Discussion about Always-On Connection to Origin

[cirugo 1,889]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/no-single-player-only-games-ea-labels-boss-6394663

"Frank Gibeau says all of company's titles must include online, social elements to reach consumers; cross-platform integration a focus."

Well, I guess we can say for certain now that EA is the culprit. Sorry I have to take out my anger on Maxis and SimCity. I will simply never buy another EA game again. EVER!

[VeritaScientia 150]

http://www.gamespot....ls-boss-6394663

"Frank Gibeau says all of company's titles must include online, social elements to reach consumers; cross-platform integration a focus."

Well, I guess we can say for certain now that EA is the culprit. Sorry I have to take out my anger on Maxis and SimCity. I will simply never buy another EA game again. EVER!

Sean Connery said he'd never play James Bond again after Diamonds are Forever....in 1983 his wife gave the title to a new James Bond film that he starred in: Never Say Never Again.

Honestly, I don't see how EA could pull off porting Sim City to consoles, I played SC2K on the PS1 and it was clunky, let alone a mobile device. Again, so many people wished for SC4 to have an online component and now everyone whines about it being online? What's the big deal? Now I could see if everyone was still on AOL where it's X number of hours a month whining about being online to play, or for people from Australia where--from what my former girlfriend told me--their internet still has a download/upload limit on it. but people in America where most anyone who has a computer is online nowadays and even Great Aunt Sadie has a Facebook, Twitter, and sends lolcat pictures to all her Farmville friends.

[cirugo 1,889]

http://www.gamespot....ls-boss-6394663

"Frank Gibeau says all of company's titles must include online, social elements to reach consumers; cross-platform integration a focus."

Well, I guess we can say for certain now that EA is the culprit. Sorry I have to take out my anger on Maxis and SimCity. I will simply never buy another EA game again. EVER!

Sean Connery said he'd never play James Bond again after Diamonds are Forever....in 1983 his wife gave the title to a new James Bond film that he starred in: Never Say Never Again.

Honestly, I don't see how EA could pull off porting Sim City to consoles, I played SC2K on the PS1 and it was clunky, let alone a mobile device. Again, so many people wished for SC4 to have an online component and now everyone whines about it being online? What's the big deal? Now I could see if everyone was still on AOL where it's X number of hours a month whining about being online to play, or for people from Australia where--from what my former girlfriend told me--their internet still has a download/upload limit on it. but people in America where most anyone who has a computer is online nowadays and even Great Aunt Sadie has a Facebook, Twitter, and sends lolcat pictures to all her Farmville friends.

an online COMPONENT!!! and even THAT was low on the list of priorities for what anyone wanted. NO ONE wanted online-only. And I don't know about Sean Connery but when I say never, I mean never.

[~Dee~ 215]

I'm not buying this game either, instead I'll buy the new Cities in Motion 2 what comes out next year.

I went to their forum to find out about the game and heard it would include multiplayer, I had visions of on-line only, so I asked them not to make the same mistake as EA.

They said that multiplayer is an option only and the game will be off-line. Smart thinking.

[Netuno 97]

EA and Maxis believe the majority of fans even not wanting online mode in the new SimCity (2013), we'll buy the game anyway.

Most SimCity fans have to say clearly that we will not buy the SC2013 if it has only online mode.

Because they (EA and Maxis) aren't crazy to lose the money invested.

Without offline mode, without purchase.

[mojogojo 4]

Have been waiting for SC5 for a looong time. As much as I want to say I would never buy the game if it comes with the always online option....I probably will. But, only after several months...

  Edited September 6, 2012 by CaptCity  
Language and torrent - please see the site rules.

[brynhyfryd 222]

EA boss proudly refuses to publish single-player games

http://www.destructoid.com/ea-boss-proudly-refuses-to-publish-single-player-games-234402.phtml

Quote. EA knows what you need better than you do.

EA, How dare you tell me that you know better than me when it comes to what I want.

[Patricius Maximus 236]

I find that attitude to be pretty offensive. While I don't think always-online requirements are a deal-breaker (per se) for most fans, I think they would have to offer a lot to overcome that deficiency, and the way it looks now EA is going to come up miles short of the bar. Unless they come out with some miraculous changes, I say, as a Simcity fan, that I'm not purchasing it.

[Shark7 118]

http://www.gamespot....ls-boss-6394663

"Frank Gibeau says all of company's titles must include online, social elements to reach consumers; cross-platform integration a focus."

Well, I guess we can say for certain now that EA is the culprit. Sorry I have to take out my anger on Maxis and SimCity. I will simply never buy another EA game again. EVER!

Sean Connery said he'd never play James Bond again after Diamonds are Forever....in 1983 his wife gave the title to a new James Bond film that he starred in: Never Say Never Again.

Honestly, I don't see how EA could pull off porting Sim City to consoles, I played SC2K on the PS1 and it was clunky, let alone a mobile device. Again, so many people wished for SC4 to have an online component and now everyone whines about it being online? What's the big deal? Now I could see if everyone was still on AOL where it's X number of hours a month whining about being online to play, or for people from Australia where--from what my former girlfriend told me--their internet still has a download/upload limit on it. but people in America where most anyone who has a computer is online nowadays and even Great Aunt Sadie has a Facebook, Twitter, and sends lolcat pictures to all her Farmville friends.

I seem to remember playing SimCity (the original) on my Nintendo 64 (IIRC, hey that was over 2 decades ago). So a port to console, it can be done, just not sure if it would be as good (and would it still require online connection? I don't connect my consoles to the internet).

[Jim14409 448]

http://www.gamespot....ls-boss-6394663

"Frank Gibeau says all of company's titles must include online, social elements to reach consumers; cross-platform integration a focus."

Well, I guess we can say for certain now that EA is the culprit. Sorry I have to take out my anger on Maxis and SimCity. I will simply never buy another EA game again. EVER!

Sean Connery said he'd never play James Bond again after Diamonds are Forever....in 1983 his wife gave the title to a new James Bond film that he starred in: Never Say Never Again.

Honestly, I don't see how EA could pull off porting Sim City to consoles, I played SC2K on the PS1 and it was clunky, let alone a mobile device. Again, so many people wished for SC4 to have an online component and now everyone whines about it being online? What's the big deal? Now I could see if everyone was still on AOL where it's X number of hours a month whining about being online to play, or for people from Australia where--from what my former girlfriend told me--their internet still has a download/upload limit on it. but people in America where most anyone who has a computer is online nowadays and even Great Aunt Sadie has a Facebook, Twitter, and sends lolcat pictures to all her Farmville friends.

There are millions of folks right here in the United States of America who do not have access to the "unlimited" download/upload bandwidth that so many in large metropolitian areas take for granted.

[Urban Cartographer 601]

We Canadians have to deal with bandwidth limits. I cannot afford to have a game that must be online-only, especially if that game can easily be made with a 100% offline single player mode. EA, let me tell you this. You will regret your action. You are only digging your grave deeper and deeper with this online-only thing. I will spend my money on a city simulator game developed by a company that truly cares about its fanbase. We loyal SimCity fans shall ring the death knell.

  Edited September 6, 2012 by Urban Cartographer  

[Netuno 97]

We Canadians have to deal with bandwidth limits. I cannot afford to have a game that must be online-only, especially if that game can easily be made with a 100% offline single player mode. EA, let me tell you this. You will regret your action. You are only digging your grave deeper and deeper with this online-only thing. I will spend my money on a city simulator game developed by a company that truly cares about its fanbase. We loyal SimCity fans shall ring the death knell.

Urban, there is an petition online of boycott EA.

http://www.petitiono...natures?page=28

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-EA-Games/109938699069414

  Edited September 7, 2012 by Netuno  

[Mootilda 76]

That's a horrible petition. How can anyone take it seriously with multiple asterisks and question marks, missing spaces, words in all caps, misspelled words, etc.?

I'd be much more likely to sign if it didn't sound like the author was foaming at the mouth.

  Edited September 7, 2012 by Mootilda  

[Netuno 97]

That's a horrible petition. How can anyone take it seriously with multiple asterisks and question marks, missing spaces, words in all caps, misspelled words, etc.?

I'd be much more likely to sign if it didn't sound like the author was foaming at the mouth.

I can't do anything. The petition is not mine.

[spiritbw 111]

We Canadians have to deal with bandwidth limits. I cannot afford to have a game that must be online-only, especially if that game can easily be made with a 100% offline single player mode. EA, let me tell you this. You will regret your action. You are only digging your grave deeper and deeper with this online-only thing. I will spend my money on a city simulator game developed by a company that truly cares about its fanbase. We loyal SimCity fans shall ring the death knell.

Speaking as a fellow Canadian(hello from Edmonton Alberta!) I have to agree.

I had a system crash and had to reload my computer from the OS up. Suddenly realized that while cloud saving is fine in theory it can be murder if most of your programs are on the cloud because the prefered method of delivery is digital. I hit my download limit in a DAY. The first day of the new month too so from 0 to maxed in less than 24 hours. Fortunatly I got an exception due to circustances from my provider.

  Edited September 7, 2012 by spiritbw  

[Urban Cartographer 601]

We Canadians have to deal with bandwidth limits. I cannot afford to have a game that must be online-only, especially if that game can easily be made with a 100% offline single player mode. EA, let me tell you this. You will regret your action. You are only digging your grave deeper and deeper with this online-only thing. I will spend my money on a city simulator game developed by a company that truly cares about its fanbase. We loyal SimCity fans shall ring the death knell.

Urban, there is an petition online of boycott EA.

I know. Unfortunately, they look amateurish. I would rather wait for a more professionally done petition. I do not trust Facebook at all; it has many privacy violations as well, rivalling that of EA.

[lisail 7]

Hmmm i didnt really read all of the thread (23 pages?) so sorry if someone mentioned this.

The online features/always on thing is NOT to prevent piracy.Publishers (as in useless people who take money from real people) want to offer a SERVICE NOT A PRODUCT!As in they want you to pay again and again and AGAIN so they can keep making money.DLC is just the beggining.I can still remember you had to pay money in order to paint your armor black in some console RPG (forgot the name now).

The entire industry is going in this direction-ubisoft with their always online and Anno 2070 online features(that i own but absolutely HATE) you pass trough blizzard and their auction house in diablo 3 move on to biowere and their mass effect 3 fiasco and end with dark souls and GFWL bs.Its inevitable and a new game market crash is expected where most of these useless people would lose their jobs.

  Edited September 7, 2012 by lisail  

[Megaopolisbuilder54 7]

whats cool about the new connections is now square land but in the new sim city you get land that is not out of bounds

[Mootilda 76]

The online features/always on thing is NOT to prevent piracy.

None of EA's attempts at preventing piracy actually succeeded. That didn't stop them from forcing SecuROM down our throats, and it won't stop them from trying to force us to use Origin.

[Essex 322]

Hmmm i didnt really read all of the thread (23 pages?) so sorry if someone mentioned this.

The online features/always on thing is NOT to prevent piracy.Publishers (as in useless people who take money from real people) want to offer a SERVICE NOT A PRODUCT!As in they want you to pay again and again and AGAIN so they can keep making money.DLC is just the beggining.I can still remember you had to pay money in order to paint your armor black in some console RPG (forgot the name now).

The entire industry is going in this direction-ubisoft with their always online and Anno 2070 online features(that i own but absolutely HATE) you pass trough blizzard and their auction house in diablo 3 move on to biowere and their mass effect 3 fiasco and end with dark souls and GFWL bs.Its inevitable and a new game market crash is expected where most of these useless people would lose their jobs.

I agree with you, but if they can also diminish privacy with it, they will also try that.

Anno 2070 wasn't nearly good enough for me to get sold on all it's DLC.

[spiritbw 111]

The entire industry is going in this direction-ubisoft with their always online and Anno 2070 online features(that i own but absolutely HATE) you pass trough blizzard and their auction house in diablo 3 move on to biowere and their mass effect 3 fiasco and end with dark souls and GFWL bs.Its inevitable and a new game market crash is expected where most of these useless people would lose their jobs.

On the good news side about that bolded part. Ubisoft has reversed thier decision on having games require an always online connection just recently.

http://www.rockpaper...m-for-pc-games/

http://ca.ign.com/ar...lways-on-pc-drm

Long story short; Ubisoft dropped the always online after prolonged customer critisism.

  Edited September 8, 2012 by spiritbw  

[Netuno 97]

On the good news side about that bolded part. Ubisoft has reversed thier decision on having games require an always online connection just recently.

http://www.rockpaper...m-for-pc-games/

http://ca.ign.com/ar...lways-on-pc-drm

Long story short; Ubisoft dropped the always online after prolonged customer critisism.

A victory for consumers.

With respect to EA, I have little hope.

[magomarc1 0]

Lets hope EA to do the same thing!

  Edited September 8, 2012 by magomarc1  

[lisail 7]

On the good news side about that bolded part. Ubisoft has reversed thier decision on having games require an always online connection just recently.

http://www.rockpaper...m-for-pc-games/

http://ca.ign.com/ar...lways-on-pc-drm

Long story short; Ubisoft dropped the always online after prolonged customer critisism.

A victory for consumers.

With respect to EA, I have little hope.

Sadly that is not the case.The always on DRM had only 1 function:to promote Ubisofts online platform.Heroes 6 is a prime example-the game is pointless to play without being connected to Ubisofts servers.

SimCity 5 sounds ok for now but i doubt it will stay that way.At some point EA will make it even more restricted and mod tools will be forgotten.After all why are you going to buy DLC when you can download a superior mod for free?Prime example:Civ 5.Sure there are some small mods for Civ 5 but nothing like c2c or rise of mankind.And they keep nickel and dime you for new nations (which i can download in the hundreds for Civ 4 for no cost!).

[Mootilda 76]

SimCity 5 sounds ok for now but i doubt it will stay that way.At some point EA will make it even more restricted and mod tools will be forgotten.After all why are you going to buy DLC when you can download a superior mod for free?

EA could allow people to sell their mods via Origin, with EA taking a portion of every sale. As long as EA can restrict mods so that they have to be downloaded from EA, this would allow community modding while ensuring that EA makes money from allowing modding.

[lisail 7]

SimCity 5 sounds ok for now but i doubt it will stay that way.At some point EA will make it even more restricted and mod tools will be forgotten.After all why are you going to buy DLC when you can download a superior mod for free?

EA could allow people to sell their mods via Origin, with EA taking a portion of every sale. As long as EA can restrict mods so that they have to be downloaded from EA, this would allow community modding while ensuring that EA makes money from allowing modding.

Yes but they will have to compete with the modders.If a modder makes a mod for 5$ with alot of content who will buy the EA DLC?Watching the Sims 3 add-ons/dlc situation im not really optimistic.

  Edited September 8, 2012 by lisail  

[CaptCity 4,907]

The topic is Origin... Let's keep it at that...

[whitesox130 50]

I feel that EA wants us to be dependent on their servers, so that when they shut them down, we'll have to buy their next game (SimCity 6 or whatever) if we want to play SimCity at all, because SimCity 2013 will be useless once their server for it is shut down.

[NCGAIO 562]

We can judge by falling logs in the smaller brother of the Simcity on FaceBook and large discounts more advantages given to pre-sale on Origin that something is not going well.

Maybe the path to Origin is the same Ubisoft's and excuse has to be the same ....

Interview: Ubisoft On DRM, Piracy And PC Games

  Edited September 9, 2012 by NCGAIO  
No advertising other websites.

[bwfcnut 5]

Created an account just to share my thoughts. I absolutely adore the Sim City series, I grew up playing them. They have always been pretty solid games that scratch a rather niche itch with (well made) city management.

Origin I'm ok with, it's not that bad and the spyware rumours about it are completely unfounded (I will provide proof if people are uncertain). It's just a shame that EA force it down our throat with every new release now, but it's something that I'll take given that it's no worse than steam (not talking about customer reputation or the company who run it here). A permanent online connection I'm OK with too provided there's offline play as well. I don't mean the faux-offline connection dropping ability, I mean a proper ability to run without internet connection. Making a game online only, a la Diablo 3, is a cheap and nasty form of DRM. Blizzard can just about, by the skin of their teeth, get away with it as that was designed as a co-op game, but Sim City certainly can't. I know that most of us are on decent internet deals with virtually unlimited downloads but what about people who don't have this? Or those of us who want to play it whilst travelling, hell even commuting like our Sims/agents? It's just not fair to dictate when we can and can't play the game that we paid for, especially a game that is fundamentally single player experience. Multiplayer should be an option not a requirement; I would love to create regions with friends and have cities/economies that affect each other but I don't want to be forced into it every time I want to play and I imagine that most of us here agree. Dark Souls is the epitome of doing this right, excluding GFWL. It's predominantly online but works absolutely fine in offline mode, without an internet connection.

That said, Sim City 2013 really does interest me as a game; it looks polished even in the (pre) alpha footage, it looks like they've really considered how to make the economy run and it seems to have recaptured the spirit that Societies lost. For that reason, I'll probably pre order it (and use the £40 for a free game or two) and give it a try on release. If it runs offline I'll keep it and if not I'll demand a refund, something they are legally obliged to do here in the UK. I just hope Maxis see sense and listen to the community.

EDIT: Is there a petition that doesn't read like it was written by a 13 year old and Maxis might take seriously? That one above hurt my eyes to read.

  Edited September 11, 2012 by bwfcnut