The Planet Offer (Includes POLL)

[SoftcoreGamer 352]

Originally posted by: ddhboy

From seeing the news and re-watching the trailers from Cities XL, I'll have to say that while I'm not really interested in the Planet Offer, it seems that its the only true way to play the game. Rather than viewing Cities XL as a city builder, it seems as though the designers have created the game to function more as a geo-economic/political simulator with some city building thrown in. quote>

Planet Offer is THE Game they release. Singleplayer is just a bait. To newcomers expecting a solo game I say, be realistic, which is, pessimistic about what you gonna get.

Planet Offer is like MC's own Simplanet game. While we sim our cities, MC "sim" us via the Planet. They lay network and zone the continents, then we the little people are supposed to move in. For a fee, of course, which is like a property tax. And then, Planet Offer citizens also have to pay the Simplanet mayor for infrastructure. 

Paying money for work done is not in itself evil. Sims and SC4 players have been spoiled rotten by generous artists for too long. I'm only concerned that even those with money, like myself, aren't interested in moving into this Planet Offer Nothing Much.

Right now a few people, namely the "my cities are BIG" type have moved in. Probably because builder type gamers don't like to be forced to open up their homes for public intrusion. Not that hard to understand is it. My city, as a work in progress, is like a home under renovation. Do you like people to come check out your house when you're busy remodelling the windows?

I don't mind visiting other people's cities, or allowing others to hang out in my cities. But it should an option. Will the game maker listen?

Trading is fine. It is the planet government's job to let people trade REAL goods, like Mods and Custom Content.

I also like to be INDEPENDENT whenever I want and not be forced to borrow some electricity from my neighbours. I'm a peaceful sort, I don't enjoy being forced, or enforced upon by a system. I'm an egalitarian sort, I don't enjoy outsizing other people's cities, or being bullied.

Like the majority of SC4 players, I want to build nice and inhabitant-friendly cities.

I also don't like the idea of RENTING inside somebody else's "planet". If I buy a plot of land (a pc game) and build my HOUSE (the city) I expect to go play in that house/city WHENEVER I LIKE.

My cities are MINE. I don't like the idea that my hardwork and creative labor may get a supernova treatment if and when the Planet mayor decides that he isn't collecting enough TAX from the MMO citizens.

An MMO operating on 1984 principal will not last even a season. Will the voices of the majority be heard? Or are people fooling themselves?

I want this game to grow and last. I don't want another potential good game to shoot themselves in the foot. But it is not up to me. Game company projects come and go. Like economy cycles.

Oh well.

Good luck to us all..

[Garek Maxwell 1]

Originally posted by: SoftcoreGamer

An MMO operating on 1984 principal will not last even a season. Will the voices of the majority be heard? Or are people fooling themselves?

quote>

Maybe I misread the book or your post, but wasn't Orwell's 1984 all about an oppressive majority while Whinston was the minority?

Anyway, just thought that was odd and I'm nit picking in an off topic manner. Feel free to ignore me.

[Evillions 552]

WE got mods instead of the Planet Offer. But that doesn't change that much anyways.

[pete1061 0]

I was hesitant at first, but then after some thought, I gave in and subscribed to the PO.

Honestly, it really isn't that much money if you go 3 months at a time.

What does $6 and some change get you? A fast food meal? A movie ticket? renting a couple DVD's?

How much do you spend buying soda-pop out of a vending machine each month?

You all have a right to your opinion and how you spend your money, but it's worth it to me.

It takes a lot of time and money to develop a video game, most developers go out of business.

City sims are a niche market, MC isn't going to make enough money selling an offline game.

At least the money goes directly to MC, there isn't some middle-man publisher like EA sucking up most of the money.

That's what ruined maxis.

Anyhow, the cold hard truth is that the gaming business has changed. Online, monthly subscriptions is the new business model.

It provides increased revenue, and discourages piracy.

[Garek Maxwell 1]

Originally posted by: pete1061Anyhow, the cold hard truth is that the gaming business has changed. Online, monthly subscriptions is the new business model.

It provides increased revenue, and discourages piracy.quote>

Uhhh, actually it's just one business model that is more popular in the West because of instant feedback.

I know of several games developed in the East that have different models. Granada Espado (Or Granado Espada, though both are wrong because both should end in an O or an A when it comes to Spanish) has a business model where it is free to play and you can make purchases to make the game easier or more interesting or something. Originally at launch it had a level cap and with a small price you could go higher. It was probably half a year ago that they removed that and now free players can go all the way to the end if they like.

Maple Story is also similar, with it free to play but lots of things you can buy to customize your avatar and make battles easier.

More companies are looking to this model because it can provide a long lasting income. Maple story has been around since 2005, and Granado Espada has been around since 2007. Granted, World of Warcraft has been around since 2004, but Blizzard has a huge fanbase to feed itself off of. These other games were brand new and had no past games to build a fan base that would buy into it. So I'd say it's not the only business model out there, even if it's the more popular one. I recall reading about how more businesses are looking at the microtransaction model, but I haven't payed much attention as to what games have adopted it or not.

Finally, with regards to piracy, it really doesn't stop it. If all you need to do is click "no I don't want to be PO'd" to get single player, and obviously you need an illegal hack to stop it from needing to register online, then it doesn't stop piracy at all. The only way to stop piracy is to either not make the game at all, or screw over the customer so badly no one would want it because it's so restricted.

[leorafael 0]

i dont know were this will lead 40€ for the game + 8€ monthly + more€ for other contents like ski gem or beach gem

[JanYpe 17]

-swat

 - C.

  C.

  --Liv

  C.

You guys got any candy?  Oh, you ate it all?    Toilet papers the reply.  --Liv

Takes down toilet paper and scrubs reply.  --Liv

 ...  the mod that shall not be named.

-You missed a spot. J

[Thony77 6]

Two weeks ago I was very excitement to play cities xl....but today I'm very very disappoint...

PO doesn't involving me as I expected...server often down or very slow...

Offline game....no comment....

money to spend if I want transport system or gem....

With regret, on this way I think many people in future give up the game....

Simcity....I miss you....

[mtzadogg 0]

are you telling me that bus and mass transit will not be available in solo mode.  If that is the case then i am completely angered from this idea.  the more i hear how much better the game gets for planet offer subscribers the  worse the game becomes for solo mode players. this is an outrage and seriously another game will come out anmd topple this company into the dirt. they will burn in hell for this.

[MINIggy03 227]

Not only will busses and mass transit not be available in solo mode, you only get to rent the features, not keep them! So once you stop paying the monthly fee, *poof* there goes your busses and trains....and your cities...

This game is a train wreck in the making. Such a scheming business model will only turn away customers.  Simcity 4 would of never gotten to where it is today if we had to rent features and were nickel and dimed to get features we've had since 1989.  

Who's ready to start taking bets on when Simcity 4 outsells CitiesXL?

[Mastaflex 0]

Originally posted by: mtzadogg

are you telling me that bus and mass transit will not be available in solo mode.  If that is the case then i am completely angered from this idea.  the more i hear how much better the game gets for planet offer subscribers the  worse the game becomes for solo mode players. this is an outrage and seriously another game will come out anmd topple this company into the dirt. they will burn in hell for this.

quote>

The thing is for me and many others it seems the single player game is great, I had fun making my cities and they came out extremely realistic. But the lack of mass transit cut short the amount of hours I would have played my cities and the nasty rumor of them giving it to PO subscribers only infuriates those who have baught the game with the intention of playing solo and any future customers who would do the same thing.

They have what should be a great money grabbing scheme with the GEMs but they took it too far with mass transit either because it wasn't finalized before the game launched or they thought it wasn't a big deal.

[danny_1990 0]

Do you guys perhaps know if I can use PayPal to subscribe to the Planet Offer?

[karel53 0]

Planet-Offer - new Price: 9,25$ for 1 Month !

http://www.citiesxl.com/component/option,com_community/task,planet_offer/Itemid,136/?lang=en/

[dick209 0]

I think we should boycott mc. I sent them a email today did not much care for the answer.

[mentarman 14]

Originally posted by: dick209

I think we should boycott mc. I sent them a email today did not much care for the answer.quote>

No offense, and I've seen others call for a "boycott" but this seems really stupid. I mean, you can boycott say Coke because you don't like some politics they support, or because they do business with South Africa during apartheid, or they discriminated against a group of people (I'm making all this up btw for an example), things not directly related to the product. You're saying "I know you like Coke, but don't buy it because of this other factor."

But it doesn't really work to say "Coke tastes awful, don't buy it." People who agree it tastes awful aren't going to buy it anyway, and people who like it aren't going to decide not to like it because you call for a boycott. If the price of Coke doubles, you still can't really say "Don't buy Coke, it's too expensive." People who think it is worth the new price are pretty much going to buy it, and people who don't are going to decide on their own not to.

So saying not to buy CXL or the PO because it is bad is pretty ineffective. People either already agree with you and haven't bought it or won't continue to subscribe anyway. Complaining about the price is about the same thing. I either think it's worth it or not, someone on the internet saying to boycott it because they feel it is too expensive or because they think MC handled it badly isn't going to much change my basic decision about whether I think the product/service I am getting is worth the price.

I think you might be better off finding a different, more constructive way of expressing your critiques of the game.

[PsychoStorm 0]

Wow! I was surprised to see such a low number of individuals wanting to play online it the poll.

I prefer playing online myself for the competition factor, and the human interaction. 30 cents a day for as much city building as you can handle is some very cheap entertainment.

Plus, it allows for developers to continue developements, improvements, and updates of the product with a steady income flow.

IMO, if they want this to be a MMO, it should only be offered as PO via download from thier site, with a 2 week free trial, and forgo the distribution and the problems that comes with it.

On a side note, I never paid $40 for the disk, just the 9.99 for the PO, I figured that four months right there.

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

Unpinned.