Blizzard offered refunds for anyone that wanted one as well, that's MUCH better than what EA did, they tried to refuse refunds to all players (just look at the customer service ticket logs that have been posted).

It's not hypocritical at all to give EA more shit than Blizzard.
Click to expand...

I recall playing it several days after launch and still having issues.
 
mavrocket said:
I for one have mixed feelings about the game.

1) The server issues were/are inexusable, and continue to be a problem. I routinely see a loss to the servers in the upper-left hand corner of the screen, but is usually followed with a reconnection with no problems.

2) The cities are small, but force me to pre-plan the city prior to building even the first road. When the zones get denser, I'm forced to move them around (less industry, more residential).

3) The population has got to be bugged. I watched half of my city change from trailers (low density) to apartments (medium density) and my population dropped by over 5,000... WTF?

4) Placement of buildings/parks SUCKS. Placement is extremely restricted and must be placed along a road and at predefined angles, sometimes making me lose valuable space.

5) Limited transportation options that are no doubt lurking in future DLC irk me to no end (subways and highways). This is obvious by visiting the mass transit tab and seeing the limited options.

6) It's too damn easy! Raising taxes to ridiculous rates doesn't cause mass emigration like you would expect, it only slows the growth of expansion. I never once have experienced a negative budget, regardless of how quickly I try to grow and expand the city.

Conclusion: It's fun, but wears off after the first region. The fact that this game has such high review scores just shows how corrupt and utterly ignorant game reviewers are nowadays. I'd give Simcity (2013) no higher than a 6 of 10 (and that's without the server issues).
Click to expand...

The population readout is not "bugged"...it is a "feature". The population readout is only accurate to 500 sims...from there it gradually gets more and more off, in terms of Sims that are actually simulated and fluff #....the ratio gets up to 10-to-1 for well populated cities. This was intentionally done by EA, there are posts elsewhere with the actual code showing this.

They cut the city size in HALF from SC4 (4x4km to 2x2km), which was already small. Meanwhile CitiesXL allows 16km x 16km maps and is running old code...which is downright laughable as my university city campus alone is almost the size of a SimCity landplot.
 
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