John-SJ

Sixty dollars plus? In that case, it doesn't matter how good the game is, or how good it is claimed to be. I will not spend $60 on any game. Many of the arguments being made in favor of SC2013 sound very similar to the arguments made by Monte Cristo around the time of the release of Cities XL. I have to admit, the arguments made then by Monte Cristo and now by EA/Origin/Maxis/Whoever sound real good on paper. But as Monte Cristo found out, sounding good on paper is not exactly the same as being good where the rubber meets the road, in the market place. I get no satisfaction over seeing companies/games fail, but as things stand right now, I for one will not beadding to its success by supporting it with my dollars,

I know that others have already mentioned Cities XL and the community backlash to the online only option, but I just learned of this today and I was shocked and dismayed that EA/Origin didn't learn from the Cities XL experience, The game developer went bankrupt because of it for Pete's sake! I know EA/Origin will not suffer that fate, but come on! Didn't they learn anything? So, just in case they missed it, we don't WANT multi-play, we want the ability to build cities and create mods. An always online requirement can only DECREASE the user base. Signed, Annoyed!

Originally posted by: buidingbig C:\Users\\Pictures\Focus Home Interactive\Cities XL 2011\screenshotsquote> or, in XP, you can find them in My Documents\My Pictures\Focus Home Interactive\Cities XL 2011\screenshots Also, if screenshots are not working, make sure you are using F11 for screenshots.

That's the title of the email I just received from the CXL Webmaster. Imagine my surprise! Well, not that surprised really, it never seemed to me that CXL was doing that well with their PO anyway. When the revocation of the one and two month offers came along I imagined that MC must be pretty desperate for cash. Does the revocation of the PO confirm my imagining? Possibly. So, buses will be made available to SP mode in March, but then there will be no further updates, meaning no mass transit options, until the release of CXL 2011. I wonder if it will really be released in 2011? Will MC get smart and make mass transit a major feature of 2011? Is MC's quote, "Although the online game comes to an end the community still lives on and we plan to support it the same way we have always done." a good thing, or a bad thing?

I thing CXL 2011 will be an expansion, or a whole new version of the game.

If you decide you need highways in the future, you may find those "too small" 4x4 blocks have a nice use after all. If you demolish buildings between 2 streets 4 squares apart and run your highway down the middle, the enclosing streets are just the right distance apart for parallel on/off ramps to your highway.

Check out citiesxl.com. One of the options is to d/l a PO only version of the game for $9 which includes 1 month subscription. The game is therefore free. All you are paying for is the subscription.

Well, that's good at least. The reason I ask, when the first content pack was released I received an email that suggested I subscribe to the PO in order to get the content pack. It also seemed to suggest that if I did not act on the offer within 15 days that I would miss out on the content. It's good to know that it is not really that way.

Question: If I subscribe to PO 6 months after release, do I get all of the content packs that have been released during that 6 months? Or do I get only the packs that come out while I am subscribed?

But, considering that, "Development is absurdly slow, communication is non-existent, and it seems to me as though the community is already fading." better to wait a year or two and then buy it. That way you'll be able to make the decision, if the game is awesome, buy it, and if not, pat yourself on the back knowing you avoided a train wreck with little or no community.

Originally posted by: DaveParker meh - started it up today and nearly all the billboard ads have been replaced with adverts for planet offer I don't mind the billboard ads that look like the ones you see in real life but these make it seem like I'm playing a demo (one that cost money) :-(quote> It has been my impression from the beginning that the single player portion is not a game at all, but rather, an ongoing ad for the Planet Offer. MC actually admits that the single player isn't complete, and then goes about trying to get you to play the complete game for $9 per month. Do they mention taht if you drop your subscription for one or more months that you will permanently miss any content that was delivered during your absence? No?

You may also want to consider the vote of the person (who is a CXL player) that I quote in my signiture. "If you don't subscribe to the (Cities XL) PO, you shouldn't play this game..." - YannickMtl

Unless you are okay with spending $9 per month for a chat room and the ability to "trade tokens" with other players, don't even consider CXL, not even for $20. The single player is not even a reasonably playable game, really, the single player game is nothing more than an inducement to plunk down your $9 per month so you can play the "real game". I played the planet offer (that's the mmo version of the game for $9 per month) long enough to realize that I prefer SC4 by far. To me, SC4 is a much more in depth simulation. CXL just feels very shallow to me. Just my $ .02

Originally posted by: site400 Originally posted by: John-SJ We can see how the PO is doing just by looking at the number of cities on each server, and has the number of servers increased since release? For instance, I played my 7-day free trial a couple of weeks after release. At the time there were 2 U.S. servers with between 5-6 thousand cities on each server.quote> But what we don't know is how long inactive cities remain on the server before they are freed up. In particular, how long do cities created by people who used their 7-day free trial stay online before they deleted. I see a butt-load of cities every day, but only a very small number are actually "in use". MC could just leave cities in play for weeks after a person's trial ends just to create a sense of "fullness" on the planet. Who knows! quote> True enough. Okay, more to the point, How many active U.S. servers are there today? And how full are they? Surely there must be at least 3 or 4 by now, right?

This is off-topic, I know, but I have a question. We can see how the PO is doing just by looking at the number of cities on each server, and has the number of servers increased since release? For instance, I played my 7-day free trial a couple of weeks after release. At the time there were 2 U.S. servers with between 5-6 thousand cities on each server. So, how many U.S. servers are there now? And how many cities total? And yes, I am aware that multiple cities per account are allowed, but still, the number of total cities should give at least a rough idea how well CXL is doing.

Here's a nice shiny new gun MC. Now, go take care of that foot of yours once and for all! In fact, why not take care of BOTH of them?

Originally posted by: 8elhaj SC4 was terrible without RH. I will see how CXL will be. But we should expect more for a new-gen game than a game done 7 years ago.quote> Statements like this make me laugh every time I read them. Like others, I would think that anyone would expect a game that was made today to be better than a game that came out 7 years ago. If it were, then the supporters of the new game wouldn't have to hide behind that illogical argument. Does anyone expect Command and Conquer 4 to be better or worse than the C& C of 7 years ago? When Supreme Commander was new, was it a step ahead or a step behind the games that were out 7 yesrs earlier? Was Civ IV better or worse than Civ III? Those are a few examples I can think of, I am sure there are hundreds of others. The point is, most often, new game offerings are better, right out of the box than their predecessors. I expected, wrongly, Cities XL to follow that trend. It didn't, in my humble opinion.

Originally posted by: gabry85 Originally posted by: Androv gabry, I don't own my Warcraft or Warhammer characters either, but I still enjoy playing with them I'll always have memories of taking down Blackwing Lair I'm hoping there will be some similar challenges in Cities XL down the track....quote> Well, sorry, but first off I don't like playing any online games at all (especially city builders), and basing on the overall feeling, I'm not the only one. Secondly, I don't sit in front of my computer playing one game 24/7 because I risk losing a save/character/avatar/city/whatever: I used to take long breaks from SC4 and focus on other games or enjoy RL (much healthier) and then come back when I'm ready to play again. gabry85: Change the record. [post edited]quote> Well, I did buy the game, and it was a mistake for me to do so. Asoon as I signed up I was thrust into my 7 day free trial of planet offer, so I did that first. And I found out that the game just doesn't interest me that much. The game is way too predictable for my taste. I plop some industry, then build residential until the indicator changes from jobs available to low unemployment. Same with businesses, same with offices. When I compare the needs of city balancing to SC4 I just find it shallow. Solo mode is a joke, it's nothing more than a means of trying to get you to try the PO. But like Gabry, I like to take breaks from city building. I often can't, and I don't ever want to, play any game constantly over a period of weeks or months. I want to vary my gaming experience when I am playing games, and I want to have a life outside of gaming. The last thing I would want is to have a large city in CXL and take a 5 day break and then have to spend a large chunk of time upon my return to re-establish all of my trades even before I can visit my city to keep it from crashing when I do return. Trading may be interesting to some players, but to a casual gamer like myself it is possibly the most ill conceived features of the game.

I got the Statue of Liberty as well. Too bad my city is in mothballs as I decided not to continue playing beyond the 7 day free trial. I did just get a 3 day extension offer from MC, but what's the point in taking advantage of it? At this time I don't have any intention of returning to the game anyway.

Pros?

Here's an easy way to find out. I just plopped a low density unqualified home in a city of under 100 population. The home added 16 residents. If, in a much larger city, a similar home adds more than 16 residents, the growth is non-linear. By the way, not sure if you played the game or not, but the ability to buy plots of land to expand your city was something that MC had in City Life. It was also possible, while not as cleanly, in SC4. I guess I don't understand why MC chose to follow SC:S on this rather than its own previous offering or a 6 year old game, both of which managed to do this better than CXL.

Originally posted by: Duke87 I dunno. I'm not going to utterly dismiss that the likes of Jesus, Mohammad, Buddha, etc. actually ever existed. It's certainly possible that they didn't, but who knows, really. I would accept and in general be more inclined to think that Jesus Christ did exist as an actual person but never walked on water or anything like that.... if for no other reason than that that's the common consensus among historians (i.e., experts on the matter). quote> Problem is, your so-called "experts weren't there. The people who were there say He did walk on water. Believe the historians if you want, I'd rather take the word of an eye witness.

Comments? Hmmm, I guess I could say, nice music. Other than that, the video is a lot like the game itself.

Originally posted by: mrdazza_460 ... by the time MC make the game as grate as it can be, people would have stopped playing and maybe playing anther city building game, quote> And in many cases, I would bet that other game is SC4.

To me, CXL seems to be a little shallow. Unless I'm missing something, it seems to me that if I don't meet my citizens demands, there is only one consequence. More citizens of the class that sees the lack won't move in. If I don't provide enough leisure, more sims won't move in. But in SCS if I don't provide enough leisure, the sims will misbehave and possibly cause serious problems. If I don'thave enough education, more sims won't move in. But in SC4 if I am lacking in education I will cut myself off from higher paid sims. This is somewhat odd becuase in City Life there were educational prerequisites for higher level sims. (Of course, I haven't gotten higher than qualified workers, so I can't be sure what happens with more qualified workers) The same seems to be true with industry. Lacking fuel? No more will grow. Lacking water? No more farms for you! Lacking offices...and on and on. To me, it seems as if there is a lot of missed opportunity in this game, and that translates to a lack of interesting content, from my perspective, at least.