Dublin Northsider

The issue would be for those who have no stable internet connection. "Always online" might be normal for those who live in the USA but I live in Ireland and I experience a "no signal" two or three times a month and sometimes it takes half a day to get my Internet back and especially then I am happy that I still have games to play. My parents in a different town have a different ISP and the same issue. Speaking about my parents, if I go there I go by train and take my laptop with me. With a permanent connection required I can not play this game on the train with my laptop (I could not play SC4 either because my laptop is not powerful enough but I plan to buy a new one soon). Also not only your PC needs to be online but also the Origin server. If there is a server maintenance or outage at Origin we can all not play. Or if the server is overloaded. And as soon the game is no longer supported you can throw it away. SC4 was released 2003 and I still play it now because I still like it. But if Origin stops supporting SC2013 and they switch off the server for it you can no longer play it whether you still like it or not. Same will happen if Origin goes bankrupt or ceases to exist for any other reason.

So where is the catch ? I read it will support modding. I read it supports multiplayer as well as offline solo player mode. I read it is not supposed to be a fancy basic game for beginners but a complex city building simulation. I hear regional interaction will be much more intense so you can even have a "university city", a "power city", a "bluecollar city" etc. I hear all citizens have a dedicated job somewhere so you can track them and they come to you with petitions. I read there is a German/French/UK styly architecture available separately. I hear so much good stuff so where is the catch with this ? Typically as soon a new game is announced I have high hopes and the more details, screenshots, comments etc I hear/see the more disappointed I am. But here with each article I read I get more and more exited. The only drawback so far is that I still have to wait a year.

I would pay the 65 quid (78 Euro) but I'd like to have a demo first. If it is a really good game with deep management of all aspects to build a city with realistic challenges I am happy to pay as much as I would pay for two average games. If it is really good and it will entertain me well for years I would not say no just because it is 30 quid more expensive than I would have planned. Without a demo I would be reluctant to pay something in the range of 65 quid.

My biggest wish is : Please do not change too much, SC4 is pretty cool already; it is a success so take that and see where it can be improved. The graphics are good enough for me, the best buildings come from the community so another big wish is "mod-able" In general, I'd like to see a deep gameplay (transporting, ordinances, education system etc) rather than fancy graphics What can be improved from SC4 : - better access to other cities. Maybe have the regional button in the city screen already to swap between ciies or have the region on the city level (if that does not kill the computer resources) - better interaction with other cities. Add cities for an accumulated tax income but then also have cities which have a big power plant for the region or the big international airport which serves the entire region - no "radius" for police, fire service, schools etc. The service quality should be calculated by good access through a road network not just tile distance - cars should not "disappear", have them go from A to B - try to implement more politics, also on regional level, let me choose my advisors from a range of citizens - global demands for certain resources (and you make sure your city produces them) - have some customised settings in the beginning (climate/weather, tourist magnet, european/US theme) - optional earlier start date (maybe with 2013 as default with modern buildings which stay the same but optional start date 1900 with old style buildings/cars which develop over the years - optional : new citizens by immigrations waves or birth only, not just appearing as soon a building is built - longer lasting buildings and construction times (not just "plop-a-3-mile-long-bridge-within-a-day")