commanderkai

I agree with everybody else here. Real world ads are okay, as long as they blend in with the game. It would be interesting if new content, like, let's say, a McDonalds restaurant develops within your city naturally, but in realistic amounts. I don't want my entire commercial district being Gold Arches. More importantly, if let's say...Chevy wants to become a sponsor later on after the game is released, Maxis can develop a realistic looking dealership, and a few models for actual Chevy vehicles to be seen around your city. Maybe even get offers for a Chevy assembly plant or something. As long as it's realistic, I'm more than fine with it.

Originally posted by: Ryan121214 Well, I think that Mac deserves to have Cities XL, because PC seems to get everything, and we Mac users deserve the freedom of having these kinds of technology. The second thing I've noticed is this quote said by a Simtropolis Moderator "Hamish": "I'm sure that if all Mac users on this site took some time to think about it, they would rather want a Windows version of the game with a slight chance of a Mac Port, rather than no game whatsoever..." I find this confusing, because if you think about it, around 70-90% of Mac users only have Macs. Not to be offensive, but I find this comment a bit awkward. We wouldn't want to go out and buy a Windows for the sake of a game like Cities XL, right? Think about it. quote> Mac doesn't deserve anything, and nor do Mac users. Macs have a very small market share, and Mac users should understand by now that Windows is the gaming operating system for computers. You, as a consumer, made a choice to purchase an Apple product, when you should have known Apple computers rarely have games ported to said operating system. You have the freedom to choose an Apple computer over a Windows based computer. HOWEVER, you must also deal with the opportunity costs of owning an Mac OS over Windows. One being that games are rarely ported to Macs. You deserve to live with the consequences and the rewards of owning a Mac. That is all.

Originally posted by: mr cars People are saying that MC are outta money. If they were then they wouldn't have released a christmas pack to ALL players and we would be seeing stuff about MC losing money on the news.quote> Maybe, but the issue is, we're not really that sure. MC, unlike EA, Ubisoft, and other large scale companies, are not that large to receive major attention from mainstream media sources, or gaming sites. It's hard to tell if MC is being profitable or not due to the secretive nature of the company, as well as the small stature of the company as well... Plus, content patches aren't exactly a tell tale sign, because it's not really known when the content was created.

I think we're not on the same page here, Commanderkai. You keep using the words 'blame' and 'verdict' and 'judgement' as if I was the Supreme Court of Gaminig Industry, and my post was the Great Verdict Upon The Development and Misdevelopment Of The Next City-Building GAME. And that you're challenging this verdict... I didn't mean anything terminal of the sort. I was just stating my thoughts of what happened, and what's happening on the pages of this forum. I've seen so much flaming and so strong words, and that's only on the posts that weren't removed from moderators. I was just guessing why are you people dissapointed. I wasn't delivering a judgement, because no one here has the right to do that. Everybody can feel however he chooses to, I'm just explaining those feelings. The words 'verdict' that you see after each point are maybe, not correctly used. I put them because I was discussing how the expectations created were differing from reality, and what did I think about that. quote> You are trying to express feelings of people who you disagree with, and who you seemingly don't understand. You are passing judgment and creating "verdicts" on what happened and why this game is causing so much frustration among the Simcity 4 fanbase and normal gamers as well. Enough with the word games. If you think I'm giving you too much authority, then relax, because I don't see you as such. I was challenging your "verdicts" and your assumptions, as well as providing a counterweight to your pro-MC views. Simple as that, if you can't accept the fact I'm challenging your opinion on the basis of being one of those individuals who you are making assumptions and casting judgment on, then don't respond to this post. What issues did they create? The fact that they created a game that didn't line up with your expectations. ?They have the full right to do that, since (again) it's their money and their development resources. If you didn't like what came out, don't spend your money on it, and you're clean. quote> They mislead and poorly communicated with the gaming community, creating confusion and frustration, and later resentment. Even now, the PO payment system is facing those same issues due to the lack of communication. Yes, I realize they have every right to make their own game. I was not under the expectations of Simcity 5. Don't put words in my mouth. I can understanding Simcity 4 fans being disappointed in not having Simcity 5, but that's their issue. I'm disappointed in the poor communication, their poor single player development, and the broken promises (specifically on how Mass transit would be released for Single Player, only to now be a PO situation). Not everybody fits your mould of anti-Cities XL individuals. I spent my money on it, and I was disappointed. I have every right to voice my disappointment over a poorly developed game, much like you domaking pro-Cities XL and pro-MC posts. Hope is for sale in our world. If you start blaming somebody that he tricked you into buying something, than you should start blaming the whole industry and commerce and go live in the mountains. You can't blame MC that they're trying to sell their product. quote> If I buy a product, and get a substandard product, then yes, I'll complain. That's my right as a consumer and as an individual. I believe I received a substandard game from both their "hope" as well as other comparisons on the market, both from Maxis, their former Citylife franchase, and other games that fit within city simulations ?Did you look at the dates of those two reviews you mention? October? When was the bus pack released? How could the reviewers have known for sure wether or not busses will be PO-only? quote> Maybe if MC had better communication...*drumroll* and here comes back full circle. Not only did I disprove your 100% theory, you totally ignore that proper communication would have solved any and all issues. We don't. However, the price drop is something normal, any game sells on the original price only couple of months, unless it's a huge blockbuster (what CXL clearly isn't).quote> I've never seen a game drop it's price by 50% within a few months of release. Never. But maybe that's because I don't live at Gamestop. If I see a game that permanently drops its price by 20-25 dollars in its first few months of release. I see that as a bad sign for the game's fiture. ?But, what are you trying to convey here, commanderkai? A sadistic pleasure that the game is failing? I don't understand your very reason to argue your point, unless you're feeling guilty somehow. Obviously, what you're trying to get me to tell is something like : 'You're right, MC is the Devil and they're destroying the city-building genre"? Are you trying to establish the SC4 community as the one and only organism capable of properly developing a city-building game? And because MC didn't follow their wise lead they're gonna fail? quote> I'm trying to convey that tossing money at a gaming company in the hope their game will become better over time is pretty...well...idealist. Do I think MC is the Devil? No, but they're not innocent, and I questioned your argument that it is the SC4 fanbase that lead to all of the conflict with Cities XL. That's all. Don't put words into my mouth again. Look, I'm not denying the fact that the very people that play city simulators would know what they'd like to see in a next-gen simulator. But again, such a simulator hasn't appear for 7 years. Why? And now, when there's finally some hope, albeit a faint one, you're quick to dismiss it, even though the game is still developing, still receiving upgrades, and by general opinion getting better by the week? If that's how you choose to feel, be my guest, of course, but then you won't have the right to complain that there's no SC5 and you're still stuck with a 7-year old game. quote> I'm NOT complaining for SC5. SOME are, but I'm not. So once again, stop putting words in my mouth. Also, you said yourself, "Hope is for sale in our world" and guess what? I already bought Cities XL Hope, 1.0, but I have absolutely no desire to pay monthly for little glimmings of hope every few weeks. If you want to do that, go right ahead. Don't be upset that a good number of people aren't marching along with you. But I'm getting a little hotheaded. I'll stop here and urge you to reread my posts, having again in mind that I'm not blaming anyone for anything. And I'm not gonna argue semantics with you anymore.quote> Nice try taking the moral high ground. You went way past hot headed with some of your statements, and fine by me. Unlike some others on here, I don't see your essay as that good, because your conclusions forgot one major issue. MC's poor communication. Also, I'm not arguing semantics. You want to, because it distracts from my key contention with your post. MC created this pile of quicksand, not the fans. Even if it was not SC5, it could of still have had a very popular game on their hands. However, they fumbled, and now you defend SC5 over those fans who voted with their wallets against a poorly made game.

Originally posted by: soltangris Look, commandercai, I think the word 'blame' you're using is too strong. First of all, I'm not 'blaming' anyone. In order to blame, there has to be an incident or something really serious that happened. That's not the case, what we're having here is many people that are dissapointed with the reality that downed after Cities XL's release. All I was trying to do is explain the source of that disapointment. Keeping in mind that it's primarily the SC4's fanbase that is disapointed, I think I've covered the reasons pretty well, and others agreed with me. That's also the reason I'm talking mainly about them in my post, not that I'm putting 'blame' on anyone. quote> I disagree. In all three of your verdicts, you pin most of the issue upon the fans and very little upon the MC for the issues that were created. Much like how many city-building fans were grossly disappointed in the simplistic approach of Simcity Societies, many see the same issues with Cities XL. Sure, the fans expected a lot, but high expectations don't fully explain the massive disappointment both games unleashed upon the City Simulation/Management niche. You are "blaming" or casting judgment, if you want a nicer term, upon the fans of both Simcity 4 for the unfulfilled expectations of Cities XL. I disagree, partially. There's plenty of blame to go around, and a large portion of it goes to MC. About the lack of communication: I don't think anybody that knew well what city-building is all about just jumped right in and bought the game after he watched the promotional movies. If you read carefully most of the complaint posts you'll deduce that they come of long-time city-building fans.quote> Of course, I being one of them. But we're not JUST complaining about unfulfilled expectations, but also the half completed single player mode, the poor trading mechanism within Single Player (which was planned, if you did play the tutorial saying how much better prices are in PO, and, of course, the lack of mass transit. How likely is that anyone of them wouldn't have read at least couple of reviews/forum posts befory buying the game? How likely is that he wouldn't know what is and what's not in SP, given the fact that 90% of all posts and 100% of the reviews mention the facts about mass transit? quote> So you're telling me there was no miscommunication? I believe there was, and my frequenting on non-Simtropolis forums (usually larger game sites) kept stating that mass transit (buses) would be included for Single Player for free. Even now, it takes people on these forums to pull teeth to get a few hard answers from the developers of this game. And I can even give you a review from a major game site without any mention about buses being solely for PO. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/citiesxl/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review And from the largest gaming site that gave it its highest review, IGN http://pc.ign.com/articles/103/1035096p1.html So far, even if the 100% of reviews mentioning mass transit was exaggerated, two of the largest gaming sites on the web mention nothing about buses or mass transit. I explored forums/comments for both sites for the answers, but those answers came too late. Now, I'm not saying you (or anyone that claims he didn't know that) are to 'blame' that you haven't informed yourself better. What I'm saying is that whomever is likely to get furious because mass transit is PO-exclusive would have known it beforehand; and the ones that DID jump in the bowl without reading anything probably didn't care about that. At least I gather as much from the chat in PO - most people just enjoy the game as it is, nobody (or very few) complains that mass transit should be in SP. quote> You mean the people who pay for it (and also seemingly are guaranteed mass transit) aren't upset that the Single Player portion of the game is not getting mass transit? No kidding? Once again, there was miscommunication by MC. First mass transit would be included, then just buses, and then none at all. Just because you're happy with it, does not mean us "high expectation" fans should be. I enjoy the game, but I don't enjoy the lack of features, and once I satisfy my desire to justify a 40-50 dollar expense, it'll be uninstalled and it'll rot away on my Impulse account. One more point about communication: it was exactly the lack of care in MC's communication during the development fase that landed them in 'the jam' (if you can call it that). I think they must have stated clearer that they're not gonna heed 100% of the proposals, that they're working on a business model different from expected. I covered as much in the original post. Now you can see that they're being far more carefull with promises, they've finally learned. quote> Yes, they might have been careless originally, but from their loose lips to their zipped mouths, poor communication is a major factor in both the high expectations, and now with the confusion/frustration/anger over this game currently. Once again, that's MC's fault for letting expectations get so high, not the fans. And no, I don't give MC any leeway, they have developed a City builder before (remember Citylife?) and I actually did enjoy that game, far more than I probably will with this one. I believe most of my high hopes came from Citylife over Simcity, because this was a MC game, and not an EA game. Again, we don't know what made MC release the game without mass transit. It might have been any number of reasons. I said already that I consider mass transit an integral part of a city-builder, and that it should be included in SP also ( I think you missed that part in my post) .I also speculated as of WHY it wasn't, and if you read more carefully, you'll find out again that I'm not blaming anyone. I'm just reasoning.quote> I didn't miss any portion of your post. Don't try veiled jabs at my capabilities of reading and understanding your post. I saw you stating how they created high expectations during the development phase (it's called marketing, all gaming companies promise the Second Coming) , as well as not adding mass transit in the original game. I don't mind it not being in the package, if it wasn't finished...BUT not providing it to Single Player portion for free is a huge mistake and, once again, a part of their miscommunication and alienation of many gamers. They didn't add the mass transit icon in the UI if the original plan was to leave all mass transit out I also read your verdicts clearly as well, which puts the blame, or reasoning, or however you choose to justify it, on the hands of the "Old Guard" of city management games, Simcity 4 fans. So, the choice is ours - wether we'll support them (at least to a degree) and get eventually a great and complete city-builder, or we'll choose to turn away in disgust and ruin the last chances of a worthy successor of SC4. If you don't like this dilemna, just look back couple of years towards SC Societies. Also, ask yourself what is EA doing right now - do you think they're not following the situation? Do you think they'll risk SC5 if CXL turns out a failure? Everything is business, and nobody will risk money and time to develop a product that won't be a financial success. On the other hand, an increased and more versatile fanbase, as that witch CXL has the potential of creating, might stimulate EA to finally develop SC5, to 'challenge the challenger', so to speak.quote> How do you know we'll ever get a complete and great game from what we have now? There already has been a huge price drop from my original purchase at the release, and a very large, alienated group of city management and simulation gamers (who are, basically, the core SC4 fanbase). How do we know how stable MC's position really is? If you want to make a call for all city management niche lovers to unite behind Cities XL, in the hope we might get a complete game, then good luck. I already contributed $50 when I preordered. I've made my contribution, but I'm not jumping head first into Planet Offer. It's funny, really. I would have joined PO if the Single Player game didn't feel incomplete. If they complete Single Player, or at least provide possible addon/expansion packs to the Single Player game, they MIGHT get more money. Might. I've already made a large investment as it is, even if you don't see it as such. MC made its choices, maybe out of greed, or desperation, or maybe because it wanted to be innovative. I'm not sure. I don't work for MC. But, people, at least I, have come to terms this will not be Simcity 5, or Citylife 2. I believe PO, their business model, was a huge mistake, and their miscommunication during and AFTER development made that mistake much worse.

You're lacking a few issues with this analysis, and you put too much blame upon SC4 fans and not on MC. One of their biggest issues is the lack of communication. It took a great deal of effort to find out what was lacking in Single player mode, and even then, that information was usually unreliable. Many people expected to have some semblance of mass transit added within the single player game, and only recently I've realized that this isn't the case. So basically, I'm going to have that grayed out mass transit box and overlays, telling me what I lack. People who purchased the game expected a full singleplayer game. That's not expecting too much. I did pay 40-50 dollars for it, didn't I? Don't I deserve receiving the full game if I purchased it for the same, full price? I'm fine with not receiving some new special building sets here and there, or online trading, and heck, I'm even fine with dealing with the Omnicorp, even if its prices are inflated to hint at people to use the PO offer. But, having an incomplete game, with features that were promised, or are commonly expected with a Single Player game (both from Simcity, and even from Citylife) should not be dismissed as whining or expecting "too much." The original Citylife had some mass transit, and any game that is not based within the Ancient or Medieval ages has some mass transit within it. I did not expect having everything from subways to monorails within the original game. The people who hesitate have every right to hesitate. Right now, there's been a massive price drop (25-50%) for the game, showing that the company NEEDS more money. That's not a healthy sign for any company. Who knows what the future holds, or if Planet Offer will be able to sustain itself. I actually wish I did hesitate, because then I might have saved myself $20. Do you think MC shares no blame in the situation here? Is this ALL the fans' fault? Or do you think the miscommunication by its representatives has caused some of this. All three of your verdicts pin most of the blame on the high or impossible expectations of the fans. Now yes, expectations WERE high, but some of the criticisms are completely justified, specifically on the lacking mass transit that will not be added in the Singleplayer game. I can understand no custom content until they'll ready to move on to other projects, and I accept that PO players will get more content for paying more, but that does not mean non-PO players should receive a half finished product.

I'm honestly not sure why you want this deleted. It's the only "cheat" in the game. I love it.

Thank you good sir.

I finally found this mod. Thank God too because the prices I was being charged were way too excessive. Alright. Time to install! Edit: Nevermind. It was a dead link. Sigh...I hate these prices. I really do.

Originally posted by: Mathew_MC The Content Pack has been released and the first medieval neighbourhood have been created I don't know if it will stop the hijacking of threads ( ), but we are also discussing ways to release content for solo players as DLC. This discussion is still in the "if, how & when" stage, so do not take this as official announcement, but know we are not ignoring the requests done many times here. I'll come back to you as soon as I have more info.quote> If this happens, I'll happily hand over more of my money!

I call it "Expert Mode". I haven't tried highways, but I have a grid like system of small and large avenues that form neighborhoods. I'm going to adjust it for high density structures, but even then, they can fit within the grid I create.

Elites hate my cities, never figured that out...but silos I've enjoyed success with. For the most part, build them within your farming areas. But the most critical thing is workers. Whenever they go bankrupt, you're suffering from (probably) worker loss. I've noticed that the silos are low on the priority list for workers taking jobs, so they're usually the last to be filled up whenever you have job availability. Basically, always have unemployed qualified and unqualified workers so they don't go under

Eh, I'm not surprised Chinese infrastructure isn't that great. Especially if its a NEW bridge. Hell look at all the product safety scandals happening. Why is this even remotely surprising that Chinese infrastructure skipped the "Safety Regulations" part of the instruction manual to save money.

Do you hate snipers? If you don't you're not a true BF2er. /kidding

I'll buy the PS3 once it is around $300 and more games are out for it. Blu Ray players are costly as hell and have little use really. But...meh Sony I guess will survive. It's not like their gaming division is the only thing going for them, so they won't die like another company we know *cough SEGA cough*

Hmm.....the Rosenburgs were executed for that kind of stuff. This guy deserves the same. Fry him

Nah it's not one of the new ones I think...but yeah my father takes those planes all the time. He's checking to see if any coworkers were killed since many of them fly everywhere across Brazil. Its unlikely, but still it's good to check. My prayers for the families and those rescue workers that now have to deal with all that death

I remember the San Diego motive one. They said he stole it because he wanted to blow up a hospital in which he lost a malpractice suit to. SOOOO yeah he was [Content] crazy

Well...I got kinda confused with this entire article. When I first read the title I thought it meant it would not join the US as Allies in WWIII, which would be utter bull*****

Yeah...all this is called is a last act of desperation. Nobody will actually go to some fantasy city in Saudi Arabia of all places and call it the financial capitol of the world. I don't think anybody is that stupid. On the bright side a few thousand Indian construction workers will have jobs and a few contractors will make big bucks

Whitby-The [content] they did with the highschools...aka give rich kids in the North Sinclair while the southern half get shoddy Anderson CVI Oh and Detroit....yeah no need to explain

For.....well let's go with Toronto Ontario, EXPAND THE SIDE ROADS AND SUBWAYS