Discussion about Always-On Connection to Origin

[CaptCity 4,915]

Clean up. Some seem to want to repeat the same comments all ready made, and some seem to want to continue replying to off topic comments. Neither of which is necessary...

[nhgriffith 179]

I've just been getting mixed responses from other people. That's why I was going to wait a few days before the game came out. But if you make your private region, can you save to your own HDD, and will you have to go online to depend on resources and such? Is the private play going to be limited in any shape or form?

You can't save to your own HDD and you do have to go online.

In an earlier post you said you have never heard of a game (other than browser based games) that doesn't allow you to save to your own HDD. The fact is though, there are plenty of games like this. Every single MMORPG works this way. If you lose your account for some reason but still have your hard drive, you still have to start a new account and start new characters. If you were to lose your computer however, and not lose your account, you'd still be able to access your characters. If you go to a friends house, a computer lab, a computer cafe, or use someone else's computer in any way shape or form, as long as you log into your account, you get access to your characters, without needing to bring them along on a USB stick, and the same will be true for SimCity cities.

[AkemiAzula 280]

"If you were to lose your computer however, and not lose your account, you'd still be able to access your characters. If you go to a friends house, a computer lab, a computer cafe, or use someone else's computer in any way shape or form, as long as you log into your account, you get access to your characters, without needing to bring them along on a USB stick, and the same will be true for SimCity cities."

 

This is the main reason I'm not fighting the online cloud/server trend with gaming. The probability of an entire cloud 'going down' for whatever reason is a lot lower than a single pc being affected

[nhgriffith 179]

Also... for me, of my class this semester, three of them are in the same class room. And each day, I sit at the exact same computer. And apparently, through all the other classes in that classroom, no one else ever sits at my computer (every time I come in, my username is still entered as the last person logged in)... so today in class, I'm totally checking the system specs on that sucker and seeing if I can get SimCity installed on there.

If I am able to successfully do that, I can check in on my cities between classes. Or if nothing else, I can log in and show my cities off to some of my classmates that are getting the game.

[Trooth 22]

The only people to blame are the kiddy pirates.  EA long ago learned it is cheaper to not develop a game for the PC than to watch it be cracked and pirated from day 0.  I missed Madden on the PC when they first did that, and tried to avoid EA as much as possible.  But to think of how bad PC game sells had to get for this decision to be made, people must understand that the PC gaming community in full is to blame for the actions of the developers and publishers.

[Prankemperor 3]

I am not a fan of always Online requirement games but this game is built around the idea of playing with others across the SIMCITY community in regions and affecting the world economy. 

 

So for the first time in my gaming history despite my obvious concerns of always online DRMs I have this game pre-ordered and cant wait to get my hands on.

[cirugo 1,889]

I am not a fan of always Online requirement games but this game is built around the idea of playing with others across the SIMCITY community in regions and affecting the world economy. 

 

So for the first time in my gaming history despite my obvious concerns of always online DRMs I have this game pre-ordered and cant wait to get my hands on.

no one has a problem with that.  there are just no other options for a previously single-player game that didn't require an internet connection.

[CoolColJ 42]

Heh....

 

[zubruu 10]

 

enjoy...

[AkemiAzula 280]

Hopefully they'll work the server issues out by the 8th

[Evil_One 119]

Hopefully they'll work the server issues out by the 8th

 

Judging by EA's past form, it'll take at least a month for them to fully sort out the server issues.

[Vorret 49]

The only people to blame are the kiddy pirates.  EA long ago learned it is cheaper to not develop a game for the PC than to watch it be cracked and pirated from day 0.  I missed Madden on the PC when they first did that, and tried to avoid EA as much as possible.  But to think of how bad PC game sells had to get for this decision to be made, people must understand that the PC gaming community in full is to blame for the actions of the developers and publishers.

Kiddy pirate?  Come on now, piracy is as rampant on console its simply easier on pc.  Oh and PC games sells perfectly fine IF they are good.  PC gamers have standard, we don't buy COD 4.4 in masses like console players.  Developers though they could get away with bad games or console port and they were wrong, easy way to fix is to blame piracy.

[nhgriffith 179]

Piracy is not as rampant on console as it is on PC. It exists, sure, but it's not as rampant.

There are 2 reasons CoD sells better on console. Ready for the reasons? Here they come:

1) Piracy

2) Last I checked, Activision doesn't allow PC-players to host private servers...which is blasphemy in the realm of PC FPS games.

[Vorret 49]

Piracy is not as rampant on console as it is on PC. It exists, sure, but it's not as rampant.

There are 2 reasons CoD sells better on console. Ready for the reasons? Here they come:

1) Piracy

2) Last I checked, Activision doesn't allow PC-players to host private servers...which is blasphemy in the realm of PC FPS games.

 

It doesn't sell as well because it's a bad game, designed for console and ported to PC with an old 2004 engine.

It's like NHL, we're stuck with a stupid old engine, why would I pay for that?

 

BF3 sold plenty of copies because it was designed with PC in mind first and you can FEEL it when you play the game.

 

One of my co-worker plays X-box game weeks before they are released and he's not alone, there's plenty of it on console, but as I said, it's not as easy as it is on PC but PC sales have NOTHING to do with piracy, a good game will get good sales and a bad game will get bad sales they only use the piracy excuse to try and hide the fact that their game sucks.

[Macedonicus 9]

The only people to blame are the kiddy pirates.  EA long ago learned it is cheaper to not develop a game for the PC than to watch it be cracked and pirated from day 0.  I missed Madden on the PC when they first did that, and tried to avoid EA as much as possible.  But to think of how bad PC game sells had to get for this decision to be made, people must understand that the PC gaming community in full is to blame for the actions of the developers and publishers.

Not everyone is blessed to live in a country with decent paychecks and to afford 80 euros for a game.

[Vorret 49]

The only people to blame are the kiddy pirates.  EA long ago learned it is cheaper to not develop a game for the PC than to watch it be cracked and pirated from day 0.  I missed Madden on the PC when they first did that, and tried to avoid EA as much as possible.  But to think of how bad PC game sells had to get for this decision to be made, people must understand that the PC gaming community in full is to blame for the actions of the developers and publishers.

Not everyone is blessed to live in a country with decent paychecks and to afford 80 euros for a game.

 

Sim City is 80 euros?!?

Holy crap that's expensive...  Buy it online in the US?

[Jim4866 9]

Like most computer geeks, EA thinks everyone has high speed, always on internet. They don't realize that there are a lot of areas where high speed internet is not available and we have to rely on air cards or dial up, which are very sloooooooooooooooow.

[kavselj 3]

 

The only people to blame are the kiddy pirates.  EA long ago learned it is cheaper to not develop a game for the PC than to watch it be cracked and pirated from day 0.  I missed Madden on the PC when they first did that, and tried to avoid EA as much as possible.  But to think of how bad PC game sells had to get for this decision to be made, people must understand that the PC gaming community in full is to blame for the actions of the developers and publishers.

Not everyone is blessed to live in a country with decent paychecks and to afford 80 euros for a game.

 

Sim City is 80 euros?!?

Holy crap that's expensive...  Buy it online in the US?

Only if you're stupid enough to buy deluxe version from Origin. You can get a Limited edition copy for ~35-40€.

[AkemiAzula 280]

I cancelled my pre-order last year because I was residing in Australia with a Telstra 3g dongle which costed 50 bucks to watch a five minute youtube video. Yeah. So that wasn't gunna happen.

 

Then I relocated to England this year and have access to Talk Talk broadband with unlimited downloads. I re-pre-ordered.

 

So I can sympathise with those who have internet worries. It can be hugely expensive in some areas and with some methods.

 

However it is the trend, it is the future, and always online looks set to become pretty much the monopoly of things to come.

[jcinsj 5]

^{I upset because I can't get on.  Servers busy you have to wait 20 minutes to play.  I want to play off line.}

[Write 9]

Piracy is not as rampant on console as it is on PC. It exists, sure, but it's not as rampant.

There are 2 reasons CoD sells better on console. Ready for the reasons? Here they come:

1) Piracy

2) Last I checked, Activision doesn't allow PC-players to host private servers...which is blasphemy in the realm of PC FPS games.

 

Plenty of games sell better on PC than their console ports despite their piracy. I think witcher 2 was the most pirated game last year and it still sold very well. Most games in year end lists of most pirated games often sell well because their good games. Make a good game and it will sell despite piracy.

[zubruu 10]

And if I remember correctly Witcher 2 have no DRM. Plus they added a lot of free stuff after launch no payed DLC.. So if you will make a good game, and hmm how to say it, make it for players enjoyment and don't screw them, it will sell good on PC even when pirated.

[Evil_One 119]

However it is the trend, it is the future, and always online looks set to become pretty much the monopoly of things to come.

Actually it's not, only EA has recently adopted it, most companies are realizing it's a bad idea (Ubi$oft has dropped it and even Blizzard admits it was a mistake).

And if I remember correctly Witcher 2 have no DRM. Plus they added a lot of free stuff after launch no payed DLC.. So if you will make a good game, and hmm how to say it, make it for players enjoyment and don't screw them, it will sell good on PC even when pirated.

Originally it shipped with DRM, but the makers also released a no-DRM version that outsold the DRM version (and ironically was pirated less): http://www.digital-digest.com/news-63371-CD-Projekt-DRM-Doesnt-Work-Witcher-2-DRM-Free-Version-Was-Pirated-Less.html

[tylersada 1]

The only people to blame are the kiddy pirates.  EA long ago learned it is cheaper to not develop a game for the PC than to watch it be cracked and pirated from day 0.  I missed Madden on the PC when they first did that, and tried to avoid EA as much as possible.  But to think of how bad PC game sells had to get for this decision to be made, people must understand that the PC gaming community in full is to blame for the actions of the developers and publishers.

Not everyone is blessed to live in a country with decent paychecks and to afford 80 euros for a game.

No they do not, I live on social security and still managed to put the money aside to buy it legally.  Being dishonest just because you are poor does not make it right.

[Hoipus 292]

It says here that Stone Librande worked on both Diablo 3 and SimCity. What do both of those games have in common?

 

http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/2012/11/game-design-in-detail-stone-librande

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/stone-librande/33/463/11b

[cirugo 1,889]

It says here that Stone Librande worked on both Diablo 3 and SimCity. What do both of those games have in common?

 

http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/2012/11/game-design-in-detail-stone-librande

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/stone-librande/33/463/11b

franchise-killers

[Macedonicus 9]

 

The only people to blame are the kiddy pirates.  EA long ago learned it is cheaper to not develop a game for the PC than to watch it be cracked and pirated from day 0.  I missed Madden on the PC when they first did that, and tried to avoid EA as much as possible.  But to think of how bad PC game sells had to get for this decision to be made, people must understand that the PC gaming community in full is to blame for the actions of the developers and publishers.

Not everyone is blessed to live in a country with decent paychecks and to afford 80 euros for a game.

No they do not, I live on social security and still managed to put the money aside to buy it legally.  Being dishonest just because you are poor does not make it right.

Let's not start this.. Your social security must be more than the average paycheck in my country.

[Pouria 8]

 

The only people to blame are the kiddy pirates.  EA long ago learned it is cheaper to not develop a game for the PC than to watch it be cracked and pirated from day 0.  I missed Madden on the PC when they first did that, and tried to avoid EA as much as possible.  But to think of how bad PC game sells had to get for this decision to be made, people must understand that the PC gaming community in full is to blame for the actions of the developers and publishers.

Not everyone is blessed to live in a country with decent paychecks and to afford 80 euros for a game.

No they do not, I live on social security and still managed to put the money aside to buy it legally.  Being dishonest just because you are poor does not make it right.

Well, let's face it... Many people especially in the third world countries can barely afford to pay for their basic needs. To them, paying $400 for computer (which they gonna use for lots of things more important than gaming) is already a major investment. So I really don't blame them for pirating. In the end if they couldn't get a pirated copy for free (or a very low price), they would simply do without it. So it's not going to be a loss for developers/publishers either

[Pouria 8]

The only people to blame are the kiddy pirates.  EA long ago learned it is cheaper to not develop a game for the PC than to watch it be cracked and pirated from day 0.  I missed Madden on the PC when they first did that, and tried to avoid EA as much as possible.  But to think of how bad PC game sells had to get for this decision to be made, people must understand that the PC gaming community in full is to blame for the actions of the developers and publishers.

Pretty much every game that I actually enjoyed playing on PC had good sales too. It just seems to me that piracy has become an excuse for developers to justify why their crappy console ported game couldn't sell so well on PC. Also unlike console gamers, PC gamers are willing to stick to their old games unless their modern alternatives are actually better (reason why so many players still play simcity 4 and simcity 3000). 

[snwboardn 18]

Piracy is not as rampant on console as it is on PC. It exists, sure, but it's not as rampant.

There are 2 reasons CoD sells better on console. Ready for the reasons? Here they come:

1) Piracy

2) Last I checked, Activision doesn't allow PC-players to host private servers...which is blasphemy in the realm of PC FPS games.

You are going to need to throw some actual stats out there with respected references, you know like you learned to do in college? I highly doubt a game that is based on online PvP met its downfall by piracy... Were they pirating game keys to play online as well? Pirating is there I will give you that but pirate servers that host online games are few and far between and most probably do not even know they exist.