Xenocity

Exactly. This game is the closest we have to a realistic simulator. Though it still has minor issues none the less. I mean Simcity 3000 Unlimited was the only Simcity game to date to be bug free. The original Simcity 3000 went unpatched though it had very few bugs. At least this game has decent pathfinding for traffic that doesn't require somone to make a NAM for it. It also lacks the 1 billion money bug that causes you to lose all of your money when you hit 1 billion (it's in Simcity 4). Lastly it lacks a huge memory leak that plagues all the Cities XL games rendering each game in the XL series to crash after ~1 hour (longer if you have more RAM).

I know. They probably couldn't get it to work in time. Hopefully they'll patch it in later.

The difference here is a game or most software for that matter takes a sizable team of people and years of time to produce. Sure if someone could spend countless years developing a game on their own, but that hasn't happened since Tetris in the 1980s. But that is highly unrealistic to expect someone to produce a simulator game solely on thier own. Though they'd probably get sued and shut down for violating patents and copyrights (it happens frequently for indie developers in gaming) Or they will probably have their games ripped off by the very publishers they've teamed up with (this happens way too much, especially with Ubisoft and the creator of Tetris though that was a special case regarding the collapse of the USSR) We are talking software in this thread, especially why Maxis didn't produce a successor to Simcity 4 and why they do what they do. That is obviously driven by market forces and sales. Is Simcity 4 a failure? Economically Yes! Modders/diehard fans view, No. is Mac OSX a failure? PC industry says yes due to low market share (Windows holds 85%+ market share)! Developers say yes (It has less software than Windows). Apple says no (it makes them a decent profit). Is iOS a failure? It depends on who you talk to (Android holds 70%+ of the global market share). Is Playstation Vita a success? Gamers, media, investors, developers all say Yes! Vita owners say No. Sony refuses to comment. All products are defined by market performance, profit, and support. Every game has its hardcore/diehard fans, there's nothing wrong with that. There is an issue when they constantly go about how the company/developer has screwed them over, abandoned them, etc... while lashing out publicly about it, and going after those who disagree with them. Right now see Smash Bros. fans lashing out at Nintendo about the game mechanics of the new game that is due out this year. Or see Final Fantasy fans fighting over the FFXIII trilogy. Or Sonic fans arguing over whether or not Sonic Lost Worlds (Wii U) is a good game (I like the game). I mean I own both Simcity 2013 and Simcity 4, I have spent 100s of hours on both. Granted Simcity 2013 gets the benefit for being installed on OSX (I can also run it in the background without it locking up), while Simcity 4 is on my Windows partition. Though to be fair I spend most of my gaming time on my 3DS, while my computer and console games rarely get played (I do need to clear my backlog). ... Obviously I lost my train thought.

The lack of funding and sales. Development costs have gone through the roof these days while gaming sales have consolidated around the popular titles while everything that once occupid the middle including titles like Simcity don't sell enough anymore to justify the budget. Marketing costs have also increased in signficantly. Lastly Most major retailers in the U.S. and EU will only stock games that are likely to sell in the millions and make them a siginficant product. If you want a retailer like Walmart, Best Buy, Toysrus, Asda (UK), Tesco (UK), and others to stock lesser selling product you have to pay them enough to ensure a decent profit. Retailers do not stock products for free anymore and they require you to pay seperate fee for them to promote it in their ads or in store. This is why most lower selling games get very little shelf space (like 3-5 copies per high traffic store). Most aren't even sold instore these days due to how low selling they are. That's why we are forced to buy them digitally or online (if you want a physical copy). Nintendo had to cut retailers to get certain 3rd party titles they publish such as Monster Hunter 3 and 3U, Dragon Quest XI and VI, Newly released Bravely Default (You should own this, if you own a 3DS). Nintendo also had to give retailers a greater margin to get their lesser selling titles stocked. Retailer cut: Right now a publishers/developers only makes $15-$20 on good and high selling $50 - $60 games that are stocked at retailers. Publishers/developers make ~$5 - $10 or so on each lesser selling title the $50 - $60 games stocked at retailers. Publishers/developers makes ~$10 - $15 on good and high selling $30 - $40 games stocked at retailers. Publishers/developers makes <$7 on each lesser selling $30 - $40 games stocked at retailers. Publishers/developers makes <$5 on every game priced less than $30. Retailers take upwards of half of the price of every game sold, more if you do in store promotions and store ads. Retailers also require most publishers/developers to buy back unsold copies at a retailer set price (normally at profit for the retailers). The rest of the money goes to print, marketing, distribution costs. Digital on the other hand: Apple, Google, Steam, Origin and Nintendo (eShops not Wii Shop Channel) takes 30% of total sales (includes DLC and Microtransactions of 3rd party game and apps. XBLA and PSN take ~40% for the most part, there are special rules regarding DLC and Microtransactions Obviously EA gets 100% of all revenue for their stuff on Origin Online Retailers (including websites of established retailers) still take a bigger percentage than the above mentioned platforms. Add this on top of millions of dollars required to develop non indie and Nintendo titles (Nintendo's most expensive game to date cost $3 Million to make), it has become very expensive to sell a game. This is why games need to sell upwards of 5 million to breakeven. Most publishers and investors are not willing to fund titles unless they make huge profits. @Softcoregamer Simcity 4 isn't doing well in from a business stand point because it hasn't sell enough to cover the development costs after 10 years on the market. It is good for those dedicated fans, who still play Simcity 4 on a regular basis. Rush Hour expansion pack sold only a few hundred thousand overall, which is awful for any expansion pack in a major series. Maxisi received the message that most weren't interested in more expansion packs. EA/Maxis got the message loud and clear via market research, gaming press and gaming forums when they decided the future of the franchise. What it all told them was, Gamers wanted a more "HARDCORE" Simcity that fit with their other games and was less complicated to play. Believe it or not complicated games have traditionally been rejected by the market. I know it is hard for you to believe that developers and publishers use market research to make their games. Simcity 4 would have sold even worse if it was released today because frankly it doesn't appeal to most gamers or the mass market. Simcity 4 like Simcity 2000, appeals to diehard simulation fans not hardcore or core gamers. China since the 1980s has banned most computer and video games including all video game systems. Simcity, Pokemon, WoW, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy and most others are currently still banned in Mainland China (Hong Kong is the special exception due to a 47 year treaty provision with the UK beginning in 1999) If China does approve Simcity for sale in China, EA would have alter the game to meet their demands and find a local company who is willing to sell and market the product as their own product instead of a EA product due to Chinese gaming regulations. EA would then have to split the profits which is around 40% with said Chinese company also due to regulations. Something similar would also have to be done in Brazil, India, Russia and other emerging markets to warrant a full fledged release. I know it is hard for most Westerners to understand that many countries have these kinds of regulations. This is why most gaming companies avoid China, Russia, and other countries. Not to mention it is quite hard to find a retailer willing to stock your products in these countries. Many of you need to realize the realities of the current market. Most games are bombing regardless of the genre, rating, publisher, developer, status etc... Most developers have gone out of business as the industry is consolidating around a handful of developers/publishers. Within the next few years we will literally be left with 10 or less major gaming companies. Since this past December the following developers have gone out of business/acquired or have experienced massive layoffs: Irrational Games closed last week for good (makers of Bioshock series). Nearly everyone was laid off due to the lastest installment of Bioshock not selling enough even at ~2 million. Atlus/Index was bought out by Sega due to Index going bankrupt. (Index was the parent company of Atlus) Sega has laid off more people as they have continued to merge and shutter developers Sony forced Sony Santa Monica to lay off 1/4th of their total staff due to low sales of God of War: Ascension (they make mainly God of War games) Zynga is heading into bankruptcy due to huge losses eating up their cash reserves. EA has been restructuring again since the new CEO took over. This has been leading to shuttering of studios and layoffs. Amazon bought Double Helix who was making the New killer Instinct and Strider As for Maxis: Maxis was unable to make enough money off their games and other products to stay in business. Maxis went bankrupt in 1995. Maxis was forced to find a buyer or completely liquidate within a year. Maxis went to every major gaming company looking for a buyout. Every major gaming company turned them down including Activision and Nintendo Maxis turned to EA for a buyout EA said yes and completed the buyout in 1997 EA allowed Maxis to make Simcity 3000 and Simcity 4 Simcity 4 didn't sell enough to break even. Maxis made The Sims, which became EA's best selling game ever! Maxis made Spore, though it didn't sell enough to turn a profit Maxis then made Darkspore, that bombed even worse EA was forced to consolidate and restructure Maxis Maxis also produced The Sims expansion pack and The Sims 2. Maxis was unable to complete The Sims 3 in a timely manner, so EA made The Sims Studio to handle the development. After restructuring was finished, Maxis was allowed to make Simcity 2013 and The Sims 4. Simcity 2013 was literally Maxis last chance at making a mainline Simcity title. Will Simcity 2013 be a big enough success to save Simcity? The coming months will tell. Honestly I don't think Simcity 2013 will be a big enough success to save the franchise. I also don't believe anyone can make a city simulator that can succed in today's market. This is due to combination of high develompent costs, changing market tastes, rapidly dropping prices, and impatient investors. Hell EA couldn't even get Simcity Social which was made to compete against Farmville and such to gain market share. The 4 best selling Simcity games since Simcity 3000U are: Simcity/Simcity Deluxe - modified port of Simcity 3000U (iOS/Android) Simcity (SNES version - Wii VC release) Simcity Creator DS - modified port of Simcity 3000U (DS) Simcity Creator Wii - a 3D reimagining of the original with added features from other games (Developed by Hudson released on Wii) The one thing these all had in common was they released for less than $30, with the iOS/Android version launching at $5. If Maxis can find a way to make a full Simcity game with modern graphics and sell it for less than $30 at launch, it would stand a good fighting chance at succeededing. Though to be fair most people aren't willing to spend more than $20 including most gamers on new games. The day of people spending $35+ per new titles has ended. Over the next 3-5 years gaming will consist mainly of: Shooters Sports games Action/adventure games Racers Platformers Big Budget RPGs. These are the genres that bring in the majority of sales. Developers will be very unlikely to produce anything else due to the sheer lack of profit and publisher and retailer support. Retailers will be very reluctant to stock anything that isn't a decent money maker. Publishers won't fund or distribute a game that isn't garuanteed to sell well enough to chart and make a front loaded profit. Mobile gaming is currently a bubble waiting to pop as most games struggle to get enough sales to breakeven. Very few mobile games make the huge profits we keep reading about. Casual games such as Simcity series (it is labeled casual if you like it or not by the mass market), mini games, licensed games (most of them anwyays), fitness games, music games, digital board and puzzle games, strategy games, simulation games, etc... (these all make up the casual label) are seeing customers rejecting and/or ingoring the games. Since nearly everyone on this site including me and you fit the definition of casual gamers, will be forced to adapt our tastes to this new market or run out of new games to buy and play. Personally I'm spending less and less money each passing year on due to the changing and consolidating market, so I shouldn't complain to much. Short version: Gaming is rapidly consolidating around major selling titles and indie games. The majority of the major selling titles are hardcore games such as Call of Duty, GTA, Assassins Creed, FIFA, and Madden. Getting funding to make a game is based on sales potentional Getting retailer support is based on sales potentional Retailers have started to allocate most of their gaming shelf space to major selling titles making it harder to get your games stocked Retailers make you pay to stock lesser titles. Those who hate major selling hardcore titles are having less games to buy each year.

@Softcoregamer Simcity 2013 has literally nothing in common with farmville outside of the online only aspect. Simcity 2013 has more in common with today's hardcore games such as World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, Skyrim, and other MMOs. All of these have: Achievements Online multplayer Paid DLC Free DLC Free Maps from time to time Messaging system If anything Simcity 2013 is the successor to Simcity 2000 Network Editiont (the first online Simcity) Simcity 2013 has good sales to show for it along with good player activity as reported in each EA quarterly report since game launched. Simcity 2013 has been selling well enough to chart around the world, Simcity 3000 was the only other Simcity game to do so. Simcity's future is etiher as an MMO (with offline play mode) or a shrunk down title that matches Simcity 3000. There just isn't enough sales to support a full fledge Simcity 4 type game (Simcity 4 failed to chart around the world and saw a quick price drop) Maxis learned the hard way with their bankruptcy as an independent company, which forced them to accept an EA buyout to stay in business (EA was the only company willing to buy Maxis) Ultimately The Sims sales is why Maxis still allowed to produce the games they want. I hate to say it but sales dictate the outcome of a business

@SoftcoreGamer Contextual hardcore and literal hardcore are two different definitions. Current hardcore gaming is nearly identical to the definition of hardcore music Oxford Dictionary (the Non American English Dictionary) defines Hardcore in terms of Music as: Popular music that is experimental in nature and typically characterized by high volume and aggressive presentation. If we replaced music with video games it would define current gaming as well (First Person shooters are the youngest genre in gaming currently and are still considered to be in experimental stage) Hardcore gamer is a dynamic term as in it changes over time. Hardcore Gamer by video game generations: 1980-1993: Platformers/Arcade games 1994-2000:RPGs/Fighting games 2000-2006:RPGs/Shooters/EA sports 2006+: Shooters/violent games/Sports. 1993/1994 is when Mortal Kombat became widely popular in the West along side RPGs. 1997 is when FFVII came out with its dark dystopian theme ~2000 is when EA sports became the juggernaut we all hate. 2001 is when GTA became popular with the launch of GTA 3 in full open world 3D. 2004 is when Halo 2 came out launching online shooters into the mainstream 2006 is when Call of Duty became the biggest franchise in gaming behind Mario Kart and Pokemon in terms of sales. Hardcore Gamer (as definied by the industry, media, market research and tracking firms): Male 15-35 who plays violent games, shooters, sports games, and games with M rating and maybe T rating. This determines what games developers make and market. Casual Gamer (as definied by the industry, media, market research and tracking firms): Those who don't fit into the current definition of Hardcore Gamer. Gaming Demographics: The below graph show gaming demographics on iOS, which surprisingly (or not) mirrors the demographics of console and PC gaming. This graph hasn't changed in almost 3 years with each year and month looking the same. (Handhelds including 3DS and Vita are generally ignored by hardcore gamers) Region III is the hardcore gamer demographic (Males 15-35) The only new addition is card battling into the hardcore demographic (probably due to the fact that iPhones just launched a few months ago in SE Asia) All other regions are casual/nerdy/kiddy/soccer moms etc... as in not hardcore. Where does Simcity fall in this graph? It is in Region IV. Now you might be highly shocked that women are the biggest buyers of Simulation games (not just the The Sims series but also Simcity). This also applies for PC and console gaming as well! Also anyone who is interested in gaming should read this article from NPR. http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/11/29/246747168/hard-core-and-casual-gamers-play-in-different-worlds It talks about hardcore vs. casual gaming and it is from Nov. 22nd 2013 (the launch week of PS4 and Xbox One) Industry shift: How did hardcore gaming becoming violence and shooters for the most part? Well many of those kids in the mid 1990s who were hardcore gamers, grew up and became today's developers. They were the kids in the 1990s who whined about their games being too kiddy, and/or E-rated (part of that time it was K-A before it was replaced with E). They also bemoaned the lack of violence in their games as well. They decided to remake gaming into what they wanted it to be.... which was violent and M rated. Then 2007 occured.... Console sales in Japan shifted to handhelds and to a lesser extent Wii. The Japanese industry outside of Nintendo imploded upon themselves with due to stupid decisions regarding HD transition (it caught up with Nintendo in 2013) The PC developers shifted to console development (most were based in the U.S. and made shooters). The PC and console market became American focused due to the U.S. generating most of the sales. Mid tier developer went out of business due to a lack of sales and inability to address the American tastes. These countries make up the biggest market for PC and Console games: U.S. UK Ireland Canada Australia New Zeland These six countries account for over 60% of the total PC and console gaming market. They also share the same tastes as the U.S. What makes the hardcore aka violent gamers so important? They spend more money by far on gaming than everyone else put together (digital games not counted, DLC is). They are also more loyal and accepting than everyone else. Simcity: ($ don't represent an acutal amount of money below, they just illustrate the point) Simcity 1 (includes Expansion packs) Development costs: $ Total revenue from sales: $$$$$ Profit: $$$$ Simcity 2000 (includes Expansion packs) Development costs: $$ Total revenue from sales: $$$$$$ Profit: $$$$ Simcity 3000/3000U Development costs: $$$ Total revenue from sales: $$$$$$$$ Profit: $$$$$ Simcity 4 (includes Expansion pack) Development costs: $$$$$$ Total revenue from sales: $$$$ Total revenue from RH:$ Loss: $ Simcity 2013 (includes Expansion pack and DLC) Development costs: $$$$$$$ Total revenue from sales: $$$$$$$ Total revenue from CoT: $ Total revenue from DLC: $ Profit: $$ and counting To date Simcity 2013 is the second best selling mainline Simcity behind Simcity 3000/3000U. According to EA sales are steady and user activity is still quite high for Simcity 2013. Why did EA/Maxis decided to chase the hardcore gamer with Simcity 2013? Development costs have increased expontentially over the past decade. Simulation games are expensive to make due to the simulation engine. Sadly Simulation (it is one of my favorite genre of games) doesn't sell well enough to justify the costs for the most part. Simcity 4 sadly didn't sell enough to breakeven. Rush Hour sold even less forcing Maxis to cancel the other expansion packs that were in development. Current state of the gaming industy as a whole: The only developers who are currenlty profitable are Take-Two (due to GTAV), Activision (due to Call of Duty and Blizzard games), Ubisoft (due to Assassins Creed), Capcom (due to Monster Hunter 4), and Epic (due to Microsoft buying Gears of War franchise) In today's industry most PC and console games need to sell between 3-5 million to breakeven due to development costs. It is very hard to meet this mark without getting today's hardcore gamers on board. TL;DR version: Males 15-35 = hardcore gamers = violent video games and shooters = 60%+ of total money spent on PC and video games worldwide Development costs went through the roof Games need to sell at least 3 million to breakeven for the most part Developers are part of today's hardcore gaming demographic Games targeted at today's hardcore gamers are most likely to turn a profit. Hardcore gaming changes every generation or two. In the end just play what you want regardless of labels (provided those games are still being made).

I agree with most of this. Though it doesn't take me 15 minutes, in part due to me playing on Europe West server at night here in the U.S to load a city. I've been playing Maxis games for 20 years now and nearly all their games, especially Simcity games have always been incomplete/buggy/broken at release until about 3rd year on the market due to patching and/or modding of some sort. Though I have played Simcity 2013 for ~200 hours (It would be higher if I wasn't as busy as I am today) and my only major complaint left is how broken the commuting student are after 9 updates. A few minor issues are: Utilities sharing Communting shoppers and workers Tourists These three need some minor tweaking, but they don't do anything serious to my cities just some minor annoyances. Maxis made it a point to make this game a realistic simulation as they feasibly could based on market research and feedback. Once you get used to how realistic the simulator is, the game much easier to understand and enjoy. With the expasion pack added in, I enjoy this game almost as much as I did Simcity 2000 (Saturn version, it had futuristic buildings) which was my second favorite Simcity behind 3000U (This obviously is my favorite Simcity title)

I'm viewing the forums right now in my other Fire Fox tab on my Mac. They maybe temporarily blocked by your ISP due to the Simcity forums experiencing recent attacks and issues. It's most likely your ISP is blocking you (EA would just ban your account, not your IP).

I agree. Only time will tell.

Calling it great is a little over the top. i think it's a good game that still needs a few patches. Though this is the case with literally every game Maxis has ever made.

$ Residential buildings hold more people than $$R and $$$R $$$ R holds the least amount of people. As your city develops into a $$/$$$ Residental city, your population will readjust if not shrink some.

Yes you save your cities locally if you create/play them in offline mode. Doesn't the ESRB have some disclaimer about Internet-connected games and how they can change? And does this mean I can't make a sketchy district full of bars, strip clubs, and adult novelty stores? Yes they do. The disclaimer: includes online features that may expose players to unrated user-generated content (Macintosh, Windows PC) http://www.esrb.org/ratings/search.jsp EA is also required to tell you that an online connection is needed to play the game and that online aspects are subject to change. It is on the physical box, the product description at retail, and on origin.

Well to be fair vast majority of those who bought Simcity 4 were turned off by all the peformance issues at launch including the pathfinding that caused massive zone abandonment. Rush Hour also tanked in sales, thus a large portion of people didn't get the patches included with Rush Hour. My step cousin told me when he was over on Thanksgiving, He has never touched another Simcity after Simcity 4 at launch due to all the issues he experienced. He vowed never to support Maxis after that. (this is coming from a computer engineer). My first memory with Simcity was the Nintendo co-developed version of Simcity on SNES. I still play it to this day. I was captivated and annoyed by Dr. Wright always getting on my case. I also remember "Brownouts build another powerplant!" message wondering when and where they were going to build said powerplant (I was young at the time). Then I played the PC version shortly afterward wondering where the special buildings were... Simcity 2000 blew my mind when I powered it up on My Sega Saturn. I went crazy when 2050 came and my city turned futuristic. I loved the futuristic cities. Oh the moment when the arcos blasted off and the cutscene played...! Sadly I was never able to balance the budget. Also DAMN the city council to hell always passing ordinances, costing me money. Oh I played the PC version at my cousins and realized my Saturn version was vastly superior. Simcity 3000 I had to convince my grandmother to buy it for my cousin and I. We had to wait all day for my uncle's internet connection to download the updated drives to play the game. Then next year Simcity 3000U came out and I was furious. Though I bought it ad enjoyed. It was the only Simcity I played that didn't have any glitches. Simcity 4.... I bought the Deluxe version in late 2003 on sale for Christmas. I installed it, then experienced crash after crash. I bought a new computer the following year with my HS graduation money, and it played a tad better. Now in 2013 and numerous mods later the game finally is playable for the most part. My one city still has 1/4th of the city being infected with disease despite having 6 hospitals in that area. Yet the Sims will not visit any of the hospitals. Simcity 2013.... After 9 patches and 1 EP, I am enjoying the game. Granted it still needs some fixing, especially the commuting students. I will easily pass 400hrs+ with this game.

I highly doubt it. Simcity 2000 had the highest amount of versions and expansions out of all the Simcity games at 10 ( 4 expansions and 6 console versions each having different features) Simcity 1 had 4 expansion packs Simcity 3000 had an ultimate version Simcity 4 had Rush Hour, though the other expansion packs were canceled due to low sales of Rush Hour and Simcity 4. Rumors are swirling on other sites including Neogaf that Cities of Tomorrow sold badly as did the DLC. Also Sims 3 has 11 expansion packs not 15. This is also one more than Sims 2. There are 9 furniture packs, though you can buy the items individually on the Sims 3 store (Sims 2 had furniture packs as well). The reason why the Sims gets more DLC and expansion packs than Simcity is because the Sims fanbase buys them. Simcity expansion packs and DLC tend to sell badly. Honestly I'd expect at least one more expansion pack before Maxis lets the modding community take over. I think I said something similar about SimCity having a lot of expansion packs. I mean there is a new Sims game coming out soon so they can just use the same ideas in the expansion packs for both games. They already did this with Sims 3. Both Sims 3 and SimCity (CoT) had a futuristic expansion pack developed the same time. I also said that an offline mode will be the end of expansion packs for SimCity. I could be wrong about both (probably am), but neither have proven false so far (even though only one could be true at the same time now). I am however very positive that there will be a sequel to this SimCity, but it won't be anytime soon and can't wait to see all the mods for this SimCity either. I used them before they were "ok" to use and especially like the recent mods that came out on this site (I haven't really checked other websites yet though). I would love at least one more expansion pack, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't happen. With Investors taking over the company and refocusing the company on profitable high selling titles, you'll be lucky to see Maxis produce a title that isn't a Sims game. The very harsh truth is, simulation games just aren't popular enough to justify the development. Game development these days is extremely expensive and games need to have mainstream focus and content in order to sell well. Simulation games lack that unless they are Animal Crossing (Which is the only simulation game to sell well). NPD reported the December sales results and total year results for the top 10 video and computer games for the U.S. (which is the biggest market for both video and computer games). If you think U.S. has bad taste, the UK, Canada, AUS share the same tastes as well. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=752867 You can read NPD leaks at Neogaf (Many of their members have access to the numbers). The Yearly top 10, December and November top 10 (both December and November are the two highest selling months) have had the same titles in the top 10 since 2011 (that being Call of Duty, EA sports, 2k sports, shooters, etc...)

Pretty much. What they set out to do was to catch the casual, facebook type gamers. That is a group with a short attention span, and yes, they probably all left to do their own thing within a couple months. Everything about this was a fiasco in that regards. They blew that chance big time and got hammered for it. All that's left are the hardcore fans, who now have to decide if they will give EA/Maxis a chance as they slink int he backdoor promising to mend their ways. You know simulation genre of gaming is classified as casual based on market data over the past decade. Simcity is the flagship title of this genre and has always been labeled as a casual and kiddy game. Most of the hardcore Simcity fans are casual gamers including most posters on this site, thanks to the definition of what casual gamers and games are. So please learn the official definitions of what casual games and gamers are this day in age. (I can repost the graph showing where each gaming genre falls and who plays them.) At EA's last quarterly earnings report showed the majority of players were still regulary playing the game. This is partially true, but it's too polarizing. For example, do you think X-Plane is a game geared towards casual gamers? It is impossible for a simulation game to be hardcore due to the very fundamentals of game design and content. I've posted the graph before that shows what genres are hardcore and which are casual. Simulation games are on the casual side. Even if the everyone who owned the game as happy as a lark with the game, it would not quell the even greater amount of people who hate the fact this game is online and is not a 3D remake of Simcity 4 .... blah,blah,blah I do not see where the whole text of the post which is certainly useless to the topic has to do with what quoted? Furthermore the fact of writing about what it not knows and then edit to suppress the own mistake cited by others, without justified, leaves the impression of someone that wants never be wrong It would be nice also avoid comments like "So please learn ..." because no one needs to be interested for the same subjects in that other someone else loses their time I think the basic basic question here is whether the availability of offline mode will bring more interest for modding which does not seem very likely. First off my post showed how EA is one of the best publishers in the industry and how worse their competitors are in comparison. Seriously many people who regularly post on this site and hate on this game don't know the official definitions of hardcore and casual game and gamers. Those who misuse the words need to be set straight. Lastly nearly everyone who posts on this site are casual gamers even though they don't realize they fit the definition and claim to be hardcore gamers. Market data doesn't lie!!! I don't think this game was going to do good, no matter who published it. There are just some games that don't need multiplayer. Im not too sure Bethesda got a free pass. A lot of people bitched about how broken Skyrim was, and rightly so. Its part of the reason I tried it, but never bought it. Also, D3 had launch issues for 1-2 days for most people. Some did have issues for longer, but it was nothing like sc2013. Had Maxis/EA made this a 3d sc4, it would have been the first EA game I bought years. I think the problem is EA did no realize that SimCity fans tend to not be your average "sheep" gamer that just buys what everyone else is buying. They tend to be a bit smarter (it is a simulator and building series after all) and way more particular. Despite what Simcity 4 fans believe, Simcity 4 is labeled a kiddy and casual game. Why? 1) it's the genre 2) it requires huge amount of time to play 3) lacks certain types of gameplay 4) lacks DLC 5) lacks online modes 6) lacks achievements 7) lacks multiplayer the kiddie graphics Also you do realize the things you claim make Simcity fans better consumers are many of points the industry claims are those of casuals. Casual gamers by definition and by market data: 1) they buy very few games in a year (<6) 2) they generally ignore AAA titles and yearly staples. 3) they generally play alone and offline multiplayer 4) they generally ignore DLC 5) they generally buy games on sale instead off full price 6) they base their purchases on reviews Etc... You'll more hear more about them tomorrow night when NPD releases their sales data and analysis of the U.S. Gaming market. I don't like the fact that many of my favorite games are labeled casual and kiddie. I also don't like what hardcore gaming has done. EA/Maxis like it or not designed Simcity 2013 based on hardcore gaming data to appeal to hardcore gamers. The Simcity fanbase is mostly made up of casual gamers whether those people can accept it. Long Story short the industry has changed a lot over the past ten years, Simcity fans didn't (I personally think the industry has changed for the worst!)

Pretty much. What they set out to do was to catch the casual, facebook type gamers. That is a group with a short attention span, and yes, they probably all left to do their own thing within a couple months. Everything about this was a fiasco in that regards. They blew that chance big time and got hammered for it. All that's left are the hardcore fans, who now have to decide if they will give EA/Maxis a chance as they slink int he backdoor promising to mend their ways. You know simulation genre of gaming is classified as casual based on market data over the past decade. Simcity is the flagship title of this genre and has always been labeled as a casual and kiddy game. Most of the hardcore Simcity fans are casual gamers including most posters on this site, thanks to the definition of what casual gamers and games are. So please learn the official definitions of what casual games and gamers are this day in age. (I can repost the graph showing where each gaming genre falls and who plays them.) At EA's last quarterly earnings report showed the majority of players were still regulary playing the game.

Even if the everyone who owned the game as happy as a lark with the game, it would not quell the even greater amount of people who hate the fact this game is online and is not a 3D remake of Simcity 4 (which is odd since Smicty 4 was EA's doing). No new Simcity would ever be good enough to warrant acceptance by the majority because it is an EA game. IF this game was released by any other publisher (except for Nintendo) it would have been accepted as a good game and the launch issues would have been ignored as growning pains. Hell Activision could have made this Simcity into a shooter and there is greater chance it would have been accepted without a second thought. Yet Bethesda was given a free pass, even though Skyrim was suffering from near game breaking bugs at launch and it took 6 months of patching to get the base game fully functional. The Game wasn't fully fixed until the end of its first year. The PS3 version on the other hand was unplayable at launch and was never fully fixed. This happens to be the case with nearly every game Bethesda releases... There is something wrong that Bethesda's games are more buggy and broken than EA's games, but no one hates on them. Blizzard was given a free pass even though Diablo 3 was made unplayable due to servers being overwhelmed the first few weeks ( they didn't even compensate the launch users with anything). Bilzzard is still fixing the game and remaining issues won't be resolved for a few more weeks.

Most of the issues have been fixed. Though there are still a few sizable issues that still need to be addressed.

You maybe selling water to other cities in the region by default. The option to sell water to other cities is turned on by default. Try turning it off by clicking the check box on each of your water pumps.

Hopefully this will fix alot of things.

I highly doubt it. Simcity 2000 had the highest amount of versions and expansions out of all the Simcity games at 10 ( 4 expansions and 6 console versions each having different features) Simcity 1 had 4 expansion packs Simcity 3000 had an ultimate version Simcity 4 had Rush Hour, though the other expansion packs were canceled due to low sales of Rush Hour and Simcity 4. Rumors are swirling on other sites including Neogaf that Cities of Tomorrow sold badly as did the DLC. Also Sims 3 has 11 expansion packs not 15. This is also one more than Sims 2. There are 9 furniture packs, though you can buy the items individually on the Sims 3 store (Sims 2 had furniture packs as well). The reason why the Sims gets more DLC and expansion packs than Simcity is because the Sims fanbase buys them. Simcity expansion packs and DLC tend to sell badly. Honestly I'd expect at least one more expansion pack before Maxis lets the modding community take over.

Well this does increase the chances of larger cities expansion pack. On the other hand, does this mean the game will now be pirateable and playable? If so, I'm curious how many millions of people will pirate the game like they did with Simcity 4 (Simcity 4 was supposedly pirated more times than it was bought). I hope someone can release a mod that fixes the students commutes.

Once there is a way to take over abandon cities and regions, consumer backlash will ensue over other players taking over "abandon" cities and regions. EA will probably be sued in court over such option. I for one can't wait to watch these lawsuits roll in and everyone hating on EA for not protecting "abandon" cities and region under the guise of players losing content.

Only the first save takes a lot of data. Also you should never buy a game that is online based if you live in farm country. It's not EA's fault you have a bad ISP where you live. Do you have a coffee shop or McDonald's near you? Most provide free WiFi. Most of us live in metropolitan areas, our data caps range from 100GBs - 250GBs a month Mine is 150GBs on DSL. Why are you stuck in the rural area? Also stay away from Xbox One, PS4, Vita, Wii U, and Steam because they will chew through you're data cap with updates alone. No don't expect an offline mode either, because EA/Maxis doesn't want people pirating the game like they did with Simcity 4 and Simcity 3000 (both were pirated in the millions, possibly exceeding sales). PC gaming is heading to having an always online function thanks to pirates.

I made sure I built trade depots before I built the Omega factories. This allowed the storage and importing of resources as needed for factories. Eventually you can get the add on that lets each factory have direct access to the global market to import resources as neccesary.