Discussion about Always-On Connection to Origin

[baertooth 330]

4:27 Mentions the "big" launch of Simcity this (I believe he means fiscal) year.

4:34-5:40 Explains the monetization of their IP and gives a real insight into the future of Simcity2013.

Overall I found this video to be interesting. I never thought EA was declining but if they're counting on Simcity to be a "big" launch for them and a very good chunk of the community as well as those anticipating a new Simcity are at least expressing discontent if not out right no-sale, I think EA might not be growing as much as they forcast to.

And I don't wish doom on EA, I just hope they find their way back to being the kick-donkey game company they were back in the 80s. Right now they got the charisma of a mosquito.

[cirugo 1,889]

EA stockholder meeting discussion/future video game crash speculation

http://www.goblinarm...ash-speculation

Check out the video.

EA admit monetising simcity for a month by month revenue stream.

lol...good luck with that. This ain't the Sims.

[el_roy1985 0]

I didn't hear anything about them saying Sim City would be monetized for a monthly revenue, but if they do charge monthly, I will not be purchasing the game.

DLC releases to buy every month would be a much better idea. As long as the are reasonably priced anyways. That way I can go without buying them, because I would rather spend my money on other things and not have to spend money on video games every month.

[spiritbw 111]

EA stockholder meeting discussion/future video game crash speculation

http://www.goblinarm...ash-speculation

Check out the video.

EA admit monetising simcity for a month by month revenue stream.

That does sound ominious but doesn't say how they plan to do it. A monthly fee is one possibility but so is a gmae store with custom content.

lol...good luck with that. This ain't the Sims.

Not sure what you mean by that. Care to explain?

4:27 Mentions the "big" launch of Simcity this (I believe he means fiscal) year.

4:34-5:40 Explains the monetization of their IP and gives a real insight into the future of Simcity2013.

Overall I found this video to be interesting. I never thought EA was declining but if they're counting on Simcity to be a "big" launch for them and a very good chunk of the community as well as those anticipating a new Simcity are at least expressing discontent if not out right no-sale, I think EA might not be growing as much as they forcast to.

And I don't wish doom on EA, I just hope they find their way back to being the kick-donkey game company they were back in the 80s. Right now they got the charisma of a mosquito.

EA took a huge hit to thier stock in 2008($50 per share to about $20) and it's been in a steady decline since November 2011($24 per share to $12). It rebounded slightly (up a whole dollar!) this last week, but EA stock is in the toilet.

http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/ea/interactive-chart?timeframe=1y&charttype=line

[cirugo 1,889]

lol...good luck with that. This ain't the Sims.

Not sure what you mean by that. Care to explain?

meaning I don't believe the SimCity fanbase is quite as willing to pony up for endless DLC and expansion pack fluff that don't really add much as the Sims fanbase is.

http://pc.gamespy.co.../1225696p1.html

"In yet another example of why you really, really should be using multiple, secure passwords and every security feature you can get your hands on, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime announced today that Blizzard's internal network has been illegally accessed. While he says it's not possible to access anyone's account solely with the information Blizzard knows for sure was taken (security question answers, unspecified mobile and dial-in authenticator data, encrypted passwords), he recommends that North American players change their passwords immediately. That's good advice."

And if people didn't have to have an account and be online to play a single-player game they wouldn't need to worry about this at all would they? People can choose to avoid MMOs if they don't want to deal with this kind of stuff...if EVERYTHING has to be online and through an online account then their only recourse is to not play games at all.

I don't know why it keeps combining my reply to Spirit and this post...I've tried separting them several times.

  Edited August 10, 2012 by cirugo  

[Shark7 118]

lol...good luck with that. This ain't the Sims.

Not sure what you mean by that. Care to explain?

meaning I don't believe the SimCity fanbase is quite as willing to pony up for endless DLC and expansion pack fluff that don't really add much as the Sims fanbase is.

http://pc.gamespy.co.../1225696p1.html

"In yet another example of why you really, really should be using multiple, secure passwords and every security feature you can get your hands on, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime announced today that Blizzard's internal network has been illegally accessed. While he says it's not possible to access anyone's account solely with the information Blizzard knows for sure was taken (security question answers, unspecified mobile and dial-in authenticator data, encrypted passwords), he recommends that North American players change their passwords immediately. That's good advice."

And if people didn't have to have an account and be online to play a single-player game they wouldn't need to worry about this at all would they? People can choose to avoid MMOs if they don't want to deal with this kind of stuff...if EVERYTHING has to be online and through an online account then their only recourse is to not play games at all.

I don't know why it keeps combining my reply to Spirit and this post...I've tried separting them several times.

The current SC4 fanbase/community has gotten used to high quality DLC that is free here at Simtropolis and other sites. I agree, I think it will be hard to get us to pay for DLC that is not as high quality...EA is taking a big gamble that may not pay off at all. Sure the Sims fanbase will probably do so, but will they stick with the game for long?

[spiritbw 111]

About what I thought.

To be honest, if I thought the expansion was actually adding things to the game, I can see it working. The problem I see with it right now is I can just imagine us getting all the features they stripped out of the game as "expansioon" and that would be just a dick move.

[Pepper 15]

Ahhh, so it's going to be DLC City. Well, I can't say I'm surprised; I was pretty much expecting it. This definitely gave me a huge bumptowards the "will not buy" side of the spectrum, though. Forced online gameplay/forced socialization features and DLC are the two things I absolutely hate about games right now, and SC is going to have both. What a sad day.

I think they're going to aim for something like how Sims 3 is working, only probably not as extreme. For those who don't know, I'll explain it briefly. Sims 3 came out in 2009, and it has had about two expansions a year since then (this year, there's 3). Each one costs $40 and has a lot of new gameplay and new items and clothes. There are also "stuff packs" that come out 2-3 times a year. These cost $20 (except for the Katy Perry one, which was $30) and don't usually add any new gameplay, they just add different clothes or objects or buildings your Sims can visit.

On top of those, and what I suspect is the real moneymaker, is the Sims 3 Store. This is completely online, and it offers stuff you can buy individually or in sets - clothes, furniture, cars, building items, worlds/neighborhoods, etc. Some of the things in the store have minor new gameplay. However, in my opinion it is all horrendously overpriced. They tend to release sets about twice a month, and they're almost always $20 and up for a small amount of stuff. They try to force the store on you by featuring it on the launcher and even in the game itself - there's a big sparkly button (I kid you not, it sparkles) that encourages you to buy things from their cash shop, though you can shut it off.

I don't really think that this idea is going to go over as well with the SimCity community. Lots of people are disappointed with the changes they're making and being forced to be online, and when you add in tons of DLC, I think people are going to become even more disappointed and angry.

[jdenm8 362]

However, in my opinion it is all horrendously overpriced.

I thought the same about the content from The Sims 2 store and lo and behold, you buy it and it's been written wrong, is buggy and worst of all, isn't recognised as Maxis-Made content and has that damn Custom Content star.

As for the presentation, I didn't hear much about SimCity at all other than them thinking that it's a major release. I think one of the bigger problems is that EA thinks that it's the share market's fault that the share price is so low, not the performance or market perception of the company driving it down.

  Edited August 11, 2012 by jdenm8  

[aereus 106]

They didn't say they would have a monthly fee for Simcity. What I imagine he means is just that they will be releasing a constant stream of DLC content. New ploppables, new city themes (IE: British looking), maybe new transportation types, etc.

Why I find this bad, is that it probably means modding is gutted. Because a strong modding community would mean taking money out of their DLC sales. IE: Nothing like the STEX will probably be possible with the new Simcity. But, we'll find out for sure in the next couple months, won't we.

[Maxis_MD 79]

They didn't say they would have a monthly fee for Simcity. What I imagine he means is just that they will be releasing a constant stream of DLC content. New ploppables, new city themes (IE: British looking), maybe new transportation types, etc.

Why I find this bad, is that it probably means modding is gutted. Because a strong modding community would mean taking money out of their DLC sales. IE: Nothing like the STEX will probably be possible with the new Simcity. But, we'll find out for sure in the next couple months, won't we.

There most certainly won't be a monthly fee. As far as modding goes, keep in mind, modding for SimCity 4 wasn't available on day one. It took some time before those were released. The team understands the importance of modding, though. I can tell you that.

[cirugo 1,889]

They didn't say they would have a monthly fee for Simcity. What I imagine he means is just that they will be releasing a constant stream of DLC content. New ploppables, new city themes (IE: British looking), maybe new transportation types, etc.

Why I find this bad, is that it probably means modding is gutted. Because a strong modding community would mean taking money out of their DLC sales. IE: Nothing like the STEX will probably be possible with the new Simcity. But, we'll find out for sure in the next couple months, won't we.

There most certainly won't be a monthly fee. As far as modding goes, keep in mind, modding for SimCity 4 wasn't available on day one. It took some time before those were released. The team understands the importance of modding, though. I can tell you that.

So...since we're talking about the forced online and you can't lock threads on this forum would you like to explain to us why when you state "Just to clarify here, if you decide to build your own private region and claim all the cities within it, you don't have to participate in the social features (leaderboard, Global Market, etc.)." here:http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/8892871.page in direct contradiction to the reasons Ocean Quigley stated were so compelling as to require online play, the reason for forcing us to play online?

[Maxis_MD 79]

They didn't say they would have a monthly fee for Simcity. What I imagine he means is just that they will be releasing a constant stream of DLC content. New ploppables, new city themes (IE: British looking), maybe new transportation types, etc.

Why I find this bad, is that it probably means modding is gutted. Because a strong modding community would mean taking money out of their DLC sales. IE: Nothing like the STEX will probably be possible with the new Simcity. But, we'll find out for sure in the next couple months, won't we.

There most certainly won't be a monthly fee. As far as modding goes, keep in mind, modding for SimCity 4 wasn't available on day one. It took some time before those were released. The team understands the importance of modding, though. I can tell you that.

So...since we're talking about the forced online and you can't lock threads on this forum would you like to explain to us why when you state "Just to clarify here, if you decide to build your own private region and claim all the cities within it, you don't have to participate in the social features (leaderboard, Global Market, etc.)." here:http://forum.ea.com/...st/8892871.page in direct contradiction to the reasons Ocean Quigley stated were so compelling as to require online play, the reason for forcing us to play online?

Hey ya -- I'm more than happy to continue this conversation over private messages, but I'd rather not derail this thread. Thanks!

[mattyriddy 12]

They didn't say they would have a monthly fee for Simcity. What I imagine he means is just that they will be releasing a constant stream of DLC content. New ploppables, new city themes (IE: British looking), maybe new transportation types, etc.

Why I find this bad, is that it probably means modding is gutted. Because a strong modding community would mean taking money out of their DLC sales. IE: Nothing like the STEX will probably be possible with the new Simcity. But, we'll find out for sure in the next couple months, won't we.

There most certainly won't be a monthly fee. As far as modding goes, keep in mind, modding for SimCity 4 wasn't available on day one. It took some time before those were released. The team understands the importance of modding, though. I can tell you that.

So...since we're talking about the forced online and you can't lock threads on this forum would you like to explain to us why when you state "Just to clarify here, if you decide to build your own private region and claim all the cities within it, you don't have to participate in the social features (leaderboard, Global Market, etc.)." here:http://forum.ea.com/...st/8892871.page in direct contradiction to the reasons Ocean Quigley stated were so compelling as to require online play, the reason for forcing us to play online?

Hey ya -- I'm more than happy to continue this conversation over private messages, but I'd rather not derail this thread. Thanks!

I'd also like to know the answer to this question. If you are unable to tell us now, will we be told at Gamescom on Wednesday?

[Maxis_MD 79]

They didn't say they would have a monthly fee for Simcity. What I imagine he means is just that they will be releasing a constant stream of DLC content. New ploppables, new city themes (IE: British looking), maybe new transportation types, etc.

Why I find this bad, is that it probably means modding is gutted. Because a strong modding community would mean taking money out of their DLC sales. IE: Nothing like the STEX will probably be possible with the new Simcity. But, we'll find out for sure in the next couple months, won't we.

There most certainly won't be a monthly fee. As far as modding goes, keep in mind, modding for SimCity 4 wasn't available on day one. It took some time before those were released. The team understands the importance of modding, though. I can tell you that.

So...since we're talking about the forced online and you can't lock threads on this forum would you like to explain to us why when you state "Just to clarify here, if you decide to build your own private region and claim all the cities within it, you don't have to participate in the social features (leaderboard, Global Market, etc.)." here:http://forum.ea.com/...st/8892871.page in direct contradiction to the reasons Ocean Quigley stated were so compelling as to require online play, the reason for forcing us to play online?

Hey ya -- I'm more than happy to continue this conversation over private messages, but I'd rather not derail this thread. Thanks!

I'd also like to know the answer to this question. If you are unable to tell us now, will we be told at Gamescom on Wednesday?

Sure! But again, I don't want to detail this thread. So I'll just say this: We encourage you to participate in our social features, as it gives the series a lot of newly added depth, but we also understand that some players would rather play their cities/regions solo. Hence why we give you that option. Simple as that. And you'll learn more about our social features at Gamescom in a few days.

[mattyriddy 12]

Sure! But again, I don't want to detail this thread. So I'll just say this: We encourage you to participate in our social features, as it gives the series a lot of newly added depth, but we also understand that some players would rather play their cities/regions solo. Hence why we give you that option. Simple as that. And you'll learn more about our social features at Gamescom in a few days.

As a community we know that we are able to solo play. The question is will we able to play offline? If not at launch at some point in the future? The reason we ask is that we are concerned if the server is taken down in a few years time we have a game that we can no longer play. But also SimCity for me and many others has been a game that we like to play when we don't have an internet connection, while on the train, holiday etc. It would be a real shame to loose this ability.

I understand why the online may be required with having multiplayer regions and leader boards. If we wanted to play offline in a particular region (as a sandbox) I would like to be able to opt out of this, then have an online region with friends where I am fully involved with the community and online aspects. I agree with you that the social features could bring a new depth to the game. Making it more realistic especially with neighborhood deals and great works. It is something I'm very much looking forward to trying when I get the game and wish I could be at Gamescom this week to try it out.

In my head though I could see an offline aspect as a training zone for the game. In a similar way to how Battlefield and Call of Duty have a campaign areas for people to practice and understand the game, before heading online to compete in a social environment.

I look forward to hearing what you have to show us on Wednesday and thanks for making the game.

[Mootilda 76]

I'm more than happy to continue this conversation over private messages, but I'd rather not derail this thread.

It actually seems kind of silly to take the conversation to PM when every single person reading this thread wants to read the answers.
  Edited August 12, 2012 by Mootilda  

[spiritbw 111]

I'm more than happy to continue this conversation over private messages, but I'd rather not derail this thread.

It actually seems kind of silly to take the conversation to PM when every single person reading this thread wants to read the answers.

Seconded. Specially as the questions do concern the online connection.

[Thetford 22]

lol...good luck with that. This ain't the Sims.

Not sure what you mean by that. Care to explain?

meaning I don't believe the SimCity fanbase is quite as willing to pony up for endless DLC and expansion pack fluff that don't really add much as the Sims fanbase is.

http://pc.gamespy.co.../1225696p1.html

"In yet another example of why you really, really should be using multiple, secure passwords and every security feature you can get your hands on, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime announced today that Blizzard's internal network has been illegally accessed. While he says it's not possible to access anyone's account solely with the information Blizzard knows for sure was taken (security question answers, unspecified mobile and dial-in authenticator data, encrypted passwords), he recommends that North American players change their passwords immediately. That's good advice."

And if people didn't have to have an account and be online to play a single-player game they wouldn't need to worry about this at all would they? People can choose to avoid MMOs if they don't want to deal with this kind of stuff...if EVERYTHING has to be online and through an online account then their only recourse is to not play games at all.

I don't know why it keeps combining my reply to Spirit and this post...I've tried separting them several times.

The current SC4 fanbase/community has gotten used to high quality DLC that is free here at Simtropolis and other sites. I agree, I think it will be hard to get us to pay for DLC that is not as high quality...EA is taking a big gamble that may not pay off at all. Sure the Sims fanbase will probably do so, but will they stick with the game for long?

I suppose the major difference between The Sims fanbase and the SimCity one, is that the former is much more larger (so much so, you could claim they killed off the rest of Maxis, e.g SimsVille, SimMars) and stuck with it, true that may be helped by the fact it has been in constant production since the days when mobile phones only allowed you talk and text, coffee was less frothy and people were scared that their '98s couldn't handle the change the millennium so everyone rushed out to build nuclear shelters or some such lunacy we mock in retrospect, anyway, obligatory rule of three over, what I'm getting at, is that in comparison, SimCity is the forgotten older brother, in essence, Charles Cunningham, it's been that long since Maxis have done a SimCity title, that one can safely say with a conservative estimate, that the large majority of purchasers of SimCity 4 and previous titles have since stopped playing it; the people of these sites are a minority who stuck on in there, who no longer became fans of SimCity, but SimCity 4:Modded Edition. It could be seen as no longer a worthwhile marketable audience.

The online bit doesn't bug, I've played several games that require being online, many examples are those found in my Steam library, what I'm far more concerned about is the game itself, the meat and potatoes, not the dinner service it's served on or the attractiveness of the waitstaff of your preferred gender who served it to you. Some things are a little iffy, like city size, (but I've always been able to accommodate a fairly balanced and varied cities on medium tiles), but that can be changed later, like how Kalypso increased the population cap for Tropico 4 to 1200 people (or was it 1600), provided your computer could handle it, I can see Maxis adding regions later after SimCity's release to test the waters, to see how peoples' computers can handle such feats of Glassbox on the medium tile scale. In all honesty? I'll try out the multiplayer mode, it seems interesting, at the worst, I'll be stuck next to someone annoying (but I don't have to talk to him or her), at the very best I could be inspired and learn new techniques and how well things function (something I struggle to do with the "ooh pretteh! Now guess which lot is the one functional lot in this sea of ploppable props" screenshots), and possibly make a friend or two online.

Only time will tell how well everything - including the always online - will be implemented.

[cirugo 1,889]

They didn't say they would have a monthly fee for Simcity. What I imagine he means is just that they will be releasing a constant stream of DLC content. New ploppables, new city themes (IE: British looking), maybe new transportation types, etc.

Why I find this bad, is that it probably means modding is gutted. Because a strong modding community would mean taking money out of their DLC sales. IE: Nothing like the STEX will probably be possible with the new Simcity. But, we'll find out for sure in the next couple months, won't we.

There most certainly won't be a monthly fee. As far as modding goes, keep in mind, modding for SimCity 4 wasn't available on day one. It took some time before those were released. The team understands the importance of modding, though. I can tell you that.

So...since we're talking about the forced online and you can't lock threads on this forum would you like to explain to us why when you state "Just to clarify here, if you decide to build your own private region and claim all the cities within it, you don't have to participate in the social features (leaderboard, Global Market, etc.)." here:http://forum.ea.com/...st/8892871.page in direct contradiction to the reasons Ocean Quigley stated were so compelling as to require online play, the reason for forcing us to play online?

Hey ya -- I'm more than happy to continue this conversation over private messages, but I'd rather not derail this thread. Thanks!

I'd also like to know the answer to this question. If you are unable to tell us now, will we be told at Gamescom on Wednesday?

Sure! But again, I don't want to detail this thread. So I'll just say this: We encourage you to participate in our social features, as it gives the series a lot of newly added depth, but we also understand that some players would rather play their cities/regions solo. Hence why we give you that option. Simple as that. And you'll learn more about our social features at Gamescom in a few days.

No, you don't understand...we would rather play OFFLINE.

Oh, and that wasn't an answer either...my question was: if we don't have to participate in the online features why is it not possible to create an offline mode?

  Edited August 13, 2012 by cirugo  

[Mootilda 76]

Oh, and that wasn't an answer either...my question was: if we don't have to participate in the online features why is it not possible to create an offline mode?

Because EA doesn't want you to play offline. If EA wanted you to be able to play offline, then they would include that as an option.

[Shark7 118]

lol...good luck with that. This ain't the Sims.

Not sure what you mean by that. Care to explain?

meaning I don't believe the SimCity fanbase is quite as willing to pony up for endless DLC and expansion pack fluff that don't really add much as the Sims fanbase is.

http://pc.gamespy.co.../1225696p1.html

"In yet another example of why you really, really should be using multiple, secure passwords and every security feature you can get your hands on, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime announced today that Blizzard's internal network has been illegally accessed. While he says it's not possible to access anyone's account solely with the information Blizzard knows for sure was taken (security question answers, unspecified mobile and dial-in authenticator data, encrypted passwords), he recommends that North American players change their passwords immediately. That's good advice."

And if people didn't have to have an account and be online to play a single-player game they wouldn't need to worry about this at all would they? People can choose to avoid MMOs if they don't want to deal with this kind of stuff...if EVERYTHING has to be online and through an online account then their only recourse is to not play games at all.

I don't know why it keeps combining my reply to Spirit and this post...I've tried separting them several times.

The current SC4 fanbase/community has gotten used to high quality DLC that is free here at Simtropolis and other sites. I agree, I think it will be hard to get us to pay for DLC that is not as high quality...EA is taking a big gamble that may not pay off at all. Sure the Sims fanbase will probably do so, but will they stick with the game for long?

I suppose the major difference between The Sims fanbase and the SimCity one, is that the former is much more larger (so much so, you could claim they killed off the rest of Maxis, e.g SimsVille, SimMars) and stuck with it, true that may be helped by the fact it has been in constant production since the days when mobile phones only allowed you talk and text, coffee was less frothy and people were scared that their '98s couldn't handle the change the millennium so everyone rushed out to build nuclear shelters or some such lunacy we mock in retrospect, anyway, obligatory rule of three over, what I'm getting at, is that in comparison, SimCity is the forgotten older brother, in essence, Charles Cunningham, it's been that long since Maxis have done a SimCity title, that one can safely say with a conservative estimate, that the large majority of purchasers of SimCity 4 and previous titles have since stopped playing it; the people of these sites are a minority who stuck on in there, who no longer became fans of SimCity, but SimCity 4:Modded Edition. It could be seen as no longer a worthwhile marketable audience.

The online bit doesn't bug, I've played several games that require being online, many examples are those found in my Steam library, what I'm far more concerned about is the game itself, the meat and potatoes, not the dinner service it's served on or the attractiveness of the waitstaff of your preferred gender who served it to you. Some things are a little iffy, like city size, (but I've always been able to accommodate a fairly balanced and varied cities on medium tiles), but that can be changed later, like how Kalypso increased the population cap for Tropico 4 to 1200 people (or was it 1600), provided your computer could handle it, I can see Maxis adding regions later after SimCity's release to test the waters, to see how peoples' computers can handle such feats of Glassbox on the medium tile scale. In all honesty? I'll try out the multiplayer mode, it seems interesting, at the worst, I'll be stuck next to someone annoying (but I don't have to talk to him or her), at the very best I could be inspired and learn new techniques and how well things function (something I struggle to do with the "ooh pretteh! Now guess which lot is the one functional lot in this sea of ploppable props" screenshots), and possibly make a friend or two online.

Only time will tell how well everything - including the always online - will be implemented.

Hey now, those pallets of SPAM are still perfectly edible...that stuff is indestructible.

The problem with always online games (and especially DLC games) is that often the core game lacks items that in years past would have been expected to be included in the core game. Instead, you have to pay extra to get things that should have been there all along. You should not have to pay extra for basic gameplay code.

And as always I am against always online because when I pay for the license to use the game, should it not be up to me when I actually get to use it? It just screams 'poor customer service' and 'rip off' to me.

[Helevitia 38]

They didn't say they would have a monthly fee for Simcity. What I imagine he means is just that they will be releasing a constant stream of DLC content. New ploppables, new city themes (IE: British looking), maybe new transportation types, etc.

Why I find this bad, is that it probably means modding is gutted. Because a strong modding community would mean taking money out of their DLC sales. IE: Nothing like the STEX will probably be possible with the new Simcity. But, we'll find out for sure in the next couple months, won't we.

There most certainly won't be a monthly fee. As far as modding goes, keep in mind, modding for SimCity 4 wasn't available on day one. It took some time before those were released. The team understands the importance of modding, though. I can tell you that.

HI Maxis_MD,

Thanks for joining the thread and verifying there will be no monthly fee. I realize modding wasn't available on day one for SC4. Are you purposely being vague about whether or not modding will be available at a later date? Are you restricted from telling us for now? Can you just tell us if it will be available or not? It would go a long way to putting to rest some of the complaints and the uproar in the community. Again, I know you are coming to a hostile envirnment and I want to say that we appreciate that, though it may not seem obvious from some of the comments

[cirugo 1,889]

I'm more than happy to continue this conversation over private messages, but I'd rather not derail this thread.

It actually seems kind of silly to take the conversation to PM when every single person reading this thread wants to read the answers.

Seconded. Specially as the questions do concern the online connection.

Check out my twitter conversation with Maxis_MD:

Me: "since you've stated we don't have to participate in online features, other than DRM, what other reason is there for forced online?"

SimCity: "Watch the EA press conference in a few hours to get a good idea of why you should participate in our online features!"

Me: "nice try but not what I asked. Since we DON'T have to partcipate in the online features what's the reason for the forced online?"

SimCity: "We built the game from the ground up to be an online game. You'll learn more about this at the EA press conference!"

Me: "and the circular logic continues... "

so quick recap: don't expect an answer to this question.

[aereus 106]

What I find funny about that is the feigned tone like you have a choice or not. You don't.

They claimed graceful degradation for when they have server troubles though -- I wonder what would happen if you just routed all the server calls to localhost in your hosts.txt file...

[Fantozzi 4,068]

While this is disappointing, someone should write a cordial letter to the CEO of EA: John Riccitiello, and calmly and politely explain to him how we as a community feel. Riccitiello is the one that has led EA along the digital and DLC pathway since he became CEO in 2007, and because of the success, EA has been doing more and more DLC and online stuff. He has recently said that he believed that single player was on its way out, and that most games will soon be multiplayer.

I don't think EA started this.I think the first one was Apple, to bind people with a product to a sort of "product comunity" - not only to build a music player but link it also to an online store and so on. Or this was startet by the ink jet printer companys who sell their printers cheap to bind people to their system and then sell the ink on high price. I don't know. But today wether you buy a car or a T-shirt - what they try is to make you a member of something.

The product you purchase is only a key, some kind of "door opener" - now we got you, now you are our member.

That's why I personally believe, they don't care about these "outdated, uncontrolled forms of community" - this new generation of games is only a dooropener. They build up communities themselves as reserved markets. So why should they be interested in an old sc4-community if they build up a new one of their own?

Maybe they think we are a group of grumpy old gamers. As soon as there are some million of people online with SC5 no one will talk about us sc4-veterans.

The arguments are not new and they surely know them. But this is the big new business strategy - to build a community around a product. And they won't stop telling, that's where the fun is and if you're not participating and if you aren't constantly online and if you play for your own you loose.

In this case it seems to me that arguing is worthless - the discussion is worthless.

Either someone invents an open-source city building simulation or I keep playing sc4. That's my decision. I don't wan't to join the club. Many people think different and that's o.k. for me. I won't hold them back.

I don't think it would be an issue to make different versions of one game - one version for online multiplayer and one version for offline singleplayer. They can also make different version for different platforms. They surely could sell both. But as I said before these games aren't itself games anymore. The game itself is, what happens in the community. The software is only the entrance to the gameworld. That's how they think.

Sorry for my bad english.

  Edited August 23, 2012 by fantozzi  

[Patricius Maximus 236]

The product you purchase is only a key, some kind of "door opener" - now we got you, now you are our member.

While that is extremely annoying (we should be able to purchase a game and then possess the game and be able to use it solo), it wouldn't be so bad if the door opener didn't cost $60. Even for most full games that's a bit overpriced, let alone something that will incur costs many times that figure over the next few years. The amount of money that I could waste on a social media-oriented "casual game" with DLC's and expansions is comparable to the cost of a small vacation. I'd rather take the vacation and play Simcity 4 while on it .

That's why I personally believe, they don't care about these "outdated, uncontrolled forms of community" - this new generation of games is only a dooropener. They build up communities themselves as reserved markets. So why should they be interested in an old sc4-community if they build up a new one of their own?

Simtropolis is a far more powerful and enduring community than any community centered around a flash-in-the-pan game that consists of the social media crowd. We're still here 10 years after the fact, more populous and powerful than we've ever been. Simcity Societies and Cities XL couldn't even endure as living, growing communities for 5 years, let alone 10. I believe that EA doesn't care about us and has a certain disdain for us veterans as opposed to casual gamers, but the catch is that the casual gamers are too casual to create and maintain anything of value (monetary and otherwise).

[Fantozzi 4,068]

Simtropolis is a far more powerful and enduring community than any community centered around a flash-in-the-pan game that consists of the social media crowd. We're still here 10 years after the fact, more populous and powerful than we've ever been. Simcity Societies and Cities XL couldn't even endure as living, growing communities for 5 years, let alone 10. I believe that EA doesn't care about us and has a certain disdain for us veterans as opposed to casual gamers, but the catch is that the casual gamers are too casual to create and maintain anything of value (monetary and otherwise).

I completely agree. That's why I sometimes think sc4 - I mean the sc4 expanded/enlarged ten years by enthusiasts - could only be topped by an open source simulation.

Once I read - I don't remember where - "SC4 isn't a game it's a hobby." But it seems to me it was the community that turned this game into a hobby. That wasn't EA.

So, in my opinion, at Maxis they can do what they like. As long as we can keep on doing what we like ... So if sc5 is no fun I'm not really disturbed because sc4 IS STILL FUN.

And Yes, that's because of this wonderfull community. So I should take the opportunity and thank all the contributors on Simtropolis. They never caused me big discussions but they gave me so much fun in playing sc4.

  Edited August 25, 2012 by fantozzi  

[cirugo 1,889]

OK...so we have now been told that we don't have to participate in any of the online features should we not want to. Does this also mean that we don't need to participate in the global marketplace or be connected at all to any of the leaderboards? And since this is the case, why the forced online? The "compelling" multiplayer was given as the reason for making the game online only. When I ask why, if we don't have to participate in this "compelling" gameplay, we still have to be online to play I am told "we built this game from the ground up to be online." So does this then mean that EVERYTHING is run on Maxis's server? that the Glassbox engine can't run on an indivdual PC? what exactly does this mean?

[NCGAIO 562]

So I'll just say this: We encourage you to participate in our social features, as it gives the series a lot of newly added depth, but we also understand that some players would rather play their cities/regions solo. Hence why we give you that option...

My dear the option for On-line DRM DLC has been well exposed by those who actually decide about these things and are in various materials of countless independent sites.

I quote some ..

EA turning all of its brands into "online universes

At EA's UK showcase this week, EA's Northern Europe boss Keith Ramsdale said all of EA's game franchises, including FIFA, Battlefield, Medal of Honor, Star Wars, The Sims and Need for Speed, were being transformed in this way.

This means more than simple online play, Ramsdale explained. It involves being able to play a "brand" across multiple devices, each one contributing to a singular goal - and profile.

Ramsdale used FIFA by way of an example. "Imagine a player gets up in the morning, plays an online match on his 360 before going to work," he said. "On the bus, on his way to work, he practices his free kicks on his tablet. At lunch he looks at the transfer window on his PC. On the way home he chooses his kit on his smartphone.On the bus, on his way to work, he practices his free kicks on his tablet. At lunch he looks at the transfer window on his PC. On the way home he chooses his kit on his smartphone.

"Here's the thing: when he gets home to play again on his 360 that evening, all those achievements and upgrades will be alive in his game."

Ramsdale said online universes allow the consumer to play "how he wants, when he wants and on the device he wants".

"We're very focused on transforming all of our brands into these online universes. That gives the consumer full control of how and when they play in a rich world of content."

read more source:EA turning all of its brands into "online universes

Getting EA Ready for the Future

Rich Hilleman, the chief creative director of Electronic Arts, has a big task: getting the company ready for the future. He has to navigate the waters of the social and mobile revolution while also keeping core gamers satisfied as the company's products shift to blockbusters-cum-online services.

In this interview, Hilleman -- who has been at the company since the 1980s -- looks back as well as forward, reflecting on how the company's success on the original PlayStation and Sega Genesis taught it lessons that are still relevant today.

"Increasingly, free-to-play games, social games, mobile games, even the DLC and online play that drives consoles today, are good examplesis of the things we need to start considering to design around," says Hilleman.

read more source:Getting EA Ready for the Future

Summarizing: is an option purely commercial of EA and has nothing to do with the fact provide more fun for consumers

  Edited September 2, 2012 by NCGAIO