Maxis_MD

Hey guys -- quick question: Any members here located in the San Francisco Bay Area? If so, shoot me a private message. Thanks!

That's a little far. Unless you have a private jet, that is!

Haha! If you manage to figure that out, let me know!

So..... any chance we can buy these? I've seen the comps on twitter, and for the most part are inaccessible to normal working Aussies because we're asleep when you put the giveaway up. Also don't like my chances of winning one against the hordes. So..... how much to buy one? XL please (if the cars drive on the left, I'll pay $5 more!) It would be nice if we could sell those, right? Right now, we don't have any plans, but if anything changes, I'll let y'all know.

Keep in the mind the demo you played is not only pre-alpha, but also doesn't contain all the features you'll find in the full game. Like, for instance, the ability to tinker with taxes -- you'll still be able to do that, just like you could in the previous SimCity games. All that micromanaging is definitely in the game, we're just trying to present it in a much more visually appealing and intuitive way (via the many data layers we have in the game). Appreciate your honest opinion, though. Hopefully you'll get a chance to try the Beta once that starts (sorry, guys -- no new info at this time!) and you can better judge the game once you play around with it more.

FYI: We'll be giving away more shirts soon! That reminds me -- I still need to send these out! Haha.

Sorry I'm late to reply (been so busy after PAX), but I want to thank neil5280 for writing this. Appreciate the honest and constructive look at our demo.

Hey everyone -- anyone going to PAX this weekend? We’ll be in the NVIDIA booth (#3747) with two playable stations, so definitely come check us out if you have the time. I'll be there all weekend, so if you see me, feel free to say hello!

Not at this time, only because we'd rather release high-quality videos as opposed to videos shot from a screen. We'll have some gameplay videos soon, though. Yes, really!

Sweet! Been reminding people at PAX to sign up.

I did get a chance to read your write-up! Awesome job on that. As far as Beta dates go, I wish I could tell you right now -- haha! We'll be releasing more info about the Beta soon. I promise! I think we've been over this before, but I'll just say it again -- the team built the game from ground up to be an online game. End of story. However, I still think you should give the multiplayer features a shot. You never know, man -- you want actually like it. A lot.

No worries, man! Smart thinking. Can't argue with that logic. Have fun wherever you are! Soon! I know the wait has been long, but it's coming. Trust me! Sweet! If you stop by, definitely say hello! Yeah, this show certainly isn't the grand spectacle that was Gamescom as we're sharing the booth with our buds at NVIDIA. Still really stoked more people get to play the game. Did you have a chance to play the game in Germany?

We put up a Global Market commentary from our Lead Designer, Stone Librande, last Friday. Expect more stuff for the future, too.

We also won the Best PC Game Award at Gamescom (http://bit.ly/OarA99). So stoked! The team here worked really hard to create a kickass demo, so it's really awesome to see how much people enjoyed playing the game last week.

I'm really wouldn't worry about the fun wearing off. There's SO many different ways you can play the game, it's kinda ridiculous, actually. Especially when you factor in region play, striving to top different leaderboards (biggest polluter, highest Mayor rating, etc.) and all the different challenges (all part of the SimCity World features we announced last week). Because we'll be able to put out new challenges on a regular basis, there will always be fun stuff to do in the game. BTW: That reddit write-up is really informative. Really cool that he took the time to do that (he played the game four times -- that's hardcore!). Can you give us an idea as to what types of challenges there are? The idea sounds pretty neat. Certainly! There's going to be a variety of different challenges in the game that will require you to really think about how you play. Some may be simple (build a University City like pyanodon mentioned) while others may encourage you to band together with the global SimCity community to complete a specific task (create X # of jobs, for instance). We'll be doing them quite regularly, too, so it'll be fun to come back and see what the newest challenge is. Look out for a commentary about the all the SImCity World features very, very soon.

I'm really wouldn't worry about the fun wearing off. There's SO many different ways you can play the game, it's kinda ridiculous, actually. Especially when you factor in region play, striving to top different leaderboards (biggest polluter, highest Mayor rating, etc.) and all the different challenges (all part of the SimCity World features we announced last week). Because we'll be able to put out new challenges on a regular basis, there will always be fun stuff to do in the game. BTW: That reddit write-up is really informative. Really cool that he took the time to do that (he played the game four times -- that's hardcore!).

Hi Michael Donahoe (Maxis) Thanks for your compliment. What great to see Maxis on the forum of simtropolis. So maybe they see more than we think? Anyway, just keep the SimCity blog alive and fill the insider part with cool stuff and im happy. Can you also give us a small hint when you think the beta is gonna be released? (and make sure me and the others from this post are between the lucky onces?) Good luck on the rest of GamesCom Greetings, FerryV Yep, a lot of Maxis folk frequent Simtropolis! And don't you worry about keeping the blog/Insider alive -- lots of stuff in the pipeline. Regarding the Beta, I don't have any specifics right now, but I can say we'll be revealing more info soon. And when we do, I'll let y'all know.

Like ferryv pointed out in his awesome write-up (), we showed off the meteor shower in our Gamescom demo. Speaking of, it's really fascinating to watch the reactions when the meteor shower hits as we don't actually tell players it happens (though we do hint at it in the tutorial text!). The attachment that some people get to their city after only 15 or so minutes of playtime is pretty amazing! And as far as other disasters go, we'll be revealing some more soon, so stay tuned.

Really great write-up! The reception at the show so far has been awesome.

There most certainly won't be a monthly fee. As far as modding goes, keep in mind, modding for SimCity 4 wasn't available on day one. It took some time before those were released. The team understands the importance of modding, though. I can tell you that. So...since we're talking about the forced online and you can't lock threads on this forum would you like to explain to us why when you state "Just to clarify here, if you decide to build your own private region and claim all the cities within it, you don't have to participate in the social features (leaderboard, Global Market, etc.)." here:http://forum.ea.com/...st/8892871.page in direct contradiction to the reasons Ocean Quigley stated were so compelling as to require online play, the reason for forcing us to play online? Hey ya -- I'm more than happy to continue this conversation over private messages, but I'd rather not derail this thread. Thanks! I'd also like to know the answer to this question. If you are unable to tell us now, will we be told at Gamescom on Wednesday? Sure! But again, I don't want to detail this thread. So I'll just say this: We encourage you to participate in our social features, as it gives the series a lot of newly added depth, but we also understand that some players would rather play their cities/regions solo. Hence why we give you that option. Simple as that. And you'll learn more about our social features at Gamescom in a few days.

There most certainly won't be a monthly fee. As far as modding goes, keep in mind, modding for SimCity 4 wasn't available on day one. It took some time before those were released. The team understands the importance of modding, though. I can tell you that. So...since we're talking about the forced online and you can't lock threads on this forum would you like to explain to us why when you state "Just to clarify here, if you decide to build your own private region and claim all the cities within it, you don't have to participate in the social features (leaderboard, Global Market, etc.)." here:http://forum.ea.com/...st/8892871.page in direct contradiction to the reasons Ocean Quigley stated were so compelling as to require online play, the reason for forcing us to play online? Hey ya -- I'm more than happy to continue this conversation over private messages, but I'd rather not derail this thread. Thanks!

There most certainly won't be a monthly fee. As far as modding goes, keep in mind, modding for SimCity 4 wasn't available on day one. It took some time before those were released. The team understands the importance of modding, though. I can tell you that.

reaction goes like this........did I just play Societies again? No, because the game has nothing in common with societies, and is not made by the people who made societies. You can discuss societies here, http://tiltedmill.co...isplay.php?f=35 You are correct -- the game we're making is absolutely nothing like Societies. Instead, it plays like every other SimCity game, dating back to the 1989 original (you build roads, zone, provide power/water/etc.). It's just now in 3D and the GlassBox engine simulates practically everything -- it's crazy to watch.

Nice! Definitely stop by the booth so you can play the game. And if you see me, say hey! We'll be doing a live chat on Wednesday, August 15th. More info here: http://www.origin.com/gamescom/simcity

Hey guys! I've been reading this thread (I'm the Maxis Studio Community Manager, btw) and I just want y'all to know I appreciate all the feedback (both positive and negative). I totally understand that a lot of you guys are a wee bit hesitant about the game we're making. I don't blame you -- it's been almost ten years since SimCity 4 (crazy, right?). But coming from someone who interacts with the team at Maxis on a daily basis and plays the game regularly, I can safely say the game we're making is worthy of the SimCity name (trust me -- this is NOT another Societies!). I understand it's a little hard to see that right now as we haven't released a ton of stuff to the public (that'll change next week at Gamescom, though!), but give the game a chance, and I think you'll really see what we're trying to accomplish. Speaking of Gamescom, if anyone here is attending the show, make sure to stop by our booth and play the game (really looking forward to hearing the feedback from those attending). I'll be there, too, so if you see me, say hey!