It Is Not Their Fault

[Boggy1 45]

I really am disappointed to see so many regular and respected members jump on the bandwagon with this entire OMG IT SUCKS!!!!!!!!11 IT’S NOT MAXIS!! debate.

What we all have to realise is that Tilted Mill did not choose to do this, they were chosen by EA. They do not deserve the combined wrath of the community, and I am so prepared to wait and see what they come up with.

The screenshot, that has been juggled around so much, has been stated by a Tilted Mill DEV to be an image of the very very early design and planning phases. It is not a true representation of the final product.

Something that should give real kudos to the company is that they are fully prepared to talk with us.

Can you imagine and EA employee doing that? They would rather close down their Sports division I’m sure.

The fact is, Tilted Mill intends to, and already has, interact fully with the Sim City fan community. Just today, we had one of the leading DEVs in the chat with us for a good few hours. He obviously could not release any game information, but he listened.

And ladies and gentleman, I think that is something we need to learn from. He listened. Are we listening? No. We are screaming, balling, shouting, crying, like spoiled children.

He listened to everything every member said. He took it all onboard. He even said that most of the other DEVs are going to sign up to a number of Sim City fan sites, for the reason of talking through with us, the fans, their greatest asset, the workings of the game, their suggestions, and their critique.

To be honest, we should be ashamed of our selves. What sort of image are we trying to project to the game developers?

Grow up people.

[SIMpleton 2]

I don't disagree on any one particular point. I am upset that EA would take SimCity away from Maxis, but am willing to give TM a shot.

[Voar Tok 4]

I think a lot of us, at least from what I heard last night, weren't going to lob stones at Tilted Mill, but at EA.

[ManagerJosh 0]

I think we're all willing to give TM a shot. But at the same time, we're already not liking the direction they are heading.

[Alakazam 3]

I don't think we should give TM a "shot". What they said for now is enough for me not to buy the product. And that's what every real fan of the series should do: NOT to buy SCS.

[CWLGAMER01 39]

Originally posted by: Boggy1 I really am disappointed to see so many regular and respected members jump on the bandwagon with this entire OMG IT SUCKS!!!!!!!!11 IT’S NOT MAXIS!! debate.

What we all have to realise is that Tilted Mill did not choose to do this, they were chosen by EA. They do not deserve the combined wrath of the community, and I am so prepared to wait and see what they come up with.

The screenshot, that has been juggled around so much, has been stated by a Tilted Mill DEV to be an image of the very very early design and planning phases. It is not a true representation of the final product.

Something that should give real kudos to the company is that they are fully prepared to talk with us.

Can you imagine and EA employee doing that? They would rather close down their Sports division I’m sure.

The fact is, Tilted Mill intends to, and already has, interact fully with the Sim City fan community. Just today, we had one of the leading DEVs in the chat with us for a good few hours. He obviously could not release any game information, but he listened.

And ladies and gentleman, I think that is something we need to learn from. He listened. Are we listening? No. We are screaming, balling, shouting, crying, like spoiled children.

He listened to everything every member said. He took it all onboard. He even said that most of the other DEVs are going to sign up to a number of Sim City fan sites, for the reason of talking through with us, the fans, their greatest asset, the workings of the game, their suggestions, and their critique.

To be honest, we should be ashamed of our selves. What sort of image are we trying to project to the game developers?

Grow up people.quote>

 

To reiterate what I just posted in the chat session -- THANKS BOGGY1

The fact is Tilted Mill did not ask to do this. They have been paid by EA to complete this burden. We all need to give them a chance to show us what they have in mind. Both the games they have done so far are decent. COTN has some GREAT aspects to it and Caesar IV – though not a Caser III still has some playability and good graphics. 

You know I hate to say this – because I have been a VERY vocal person from the start of this process – BUT PEOPLE – it’s a game for Pete’ Sake! No one has died over it, a country has not gone to war because of it, children haven’t been molested since it was announced – 

Lets all think about what we doing and how we are setting an example to them and one another! Gosh if we had this much passion about world events – we could end all war’s and feed the world within a day!

 Yes it’s looking like maybe it's crap – but there is more to life then SimCity – don’t forget that important aspect!!

[SIMpleton 2]

Originally posted by: ManagerJosh I think we're all willing to give TM a shot. But at the same time, we're already not liking the direction they are heading.quote>

The problem is, we have almost no information and an early development screenshot of the game which is subject to much change. To make judgements based on what we know so far would be premature at best.

[Simfan34 11]

I do not blame TM. They make great games, It is all EA. Is Wright involved? NO! I can't believe it.

[Micah 16]

Will Wright is not involved? That would actually make sense to me. It would be hard for him to be working on Spore and SCS at the same time.

[ManagerJosh 0]

Originally posted by: SIMpleton

Originally posted by: ManagerJosh I think we're all willing to give TM a shot. But at the same time, we're already not liking the direction they are heading.quote>

The problem is, we have almost no information and an early development screenshot of the game which is subject to much change. To make judgements based on what we know so far would be premature at best.quote>

http://www.tiltedmill.com/forums/showpost.php?p=157643&postcount=22

I think that provides a good idea of their vision and direction. SimCity Societies is not intended to be a realistic urban simulation.

[MrVegetable 2]

I partly agree here. At the end of the day there is nothing we can do but accept this decision. However, SimCity is a tried and true formula and changing it is practically murder. SimCity is popular because of the way it always has been, a city simulator. EA plans to change this and as you can predict it has not gone down well at all! On release it is likely that, while the new game will attract new fans to the series, the old fan base will diminish to near nothingness, which WILL lose EA money, making the game a complete flop, thereby meaning no chance for a SimCity 6.

As for Tilted Mill making the game, I do appreciate them asking the fans on their input and that is how it should be, but whether they take those inputs on board is another matter. I am willing to put trust in them and hope that they can at least do something to improve the series somehow. Chances are they wouldn't waste their time developing it if they didn't think they could make a good game out of it that reflects the success of the series.

It would, however, be more ideal if Maxis made the game as it is their hard work that has made the game and the company what it is today. Maybe EA and Maxis had a bust-up on what they wanted for the game and therefore EA gave the development to Tilted Mill...that we will never likely know.

I hope the game will turn out ok and that EA can finally pull out a quality game that will reflect the rest of the franchise. It just requires our support.

[Ryan B 35]

I'm not blaming TM at all.  I'm blaming EA for ripping the SimCity name from the people who came up with it and nurtured it for the first (almost) twenty years.  A SimCity game without Will Wright behind it just isn't a SimCity to me.

That being said, I'm very appreciative of the TM development people being open to suggestions.  Who knows - maybe they'll take some of our suggestions into account.

[flubby 0]

I'm also disappointed by what I've seen and read so far.

However, I hope they will indeed listen to us and make changes, so that their game is not a complete disaster. Let's not forget that they are putting lots of TIME and MONEY into this. I suspect they are not planning to fail.....

And, btw, I heard the games TM make don't have grids. Who knows? Mayne we will finally get rid of the freakin' grids!

[Interchange 0]

Hey check this out. With the way this thread is going. It'll eventually be Simtropolis's fault for being a simcity fansite.

[Boggy1 45]

The thing is with a company like Tilted Mill is that they are quite small. They have only made a few games, and thus arn't that huge on the gaming market. But, that is a good thing.

Companies that are trans-national, massive, and throb like a gigantic multi-tenticled monstor usually have poor Public Relations. They don't care about the individual customer, why would they? They have a few million other customers to fall back on, one less will make no difference.

Smaller countries tend to take care of all their customers. They listen to them, take heed of what they day. Because, they actually value every customer, they don't have millions of others to fall back on.

Hopefully Tilted Mill will fall into the latter, and by their behaviour so far, it seems that they may do.

[SIMpleton 2]

Originally posted by: ManagerJosh

Originally posted by: SIMpleton

Originally posted by: ManagerJosh I think we're all willing to give TM a shot. But at the same time, we're already not liking the direction they are heading.quote>

The problem is, we have almost no information and an early development screenshot of the game which is subject to much change. To make judgements based on what we know so far would be premature at best.quote>

http://www.tiltedmill.com/forums/showpost.php?p=157643&postcount=22

I think that provides a good idea of their vision and direction. SimCity Societies is not intended to be a realistic urban simulation. quote>

I think that a common misconception that is causing these feelings is that different is bad. This kind of logic is absolutely ridiculous. The game is in early development and they have made it clear that they want our opinions. Preconceptions about the game formed this early are not fair to anyone.

[Interchange 0]

The difference is that we actually liked the pre production SC4 stuff.

[Alakazam 3]

Originally posted by: SIMpleton

I think that a common misconception that is causing these feelings is that different is bad. This kind of logic is absolutely ridiculous. The game is in early development and they have made it clear that they want our opinions. Preconceptions about the game formed this early are not fair to anyone.

quote>

Well, actually, you are wrong. SCS is supposed to be released later this year. From this statement we can assume it's been in devellopment quite a long time ago.

The screens we see may actually be the final built.

[Interchange 0]

Let's hope that they aren't.

[Interchange 0]

I'd agree with that, especially after what they've done with pogo and word riot, a 5000 signature petition apparently is worth nothing to Electronic Arts.

EDIT: yay my 100th post!

[ccecill 52]

Oh god. I feel so bad. I cussed out Chris, Tilted Mill, and EA. I said we sould "eat their young" joke, K guys?

Anyway, I realize it's not Tilted Mill's fault, and hell, It might look 10x better. And the pic was growing on me. Anyway, I apologize for my 27 rants today.

[Boggy1 45]

Alakazam: The DEV who came into chat earlier specifically stated more than once that the screenshot was of a very old build.

davidbeebe: don't judge it on one screenshot.

davidbeebe: Like Chris B said in his post. Don'd judge by one screen shot and the title.

davidbeebe: folks. Chris's message was and is "don't judge it on one screenshot."

davidbeebe: dudes and dudettes. Feel free to be impashioned (sp). Feel free to help contribute suggestions.  Don't let the one screenshot cloud your total judgement. more infop should be released. wasn't there

davidbeebe: Chris says don't judge it on one *Cough*old*cough* screenshot

[The_Dalai_Llama 15]

I'm not thrilled that Maxis isn't working on this, but the consensus has so far been that the SimCity franchise is ruined now, but that's simply not the case given how little we really know about the game.

Let's be optimistic around here. This could be a great game.

[Tarkus 6,933]

Boggy, I agree with you 100% that Tilted Mill is not to blame.  They are trying to do the best they can with whatever parameters EA gave them.  They're "hired guns", so to speak.  I have no ill-will toward them.

However, regardless of what they do, I have no use for a new SimCity game, whether it is societally-based like this appears to be, or even if it were traditional SimCity fare.  SC4 basically fulfills everything I ever wanted out of SimCity, especially with all the modifications.  Plus, with going 3D, there's no way I could run it on my puny COMPAQ laptop (SC4 lags enough), and being a college student, I can't just run out and buy a new computer.

In a way, by going a completely different route, SCS isn't really "competing" with SC4, and in effect, they're kind of (unintentionally) preserving the SC4 community, which makes me happy. 

The situation is just kind of funny . . .   I had a sinking suspicion that this "new SimCity" was going to be way left-field of what people thought they were getting. 

-Tarkus

PS:  Also to add, to everyone who's disappointed Maxis isn't involved, Maxis doesn't exist anymore.  They've fully been absorbed into EA.  And I should point out, Maxis had a choice not to be bought out by EA.

[Godzillaman 21]

always look on the bright side. least they are still making this series, no matter how crappy the installments get.

[flame1396 9]

SimCity belongs to maxis.

I'll hate on anyone who thinks they can do an equal or better job.

[zzsim 3]

As the others have stated, most of the anger is (or should be) really directed at EA for choosing another developer instead of Maxis for the next Sim City. Tilted Mills developes a different style of games compared with those of Maxis, and they appear to be applying a similiar style of gameplay to SCS. Now it is entirely possible that this new game will be a fun in its own right, but I wish that they would have left it as a new franchise instead of trying to claim that it is apart of the Sim City franchise in which it dosen't belong. Though I am glad to hear the new devs are willing to talk to the community, and I am willing to give them a chance.

People just need to realise that it was EA, not Tilted Mills, that screwed us over. We can only hope that someday Will Wright and Maxis might make a true SC5.

[ccecill 52]

Well, what if Maxis makes their own, NEW city sim. Hmmm...

[SIMpleton 2]

Originally posted by: flame1396I'll hate on anyone who thinks they can do an equal or better job.quote>

TM announcement:

When the new SC comes out we'll obviously leave it to you to decide whether you love it, hate it... or fall somewhere in between, or whether you even choose to play it at all. I hope you do try it, and I really hope that you do not pass judgment based on the title or some preliminary speculation on some web site.quote>

Wow... just wow...

[Interchange 0]

Do they even know what they're doing? This is going to suck. What about the other games made by Tilted Media?