SoftcoreGamer

PTPLauthor...unless you are channelling Maxis or EA, which is quite unlikely I think, your speculation on the game is at best as scientific as the average persons here... So let’s speculate on - ”positively” of course! You mention WoW…I don’t know any game vendors who don’t salivate at the thought of WoW. SC13 wants to be as $ucce$$ful as WoW, of course. It can try, but putting SC13 in the same frame as WoW is like putting a hemming next to a lion king, it only emphasizes SC13’s true weight. Try framing SC13 with SCSocial to make SC13 look better, especially since they are the "real" audience as you claim. SC13 map is a tad larger than SCSocial map for example, you can start with that... On a less silly note, you’d be surprised how many of those you called “hostiles” want this SimCity reboot to be a success. Marketing 101 = hate is better than indifference; the level here is typical like any other hot and wanted games before launch anyway, so you really need to get used to it…

Keeping the typical game map sizes in perspective… 1 unit of 4x4 CiM1 City = 4 units of SimCity2013 City (hmmm) 1 x SimCity2013 City = 1 x Sim3 Create-A-world Town (!!!) System required to run 2009 CiM1 4x4 map with heavy-duty simulation of subway/tram/bus/ped sims/economy = 2GHz Dual Core 2GB/2GB NVIDIA GeForce 8800/ATI Radeon HD 3850++ CiM1 is a transport sim not a city sim, yes. But it comes with an advanced MAP EDITOR with serious TERRAFORMING. CiM2 is promising huge multi-city maps, MP/SP options, an even better map editor, dynamic city growth offline sandbox and MOD too, so yes, CiM2 can be a true city builder. They definitely listen to their fans. Maxis could at least give their loyal diehards MERE options. A screen grab from Q&A video showing the size of a Town plot officially called “city”. Imagine straight-forward city-building anywhere whatever size we like, outside that dreaded 2x2 square town area… Imagine running our highways and rails anywhere in any length…. Imagine FARMS... Imagine organic flowing sprawling cities and burbs with NO MORE GAPS...

Sigh... I really hate this argument. It's called scalability. It was invented decades ago. Do you realize you could write a simple process that checks the RAM and CPU on the machine and you could limit the map sizes that the game allows them to play. You could also scale the FREAKING GLASSBOX simulation so that you are not simulating a Million businesses making sausage, and a Million sims and there individual thoughts... Mouse over Sim 1,000,000- "Goly-I wonder if I left my keys at home?!?!?"<-You can't have that level of granularity and simulate an entire city. Do you think mayor Bloomburg gives a rip about what average joe #456,978 thinks? No, He is setting policy at a macro level and his city grows or collapses (mostly collapses) with those policies that he has set. Like I said earlier, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I don't want the glassbox engine if it is going to restrict my ability to simulate a city. Point blank. If the engine is so restrictive that you can only build on a 2kmX2km map, then you are losing the essence of the game Spot on. The highlighted stuff especially. And "simulating a Million businesses making sausage"... lol a very nice possible resource if SC13 has farms, or mods! Hopefully these basic facts about game engine design are going to register on the ones dead set on shouting down those asking for bigger map OPTIONS. Really, if Maxis miraculously choose to give other users options on maps or offline/online modes, it doesn't kill, it doesn't affect those who like the game as is, but only leads to a bigger, more diverse, more vibrant SimCity community. Cool right? So Be Positive...[*] Let Maxis decide if they want to give users options or not. CiM2 which exploited the Unity engine very well apparently will come with multiple map options from mini to mega size (big enough for MULTIPLE 4x4 CiM1 cities) and obviously Glassbox is capable of at least 8x8. I hope SimCity comes with an offline options that allows building sprawling city directly on the region map, originally the city map. Region-level City Building will in turn... - get rid of the tedium of loading of 2x2 town plots just to move from suburbs to suburbs - open up the FREEDOM of laying our own CITYWIDE RAIL LINES and HIGHWAYS Who wouldn't want that? I do...

Just read the news about disaster... another wow...followed by zzzzz yawn... I recall a written article/interview about the game weeks ago…the writer asked about disaster and the Maxis person said something along the line that...surprises like a truck on fire suddenly run into your city and burn down your work, and random disasters WILL BE UNLEASHED upon the sims the players, and how that is SO FUN... "unleashed", by whom..? I thought this guy must be crazy if he thinks I would pay so that Maxis employees get to have fun raining random disasters on me and my cities. But since he said everything is work in progress I didn’t post that scary thoughts on this thread. And now this…

Are you saying that CiM2's engine tracks the same amount of data that Glassbox does? I know it's transportation simulation is impressive but that's what I would expect out of a Public Transport Sim. However SimCity is a city simulator. It not only has to deal with detailed traffic and individual sims, but water, pollution, education, health, a global economy, etc... All this is what I belive is taxing the glassbox engine so much so that Maxis has to limit the map sizes to 2x2 Honestly as a potential customer I don't care why or how glassbox is taxed. I only wish it is at least as powerful as Unity. I only wish it is as capable as 2008 PO engine PLUS the New Simulation. Glassbox is made SPECIFICALLY for SimCity so it should translate into micro-simulation City-size maps instead mini 2x2 Sims3 Towns with Gaps, don't you think? As a game consumer, I do care about what fun features I get for my money. City in Motions2's Unity engine may be average and low in brag factor, but it will come with dynamic city simulation that grows houses and skyscrapers on top of mind-bogglingly indepth mass transit simulation with nice subway underground visualization so it's worth checking out for those who don't care that much for pollutions or babysitting sims in tiny towns. There's little pre-alpha CiM2 documentation but if you're curious about their map power let me dig around and see I can find... As you said they are unreleased, and as I said it doesn't matter which engine has bigger muscles, for at the end only FUN FACTOR matters to game buyers. But I too look forward to future industry insider report on comparison of the two regardless of which game I end up with next year. I am very curious as to how a tailor-made-for-city-builder engine fails to perform its most basic city-builder task, while another average game engine managed to pull larger than 10x10 map stunt...

We aren't though. The hardcore audience is indeed an important one but you can't it confuse with the core audience, two very different things. The core audience being the bigger of the two. EDIT: Unless my definitions of "Hardcore" and "Core" are off target. I see your point, but I don't want to get into semantics. That's why I said "primary audience", as in target audience of the marketing campaign. The dismissal of complaints is but An Act. Businesses don't discriminate. Hardcore softcore or core-core doesn't matter, they need ALL of us. Back to the topic... I think everybody can agree that larger maps would be nothing but good for the game. Thank you! EVERYBODY WANTS LARGER THAN 2X2 MAP indeed. I think you mean "glassbox can handle more given the processing power of an average GAME ENGINE"? Yes it can. And it should be at least as good as an average game engine. Game engine and server integration are responsible for the bulk of simulation economy. If the engine is done right, mediocre user computers could run the game like a breeze. A new "ground-breaking build-from-the-ground-up" city-builder game engine should be fully capable of typical city-builder functions like Map Size Optimization. Typical online multiplayer simulation game - CiM2 for example is has indepth traffic simulation dynamic city and also with individualized sims; and guess what is the size of their smallest "mini" map? At least 10x10. Imagine their big map! So why can't tailor-made 2012 Glassbox engine do what Unity engine do? Who knows... The fact remains they did at one point have the city as a collection of 2x2 towns, as clearly displayed by my previous video frame grab post. Someone forgot about a lot of stuff when they build the engine? Typical online game vendors artificially limiting anything they can limit? Your guess is as good as mine.

Wrong MINIggy03. I understand perfectly what Maxis is doing to this franchise. And I agree with Dirktator that they are acting as if we are not the primary audience. I don't believe it for one second. You still refuse to acknowledge Maxis is shortchanging even The Sims fans they wish to attract to SC13 by MISpresenting a 2x2 TheSims3 town as cities. You don't think that's insulting or at least naive? And mapboy, many others here in this thread rather have 10x10 with less glassbox micro-simulations. If Glassbox is actually capable of making10x10 a breeze for all computers - and I believe it is - would you still insist on the pathetic 2x2 towns with gaps?

The original CiM didn't sound too appealing to me since the city was quite static and all you could do was build transport lines in the static city... but CiM2 sounds a lot more dynamic so I'll definitely keep my eye in it. Plus, even though they're only publishing it and not developing, Paradox is probably my favourite company in today's gaming industry so that gives me some extra faith in the game. If SimCity 2013 comes with offline sandbox and 10x10 map and MODDABILITY, I will buy because modding will fix all the problematic online side-effects. Otherwise I will decamp to CiM2 which will come with all of these features.

The non-diehard non-fans have to get over the fact that diehard (and diesoft) fans have every right to peacefully ask for typical city-building features like City Size maps. As to SimCity always been "everyone" game, what has that to do with Towns pretending to be cities anyway? I personally have not witnessed anyone – diehard or casual - who insist they don’t want a big map or rejoice at 2x2 towns being called cities... Again I repeat this is not about CXL a better game. This is a MAP SIZE discussion, not simulation prowess or The Sims, who hate online push with as much as passion as SC diehards. I have Sims2 Sims3. If next Sims comes with smaller "house map" I and "every" Sims fans will protest too. Duh.

Exactly... When researching server-based game issues I came across this feedback on forced-online Diablo3. Just swap Diablo for SimCity and Torchlight for CiM2... I can't believe what they did to this game, Who in a normal state of his mind would plan to make this game an "always connected game"? This is not even a MMO, MMO sets those kind of things because it's obvious, you will play with many many people. But this game is a SINGLEPLAYER (featuring coop). Suffers a lot of connection problems and all that stuff. Aside from that, the mechanics are simplified compared to Diablo2, Titan Quest, Torchlight, etc... This game is not as deep, the hack n' slash feels easier (and fun some times) but it doesn't have the same feeling as the last game of the franchise. It's a perfect example of what corporates companies want to steal from the fans and customers. I'm a big dissapointed fan. Please stop buying Activision things, they think they're the masters of the world and have the rights to **** people whoever they want with their money. I'm gonna wait for Torchlight 2. With the image of Maxis producer shrugging off Dirktator's "what happens to game if server shut down" question in mind, and the way Maxis crowd laughing at Maxis producer's crystal ball analogy as if a typical core fan concern is mere joke material...and this is when they are still courting pre-orders. What are the odds of customers being treated with respect once they're trapped online?

To those who fear SimTownOnline being affected by talks of its shortfalls, the online game is going ahead, is it not? So do allow me and others to ask for an original game feature everybody wants. A very crucial point: 2012 Glassbox Engine ought to be as Capable as 2008 Planet Offer Engine IN OVERALL CAPACITY Here’s Planet Offer system requirement • CPU: Intel C2D E6300 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ • RAM: 2 GiByte • Graphics card: Geforce 8800 Gt or Radeon HD 3850. EVEN 2009 GAME COMPUTERS COULD EASILY HANDLE 10X10 MAP. What more computers today. Planet Offer not only was capable of mega size online city map but also INDEPTH SIMULATION based on 15 resources that can be traded with an opportunistic AI electricity, waste recycling, agriculture, water, fuel, etc.. All OF THE ABOVE, BY 2009. I don't believe Glassbox Engine is that lame. I do not buy into the notion that in 2012 EA-backed Maxis game engine still fails to replicate the power of a 2008 engine made by a small game company. I don’t see any conspiracy in this discussion…saying “game company hold back original features to create expansion demand” or “game company engineering Digital Real Estate Scarcity” is not conspiracy theories, not even theories, but Everyday Game Industry Practice. I know the worth of core fans to Maxis. I now know in SimCity2013 Cities are being packaged as “regions". I now know a Planet Offer size city map has been calved in 16 blocks with huge gaps in between. I just hope Maxis will graciously do the right thing: REINSTATE THE ORIGINALLY PLANNED 10x10 CITY MAPS and let the 2x2 Towns be what they were meant to be, Towns. Give users OPTIONS to play at 2x2 town or 10x10 city level.

Very well said... "No there's no cheese no beef in our cheese burger. But LOOK we ADDED ROASTED SESAME SEEDS on the buns!" "No the burger will stay 2cm x 2cm. Smaller burgers are better for your digestion. But LOOK we use NASA TOASTER to roast the SESAME SEEDS!"

In the video, the "Town Name" areas are specifically assigned as City. Go to the video starting at 0:43, and *listen very carefully* at 1:06. Different types of regions could mean small 3 cities regions versus large 16 cities regions, with varying preset "puzzles" and scenario challenges. There is no different Town tile size. It's been confirmed to be dead fixed at 2x2. Here's an unfinished Paris from SimCity.cn. Note the pic doesn't cover the FULL size of the CXL city. The square area indicates SC13 2x2 plot, closely reference to stadium size. This basically hints at - the largest SC13 region speculated to have 16 cities, is about the size of a typical CitiesXL CITY. And to think that I was complaining that CXL map was not big enough. The whole point is, they are selling TOWNs to us as CITIES. And expect us not to notice.

That is what they want core fans to believe so people will give up protesting. But truth is core fans are as important if not more important to Maxis than TS - SC13 is first and foremost a CITY game, not a TS expansion pack. Also, never forget: 10 million of TS offline, a shocking 99.75%, ignored online TS to its demise. This Reboot is The Evident of SimCity’s Neglected Potential: Maxis knew there is a lot more to squeeze out of the black horse. They know they underestimated us and now they are waving at us again – but with the wrong kind of carrot. Point is: The Sims 3 minus multiple expansion packs is not that much hotter than SimCity. Sims 3 original sold around 4 mil copies. SimCity 3000 sold 5 mil copies. SC4 stats unavailable, my conservative estimate as 5 mil + 3 mil This means they need everyone on board. Let's say SC13 dev cost is a mere 40 mil, they need at least 700,000 online captives for starters. Will Sims3 fans flock online and make the number? There's already a thread dedicated to why so I won’t elaborate. Maxis definitely know forcing their god games online is a huge investment risk. The backlash has already started... But make no mistake: The Incumbent SimCity Core Fans Are Worth A Lot to Maxis. We need to stop letting their dismissal fool us. Someone has to fill up the first few SimTowns and put up and help with bug fixes. Someone has to justify the existence of SimCity dev team. They need Every Single Core Fans to meet their minimum numbers to appease EA. That is why even as they shrugged off our modding and offline wishes, they still friend Simtropolis. They need to crank up their sincerity level, preferably in a concrete way. Core fans deserve better than filler status. Core fans deserve an Offline Option Upfront.

I think I was being generous with SC13 tile size with my previous pics. Here's a vid screen grab, which points to two Very Important Things: 1. One "City" Equals One Great Work Tile! How realistic, a mega city is a mega airport, sounds just like SimCity 2000!! Keep in mind in the video, "cities" was indicated with "Town Name" areas, "build a casino city here" etc. Which means... 2. Maxis Had Intended for The Current "2x2 city" To Be TOWNS!!! The implications of this... Oh dear where to start... Once upon a time in the dev process the scale was correct! So this is yet another SubPrime Tactic like tilt shift - repackaging a crippled/problematic feature as a positive selling point! Brilliant business planning - conjure up this grand online idea for an offline game, build the engine, then belatedly realize "oops, real scale too power-intensive for engine and server" then "let's sell the towns to them as city I think it'll work" then "great idea we can blame their slow computer for that" Obviously, this mega problem could be easily rectified - give us an OFFLINE game and let our 2012 computers do the work. edited: update picture to a more accurate scale based on Q&A pic

Fleeting is the word. This type will leave as soon as they arrive. If online takes off, it will be a typical spike pattern, peak/bubble burst a week to a month after launch. After that is a series of short term milking before the fleeting ones lose interest or give up asking for service improvement. Then next version online cycle. If online falls flat, it will be blamed on the core fans - that we are too demanding and inflexible etc, offline patch/ private server migration may or may not materialize, and Maxis will ignore SimCity for another decade. Either way core fans have high chance of being screwed. SimCity being online is no win for the true fans, period. Maxis knows the risk of fleeting ones. Core fans are their backup plan "sales filler". That's fine. Just give us a backup offline plan, thank you.

PTP, please calm down and stop following me around. If you keep this up I might start to feel flattered. If you are so sure about SimCity online, why run around trying to snuff out dissenting voices? Obviously...

PTP please keep the discussion relevant. The topic is City Tile Size, NOT game comparison, NOT CXL is better or not. Core fans are trying to grasp what 2x2 means exactly in reference to available 3D city source, do contribute if you are interested in the topic. And please remove the unnecessary pictures from your quote for forum real estate sake. Thank you. @Dmainevent - if you are referring to the CXL pic, an i3 2G gram256 should do fine. Here's an idea of what a SimCity tile looks like in CXL context. Note the pic shows half of a CXL *city*, not region.

Here's CitiesXL in comparison. A SC13 region looks like ONE typical CXL city. The least I expect for a SimCity region, is at least 9 CXL cities. The circular section of this CXL city is about 4 x SimCityOnline city tile. FOUR TIMES! No gap issue too. No need to "load next suburb" just to move around too. Calling a district a city, is their idea of evolution? Or "realism"? How much they expect core fans to sacrifice and put up with in the name of grand online vision? The more I look the more I will gladly settle for CXL, and wait for CiM2.

I want an offline option though I'm not against online. But I will not pre-order for one reason: once game companies are fed by pre-orders, it's the end for server quality, and forget about mod or game improvement. Diablo3 post-launch outrage and scary buyers remorse and zero-mod status has taught me to not be a fool. It's not like it's so hard to abstain - the game as of this date sounds like a big yawn anyway... I am not excited but in fact zzzz with all the new unexicting SimTown XS Limited features like...limits upon limits. It is SimCityNoMore - no more zoning no more local save safety no more big map no more terraform no more god mode no more farm no more real privacy no more immortal no more godlike choices no more godlike freedom. Which means, no more godlike mayor fun. But no worries! Cities in Motions 2 with offline sandbox mode with mega maps and newly added dynamic city growing is beginning to sound very exciting!

Thanks a zillion to Dirktator for this write-up, and this wonderful site too. As mentioned by other posters, a fair and diplomatic report indeed. (Quoted text in colored italic to save space) Maybe if you play with modded or custom content, you play in your own region, and you affect nothing else, including the global economy. But should you get to access the global economy? Does that not just isolate you, you know, just as if you were playing a single-player offline game? After much digging around I found this: the mod/admin of Gamespy has confirmed single-player/ private/ solo mode players will be affected by global economy and resource prices. If he’s right, IMO it is extremely misleading word usage. There is nothing single, private, or solo about global. Unless Maxis had rewritten gaming dictionary. If Maxis obfuscate this knowing full well the implication to core fans, what is in store for us online? While Maxis doesn’t have all the answers to modding yet, they are open to a dialogue with the community and hear your feedback. All I have to say to Maxis on this gesture: inviting Simtropolis over without giving any good news on modding is a blatant display of insincerity. […] I wanted to make the point another way: “Ok, so you look at SimCity 4 released 10 years ago, and I can still load it up today and play it. I can load it up five years from now and still play it. I don’t need to sign in, I don’t need a server, I just load it up and play. How can this always online requirement be able to assure me that I can still play my game, say, a year or 10 from now just as I can with SimCity 4?” Thanks again for addressing possibly the biggest core fan concern. I agree we are not their primary audience. Still they invited Simtropolis – so at the least they do need core fans as pre-order filler, pioneer builders, and buzz creators. This is apparently the best Maxis could do for their diehard community who provided them 10 years of free marketing and customer support. I for one will not budge until I'm certain my game my cities will live as long as I decide. […] a disconcerting lack of version suffix. We’ve just been calling it the New SimCity. Is it possible that this is the Final SimCity? I just wish they call it by other more accurate fan nics: SimVillage, SimDistrict, SimTown XS Limited, SimCity ONLINE and be done with it. SC5 seekers can then say bye bye and move on to other similar city builder sandbox games with immortal offline mode, like CXL, and City in Motion 2 which will come with curved roads, newly dynamic buildings, mod support, and huge sandbox mode maps! If Maxis thinks core fans are shrugged material, well then, there are always other game companies who want us. This could be the last SimCity IF it's online-only. For it will please neither primary nor secondary audience and fall flat totally and then fans are blamed etc and no more investment. Or it will attract fleeting dabblers with no passion for the genre nor attachment to creations nor commitment to maintain a virtual world, in short The Sims Online all over again... At least then Maxis TS team learned the lesson and continued to develop next The Sims in offline. Offline, SimCity 2013 is guaranteed by the existing SC4 CXL TS communities to be immortal. There’s lots of evidence that Maxis wants to make the game more appealing and more accessible to both bring in new players without, hopefully, alienating the dedicated fans (too much). Well good luck with that, Maxis, in full sincerity. Hopefully FB "likes" will meaningfully translate into $60 each. Just remember that Sims franchise sorts are far more individualistic and resilient than say Diablo fans. It’s clear what the majority of core fans want and don't want. It is clear Maxis is not even that certain if their new direction will be profitable much less stay alive. In the name of one of the best PC game ever made, I sincerely hope Maxis cover their bases, get ready a backup Plan B option: SimCity Offline Standalone. When that happens, I will be convinced Maxis is truly grateful for the support of Simtropolis and core fans.

Shuddering in horrors indeed. The possibilities of what EA/Maxis could do to the CAPTIVE audience is...endless. I just have to put my Darth Vader sharky hat on and rejoice at all sorts of horrifying opportunities....lol But we don’t have to experience the Horrors of Forced Online. We don’t have to repeat Diablo fans’ mistake of “get online first negotiate for offline later”. Lousy strategy, that one. It's like actively seeking rude surprises. The complaints against Diablo being forced online actually started brewing many months before, like we're going through now. But overnight, days after Diablo3 launch, anti-online outrage exploded. It hasn’t died down since. But of course. Why would it. Blizzard is too busy counting millions of record preorder sales and partying to bother with boring server upkeep or wailing customers... The lesson for SimCity crowd: Diablo3 scored one of the highest Amazon pre-orders, AND probably highest Buyer’s Remorse ratings too. And so impulsive pre-ordering ended in “horrors”, the price customers pay for “trusting” game companies, and acting without foresight. Blizzard pocketed millions, while Diablo3 still cannot be modded today. Blizzard won. Diablo fans lost. Diablo3, a RMAH goldmine for Blizzard... It's hell from a customer's perspective. We really don’t have to go through all that. Today Diablo3 community have plenty of “we told you so didn’t we now who’s the whiner” stories. I really hope I don’t ever have to say that to anyone here. Early whining is definitely 100x more effective than belated whining. So let people complain and whine now. The least we could do, is to send the right signals to game businesses. In short: Diablo3 taught us short-changed game customers have foregone their bargaining power the moment they pre-order. Every core fans who choose to jump into the game as is “just to test it”, are actively adding to the certainty of Diablo3 Outrage 2.0, and reducing the chance of an offline option. I really, really hope SimCity core fans are stronger and smarter than Diablo core fans. I really do.

A picture is worth more than a thousand feature-dumbdown excuses. Here is what could've been without forced-online. See that upper left tiny red square? SimCity or SimDistrict is about that size. That was considered big like...11 years ago. See the lower right sub image containing even larger maps? And the red circle? Yep, a SimCity tile will be almost invisible relative to Daggerfall's largest game map today (image is 2010 btw). SC13 region is probably about Just Cause 2 size, based on 16 cities per region. A bit generous but gotta give some allowance for those generous gaps between SimDistricts. edited down width from 2334 to 1200

Glad you and I agree on this, though I’m not surprised. Who would hate the freedom of offline SimCity… To begin with, regardless of game company or game genre, there's simply no reason to cord an EXISTING PRIVATE SOLOmode to the server. No reason at all. Asynchronous-ness only hints at the relative simplicity of cord-cutting... No worries to Maxis giving offline patch attention to the exclusion of online - there is no evidence they’re even HEARING us and busy coding offline patch, is there? The only thing certain as of now, is that they vehemently ignore core fan requesting full-offline, even EA forum questions like “hello Maxis what is gonna happen to my cities when the server ends?”…. Until they face us and acknowledge this market demand - as a plan in action or confirmed future certainty, this pro-offline-option movement will understandably continue until after the inevitable death of SimCity online servers. That’s when all of us here will be in one voice: Offline SimCity Please! By then though…it will be too late… “Core fans want offline back” phenomenon is the real game industry trend. There are lessons all around us... Diablo3's already strong vocal offline demand before launch actually INTENSIFIED immediately after launch. Intensified, because the traditionally offline single-player fans who allowed their enthusiasm to get the better off them, after jumping in, realized that they should’ve WAITED and ASKED until Offline Wish is Fulfilled BEFORE jumping in. By then, game biz have made their money, fans have lost their negotiating power… After 4 months of worldwide outrage, Blizzard relented and added a half-hearted offline patch that allows players to “appear offline”. The rage continues… Most relevant to us here at Simtropolis, Diablo3 remains UNMODDABLE today. Yes core fans did ask for moddability upfront too - but they WEAKENED. SimCity fans, who have also been neglected for 10 years, seem to be going the same regretful direction – exactly when game companies want us. Diablo3 did sell very well: 10 million – around launch. It IS a success. It IS profit heaven for game biz, server-induced hell for the fans. Is this the kind of “SimCity success” we should look forward to? I want to avoid this fate. I understand BUSINESS REALITY, I check the score carefully. I don’t want to be a begging captive, or rage on Metacritic afterwards. I don’t want to invest energy and love and time into building my cities and when the inevitable server death warrant arrives, to belatedly freak out and futilely wail EA/MAxis please don’t kill my cities my game can we play offline please... I prefer to be proactive... I will wait, ask, now.