nats

I voted for no because I didnt buy it and still have no intention of getting it, what a load of dross. I am playing a brilliant game that came along just after I cancelled my Simcity preorder called Kerbal Space Program and so far I have racked up 120 hours of really great fun play time for a price of only £18 and its still in alpha stage so its going to get more added to it over time. The KSP devs are good devs, they are honest and their game is practically bug free already unlike SImcity - a game done by a much larger developer with far greater resources and arguably one with far less substance. Makes you wonder doesnt it? I will never buy a constant online DRM game and I will never probably buy an EA game - they are load of moneygrabbing crooks.

Seriously you want to give this Simcity game up and try Kerbal Space Program instead. The best £18 I have ever spent in my life - its so much fun!

No unless they removed the requirement for the constant online connection which is not, in itself, related to mutiplayer play. But they would also have to drastically improve the city plot size and also, from the sound of it, the whole traffic AI system, before it became a game worth buying for me. And even then I wouldnt pay the price asked for by Origin because I think its extortionate.

Its already a flop, almost certainly it is not reaching anywhere near the expected sales. They have shot themselves in the foot with this whole thing. The great thing is that this has opened a lot of people's eyes to the whole constant online DRM thing - I think this will prove to be good for PC games in the long run. Of course whether EA, Maxis and Simcity as a series will survive this atrocity, only time will tell. I do hope we havent seen the end of Simcity.

Removal of features after the game has been sold is a very good reason for justifying getting a full refund. Of course anyone who bought it from Amazon will probably have got their moeny back already....the other outlets though, well this is a very good argument to cite if they prove difficult.

Yes trust is rapidly going out of the window regarding this EA/Maxis outfit. If ever there was perfect evidence that Maxis are now just another branch off the EA ragweed...

This is getting just stupid really. Maxis/Ea should just be flaming honest and nice to their fans for once and remove the DRM, provide a load of free content and some very good patches (increasing plot size for one) and do that pretty much immediately or at the very least issue a formal statement of the intent to do it. Then people might actually buy the game and people who have bought the game might actually begin to play it. This has to be one of the worst major game release day cock ups I have ever seen and Ive seen some bad ones. If they dont do something very constructive immediately this game will be in the bargain basement pile faster than you can say llama speed. I, like many people I presume, have almost given up on the Simcity game but I stay in touch with developments at the moment in case anything changes to actually make me feel like buying it. But so far nothing has and I will eventually give up on it altogether. The really stupid thing is the situation is getting worse not better.

The last and only EA game I think I have ever bought was F1 Challenge 99-02 which was a fantastic game - I still think its the best ever F1 racing game you can get and I wish I hadnt sold it on a few years ago. But EA isnt what it once was. I am probably going to have to add them to my growing list of publishers to avoid (along with Ubisoft and Kalypso). Thank god there are still very good publishers like Bethesda, Bohemia Interactive, Amplitude and Frontier Developments. EA are a dinosaur - they are on their way out thank god. Kickstarter will see the end of their like.

Where did you buy it from? Dont just resign yourself to buying a duff game, please send it back for a refund. Especially if you were sensible enough to buy it from Amazon who make it very easy to return things. I hate seeing people who seem to have resigned to having wasted loads of their money on a duff game. SEND IT BACK if its no good. Or at least try to get a credit note.

Cant trust review sites, read the fan forums and Amazon for an unbiased view, also look at the Lets Play videos on Youtube, and basically just be patient wait for a few weeks/couple of months before you make a decision to buy or not. Do that for every game and you wont waste your money / get angry / have the hastle of having to try to get a refund. Has saved me loads of cash that has.

I always think it needs at least a few weeks before you can really see what the game is like. Once we get past all the server issues and people actually start playing the game they paid for we will soon see what the consensus is on it. I will be very surprised if I feel like buying this game over the next year though unless they iron out all the plot size and traffic AI issues and (of course) remove the terrible online DRM.

Seems like the whole site cant take the strain of the Simcity release.

With respect (politeness see) I disagree completely. If we are unhappy we complain and we dont buy. If we dont complain on here where are we to complain? And if we dont complain on here a lot people may come here and think the game is great and buy it. Yes all of this has been said before but the more people who dont buy the game the more it will force EA to change it. And that would be a good thing for all the fans here. Overwhelming critical outcry in the public media can change the world. For godesake it can overthrow dictators! Why then do you think it cannot change a simple computer game? So I say yes complain! Of the mods want to remove the posts let them. But keep complaining! EA do read this site. Eventually they will get the message when the revenue from the sales is well down. And then, just like Ubisoft did with Silent Hunter 5, they will remove the forced online DRM. And then they will also change the tile sizes. And then we buy the game and everyone is happy. If a few months of complaining can acheive this that isnt much to put up with is it? And if you dont want to read the posts dont read them. Simples.

God that was priceless! Lovely to see EA employees slagging off their employers on public media! Havent had such a laugh in a long time. And it was a very well written critique of the whole mess, even though it pretty much says what everyone has been saying for months. We all knew it was coming! I love those slogans though that EA has around their site - BE BOLD - lol! CUSTOMERS FIRST - fofl! I didnt know about those. If EA really has these things blazened all over the place and are completely disregarding them, what does that say about their whole outfit! What a joke. I agree with the poster above - fiorst thing I thought of when I read about them was the book 1994! I am surprised they dont have banners of the directors everywhere as well with slogans beneath them like 'careless talk costs lives!'. Makes you realise above everything else just how despondant their employees must be. Certainly morale doesnt sound high. What EA should do above everything though is find this bloke ... and make him a director! Guts like that doesnt come along very often and he sounds like he is probably one of the only employees with any sense. He obviously has scruples. I wonder if its Ocean Quigley himself ?

It's certainly one of the biggest factors in putting me off buying the new game. I wasnt keen to begin with due to all the obvious concens, then I got a bit caught up with the hype and expectations and preordered, then I thought better of it and cancelled it. And now I am .. meh! No way. Constant online DRM = no sale for me. The server issues seen here have only strengthened my resolve never to buy a constant connection game. Yes we very rarely see a new Simcity game come out and that was what caught me up the most plus the developers dedication. But recently we have seen some terrible remakes Civ 5, Simcity, XCOM - its as if nobody can actually design decent games anymore. Its as if all these developers are just following the numbers and expecting to create a fantastic game Better graphics and fancy blur - check DRM - check Microsales - check Frenetic action - check Very difficult to get anywhere without buying addons - check Notional multiplayer provision - check Back hander to the review mags - check Games used to be about passion for quality and varied gameplay above anything else, not any more though. Thank god we have some developers who are actually still producing brilliant games, but EA definitely isnt one of them.

I dont get anyry because I dont buy new games straight on release day never have for years, too many issues these days. This game had lots of concerning pointers so I waited. I know I am not the biggest fan of Simcity here (dont play any games much these days) so its difficult if you are a major fan not to buy immediately but really you should get out of that frame of mind. Wait, read the forums and reviews, then make a decision. I am sure thes issues will be sorted out eventually anyway but yes it is annoying when you have spent a lot of money on a game to not be able to play it as intended, especailly with this game where if you cannot get online you cant play it at all. But thats online DRM for you, now hopefully all the doubters about it will be having second thoughts about whether they really support constant connection games.

These issues will be sorted in a few weeks/a month for the US but until then it will be a painful experience trying to play the game. Diffiuclt to know whether it will be the same for Europe but I wouod certainly guess it will be no different. And the US will be first to get any fixes, Europe will be less of a priority. I certainly I would cancel any preorders and buy it later once they have resolved all the problems - otherwise you are throwing your money away for a broken product for no reason. Dont pay for stuff that you know is bust, that is just stupid.

A lot of those 'reviews' are definitely by people who havent bought the game and are just making a point about the DRM. But there are definitely far too many negative reviews to all be DRM haters. Ah well glad I held off buying it. Maybe this will send another message to developers who are intent on getting into this particular constant DRM model. I wouldnt care but I so nearly bought it - in fact I preordered it and then cancelled it. I am so glad I did now. I hope everyone who took my advice to wait for a few weeks is feeling better. Very poor new game release yet again. Like I say, NEVER EVER buy a new game on release day anymore. Me I am spending that money on ARMA2 Operation Arrowhead and some ARMA2 expansions instead - that I will certainly get lots more play out of.

Yes its only online play no matter how many people are playing, and yes the game supposedly saves your state as you play and finally when you quit but some people seem to be having issues with this.

I disagree Civ 5 is terrible as was Civs 3 and 4. And in the same vein Sim City 3000 and 4 are pretty rubbish. And in a similar vein I suggest that Simcity 5 has been redesigned to try to keep it fresh, just like Civ 5, and just like Civ 5 it will be even duller than the rpevious incarnations. Not because it is more of the same though but because, just like Civ 5, it lost the winning formula. Although I can see things to like in Simcity 5 I really think that after a few months people will be getting bored of the gameplay and wondering where all the depth has gone. Civ 2 was the best of the Civ genre because it was the last game where building a Civilisation was what it was all about, not the fighting. Simcity 2000 was the last Simcity game I played with any conviction maybe because everything came together nicely then. Maybe both of the franchises should just die off gracefully and the devs should just move onto something new?

I agree that the problem is that the developers of the new game want you to design a small town and then spend all of your time redesigning it to fit into this tiny plot size whilst spending lots of time watching lots of little ants moving around doing things. If I wanted to do that I would buy an ant farm. Simcity is about building massive megacities for nearly everyone. Thats what people like to do. The designers made a bad decision, personally I cant think of anything more boring than designing a town and watching lots of ants walking around it. Sounds like two days worth of fun gameplay in there for me. If you have any doubts - do not buy it. I have bought games before with doubts and it has never been a good idea. You waste your hard earned money and you end up with nothing but a nasty taste in your mouth. Speak with your wallet, wait for the DRM to be removed, the plot size to be increased and then consider buying it.

No I would say never preorder anything unless you know you are getting a great unbugged, well tested game. I bought Endless Space on preorder because it was publically tested really thoroughly in the beta stage and by the time it as released it had practically no bugs. But that is the only ever game I have preordered. I havent even preordered Elite Dangerous and Frontier Elite was one of the best ever games I have ever played in all of my 30+ years of gaming life. What is the point in pre-ordering? Just wait a few days (preferably a couple of weeks) after release and buy it then but only if the forum comments are good. Definitely dont get the deluxe version either, you will be able to buy the tile sets separately later and they will probably all come down in price later as well. If you absolutely MUST buy the game get the basic version, find out if you like it, and only then spend more money on it. Dont waste your money on risky endeavours unless you know you are getting a peach in return. Personally I would strongly recommend either getting Empire Total War, Heart of Iron 3, ARMA2 Combined Operations or Minecraft instead - you will have far far more fun with any of those than you will with Simcity, and they will keep you going until you find out what this new Simcity is really all about. Then you can make an informed decision on whether to buy or not. NEVER EVER buy new games until well after they are released these days!!!

I will have to change my vote to no. I just spent all my money on ARMA2 Combined Operations instead - I think that will give me far more playability. I've also just bought SC4 which will appease any citybuilding desires in me for the forseeable future. There are so many good games around at the moment Simcity has a heck of lot of competition for my money. I think the game does look 'quite' good fun overall but the sticking points for me are too numerous and the main ones that of DRM and plot size are not likely to be sorted anytime soon and I cant afford to pay £30 for something I am going to get fed up with in a week and then not be able to sell on. Money is very tight, I cant afford to buy any games on chance that they might be great, like I did a few years ago. Maybe it will be a great game after six months or so. Usually once I go off the idea of buying a game, for whatever reason, I dont usually look at it again for ages (years usually) by which time its usually come down a lot in price, has good mods out to resolve the issues, has the buigs fixed, any DRM has been removed, and then it becomes a possible good buy. But you know what is really putting me off buying it the most recently? All the Simcity spam in my Facebook. Every day up to release they are bombarding my Facebook with loads and loads of spam. That to me is hard sales technique and that puts me off buying more than anything else. Cheers EA you have just saved me £30!

It will be a doddle changing the plot size and the plot relationships I am sure. The only reason they are the way they are is because reasonable computers cant handle anything more and they want to cater for the general audience or something. Personally I have no idea why it is not configurable in the game - I cant play the Total War games on highest settings but CA has included them for the people who can. In five years time I will be able to play those present TW games on the highest settings. Years ago I couldnt play Empire Total War on the highest settings. Now I can. Same for this game - it would have been very easy to allow for future development of computers, and for the users who have high end computer today, to play the game with larger plots etc. I have no idea why they didnt do this, seems a bit idiotic to me. But either way I am sure it will be changed within a month of release whether they like it or not. Or I for one will not be buying the game. As for glassbox the development of this system is fuelling the way for greatness. Maybe it might stumble a bit with this game iteration but the next game could be marvelous. I dont want to see another Simcity 4 - bought it a few days ago and already I am bored of it - nothing new over SC2000 and SC3000. At lerast they have tried to be innovative with this game.