Maxis/E.A. has been too quiet

[Snorp09 5]

Is it only me or has maxis/E.A. has to quite the last post on the simcity website was more then a month ago. What do you think they are up too?

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

*too quiet

 

As we get farther away from SC13's release, they have less and less news/updates.  They'll start focusing on new games.

[CapTon 592]

I agree with Indiana Joe but I have heard that a couple more updates are coming.

[Yayie 311]

plot twist, they're on vacation...

[elemental1100 50]

Based on how they market the Sims I thought they would release heaps of DLC for this game. I guess that marketing model didn't work for this game, and that might be why the updates are so slow now too.

[SAGGG 47]

CapTon, hopefully one of those upcoming updates you've heard about will be bigger city tiles...

[asasa45454 4]

Didnt they confirm at some point this year that they would not be adding larger maps to the game?

[Snorp09 5]

Didnt they confirm at some point this year that they would not be adding larger maps to the game?

 

Yes they did but a mayor can still hope

[SockoJr53 51]

I want to be optimistic and think that all this quietness means theres a new expansion, or a really big patch in the works. (Farming and Timber Specializations are number 1 on my wishlist)

 

However as I mentioned in another thread, part of me thinks the silence is as a result of all the big-wig turnover at Maxis. Ocean Quigly left, Stone Librande left, I don't know where Lucy Bradshaw even is anymore. It's also possible that some have moved on to The Sims 4 already.

[Xenocity 343]

I hate to be the bearer of truth, but most games quit receiving updates/patches around the 2 year mark as sales start to level.

[Danny50205 71]

They are properly getting ready to unveil something big (as chris hecker said at one of the GCDs. game developers should not get the players hype to high and a perfect example is spore.)

So i bet soon there will be a lot

[Rufus Honker IV 100]

 

Didnt they confirm at some point this year that they would not be adding larger maps to the game?

 

Yes they did but a mayor can still hope

 

Yep, just like "There will never be an offline mode".

[r00n83 12]

I want one way roads and turning lanes.

[CapTon 592]

I want one way roads and turning lanes.

 

This is the mod for you:

[ImaginIllyar 4]

I feel like I must be the only one who doesn't mind the small city maps.  I tend to make every city some sort of specialization and haven't found a large RCI population necessary at all.  I always set up a utilities city and the Great Arcology to provide extra workers when I start a new region.  A smaller population makes it easier to keep people happy with services, more room for specialization buildings, less traffic issues and more room for tourists and the fun stuff.  There is much more profit to be made with specializations than RCI anyway.  Overall, everything just seems to work more smoothly and is less buggy and more stable with less people.  More people does not necessarily mean more money, in fact, in my experience it can mean less.  I can get 40,000 or so tourists in a city with less than 10,000 residents and all works well, I don't need bigger city maps.

[CapTon 592]

You're absolutely right, ImaginIllyar bigger maps are not needed. You can have loads of fun without them.

[r00n83 12]

 

I want one way roads and turning lanes.

 

This is the mod for you:

 

Thanks for the link. Will give it a try.

[Screwballl 196]

Since the botched release of SC4, us long time SC faithful have given EA the keys needed to build a city sim game that EVERYONE would like and would make them massive amounts of money... Instead they went the opposite direction with almost every piece of advice for "future" SimCity games.

 

We suggested gameplay and customizability over pretty graphics - ignored and they did the opposite

We suggested the ability to set any density next to any road we wanted - ignored and they restricted us further

We suggested at least 6 different transportation types - they gave us 2 initially, then added a few more later.

We suggested custom regions that we could import or build ourselves - ignored.

We suggested multiple city tile sizes that ranged from small to very large, and giving us the option to choose (even if only on custom regions). - ignored AND insulted us with tiny city sizes and spread out regions.

We suggested an offline game, but with an option for online play - ignored, and only added offline as an afterthought

We suggested a map/region creator - ignored

 

The list goes on and on. These forums alone had hundreds of suggestions and ideas that a massive company like EA could have put together, and been the biggest game they ever released, making them untold millions. Instead they did what THEY wanted ignoring almost every suggestion and they released another dud, where maybe at best they will break even on, maybe a SMALL profit.

 

What EA fails to understand with simulation games (but Maxis DID understand before they were bought and gutted by EA), we the people want the ability of customizing as much as possible, not be forced to go down the extremely narrow path of what the game makers force. The only reason SC4 was so successful was the 3rd party mods and custom content that started within 2-3 months of initial release. I remember custom modders having highways available before they released Rush Hour. SC3000 expanded on SC2 and gave us more options. SC2 gave us more options from the original SC. It wasn't until EA got their greedy claws into Maxis (shortly before SC3000 was finalized and released) that they took an excellent series and turned it into some franchise cash cow based on what the EA wallet wanted, not the people.

So essentially EA looked at what made SC4 so successful, and did the opposite. They looked at what Monte Cristo did with CXL, and said "we can do what they did but be successful", while completely failing to understand WHY it failed, and then made the exact same mistakes.

 

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Albert Einstein

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins133991.html#qBPUqEVihvBiIQB3.99

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein

 

If EA is going to release any more in this series or similar, build on the suggestions of the established fan base and expand from there, not ignore them and go the opposite direction.

[ImaginIllyar 4]

I suspect that many of the decisions for SimCity 2013 were made in hopes of increasing the fan base and attracting those that have not played previous versions. I'm new to SimCity and have only been playing a little over 2 months.  If SimCity 2013 looked like SimCity 4 (crappy graphics) I wouldn't be playing it at all.  

[Xenocity 343]

I suspect that many of the decisions for SimCity 2013 were made in hopes of increasing the fan base and attracting those that have not played previous versions. I'm new to SimCity and have only been playing a little over 2 months.  If SimCity 2013 looked like SimCity 4 (crappy graphics) I wouldn't be playing it at all.  

 

I wouldn't call Simcity 4's graphics crappy.

The game was decent looking for it's day (2003)

 

Maxis/EA did do their market research to determine why Simcity 4 failed to sell.

There is reason why Simcity 2013 has sold 3M+ being the second best selling mainline game.

[Nico Robin 70]

SimCity 4 = Old Pixel , graphique dead

SimCity 2013 = Nice Graphique in 3D , have maybe slam map , but i love the gameplay

[ImaginIllyar 4]

SimCity 4 = Old Pixel , graphique dead

SimCity 2013 = Nice Graphique in 3D , have maybe slam map , but i love the gameplay

 

I agree!

[Rufus Honker IV 100]

Games should consider a pretty graphics addon pack rather than making it pretty at the git-go.  I play games at low-medium graphics.  I don't usually have a "gaming" computer. 

 

Yep, so much wasted potential in Simcity 2013.  I do still play it though, I just want more versatility.

[Snorp09 5]

I feel like I must be the only one who doesn't mind the small city maps.  I tend to make every city some sort of specialization and haven't found a large RCI population necessary at all.  I always set up a utilities city and the Great Arcology to provide extra workers when I start a new region.  A smaller population makes it easier to keep people happy with services, more room for specialization buildings, less traffic issues and more room for tourists and the fun stuff.  There is much more profit to be made with specializations than RCI anyway.  Overall, everything just seems to work more smoothly and is less buggy and more stable with less people.  More people does not necessarily mean more money, in fact, in my experience it can mean less.  I can get 40,000 or so tourists in a city with less than 10,000 residents and all works well, I don't need bigger city maps.

 

I think its a great game and I can stand the small cities but I wish the cities where bigger

[SAGGG 47]

That depends upon your preference concerning smaller maps, CapTon, Imaginillar. I just prefer the option of having bigger maps. In fact, both would look more natural side by side, like in real life, and that said maps could look misshaped like cities in real life (not squared off). I truly believe if city map sizes could be bigger, the game could somehow obtain some sort of recovery of its reputation...  

[Rufus Honker IV 100]

Honestly, instead of larger maps I'd be agreeable to faster loading times between cities in a region.  It's like the game has to relaod the whole game engine to look at another player's city, or switch to another city in the region.

[Visione 0]

guys. why did you think they release offline mode and allowing modding of the game now? so the community can pick up the game and make it how they want. EA/maxis basicly gave up on SC5 and maybe you get some small updates in the future, but don't expect much from it, this is the point (offline and modding released) where maxis will be put on another project.

sad but if you ask me i think that's the hard truth

[SAGGG 47]

Since that's your point, Visione, then why doesn't Maxis/EA simply allow the modders to make city maps bigger for offline use, and be done with it?

[originalpeachy 5]

Since that's your point, Visione, then why doesn't Maxis/EA simply allow the modders to make city maps bigger for offline use, and be done with it?

 

I here that due to the complexity of the game with stuff going on all over the map that larger city maps are just impossible unless we all have top of the line PCs

[Danny50205 71]

 

Since that's your point, Visione, then why doesn't Maxis/EA simply allow the modders to make city maps bigger for offline use, and be done with it?

 

I here that due to the complexity of the game with stuff going on all over the map that larger city maps are just impossible unless we all have top of the line PCs

 

that is true even beast gaming computers will lag massively with bigger maps it is due to the game having agents for everything 

 

bigger maps are not possible due to the game having the map size 2048x2048 yes that is the size of your box you play in. that box is scattered during region creation and is not editable unless you have glassbox it's self.