Discussion about Always-On Connection to Origin

[Ocram's Razr 964]

I hope they plan on making offline mode work.

[§haÅ--Ñ€ §hÅŽo 370]

I hope they plan on making offline mode work.

I think we all do. But if they don't, we still got SimCity 4.

[ziroi 14]

You know, SimCity 4 is great, but I'd love to just go from SC4 to SimCity(2013) for multiplayer AND singleplayer. If I'm enjoying playing on a multiplayer map with friends or foes, it would be hard to open up SC4 later to play singleplayer, as awesome as it is. I want to make the jump and go; I'm hoping the game will allow excellent gameplay and minimal to no hassle with Origin on both counts. I've never used Origin though, so we'll see.

[Mark Waybill 242]

Well despite not having any games downloaded as yet with it I've had Origin on my machine for a number of months now and it hasn't caused any noticeable issues yet.

[mrbisonm 1,622]

Not very clear, what they say (as always), but I know this, if there has to be an internet connection to play the game, well that's it for me, no simcity. My gaming computer does NOT have Internet connection and I am not willing to pay an extra line to have it connected only for SC.

Then, modding is half of the game's fun, I couldn't imagine why they wouldn't allow us with tools later. Example, the modding community has made the game that5 it still can be fun playing it ten years after, and what I am playing with at the moment is the 4th SC4 game that I bought, that's a + for EA, I mean $$'s.

But, if there will be no modding, then it will hit the garbage pail after I am sick and tired of it and probably the last one that I bought.

[rybolton 135]

I won't be buying it simply because it requires Origin to play. I have Steam already and will not purchase another EA title until they start releasing them on Steam again. I refuse to use two different digital distribution services, maintaining two different purchasing accounts, adding another program to my system tray, simply to buy games from EA. Since they are forcing me to decide between using their distribution system and not buying their games, I choose to not buy their games. The only way we can make a point with a large company like EA is for us to enforce it with our wallets. It's really unfortunate, as I'd like to play this and several other EA games, but it gives me more expendable cash for games I can buy on Steam.

[§haÅ--Ñ€ §hÅŽo 370]

I don't mind the forced online connection, except for the fact that when EA drops support for SimCity we'll be short of a game that we paid $60 for (and most likely subscriptions and DLC's that they tack onto the game). If they allow a single-player mode that doesn't require an EA server to store my files along with the multiplayer they are trying to shove down our throats, I'd be completely for SimCity.

[Dijego 66]

People are posting here without knowing much about it. I read that some designers who actually designed SimCity 4 are finally coming back. Now I know that SimCity 4 was pretty bald without the awesome mods that were added on later, but this does not concern me whatsoever after the posted they realized that the mods made it live at least a decade longer.

The reason behind the "must be online" thing is probably piracy. I definitely do not support this solution. It will be avoided at any cost by people who love the franchise and they will get to play it one way or another.

The reason I don't like the solution is because it is not an online competitive game, people play it for themselves. The new multiplayer options definitely suggest that the game is also intended for online playing, maybe even competitive, but I doubt this is going to be a great succes besides from people that are already friends playing together.

Personally, from the deepest part of my heart I hate third party companies that sell the game to me and create a border between me and the game (example: Steam). I did use Steam and I see game developer opportunities since they can get their game spread more easily, but for my own convenience I want to get rid of the entire thing... Well buying them through those programs is not a problem, but the fact that it is also stored on it... that there is list of games... is this it? Is this the new way of going about? I mean get your hands of MY games... I bought it... now I feel like I'm borrowing those games from those third party companies... Seriously, just deliver me the game and get the hell out!

Anyways I am digressing due to sincere hatred for those kind of companies.. Back to SimCity.

The current things I see in development have definitely some flaws in it and it will seem flawed for a long time, not just because they are flawed, but also because they can't just shout out everything they are adding or removing from the game. That will cause too much chaos.. A flaw I am currently seeing (May 2012) is that they do everything through their newly developed "agents" it seems that the entire game is build around those agents and that the pathing of those agents is pretty limited. It seems that every piece of data is travelling through the use of agents and I think this can work if they give the player an incredible amount of control over those agents. The player must be able to determine where a certain agent can and cannot go. Maybe even the game must do so and the player must find solutions. I know this is probably already in their minds and maybe even the game, but they need to take it to the extreme so that SimCity has major micro-management improvement possibilities. If you are willing to micro manage your city you should be rewarded for it. Therefore there need to be tools that allow you to spend ages on micromanagement, but do not force you to do so. A 'default' is always there to prevent you from having to set up every specific possible route a certain bus can take. But if they add such detailed features I am pretty sure EA will realize that SimCity is not primarily an online game and that the requirement of internet might be a very bad move on a single player focused game.

Anyways I have said too much now.

[brynhyfryd 222]

Looks like there wont be singleplayer. Feels like a deliberate tactic to force "origin" and "always online" onto the gamer.

http://www.vg247.com...or-multiplayer/

Quote from article

Producer Jason Haber told games.on.net that the new SimCity isn’t the single-player affair of previous iterations.

  Edited May 9, 2012 by brynhyfryd  

[Dijego 66]

Maxis: "So the SimCity reboot requires an always-on Internet connection – so what? It’s a multiplayer game."

Jason Haber: "In this day and age everyone’s connected all the time, so we felt like it was the perfect time and it would be fine to do that."

(http://www.vg247.com...or-multiplayer/)

They assume it is normal?

I think in many cases this would indeed not matter, but for SimCity? How many people would still play singleplayer and being online is always a certain risk. To be honest I am rather offline when I don't need the internet.

I want to know their full reasoning behind this is, are they going to keep track of every move made in SimCity?

Are they afraid of piracy?

Jason Haber: “We can save your game in the cloud so you can go and play it anywhere wherever you want. If your machine blows up, your game won’t be gone and you won’t have to start over.”

Well, that is a minor convenience. Unless SimCity must be so bad for your computer it will have a high chance of breaking your computer. So what I am thinking now is that he either does not care about what the player wants or he thinks that being permanently online is part of the future and he wants to seem modern?

Jason Haber comes across pretty conceited in that post and perhaps even elitist.

Also he uses MMO which stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Game, so I guess there should be over 100 players in a single region playing together. I mean otherwise 'MMO' would definitely not suit the game. This post definitely destroyed a lot of faith I had put into the developers and the producers of the game.

  Edited May 9, 2012 by Dijego  

[TheRealDeadaim 38]

It's all about trying to prevent piracy (rather foolishly imo), the fact that they are pretending otherwise is lowering my level of respect for an otherwise great dev team.

  Edited May 9, 2012 by TheRealDeadaim  

[LivingInThePast 364]

The way he skirted the DLC question and tried to justify the "many versions" of SC2K irked me.

  Edited May 9, 2012 by Blue Lightning  
Watch tone and language

[Ocram's Razr 964]

Well, it is official. I will NOT buy anything for more than 3/4 the price.

[§haÅ--Ñ€ §hÅŽo 370]

Wow, I am definitely considering taking back my pre-order. Forcing things onto players and most likely using DLC. They have officially been EA-ifed.

[Sap59 3]

I'll stick with SC4, I still enjoy it and don't have to be online to play it. RIP SC13

[Thor 1]

Maxis: "So the SimCity reboot requires an always-on Internet connection – so what? It’s a multiplayer game."

Jason Haber: "In this day and age everyone’s connected all the time, so we felt like it was the perfect time and it would be fine to do that."

(http://www.vg247.com...or-multiplayer/)

False.

[Shark7 118]

That just settled it for sure. I won't be buying the new SimCity. SC4 is still very playable and people are still adding new content for it daily...I don't see that trend ending given all the negative feedback about the new SC.

Basically what it comes down to is that in order to stop piracy, they are costing themselves sales to people that would have purchased it legally without the always-on requirement.

[Attila464 2]

This really saddens me, when i heard that FINALLY a new simcity was in the works and that it actually showed potential to rekindle the serious i was so excited.

After reading all of this im having bad memories from Cities XL, this EXACT conversation happened and the game failed. I genuinely hope the Maxis comes to their senses.

I'm still buying the game, this issue aside everything they've shown so far looks spot on with what id like to see in a successor to SC4. But if Maxis doesnt pull its head out of its ass and really rethink this along with support for modders cant see this game succeeding

[cirugo 1,889]

This really saddens me, when i heard that FINALLY a new simcity was in the works and that it actually showed potential to rekindle the serious i was so excited.

After reading all of this im having bad memories from Cities XL, this EXACT conversation happened and the game failed. I genuinely hope the Maxis comes to their senses.

I'm still buying the game, this issue aside everything they've shown so far looks spot on with what id like to see in a successor to SC4. But if Maxis doesnt pull its head out of its ass and really rethink this along with support for modders cant see this game succeeding

I've written it off unless or until I hear something different about this issue.

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

Moderator Note:

This pinned topic is now the ONLY topic where the online / origin issue will be discussed.

The continual hijacking of other threads with this issue is to stop. If members post about the online / origin issue in any other thread, expect that post to be removed without further notice or explanation.

Members who continually insist to post about the online / origin issue in other threads will be warned not to, and may risk losing access to the SC13 forum.

Even when posting in this thread, members are to remain respectful and courteous, and the rules of Simtropolis still apply. Anyone who is not familiar with the rules should read them now.

[cirugo 1,889]

http://www.incgamers.com/News/31319/multiplayer-is-fairly-core-to-simcity-says-maxis

"Perhaps the most exciting thing about it, though, is that it allows you to specialise that bit more with your city. Because of the network of cities you need to specialise to find a place for your city. Whether you're playing alone or with other players that idea gives you a lot more options about how you can play the game."

We could do all this with regional play in SimCity 4...without being shackled online to do it. Why force it?

[frdrcklim 139]

i think developers in this day and age are starting to forget that people want to buy games so that they could play it and only so (Battlefield 3, MS Flight, and now this). Relying on an outside interaction would mean that you cannot play a game by itself. So it requires internet, what if there's no internet. So you save it in the cloud, what if something happens to the cloud? What if the service experiences downtime? Save it in the cloud so you could play it wherever you want? Of course... provided wherever has internet. Though if this didn't require an internet connection, this would even be a problem because you can play it anywhere you want in the first place.

On a funny note, what kind of responsible gamer would let his machine blow-up =/?

  Edited May 16, 2012 by frdrcklim  

[cirugo 1,889]

Consider this scene... 5 laptops...

The game... Minecraft. ...and yes they were all playing on the same map... not possible without an online connection.

I don't think that anyone is advocating for no online at all...those of us upset about it are asking to have the option to be able to play by ourselves without having to be online. I haven't had any interest in Minecraft up to this point and if it requires an internet connection then it's definitely of no interest to me...but Minecraft is not an established property that I have been playing for twenty years. Having robust multiplayer is a GREAT move forward. Forcing everyone with no interest in multiplayer to be online to play...not so much.

[iEatRazorz 24]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/05/15/blizzard-addresses-diablo-iii-issues-with-emergency-fix/#more-107968

Need I say more?

[frdrcklim 139]

wait... wut?

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

Just to clarify... in the example above... one laptop was acting as the 'server' and the others then joined to a local network IP via our wireless router. The 'server' laptop generated the map that all the other players then played on.

So in the example above the 5 of them were playing 'locally'... an outside connection to the internet was not required. Mine Craft can also be started and played offline if no internet connection is available.

When the boys play Minecraft on Xbox, they can play locally (not connected to the internet)... or connect to the internet and play with their friend who is home at his house.

[baertooth 330]

Just to clarify... in the example above... one laptop was acting as the 'server' and the others then joined to a local network IP via our wireless router. The 'server' laptop generated the map that all the other players then played on.

So in the example above the 5 of them were playing 'locally'... an outside connection to the internet was not required. Mine Craft can also be started and played offline if no internet connection is available.

When the boys play Minecraft on Xbox, they can play locally (not connected to the internet)... or connect to the internet and play with their friend who is home at his house.

I thought you were implying they needed to connect to the outside Minecraft server, similar to at least what's been hinted at of the new Simcity where even if you were to play "locally" you still had to connect to the same distant internet server. So far as I've seen everything points to Simcity is not a LAN game. They might reveal that at E3 it is but so far the info says otherwise. But this kind of makes the point of the pic moot, doesn't it? Otherwise when you play the new Simcity, not everyone is working on the same city but rather different tiles in the same region. So it's not collaborative in the sense Minecraft is anyways. I'm guess I'm not seeing the connection.

[Sandis_van_Great 346]

Today i was thinking about games that reguires some kinda program to run it, like steam,origin and so on. Now from what i read you need origin to play sc5 (i already have it so its no problom for me) but what if now ea games goes bancrupt does that meens all the games i bought in origin will become unplayable? same with steam. And the same with games that have servers hosted by the company, if they go down that meen the game just becomes uselefs(if it dosnt have single player)

[Ocram's Razr 964]

If EA and Steam go out of business, the market would be so bad that SimCity would be the least of your worries.

[Dijego 66]

If EA and Steam go out of business, the market would be so bad that SimCity would be the least of your worries.

I am not so sure about Steam, but for EA I think they need to be careful not to frustrate their customers too much. I think the gaming industry is pretty volatile. Who knows what will happen?

Personally I regret ever making a Steam account, but the general opinion seems to be quite positive about it. For me it is just too intrusive and the conveniences it provides do not make up for that. When I have steam installed I feel like it is constantly asking for attention.

As for the original question I think that is something you can find in some regulations about bankruptcy. Perhaps it is different in other counties.