SoftcoreGamer

The Sims Online was a giant embarrassment, a testimony of The Sims core fan's stubborn disdain for social. EA top guns never understood how much their primary cash cow The Sims fans hate being forced into social, and evidently STILL DON'T. EA delusion of grandeur backfired in their face in spectacular ways: The Sims Online/ EA-Land joins the TechCrunch Deadpool. And the amazing "EA-Land". LOL.. Game bosses were SO CLUELESS, they thought slapping “EA” sticker on the cover of a lousy product people will come running! Possibly one of the biggest industry inside jokes… Daunting FACT: The Sims offline sold 110,000,000 copies, yes, 110 MIL copies. Amazing offline demand! Guess what number TSOnline active subscriber peaked at? 100,000. 1000 OFFLINE : 1 ONLINE. This is how out of touch fat-salary gaming bosses can get. Today the short-memory ones are at it again – “we are so excited!” "we KNOW you WILL enjoy less control more social stress!" “we are so proud of ourselves!” short of issuing each other internal Oscars. Never mind on their own forums CORE FANS of both franchises protest outloud “WE HATE SOCIAL” and “OFFLINE SINGLE OR NO BUY!”, "TSO DEBACLE 2.0", little Princes continue to self-congratulate prematurely inside their little inflated bubbles. They truly believe they could turn 1000:1 to 1:1.

Blizzard did more than disappointing the fans – their recalcitrant everything-online policy is negatively impacting gaming businesses all the way in South Korea, and now it's their turn to pay the price. The pains and hazards of always-on and server malfunctions…go both ways. The consensus everywhere is, always-on is a bad business idea. In this Forbes article Ubisoft Throws in the Towel on Always-On DRM, always-on is described as “intrusive”, “draconian”, “did nothing, mind you, other than upset paying customers”, “there’s no logical reason to punish paying customers”, “now that Ubisoft has taken down their always-on DRM, and hopefully other companies like EA and Activision will follow suit.” EA should seriously consider Ubisoft’s latest approach: no more always on, only online activation. This is how Ubisoft turned around their angry and stubbornly abstaining fans. Some fans started shopping again it seems, though some are still seething that it took them this long. Obviously, Ubisoft’s disastrous former policy had cost them very dearly. Bravo Ubisoft customers. Always-on is a dumb broad-spectrum killer of customers and profit, sold to clueless impressionable game bosses wearing emperor’s new clothes. Imposing always-on on single games to kill piracy, is like nuking the whole city just to kill some thieves. The only party who benefits is the nuke maker. The party with the most to lose, is actually the game company - investment, jobs and career reputation. It really doesn’t pay to prejudge customers as thieves. Yes there are thieves and pirates, but there are also honest, loyal customers. Long staying niche fans know how vulnerable their fav franchise is – they would do anything - buy two three copies, share goodies, scold thieves and pirates, promote the game, build communities to ensure their game’s survival. But SimCity traditional fans are also used to being starved, so don’t bet on their cheap surrender. Smarter game companies are already moving on from their DRM dogma. EA could avoid Ubisoft’s sorry fate and proactively champion the virtues of offline single-player games. Or learn humility the hard way. For, at the end of the day, the customer is always right.

Keeping it constructive and topic-relevant… Solid evidence from EA's own forum: The Sims players have already rejected (another futile attempt at) The Sims online: A Petition Against "...the community says a big "Hell No" to The Sims being multiplayer..." "...shut down because of low sales, high production costs, and innapropriate behavior on servers including prostitution and bulling..." Failed Pitching Attempt "...a big game of big brother is watching..." "...There's not going to be a next Sims Online. And your saying so isn't going to make it come true..." Reaction to EA kill-single-play intention (SimCity was mentioned) "...It's bad enough you're making the new Simcity only playable by being online at all times..." "...when SimCity 5 fails because of this idiotic policy, they'll realize how stupid it is..." These should suffice for now…

This image is a product of game executive's hallucination, based on how they see their mother, sister, wife, gf, daughter. Clueless ones think chattiness, lipsticks and floral patterns equate "social network material". Really. They imagine The Sims girls must spend more hours gushing over each other's sim earrings than the crafting of them. Traditional prejudice + corporate cluelessness had culminated in TheSimOnline and its miserable multi-million-dollar death. Apparently the cluelessness continues...to this day. I am another crossbreed SimCity TheSims fan and I hate social networking or team games. The Sims is (mistakenly) classified as a "girl" game, and traditional prejudice is females are more "social" than boys. Point is, even typical CallofDuty muscle men are 100x more "social" than the most giggly TS girls, who spends 99% of their fun time in front of their PC quietly building and animating to entertain themselves first others second. Social? It's zero social, 100% solitaire. Not everyone suffers attention deficit in this world. Some people actually have real life friends. TS addicts are SOLOISTS just like SimCity players. They are ARTISTS just like SimCity players. Their community merit is individual creativity: who makes the most interesting beautiful house/sims/fashion/movies, and NOT social/ competitive: "me and my sims have more friends than him/hers"; "our team got the biggest houses in the biggest suburb" But business experts think we Sims franchise sort are just like them, social predators hungry for social approval. They WISH we play Sim games because we want to WIN the most ATTENTION from FRIENDS(!!!) Big biz types cannot fathom the beauty in private joy, the peacefulness in solitude, how the soul is nourished by playful personal creative activities. They are terrified of being alone - there's no-one to worship or indulge them! Their only concept of joy is subjugating everyone to become No1 in Darwinian battles, followed by social approval applause. That's why they dangle "leaderboard" at us. They really believe we will bite. They can't even get us SimCity diehards to go online, they want to trick The Sims diehards to sim CITIES and go ONLINE?

Thanks for the many interesting responses to yet another one of my long-winded posts! @Spiritbw – thanks for posting the EA forum poll link! @Azurespecter – apology accepted! @Bananos – please refer to my “advanced apology for a long post” stated clearly in the first paragraph! So, the poll now says 4% online-only versus 33% offline-only! The ratio is? 1:8 !!! **TADA**. Hopefully Maxis stats dept is taking note... The 96% who request for offline are a proven worldwide commercial success group who care deeply about the franchise. They are understandably attached to the NORMAL way the game has been played for 10 - 20 years: OFFLINE. And they have made themselves clear: nothing will seduce/force them to produce city babies online, UNLESS they are given a full-functioning offline version they get to keep in worst case scenario. The Sims crowd is just like SimCity crowd in their offline and baby-ownership needs. Both groups numbers in millions, good money still being thrown away... Wine aficionados will not become soda addicts because wine is banned. It’s time to face the futility of deprivation tactic. Almost every traditionally-single games pushed online died a wasteful death in less than a year. SimCity Online will be a far bigger gamble than SimCity Social; that is why it will need the support of its older, stronger, more experienced Offline sibling. So the 4% should cultivate basic manners, stop bullying the 96% have-nots, and start cheerleading for the far more credible Offline sibling. No matter how Maxis pushes dazzles or twists words, people are NOT pre-ordering like mad, are they? Offline SimCity requesters have said OUTLOUD they are fine with frequent anti-piracy online check-ins, haven’t they? We all want Maxis and SimCity to live long and prosper, do we not? This is post-2008 game industry, best to keep it conservative. Let’s find a WIN-WIN between Online and Offline lovers, a WIN-WIN between EA/Maxis and traditional SimCity customers: Offer BOTH Online and Offline SimCity2013 as two separate games. In worst case EA/Maxis could recoup their investment. In best case EA/Maxis will double their profit. At most conservative, Offline could fetch $120,000,000 at launch, and more optimistically, $600,000,000 first year. Expansion packs for two versions means quadruple profit. May pragmatism prevail...

Six more months to go, a lot can STILL happen. For the love of SimCity, let’s continue to hope, that Maxis will become pragmatic and market two separate versions of the game: SimCity2013 ONLINE, as well as SimCity2013 OFFLINE, the standalone, solo-play, sandbox version. Alternative names could be Simcity2013: Sandbox, Standalone, Solitaire, God Mode, Traditional, Original, etc.. This post is to argue for the seller's benefit of offering "SimCity2013 Twins". Apology for the length in advance, please kindly add your views and opinions. So far, it seems the SimCity ship is being steered off to an extremely ambitious, unproven, high-risk direction, and for unfathomable reason, the 20yo consistent and successful formula has been thrown over board. Genius move or preventable Titanic, the verdict is not out til 1stQ. Here’s the current ground level reality, lifted off official forum: Online only Sc2013 – 96% will NOT buy; 4% will buy Offline only Sc2013 – 33% will buy Offline and Online as two separate games – 63% will buy BOTH Strong yet unsurprising reaction. Evidently, Simcity2013Online is only SimCity in name. In essense, it is a totally different product aiming at a totally different mindset. Protests by traditional players have gone into a black hole so far. Very likely, the Zynga-obsessed big bosses are narrowly courting a new theoretical SimCity audience: the multi-million Cityville and The Sims crowd. The hope is they could be coaxed into…patiently and obediently building big, global, mutually-impacting cities…together. Reality is however, something else. TheSimsOnline had demonstrated clearly why certain traditional offline games will stubbornly stay offline. The Sims crowd is not as “social” and “architectural” as some fantasize. Reminder: they may be tricked online, but they did not stay. 99% of The Sims home-builders never cared much for the easy-to-use Create-a-world tool; their interest is near and micro, tilt shift not required. The expressive, possessive Sims crowd simply will not “co-build” their precious homes and gardens with “friends”. They’d totally apathetic towards “community” projects, “leader” competitions, “fighting” annoying neighbors – precisely the real life stuff they are trying to escape from. But here’s the biggest deal-breaker: The Sims players are highly sentimental and protective of their creative babies, will rage like EA’s biggest ever nightmare if anyone dare server-kill their darling houses and Sims. SimCity players feel as strongly about their city babies. News Alert: No sane gamers will let a ruthless trigger-happy tyrant game server/vendor watch over their game babies. It will be super expensive to underestimate the creative ownership needs of The Sims and SimCity gamers. The mega fantasy is a 3D SimFacebook success. Reality is gamers are a lot more diverse and logistics highly complicated. For example, 99.63% of CityVille player’s PC may have trouble running CitiesXL, an offline 3D game, what chance Sc2013 online? And then there’s the crazy bandwidth demand and people’s tolerance of server issues. It really, really makes sense to have a back-up plan… We customers want as much as EA/Maxis for the next SimCity venture to be a big success and entertain us for a long long time! Summary of SC2013 Online pitfalls: - Cityville/SC Social people are satiated with plenty of too-similar offerings - Social Network people are spoiled with a glut of attention-seeking games and social outlets - MMO people are specific in taste; they like shoot/kill, not create/build - SimCity people are SOLO ARTISTS; they hate SimCity Social and Societies with a passion. - TheSims people are SOLO ARTISTS; they deserted TheSimsOnline and never look back. - People who have been simming homes and cities privately and peacefully all these years will not care for a chaotic public environment with constant looming threats of bad neighbors and erratic government wiping out their beloved creations just to make way for SimCity2015. It is too easy for established businesses to lose touch with ground level reality and make totally clueless big moves with high collateral damages. SimCity, an admired icon of the game industry is being bent out of shape into a compromised chimera. Whatever it is, it is not SimCity. The new shiny chimera will please neither left nor right, except its proud parents. Maybe the shiny MMO pet chimera is a very “new exciting toy rental experience whoa!!!” to the self-congratulating lab scientists, BUT we main street pet shoppers asked for a “normal living pet puppy”! For TEN years! We don’t want to rent-a-chimera! We want to buy, own and keep our puppy in our house! We may try to love your chimera later, but give us the normal pet puppy we asked for first! It’s not that people have no confidence in Maxis making a beautiful product. People are so relieved it is Maxis not Tilted Mill. Long time fans have confidence in Maxis, just not Origin. Reputation is powerful stuff, and can’t blame people for having no faith in a consistent consumer violator. If human emotion and consumer feedback are worthless, there will be no game businesses. If passionate gamers do not voice their love or hate, there will no Spore PR debacle – and no Spore PROFIT. The irony is, even as typical SimCity solo players groan about projected MMO evils, we are still potentially the most enthusiastic, most proliferative SimCityOnline pioneers. BUT, if we feel unceremoniously discarded by our most beloved game’s creators, if the game launches without our offline sandbox dream, EA can bet even the 63% who will generously pay $120 for both offline online versions will say bye-bye on principal alone. On the other hand, if this pent-up 10-years-old desire becomes reality, these passionate ones will be the most delirious and excited and proactive voluntary promoters of even SimCity ONLINE. “OMG EA is not that evil!!” Imagine that. The resulted TWIN PRODUCT LONGEVITY may surpass even SC4. At the least twin-versions will insure for dev cost recovery. Remember SC4 total unit sales. It makes total sense to put precious SimCity2013 eggs in more than one basket. If the MMO basket breaks/ struggles/ takes more than 18 months to grow wings, the other sure-bet instant-hit Offline Sandbox basket shall cushion things and give marketing department something to hype about. And if both babies fly high, single dev, TWIN revenue! So dear EA/Maxis, here’s the INSTANT worldwide demand of many millions of copies of SimCity 2013 Offline Sandbox version, waiting patiently and earnestly for you to make our 10-years-old dream come true. 63% core audience willing to buy two versions at $120 per head - that should count for something? $60 x 10,000,000 in six months should make a lot of people very happy? (edited bullets for list]

Nice video of Singapore, thanks! Tilt shift is one crippled interface/aesthetic/function feature being shamelessly framed as a "trendy" selling point. It forces bandwidth overhead conservation on even the most capable PC, into SC2000 level resolution LOD, and DOF (depth of field) effect. DOF, an old cinematography technic is now overused to fake analog filmic feel on digital reels. Tilt shift's force-shrinking of viewable city area also disguise the reality of tiny map size, an unexciting regression 10 years after the last version. Cities permanently shrouded in haze lose that expansive feel of seeing your creation into the horizon. The effect is distracting and claustrophobic, as its space compression quality cartoonizes the already cartoony visual. Overall another avoidable compromise from forcing a massively complex SOLO game online before the world is technologically ready. The worst scenario is SimcityOnline2013 players stuck with fixed tilt level calibrated not to individual user speed/power but server traffic congestion. But if wisdom prevail at Maxis, SimcitySandbox2013 will come with adjustable multiple tilt shift level.

LOL. The Sims Create-a-world tool is the most under-utilized official mod tool. I marked around with it. Despite the ease of use, The Sims players do not care a whale about even building a neighborhood. The ratio of user made "world" to user made wallpaper? 1: 621388000. The Sims crowd, who failed to be pushed online as "always-on connected neighbors", who WILL NOT collaborate on even picking up the trash in shared area, who're totally meh about creating better "world" for their sims, would suddenly switch gear and go sim cities with other people? Justin Bieber audition as U2 frontman? Magical thinking of an otherworldly magnitude. No matter how they dumb SimCity down, it's impossible to achieve the dumbness level of Create-a-world, which is not even Simcity1000 dumb. Oh....dear. Soon millions will be wasted to mythologize the greatness of SimcityMMO. Realistically though, it is time to announce SIMCITY:SANDBOX 2013, standalone, complete version.Thanks to Simtroplois and all the moddes BATters, there are at least 20-50 million pent-up Simcity-Sandbox demand worldwide. We are worth something, Maxis.

I agree that the online version is a mega risk. As a rule, social network addicts have short attention span anyway. But after checking out everyone's reactions on popular Simcity boards, it seems the greatest hurdle for always-on-play is EA/Origin's reputation - on privacy, and treatment of users. Also, there's the "People want to keep their cities alive for as long as they choose" aspect Ea/Maxis don't seem to get. Probably because the decision-makers have never created a single thing they love in their life. They don't understand why we want our babies to be alive and secure in our own safe-keeping. Achievement/status is NOT the same as Created Cities. If WoW suddenly close shop, people lose their status, an abstract, that's all; but if Ea suddenly decides SimcityMMO is high maintenance and shuts it down (these nasty things happen all the time in MMO), everyone loses actual cities they poured their heart and soul on. Would any companies use 3DSMax cloud storage if the vendor says we own everything you create and will keep/destroy your creations at our whim? Why would people have children, if the government says you can't take your newborn baby out of their nursery, but you are welcome to feed and clothe the baby in their "always on" nursery. This government refuses to comment about burning down many previous nurseries with babies in them. Who knows, some strange people may take to building cities on their neighbor's and government's terms. But most sane human beings and simcity gamers hate people messing with their CREATIONS and babies. Simcity MMO may attract the strangest mix of characters, so best of luck server managers for it's going to be way messier than SimsOnline. There are too many reasons always-on collaborative city-building could go very wrong. That is why Maxis should hedge their bets and market two SEPARATE versions, SIMCITYONLINE2013, and SIMCITY:SANDBOX2013. I have no doubt the latter will get a double digit million pre-orders within a month of announcement. Keeping my fins flapping for Maxis's wisdom...

I am not pre-ordering because it's not the city-building game I want. This game is misleadingly called SimCity. As an MMO it should be called SimUnionsOnline. When they decide to take the enlightened path of adding an uncrippled Simcity:Sandbox2013 standalone version, I will 100% pre-order and get extra copies for my niece and nephew!

“god mode as a pregame-game and great addiction” - totally relate to that sentiment. To moir, God Mode is a must. Or don’t call it Simcity. I still recall that moment I first ran SC4 – the game opens with vast expansive rolling green glittering waters beautiful paradise of God Mode complete with animals and birds and swaying trees of all colors and awesome angelic soundtrack. OMG. THIS is all MINE to shape and mould? I fell in love. Some simple Q&A to enlighten the jaded ones at Maxis: Q: Why was God Mode named GOD mode? A: Once upon a time Maxis creatives understood Simcity Freaks as the ultimate GOD GAMERS. Yes, ultimate, that’s right. Today, however… Q: What are GOD GAMERS? A: Intelligent humans who are obsessed with God games, as in, playing DICTATORIAL GOD in an artificial world, shaping and manipulating everything in it to our heart’s content. The Sims is Sim-Family-god. Spore is Sim-Evolution-god. Simcity is Sim-World-god. Simcity2013 MMO collaboration is not a god game but “Sim-union”, or maybe even Sim-socialists. This is not to say Maxis is not trying to pose as the single dictatorial god in their Sim-Union, and reduce Simcity God Gamers to mere hapless sims to be owned and exploited. Trouble is, god gamers are really not dumbo sims nor “game units”, so the more effective and profitable method is to listen and cater to the wishes of City-building God Gamers. Q: What is so awesome about SC4 God Mode anyway? A: You get to raise mountain, cut cliffs, plunge valleys, shape river curves, make tiered slopes, carve steep hill sides for rails, form calderas, even create Plato’s triple rings of Atlantis. You get to spray on trees, shrubs, beasts, rocks, sand, grass anywhere you want. A truly godly experience, indeed. Q: Is Simcity the only game with so-called God Mode? A: NOOOOPE. Almost every popular MMOs today have God Mode equivalent. Simcity2013 should come complete with this STANDARD, BASIC, MAP-EDITTING FEATURE. Moreover, MAP EDITING is a FUNDAMENTAL part of SIMMING a CITY!! If we God Gamers can’t even terraform (!!!) or spray trees anywhere we like(!!!), don’t call the new game Simcity. Call it Maxis-Sim-Lazy-Unimaginative-Loveless-Subscribers. Q: Any “rational” reason why they would limit God Mode and terraforming? A: False economy of map packs, perhaps. Technically, no justification. Auto-terraforming is a built-in feature of zoning, buildings and roads; the resource math is cheap. For single-play, there’s zero excuse. For MMO, firstly, there is apparently huge terrain gap between microcities and regions; two, city and region border edges could easily be auto-reconciled and smoothed out when exiting/loading or auto-updated at regular time intervals; again, cheap math. EVEN CitiesXL soloplay has this simple yet EFFECTIVE feature of color-coding map areas to shape-able or not. The borders are, of course, highlighted in red as reminder that this area cannot be morphed. No fuss, really. Q: Should Maxis implement this ECONOMICAL and DESIRABLE GOD MODE TERRAFORMING feature? Yes. No brainer. They better. God Mode terraforming was the most addictive SC4 feature before the mod/BAT scene took off years later. The lack of God Mode terraforming alone will alienate 50% of guaranteed customers. Why do that? Oh I forgot, Maxis geniuses are into the concept of engineered deprivation in MMOs - apparently someone told them Simcity hardcores are masochists who enjoy not being fed what they want. In reality, however, it is pointless to deprive SC core gamers of EVERYTHING WE LOVE ABOUT SIMCITY – from terraforming to customizing to saved multiple versions to the most basic gamer’s right: playing the game WHENEVER WHEREVER HOWEVER we want it in our little god fantasies.

I wish Maxis and EA all the best. I've been a sims franchise/ Will Wright fan since Simcity2000 and TheSims2D. I have no qualms with businesses justly and legally seeking profit. Hey I want SC5 to fly high and attract a few million new players to justify SC6 7 8 9 etc. The question though, will SC5 fly high enough? Firstly, I live in one of the most connected cities in the world, have high speed connection, yet I know there are many simcity diehards in my city who do not have MMO level net connection. It makes smart business sense not to put all bet in one basket - especially when this other basket had been a proven success for the past two decades. Some games are great as MMO, some games are meant to be played SOLO. Occasionally, a very special game could be a nice hybrid. My feeling about simcity MMO-ONLY as described thus far: it will more likely go the way of CXL/ Planet Offer... The few Planet Offer early-comers real-estate-grab advantageous spots then soon the few dinosaurs ruled that space. Too bad a comet arrived soon after. Maintaining $ervers for a few big dinosaurs ain't profitable. Without a doubt, everyone who posted on this and other simcity forums wanted CXL, and now SC5 to be a success. Monte Cristo had a potential gold mine, they sort of listened, yet were too smart to HEAR the SIMCITY CORE GAMERS. MMO is not all bad. In balanced COMPETTIVE WIN/LOSE MMO games, player skills and earned merits matter; new comers get a fair go to progress and make the MMO fun and lasting. But, forcing a TYPICALLY-SINGLE-PLAY, WIN/WIN, CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN AS STRATEGY city building game into multiplayer GANG DOMINATION strategy makes the SIM game unnecessarily competitive and worse - ANTI-COMPETITIVE. Early comers form elite gangs, work out MMO quirks, land grab, corner resources, anchor monopoly, grow XXXL size (and often ugly-looking) city regions and then go on cannibalizing spree of smaller newer cities. This makes the game SUCK for newly signed up members, and those who prefer slower growing QUALITATIVE cities. Such city-cannibalizing game certainly attract the pure-muscle pure-number soul-less megalopolis emperor-wannabes. Planet Offer all over again! Or is it The-Fed-opolis all over again? Sometimes you build it, they'll come. Sometimes, they just yawn. Sometimes, even those who came, leave fast and warn others against the trap. The Sims is still not online - because TYPICAL sim home-builders want to be left alone to build homes and manipulate sims, and show off MY SPECIAL homes and MY SPECIAL sims to other TS fans. Simcity cannot go 100% MMO - because the TYPICAL city-builders want to be left alone to tweek the baby to perfection, manipulate sims travel path, and show off MY SPECIAL city to other simcity fans. How many TheSims player gladly permit their TS friends to re-arrange their sim-kitchen-sink? How many typical parents enjoy others rearraNging their newborn's hair, or, face? What is the point, the most important psychological goal, the CORE VALUE OF SIMCITY, Dear Maxis? "MY SPECIAL", is a key but overlooked aspect of gamer psychological achievement, an incomprehensible mystery to the The Suits who are incapable of creating something beautiful and SPECIAL themselves. They sincerely don't get why people much prefer showing off a "my special unique creation" instead of a "greatest most biggest most-powerful-est achievement". To them everything is about "ME and a few ON TOP", not "MY SPECIAL and MANY OTHER SPECIALS so wonderful EVERYBODY WINS". As if the most exciting Sims household sits in the biggest richest neighborhood??? Simfarm Simville Facebook sounds sexier to Suits than boring old organically-grown mod community - the true backbone of all sims franchise success. Reality is...the family and friends who are into Simville could not be bothered with simming traffic or job market or or city ecology or custom their own buildings - they fuss about un-special un-unique farm/ville plots to maintain tie to specific facebook members, to keep "appearing popular". These are not typical gamers, but socialites foremost and ULTRALIGHT gamers last. Even Simcity 3000 is too demanding for this ADHD demographic, imagine SC5 pollution management. Basically, attempt at making SC5 "simville-light" may just..psssss.... Will these popularity-seeking prince/sses suddenly and miraculously abandon their ultralight game/flirting pursuits for one of the driest, most left-right-brain taxing, most time-consuming game of all time, like, mastering the martial art of laying city grids in real-time? Will The Suits ever fathom why "appearing BIGGEST strongest clout-est most powerful-est OWNer of the MOST cities" was NEVER the goal of the diehard fans of Simcity2000, 3000, SC4, even Societies? Still, I want the next Simcity to make it pass first quarter and shine for a long long time! Perhaps it is not about pleasing either multiplayer or soloplayer - the yang/extrovert and the yin/introvert of city-building strategy types. Perhaps Maxis could look into genuine DUALMODE play. By all means control piracy with frequent login verification as per SPORE. But definitely create a SOLO, OFFLINE building mode and make sure yin gamers' hard labor is SAVE-ABLE, and own-able. Call this solo/offline mode INCUBATOR MODE. This should lock in existing SC4 core group plus CXL fans, easily a few millions worthwide. Incubating implies eventual birth into the matrix, a "next" goal. So by all means, have online, multiplayer mode for the yang type gamers. A meritocratic, anti-monopoly, anti-cheating foundation is a must - deeply-conscientious city-builders are far less tolerant of MMO-mismanagement, monetary inflation, or newbie abuse. To entice offline type to join in online, think recent facebook renovation: create TIERED OPEN PARTICIPATION option, like facebook's tiered sharing/privacy option. The yin types get to peep from behind the shell and join in at their own pace. The most basic joining option is, say, "TOURISM" mode: the MMO public get to view/tour that city but have zero control of it. Followed by different "open participation" mode - like facebook wall ("grafitti" mode?) and "open to trade X commodity" mode etc. And, ultimately, "union" mode, which allows deep level manipulation of selected traffic/ building/buysell options of cities of "union members". Like Greece situation, union membership is not permanent. For the competitively-inclined, there are many ways to win in SC5 MMO - top10 satisfied tourist city, top10 happiest simcitizen city, top10 size city, top10 custom house/tower/park/airport/props, top10 cleanest/industrious/tax income/blah city, most proliferative mayor.... In the distant future, perhaps SC13, The Sims players could come to build their "my very special homes" and live inside the fully grown SC MMO world. Why not. I reckon the wishes of SIMCITY CORE GAMERS, the nucleus of SC5 MMO ECOLOGY, need to be catered to for that future to happen. Like most people who could afford to pay monthly sub, my time is precious. Bottomline for me, if the game doesn't have INCUBATOR MODE with solo, offline, save options, I'm out. And if SC5 MMO has the TIERED OPEN PARTICIPATION OPTIONS, I shall venture. AND invite everyone to join. Best of luck to Maxis team regardless. Feedback is appreciated!

I know how challenging it is to run a boutique tech. That's why I can't wait to add to MC 's cashflow by volunteering to pay for the content packs and trains which could be played offline. EA is a big clunky bureaucratic whale, and The Sims3 - despite their witholding of custom tools and apparently overpriced official shops - have sold enough to last a few expansion packs. So don't worry for EA. TS and TS2 have millions and millions are existing fan base with demands inflated by free downloads. Even if their game and biz strategy sucks, MaxisEA will survive and continue to rule. In contrast, what MC, a boutique size game company has for their CXL, is a boutique/niche audience - the long established and very solid SC4 community base. Popular Mods and BATs on Simtropolis easily surpass 6 figures PER download. That's the magic of USER CUSTOMIZATION. There's a ready market of at least 100,000 (or 200000 or more) extra SC4 diehard citybuilding fanatics that can be tapped for INSTANT SALES of CXL. But apparently, every time the SC4 crowd voice out their unmet expectations for CXL, they get told to shut up or go back to SC4. Not very constructive kinda community expanding spirit is it? A few screenshots filled with exciting elevated rail bridges are very effective advertising tool. And if people know that their cities are theirs to own and keep as they wish, CXL sales will explode. Boutique setups should perhaps keep their business strategy and vision in boutique size too. Simplanet MMO is a great idea, but even Rome wasn't built in a day. Perhaps the base community need to be built and expanded on the Offline ground first before venturing into hyperspace? One thing at a time. Think about it. Boutique setup also has the benefit of sensitivity to ground level feedback (or less excuse and to not get it). Respect the simcitybuilding convention, MC wins. We all get what we want!

Originally posted by: Kittani You also run into issues of prime real-estate.... what happens when all the coasts are built on and all the flatlands are eaten up. Now you're stuck trying to build a city in an area you really don't like. Nothing is worse than being pidgeon-holed in an mmo to one small area of play that you really don't care for. (Druids in Everquest come to mind here)quote> Prime real estate grabbing and McMansions killed TheSimsOnline - the other "constuction MMO" game which force players to run around trying to earn power in a pyramid scheme with hyperinflation of currency. Will PO survive prime land monopoly and McCities swallowing up newcomers? I'll wait and see.

Originally posted by: ddhboy From seeing the news and re-watching the trailers from Cities XL, I'll have to say that while I'm not really interested in the Planet Offer, it seems that its the only true way to play the game. Rather than viewing Cities XL as a city builder, it seems as though the designers have created the game to function more as a geo-economic/political simulator with some city building thrown in. quote> Planet Offer is THE Game they release. Singleplayer is just a bait. To newcomers expecting a solo game I say, be realistic, which is, pessimistic about what you gonna get. Planet Offer is like MC's own Simplanet game. While we sim our cities, MC "sim" us via the Planet. They lay network and zone the continents, then we the little people are supposed to move in. For a fee, of course, which is like a property tax. And then, Planet Offer citizens also have to pay the Simplanet mayor for infrastructure. Paying money for work done is not in itself evil. Sims and SC4 players have been spoiled rotten by generous artists for too long. I'm only concerned that even those with money, like myself, aren't interested in moving into this Planet Offer Nothing Much. Right now a few people, namely the "my cities are BIG" type have moved in. Probably because builder type gamers don't like to be forced to open up their homes for public intrusion. Not that hard to understand is it. My city, as a work in progress, is like a home under renovation. Do you like people to come check out your house when you're busy remodelling the windows? I don't mind visiting other people's cities, or allowing others to hang out in my cities. But it should an option. Will the game maker listen? Trading is fine. It is the planet government's job to let people trade REAL goods, like Mods and Custom Content. I also like to be INDEPENDENT whenever I want and not be forced to borrow some electricity from my neighbours. I'm a peaceful sort, I don't enjoy being forced, or enforced upon by a system. I'm an egalitarian sort, I don't enjoy outsizing other people's cities, or being bullied. Like the majority of SC4 players, I want to build nice and inhabitant-friendly cities. I also don't like the idea of RENTING inside somebody else's "planet". If I buy a plot of land (a pc game) and build my HOUSE (the city) I expect to go play in that house/city WHENEVER I LIKE. My cities are MINE. I don't like the idea that my hardwork and creative labor may get a supernova treatment if and when the Planet mayor decides that he isn't collecting enough TAX from the MMO citizens. An MMO operating on 1984 principal will not last even a season. Will the voices of the majority be heard? Or are people fooling themselves? I want this game to grow and last. I don't want another potential good game to shoot themselves in the foot. But it is not up to me. Game company projects come and go. Like economy cycles. Oh well. Good luck to us all..

Hi All, Lots has been said on "why I hate PO", "I refuse to pay monthly fee", "greed is evil" etc. Here, I wish to discuss "what would make me love PO" or "what could Planet Offer offer me to make me want to pay to play"... I'm a practical, win-win sort. It's been obvious to me from the start PO is the actual game; the Single Player version is just a bait so I was prepared for a crippled offline game. Business model and moral debates aside, what truly matters, is a meeting of expectations on both sides. I do wish for CitiesXL team to survive and thrive so that I GET TO HAVE FUN building my towns and cities. So if that means "sponsoring the team monthly" with a movie ticket price per month, hey why not! But however pent-up I am with city-shaping desires, I'm not in love. I won't invest unless certain basic criteria are met. Right now, CitiesXL or PO haven't met these criteria. For most, the bottomline of signing with PO are probably COST, NET AVAILABILITY ISSUE, and FUN FACTOR. I am a working adult and am not involved with other MMO so I could afford $100-200 a year on this fav pc game. Cost is not my issue. Net Availability is an issue. Having broadband account/s at home/work doesn't lead to 24/7 connection. I'm lucky to be living in a first world city with cheap broadband and citywide wifi. Yet like most people I'm still at the mercy of local net traffic, schizo/stingy telcos, unique study/work/home/travelling circumstances. Not knowing if I could play my online cities offline, anytime anywhere I want, I remain uncommitted to the PO idea. But ultimately, what matters the most to me, is, IS THIS WHOLE GAME EXPERIENCE FUN ENOUGH FOR ME TO COMMIT? Well, not really. Since installing CTXL I have built a few cities including a 200000 pop one. Nice curvy roads and amazing freeform zoning tool. Interesting economy logic, handsome bridges. But overall, CitiesXL is equally fun, AND PAIN to play. The PAIN FACTORS in CitiesXL 1. NO BUS/TRAINS/AIRPORT/SEAPORT. Simply, simply shocking. No excuse on this one. Nuff said. 2. CHOPPY NAVIGATION. Lagging madness. Frequently grinds to a halt when laying roads or auto-saving or when scrolling stops. Frustrating even on LOW graphics setting on my advanced 3D gaming optimized machine. 2004 Sims2 and 2009 Sims3 with hi-res trees on High graphics setting have way smoother performance than 2009 CitiesXL. A simple action require 4X amount of time, most of the time. Where's the fun? Major Pain. 3. BORING VISUAL RECOMMENDED "Recommended" low graphics setting means putting up with unsexy grey boxes called cars and bland blurry cubes pretending to be buildings. Simtropolis has proven that in city building games eyecandies are as important as gameplay. Beauty is the emotional aspect of the game. What is the point of having shapely swimming pools and intricate roof motif if 99% of players are "recommended" to be blind to all these visual treats? The lack of trees and spontaneous terrain design also makes the game world feels dry, barren and boring which greatly reduce my emotional investment. 4. NO CUSTOM BUILDINGS. We live in post-SC4, post-Simtropolis, post-The Sims house-builder era. Content packs are nice. Yes we will buy. But like most TheSims and Simcity fans I expect to see my own custom buildings inside my cities. Diversity attracts. Monopoly repels. Nuff said on this one. Basically, these pain factors are cancelling out whatever fun there is. So why would most people be expected to rush to sign up online, just to take on MORE pain, such as the typical MMO phenomenon of incumbent domination, meaningless city size competition, and MORE technical glitches, net unavailibility frustration, and frequent server issues? Still, most of these pain factors can be turned around into FUN factors. Make it people's IDEA of FUN, they'll come. If what users get is more pain than fun, they'll go hang out elsewhere. Very simple. When FUN FACTORS overtake pain factors, I will sign up to PO as a "long term CitiesXL sponsor". FUN FACTORS: 1. Mass transit & trees available 2. Play offline & play online as options 3. All po functionalities (incl special rewards) available offline 4. Ability to play my online city offline 5. Ability to port my offline city online 6. Ability to import 3ds or sketchup models to replace in-game 3d models 7. Smooth navigation in medium graphics setting for average pcs. 8. Implement global customisability - terrain tools, animation on/off, intercity trading on/off, pause/under construction mode when online 9. Show sincere commitment & increase responsiveness to existing customers I'm giving this game some time to meet these expectations before calling it yet another wasted-potential Fail. Meanwhile I entertain the idea that my pent-up city-building desire may still be met by the up and coming Sims3 Custom Neighborhood... To those who could afford monthly sponsorship of CitiesXL team - what would it take for you to sign up to Planet Offer?

Hi there Simburger In response to your point (1)... Not sure if I'm a good writer but hey you're supposed to be play-acting as a city-building game site member. So avoid linguistic snobbery whenever possible. Nuff said nuff said nuff said lalalalala lol Your loyal love for the game and especially the game makers is self-evident...even glaring! To the more detached observers, I'm just a casual on-the-fence half-in-love semi-indifferent gamer, spelling out what I want as clearly as possible, as biased or fair as I see it. To you, however, I represent an imaginary group of "folks like me". Whatever that means. Reread my first post and note that I speak FOR MYSELF AND MYSELF ONLY. Try to avoid kneejerk projections online. It doesn't look good on a chunky burger. 4) "All po functionalities (incl special rewards) available offline". You can't expect this. Incentives make the world go around. It's not unreasonable nor unethical to expect Monte Cristo to retain special perks for PO players - after basic functionality is duplicated in both areas. quote> What? Of course I CAN expect this. This IS THE INCENTIVE for me to sign up...hello? And I'm gonna repeat it here simply because......I CAN??!! I Will Sign Up with PO if all PO functionalities becomes available in offline mode. I Will Sign Up with PO if my online cities becomes playable in offline mode. I Will Sign Up with PO if I get to own and keep all MY online cities in my machine. And don't act surprise about THE DEMAND FOR OFFLINE FULL FUNCTIONALITY - city-builders are not the shoot-them-up gamers. They tend to think and behave more like creative types who CREATE IN SOLITUDE and like to OWN THEIR OWN CREATIONS. This concept should not be too hard for a manager to grasp, right? Look at it this way.... Even if the not-so-shy "ambiverts" like me sign up for PO, it's not because I really enjoy chat boxes on my city screen. It's really A COMPROMISE ON MY PART to support and acknowledge the genius and hardwork of CXL team, feeding their cashflow. My signing up doesn't mean PO is good value, not the way it is anyway. There's not much incentive for me otherwise to go online for all sorts of game design and practical or psychological reasons which I and many other solo types have repeated ten thousand times. Summary - FOR ME TO FEED THE CASHFLOW, ABILITY TO PLAY MY ONLINE CITIES OFFLINE IS A MUST. And for me to become very very active online, there should be OTHERS incentives. Sorry to burst MC's fantasy bubble - but visiting other cities or some landmarks just ain't sexy enough. I suspect ability to trade CUSTOM BUILDINGS and MODS will excite me and "my folks". But that is stuff for another topic. But anyway, since when you've been contracted by MC to speak on their behalf...of what I can or cannot expect from them? Stay in character, please... On a more serious note - yes I can understand where you're coming from. The protests so far are louder than the fireworks and confettis, and the "invested" players will attempt to damage control with lots of trumpeting. The "betrayed" players would tend to go to Amazon or Metacritic and trash the game. But the third type, the less passionate "on the fence" players, like me, will either just wait and see, or attempt to NEGOTIATE. And you know what Simburger? It is my PEROGATIVE to ask for what I want! In fact, I am doing MC a favour, by being PROACTIVE, HONEST and UPFRONT with them. By being ARITICULATE and communicative. Giving them a chance to SATISFY A DEMAND. (if only the in-game city manager are as coherent with their feedback!) OTOH, can't say the same of MC's level of communicativeness or honesty so far, based on their thus far passive-aggressive coersive "BAIT, CRIPPLE & STALL" tactic? But no worries, I'm still giving them a chance. Look... MMO appeals to the Biggest Muscle types. BUT this is NOT a mindless competitive Darwinian muscle game. As a casual city-builder for many years, I would even say the Simcity players are The Most Creative of all Gamers. Creative sorts have more subjective AND occasional privacy needs. Their needs obviously have not been addressed hence all the protests. It is time MC change their passive aggressive strategy a little, in the name of the success of this potential gem? There's no need to panic, dear invested ones. I repeat - the only reason I am posting this, is because I still have LOVE, well, a bit anyway, and still hope for the success of this game and the makers. If this means monthly sponsorship, so be it. But at least - give me what I want! So, TEMPT ME, EXCITE ME, Please!

My perspective is, This game has been launched as a MMO from day one, not because it is a suitable genre for such a venture, nor because it's a passionate dream of its maker, but a company cashflow decision. The deliberately crippled Single Player version will not likely be attended to, at least in the short run. My point is, when it comes to evaluating an MMO game, we should include the new elements of (1) game company server quality and (2) on-going customer service, as part of the "game experience". So basically, this is an evaluation of PO. Pros Curved roads (though Sims3 has that too) Nice Bridges Brilliant free form zoning tool Quick response to changes Economy model such as Hi-tech symbiosis with Recycling Visiting other player's famous cities in 3D without having to install them Cons Overall super VAGUE feedback in the game (simply scream distress but don't offer specificity of solution) Inefficient programming leads to extreme choppiness which requires constant game restart Passive aggressive sales tactic (if they want us to sponsor them on a monthly basis, just say so upfront) No Custom Buildings (unjustified fear of competition with official content packs) Players do not get to play their own online cities offline with all PO functionalities intact (forcing people to stay online) Players do not get to OWN and KEEP their (online) cities (daylight robbery of intellectual property) Player's online cities are owned therefore HELD RANSOM by The MMO Server Owner (Very Omnicorp)

All excellent points. The current feedback mechanism can be more SPECIFIC and STATISTICAL. If they are deliberately playing coy, it is not cute. Busy mayors need direct, statistical feedback from the ground. What are the ministers and public servants for otherwise? Originally posted by: ice444 They need to make some improvements (i have subscribed for 3 months). 1 - Fix the trade in solo mode - if solo mode is fixed more than likely people will then subscribe! 2 - Fix pollution - I understand it was designed this way, however it is annoying - implement parks or something that can fight it! 3 - Fix the numbers - Tell us exactly how much electricity we need etc. - not that we need some! 4 - Implement mass transit sooner rather than laterquote> As to the topic: I am holding back my involvement with this game until the game makers LISTEN TO WHAT CASUAL GAMERS WANT. Simply because at the rate they are witholding basic essentials, and pushing their passive aggressive business model, and thus pissing off a lot of people, I am not too optimisitic about the future of this MMO. It does seem like both the game itself and its designer have FEEDBACK RESPONSIVENESS ISSUE. PR, or good form, doesn't seem to be their forte. This kind of attitude might work for testosterone type MMO crowd, but hello, this is much more civilised, artistic, creative gods sort of crowd. Adapt or perish. MMO needs large headcount to make it work. Right now they only manage to appeal to the Darwinian sort who build large cities simply because they were there first. This kind of incumbent-biased system make it unattractive for newcomers. I speak as a betatester of Simsonline. If I wanted to become a fulltime MMO worldbuilder I would've joined SecondLife long ago. I have no issue with paying for value. But my time is precious. I also prefer my cities being mine to OWN, inside my computer. If I cannot take a PO city OFFLINE so that I can play it if and when I want to with all the functionalities intact, PO is meaningless to me.

To Jeremy - Pain Factors #1: Stand corrected. Point remains - No Bus, No Trains, No Planet Offer members, NO GAME. Pain Factors #3: It is obvious 99% is non-scientific conjecture but your guestimate of the real figure is as good as mine. And unless you're a psychic you won't know how advanced my video card or multicore or 3D skill are so quit the condescending presumptuous non-advice of 'update video card'. For indepth discussion of the VERY REAL CHOPPINESS ISSUE (even on HIGH END machines) see these threads. The ever increasing list of bugs Very very choppy game play Point remains - No SMOOTH play, No Fun, No Planet Offer members, NO GAME. A REMINDER to those who have signed up for PO as is: listen up - a few hundred players will not sustain the survival of a MMO. So if you want this game to survive so that you too get to play, let other people voice their viewpoint. Yes, even the casual gamers with 16 month old machines are MC customers too. Just like the disenfranchised but still useful to the economy underdogs in your cities. Read: ECOLOGY. Citybuilding MMO is not like your shoot-them-up MMO. In PO, you need OTHER PEOPLE. The more the merrier. Darwinian cowboy-town last-man-standing attitude = quick PO membership population reduction = QUICK NATURAL DEATH OF MMO PLANET. So the typical MMO cowboys better brush up on the communal spirit and people skill. Bottomline: If these COMMON issues are not addressed SOON, CitiesXL or PO = FAIL. Like I mentioned earlier, even the stubborn EA is launching their 3D Create-A-World program end of the year to boost Sims3 sales. This is really not the only city-creation game in town - as much as I wish it was the dream game, it remains a 50% pain 50% fun to play. To Asheroo - I relate to your sentiment of solo player. I would venture to guestimate that most Simcity fans are soloist "Creator sort" and non-competitive (as opposed to the competitive my city is bigger than your city Darwinians) by nature. That said I am what they call an "ambivert" - both introvert and extrovert. I will probably enjoy the visit other player cities aspect too. Like virtual tourism. My main point is Monte Cristo's CitiesXL team needs to get their act together, FIX THE OBVIOUS ISSUES, before I want to get EMOTIONALLY and FINANCIALLY involved in this game, or...move on to other more fun offerings. My time is precious too. Why waste time if it is not going to get better as in more fun from here? As budget or subscription fee is not an issue for me and some others, I do wish to hear what other willing payees have to say. What they want for their money and TIME involvement. So back to the TOPIC AT HAND addressed specifically to those who has the $$budget$$ but not signing up for other reasons - What Would It Take for You to commit to Planet Offer?