Looks at Forum

Fatherted · March 6, 2013

Complaining (rather than constructive criticism) seems to be a prerequisite these days. It's happened in every game that I've ever known.

Halo Reach: Waah, armour lock is OP, waah, no skill rank, waah, campaign sucks.

Halo 4: Waah, ordnance is OP, waah, no CSR, waah etc.

Simcity (5): Waah, cities are too small, waah, cloud save only etc.

Why not...give your solutions to these problems!

Armour lock: Damage reduces AA time! (Got fixed thanks to constructive criticism.)

Cloud Saves: Why not give us the ability to make backups on our own systems! (Could easily be fixed in TU.)

Then again, this is EA we're dealing with here.

So is this game worth buying?

AkemiAzula · March 6, 2013

I could offer plenty of constructive suggestions. Increase tile size, give us back terraforming and offline saves etc etc. But what will EA and their greedy capitalist mates do? Ignore us. Cos Simtrop is a minority of their total sales figures. Most ppl who will buy this game are casual gamers who will get bored of it quicker than we would be believers.

Fatherted · March 6, 2013

Well, I'm not really a supporter of Karl Marx, but I agree.

Activision, EA, Treyarch: They all make money of the billion noobs who buy it and play it for a week to month.

The only two companies I know who listen to their community is Bungie and 343i, both Halo producers.

Motina · March 6, 2013

Well, I'm not really a supporter of Karl Marx, but I agree.

Umm, false dichotomy much. I'm pretty sure the world before capitalism was not Marxism.

Sunfighter · March 6, 2013

Well, id like to tell you whether its worth buying or not, but I cant open my city because "data is not available at this time"

zogleheros · March 6, 2013

I'm not sure the online requirement and saves is greedy capitalism. Releasing a game with bugs and broken features certainly is, but ensuring a way to avoid their game getting cracked after 1 day or 2 seems reasonable to me.

reReticulated Spline · March 6, 2013

Complaining (rather than constructive criticism) seems to be a prerequisite these days. It's happened in every game that I've ever known.

Halo Reach: Waah, armour lock is OP, waah, no skill rank, waah, campaign sucks.

Halo 4: Waah, ordnance is OP, waah, no CSR, waah etc.

Simcity (5): Waah, cities are too small, waah, cloud save only etc.

Why not...give your solutions to these problems!

Armour lock: Damage reduces AA time! (Got fixed thanks to constructive criticism.)

Cloud Saves: Why not give us the ability to make backups on our own systems! (Could easily be fixed in TU.)

Then again, this is EA we're dealing with here.

So is this game worth buying?

It's the Zeitgeist my friend. 10 years ago we had obnoxious fanboys, now we have complainers. They are pretty much the same.

This is the deepest city simulator we've ever seen but also the smallest in terms of city footprint. If you prefer deep city dynamics, lot's of interaction between different city elements and watching a gameworld reactionally transform to your input in a realistic way, this is your game. If you prefer recreating existing or fantasy cities without limitations, having a game transform your thoughts into an acurate image in the game world, you might want to try other games first. The most important question is: "does the small city size bother me?" If NO, buy this game!

Motina · March 6, 2013

I'm not sure the online requirement and saves is greedy capitalism. Releasing a game with bugs and broken features certainly is, but ensuring a way to avoid their game getting cracked after 1 day or 2 seems reasonable to me.

All it ensures is increased pirating once it is cracked. It is not reasonable because DRM fails. It also ensures many people will not be able to play it on the first day, or second day, and so on. Lol.. Error 37. Even non Diablo fans have heard of that one.

crashx · March 6, 2013

To this whole thing that EA doesn't listen to complaints, that's just false.

With The Sims 3 that's pretty much all EA has done. They've even had polls asking what content fans would like to see and then delivered.

Seeing as how this is Maxis, the same developers from The Sims I don't see how this will change. Not only Maxis but Bioware did listen to the complaints of ME3, so yeah they do listen.

MrDrem · March 6, 2013

Anyone that thinks that someone is going to setup their own server to crack this game is hugely mistaken, and without that, I can't see it being cracked.

Yes, that's part of the appeal of always online for EA.

maddogmark25 · March 6, 2013

Gee, taking away the city sizes we've seen in previous games and giving us a smaller size when our computers are perfectly capable of rendering larger tiles is complaining?

If something is bad about a game, you shouldnt be able to complain about it? Whats wrong with that statement...

mk11232 · March 6, 2013

Anyone that thinks that someone is going to setup their own server to crack this game is hugely mistaken, and without that, I can't see it being cracked.
Yes, that's part of the appeal of always online for EA.

If someone wanted to crack it they could easily. It only took a month to crack the diablo servers and setup private servers. It only took 30 days to capture all the data required to simulate their own and I highly doubt Maxis has the same level of security or knowledge that Blizzard poured into Diablo 3.

thatsarap · March 6, 2013

The reality is this: We all paid between $60-80 for a product that doesn't deliver. This community at Simtropolis has had, dissected, improved and lauded Simcity version after version for years. Simcity 4 has flaws, but the community here has improved it. You'd think the Maxis folks would actually take a look when they decided to relaunch this series.

But it seems painfully apparent to me that this game was exploitative. They created it to make a crapload of money, which they undoubtedly will. The execs at EA and Maxis will make out very well, enjoy their bonuses and maybe look at trying to improve this game in future premium-priced versions. But make no mistake, this version is a step backwards, not forwards.

The game engine is a nicety, the mining and trading are niceties. They would be improvements if they took the core elements that made Simcity 4 the ultimate city simulator and built on it. They didn't. Too many similar graphics. Beloved controls taken away or restricted, like highways and ports, farming and military, amusement parks & zoos, etc. Heck, I can't find a llama anymore outside of the text they use when loading the game.

They put out a basic product. Knowing EA, they will probably reserve some of the best "enhancements" (if possible) for future expansion kits to keep milking us of more money.

It's really quite sad, as they had a chance to really make a ground-breaking simulator that would blow us all away.

Edited March 7, 2013 by CaptCity
Language... See the rules.

Spatzimaus · March 6, 2013

The reality is this: We all paid between $60-80 for a product that doesn't deliver.

The game "delivers" just fine for me. I had a lot of fun last night setting up three different cities, and it's got more than enough complexity that I'll still be playing for a long time, especially if this game gets the sort of mod/expansion/DLC support the last one did. Unlike you, I won't speak for the entire playerbase and claim that everyone is enjoying it, but don't even think this game won't be a success; it's got all of the elements that casual gamers (i.e., a category those of us on this board are NOT IN) will love, and the agent system makes it feel much more complex than SC4.

Do I wish tiles were a bit larger? Yes, but not by as much as people keep asking for. The current sizes encourage specialization, which makes the game MORE enjoyable in the long term, especially since you're constantly having to go back and tweak the areas you've already built (as opposed to SC4, where once you'd completed a neighborhood you just scrolled over to a new area and started the process over again).

Edited March 7, 2013 by CaptCity

zogleheros · March 7, 2013

Anyone that thinks that someone is going to setup their own server to crack this game is hugely mistaken, and without that, I can't see it being cracked.
Yes, that's part of the appeal of always online for EA.

If someone wanted to crack it they could easily. It only took a month to crack the diablo servers and setup private servers. It only took 30 days to capture all the data required to simulate their own and I highly doubt Maxis has the same level of security or knowledge that Blizzard poured into Diablo 3.

"It only took a month". Well that's still 27 more days than your average non-server based game. And the pain of using a private server ...

What's really annoying is that every company suffers the same server issues at launch, and they don't seem to learn the lesson from others. That's a very bad move for the image of the company, but nothing more, it's actually becoming the norm for computer games. And that was to be expected. How can you test anything with such short beta ?

CaptCity · March 7, 2013

Let's cease this whole discussion on "whining". It is not the same as "criticizing". People who come here expect to have their comments taken seriously and not be called names or have their comments made fun of. Likewise, any who do like the game or support Maxis's efforts aren't necessarily beholding to anyone. Their comments are just as serious. Yes, the forum is loading up with similar type comments. That is only expected as more play the game and is nothing new. Either respond in a polite manner or move on. There's plenty more to read.

QuadBaconatorWithHamAndEgg · March 7, 2013

Why not...give your solutions to these problems!

Because people did long before this pathetic joke of a game was released. We told them not to do online-only. It's their own fault that their game failed. Not ours.

Edited March 7, 2013 by CaptCity
No caps...

niac123 · March 7, 2013

Well, I'm not really a supporter of Karl Marx, but I agree.

Umm, false dichotomy much. I'm pretty sure the world before capitalism was not Marxism.

That doesn't mean they're not opposite.

el.lopan · March 7, 2013

Customers are like a mirror, ...

Edited March 7, 2013 by CaptCity
Language... See the rules.

Superbacon · March 7, 2013

We can make suggestions all we want even though the solutions are all plain as day. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that the game needs bigger city tiles or a complete re-work all together. EA's actions and neglect of its audience speaks for its self.

And no, it's not worth buying.

Shadely · March 7, 2013

To this whole thing that EA doesn't listen to complaints, that's just false.

With The Sims 3 that's pretty much all EA has done. They've even had polls asking what content fans would like to see and then delivered.

Seeing as how this is Maxis, the same developers from The Sims I don't see how this will change. Not only Maxis but Bioware did listen to the complaints of ME3, so yeah they do listen.

The fact that EA does NOT listen to its Sims 3 fan community is nicely proven in the poll provided on the official forums that asked what expansion theme fans were most interested in, which included Social Networking. Well, social networking came in dead last but guess what expansion was released next?? SHOWTIME! The Social Networking expansion of The Sims 3. If that doesn't make a shining example of how terribly EA listens to its fan community, I don't know what could. And, btw, Showtime sales were absolutely dismal. You can buy it more cheaply than expansion packs released before it. In this instance, I'm so proud of the fact that The Sims 3 fan community voted with their wallet, I just wish it would happen more often because the only way EA will start listening is if their shareholders start to get upset.

AIX · March 7, 2013

I could offer plenty of constructive suggestions. Increase tile size, give us back terraforming and offline saves etc etc. But what will EA and their greedy capitalist mates do? Ignore us. Cos Simtrop is a minority of their total sales figures. Most ppl who will buy this game are casual gamers who will get bored of it quicker than we would be believers.

Way to inject politics into a subject that doesn't warrant it.

Want to know what is great about capitalism? You have the free choice to not buy this game. You have the choice to not buy any future titles from EA or their "greedy capitalist mates" ever again. In fact, EA has said that it will offer refunds to those who want to back out of their purchase of this game. I suggest you take them up on that offer if you regret purchasing this game enough (assuming you did).

This game shows great potential, so I am making my capitalistic buying decision to wait 1-3 months before purchasing.

In addition, in our capitalistic society, you have the option to develop your own game that better suits your desires. In fact, several groups are attempting to do so.

/end rant.

Micah · March 7, 2013

To this whole thing that EA doesn't listen to complaints, that's just false.

With The Sims 3 that's pretty much all EA has done. They've even had polls asking what content fans would like to see and then delivered.

Seeing as how this is Maxis, the same developers from The Sims I don't see how this will change. Not only Maxis but Bioware did listen to the complaints of ME3, so yeah they do listen.

This.

EA wants something that people are going to enjoy. Whether people here believe it or not, you can be sure Maxis and EA are listening to users' reactions. EA knows that if people aren't liking this game now, they're going to be loosing more and more people to other city simulators in the future.

YukiEiriKun · March 7, 2013

Anyone that thinks that someone is going to setup their own server to crack this game is hugely mistaken, and without that, I can't see it being cracked.
Yes, that's part of the appeal of always online for EA.

If someone wanted to crack it they could easily. It only took a month to crack the diablo servers and setup private servers. It only took 30 days to capture all the data required to simulate their own and I highly doubt Maxis has the same level of security or knowledge that Blizzard poured into Diablo 3.

Diablo3 is much more server reliant than SimCity, so I doubt that it'll take a month tho crack this one.

I'm not going to play it after that either.

But hey, if this would be server reliant game, how come you can still play without any issues for almos half an hour after your internet connection dies?

AkemiAzula · March 7, 2013

I could offer plenty of constructive suggestions. Increase tile size, give us back terraforming and offline saves etc etc. But what will EA and their greedy capitalist mates do? Ignore us. Cos Simtrop is a minority of their total sales figures. Most ppl who will buy this game are casual gamers who will get bored of it quicker than we would be believers.

Way to inject politics into a subject that doesn't warrant it.

Want to know what is great about capitalism? You have the free choice to not buy this game. You have the choice to not buy any future titles from EA or their "greedy capitalist mates" ever again. In fact, EA has said that it will offer refunds to those who want to back out of their purchase of this game. I suggest you take them up on that offer if you regret purchasing this game enough (assuming you did).

This game shows great potential, so I am making my capitalistic buying decision to wait 1-3 months before purchasing.

In addition, in our capitalistic society, you have the option to develop your own game that better suits your desires. In fact, several groups are attempting to do so.

/end rant.

Yes I am on the BoomTown team, and worked on my own simulator VirtuCity with Game Maker until I discovered BT. My point was that in a capitalist society a corporation will inevitably act in the most financially successful way unless limits are imposed upon it and we can not expect said corporation to act out of good faith or good intention unless we hold them to this. I was not decrying freedom of choice but a lack of flexibility in corporate affairs. Naturally your misunderstanding is perfectly understandable, however I certainly was not attacking 'freedom of the consumer', rather the predictable nature of companies who are not controlled from the ground upward.

My 'political' reference was not really political. By 'capitalism' I do not mean the opposite of 'Marxism', nor am I suggesting communism be the answer to the problem. If anything a dictatorship under myself would be the only true solution according to what data I have lol. At any rate what I am suggesting is that if we wish companies to behave in our favour we must enforce this upon them, and that merely not buying something doesn't control them, it merely makes them abandon the product, especially if it is a fringe product and not one of their core sales.

My advice to the community is to battle EA until they are defeated, and at that point make our demands and enforce them.

crashx · March 7, 2013

To this whole thing that EA doesn't listen to complaints, that's just false.

With The Sims 3 that's pretty much all EA has done. They've even had polls asking what content fans would like to see and then delivered.

Seeing as how this is Maxis, the same developers from The Sims I don't see how this will change. Not only Maxis but Bioware did listen to the complaints of ME3, so yeah they do listen.

The fact that EA does NOT listen to its Sims 3 fan community is nicely proven in the poll provided on the official forums that asked what expansion theme fans were most interested in, which included Social Networking. Well, social networking came in dead last but guess what expansion was released next?? SHOWTIME! The Social Networking expansion of The Sims 3. If that doesn't make a shining example of how terribly EA listens to its fan community, I don't know what could. And, btw, Showtime sales were absolutely dismal. You can buy it more cheaply than expansion packs released before it. In this instance, I'm so proud of the fact that The Sims 3 fan community voted with their wallet, I just wish it would happen more often because the only way EA will start listening is if their shareholders start to get upset.

What about every other EP? University and Seasons were asked for and EA gave fans that. Also all the stuff packs are pretty much what fans ask for, not all of them but they do have polls about them. They sometimes go in another direction but the SP that won the poll is sure to pop up in a few months.

Just because there are a few examples of them doing something else doesn't mean they don't absolutely listen. It just means they aren't at the completel mercy of fans and if they want to do something else like showtime then what is so wrong with that? Should they be slaves to the consumers wish? Games are part artform in my mind and if the devs and EA wanted to create showtime then meh, let them.

Also they have done a lot of little things. They could have hammered down on the community for making mods (which makes their store obsolete) but they don't. In fact they go the other way with it. No they didn't give modders the tools but the game is moddable and they didn't block the path of it. When modders started messing around with their screwy story progression for the games what did they do? They put in a option to turn off their story progression so that you could run your mod more smoothly.

Also there is still the case of Mass Effect, where EA/Bioware did something that has never been done before and adjust a ending of a game. So I just think they get a bad rap for 'not listening'. On the sports side a game called NBA Live or whatever they were calling it was cancelled years back because people thought the demo sucked.

Also SWTOR went F2P because according to EA, people said that they didn't want to pay the $15 a month fee but they would play the game if it were free...so they go free. Now granted out of all MMOs that MMO plans to nickle and dime customers broke, but they reacted to their consumers.

People laughed, made fun of the demo in youtube videos, etc etc...a week before release EA cancels the game. This is a sports game, so they could have easily released this game and hoped that NBA fans would buy it just because it says 'NBA' but they deciced to cancel it and told the fans that they would release it when it me their standards.

All these companies listen to their consumers, especially big ones that are as successful as EA is. But there is a line to it, they can't just blindly do what anyone tells them to. It's as one american football coach once said "If you listen to the fans, you'll be sitting up there with them."

They hear what is going on, any big company that hopes to succeed does. It's just that they realize they can't satisfy everyone, and if running a big company or making a great game was as easy as doing what everyone tells you to do then anyone can do it. Sometimes you have to do what you plan and stick with it.

Motina · March 7, 2013

Umm, false dichotomy much. I'm pretty sure the world before capitalism was not Marxism.

That doesn't mean they're not opposite.

Okay, perhaps using the alternative name for this logical fallacy may help, since it eluded you. A false dilemma.

An informal fallacy in which two options are given when in fact one or more options exist. This can be done intentionally or unintentionally. In this case, considering the nature of language, I will assume it was unintentional. The more common name, from my experience, false dichotomy is used because the fallacy gives the impression of mutual exclusivity.

Follarch · March 7, 2013

Guys (and possibly gals), there's a big fat solution to all the complaining. Don't play it.

Don't buy it. Don't even think about it. It's really quite easy. Just don't touch it, don't give in to it. But if you really must try it, wait for it to depreciate. Think of it this way. SimCity is selling for $59.99 BASE PRICE. CitiesXL2011 sold for $40, twenty bucks cheaper, and I cannot see a major difference between the two games. It is an obvious fact that EA is milking the fanbase for all it's worth and knowing EA, there will be paid DLC in the coming months to milk even more money. "Coming this Summer! Explore the Future by building your very own Robot Factory or some stuff, just $15!" Or god forbid it's a Map Pack.

Shadely · March 7, 2013