Simcity 5... Did EA shoot them selves in the foot?

They $@%#ed up so badly that they had to give away hundreds of thousands of copies of free games (some of them retailing for $60). I think it's safe to say the SimCity launch was a complete disaster.

I had some passing interest. All of that was killed by the horror that this beast is now.

I Would wager they made very little money with SimCity so, yes, they shot themselves in the foot.

Theyre on a definite losing streak lately, it seems.

I Would wager they made very little money with SimCity so, yes, they shot themselves in the foot.

Theyre on a definite losing streak lately, it seems.

mrbojangles25

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

I Would wager they made very little money with SimCity so, yes, they shot themselves in the foot.

Theyre on a definite losing streak lately, it seems.

Nanomage

yeah but then they had to give away a few hundred thousand copies of free, full-price games.

I am sure they made some money, but not enough to keep them from firing some people lol

[QUOTE="Nanomage"][QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

I Would wager they made very little money with SimCity so, yes, they shot themselves in the foot.

Theyre on a definite losing streak lately, it seems.

mrbojangles25

yeah but then they had to give away a few hundred thousand copies of free, full-price games.

I am sure they made some money, but not enough to keep them from firing some people lol

Let's all just hope the demise of EA has just begun.

Let's all just hope the demise of EA has just begun.

Justforvisit

Let's all just hope the demise of EA has just begun.

Justforvisit

Of course.

You realise that there's something seriously wrong with the new game when Sim City 4 is a better game.

Last week I was at my local store wanting to buy Simcity, now that the launch troubles are all over, but to my surprise it was all sold out. I think the game is still selling well and don't forget a lot of casuals play Simcity too and they don't all look at reviews to have known about the terrible DRM.

This is when I start to feel sorry for the coders, they get the blame for the failure when it's actually the smart nugget who came up with it. CMNatic

Agreed, such a shame but the idiot that came up with this DRM will never get fired. Other people will.

Exactly, I think that DRM is good but only for small scale games e.g. indie games. But, when EA use it...It's just a recipe for failure. They aimed to high this time, I hope EA learn from this because well, they only have one shot at proving they're worth it.CMNatic

I watched an episode of jimquisition yesterday where he worded it perfectly. It's never those small indies that try and get more sales, no it's always the big companies that pull these stunts, even with their biggest sellers.

Simcity would have sold even better if it wasn't for this DRM, I can guarantee that.

Indeed. I would of brought it but I just simply refuse with DRM and the stupidly small city plots CMNatic

[QUOTE="CMNatic"]Indeed. I would of brought it but I just simply refuse with DRM and the stupidly small city plots CMNatic

But it's still a great game. I wouldn't mind the DRM if it were a crappy game because I wouldn't be interested in buying it then.

I think I'll wait for an inevitable 'complete edition' for half price. But I really do want to get the game. I enjoyed my time in the beta.

[QUOTE="CMNatic"][QUOTE="CMNatic"]Indeed. I would of brought it but I just simply refuse with DRM and the stupidly small city plots R4gn4r0k

But it's still a great game. I wouldn't mind the DRM if it were a crappy game because I wouldn't be interested in buying it then.

I think I'll wait for an inevitable 'complete edition' for half price. But I really do want to get the game. I enjoyed my time in the beta.

[QUOTE="Justforvisit"]

Let's all just hope the demise of EA has just begun.

chrisrooR

It's a novelty twitter account

Huge screw up by EA. Glad I didn't buy it yet. I heard they gave away 900,000 free games. Sure, not all of them were $60, but after everything is tallied, they probably broke even on Sim City despite selling over a million copies. Of course they will make tons of money on overpriced DLC to make up for it, but hopefully EA thinks about their practices for future games. I'm not confident in them though. I will continue to wait and see with every EA game. I do this for most games actually, almost never buy new.

Half price?! This is EA we're talking about here... :PCMNatic

[QUOTE="chrisrooR"][QUOTE="Justforvisit"]

Let's all just hope the demise of EA has just begun.

wis3boi

It's a novelty twitter account

[QUOTE="CMNatic"]Half price?! This is EA we're talking about here... :PDanielDust

Agreed, the game deserves a straight up 10 from what I've played. But if EA can't handle many people on their servers than they shouldn't have enforced this always on DRM. They knew this game would be popular, SC has always been, so what explains the poor preperations ?

I would deduct 5-6 point for people not being able to play and minor issues like small city sizes and launch day DLC and I would award this masterpiece no more than a 4-5. The lowest score ever for a masterpiece, and it's not even the game's fault. It's the service's fault.

I wouldn't mind DRM if it actually worked, thing is, it never has. Ubisoft has come back on their decision, EA will too.

[QUOTE="CMNatic"]Half price?! This is EA we're talking about here... :PDanielDust

You cant be serious

[QUOTE="DanielDust"][QUOTE="CMNatic"]Half price?! This is EA we're talking about here... :Pwis3boi

You cant be serious

[QUOTE="DanielDust"][QUOTE="CMNatic"]Half price?! This is EA we're talking about here... :Pwis3boi

You cant be serious

Sadly, he is.

Although, a while back he was anti AODRM (when Ubisoft started using it) but once his god, Blizzard, made the move with Diablo 3, Daniel, oddly, changed his tune.  How anyone, especially a consumer, can be for AODRM makes no sense at all.  It's ridiculous, actually.

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

[QUOTE="DanielDust"] Yes this is EA a company that does sell its games on good sales. Financially they did shoot themselves, but strictly speaking of the game, it's a masterpiece, by far the best city builder ever made and I also welcome the DRM, "all" PC games should be always online as far as I'm concerned, be it big games or indie games.-wildflower-

You cant be serious

Sadly, he is.

Although, a while back he was anti AODRM (when Ubisoft started using it) but once his god, Blizzard, made the move with Diablo 3, Daniel, oddly, changed his tune.  How anyone, especially a consumer, can be for AODRM makes no sense at all.  It's ridiculous, actually.

I will always support always online DRM, it's the future, the thing that stops pirates, for good, you know how they say "deal with it".

[QUOTE="Nanomage"][QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

I Would wager they made very little money with SimCity so, yes, they shot themselves in the foot.

Theyre on a definite losing streak lately, it seems.

mrbojangles25

yeah but then they had to give away a few hundred thousand copies of free, full-price games.

I am sure they made some money, but not enough to keep them from firing some people lol

I will always support always online DRM, it's the future, the thing that stops pirates, for good, you know how they say "deal with it".

DanielDust

So would you also agree to submit to a full cavity search every time you walk into a shop?  

Far more money is lost through retail fraud than anything this industry alleges to lose through pirating.  So, if lost monies is truly your concern - bend over and grab those ankles the next time you walk into a store.  Just let the shop workers know what you're doing, of course.  Tell them you demand they search you so that you can prove you haven't stolen anything. 

Using pirating as an excuse to cripple consumer rights is just that, an excuse, and a flimsy one at that.

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

[QUOTE="DanielDust"] Yes this is EA a company that does sell its games on good sales. Financially they did shoot themselves, but strictly speaking of the game, it's a masterpiece, by far the best city builder ever made and I also welcome the DRM, "all" PC games should be always online as far as I'm concerned, be it big games or indie games.DanielDust

You cant be serious

How big is your payroll at EA?

[QUOTE="DanielDust"][QUOTE="wis3boi"]

You cant be serious

wis3boi

How big is your payroll at EA?

Sim City 2013 is more like a "Sim City Social Online" game. It presents smaller cities and social aspects to build them alongside your friends, and also tackle more than one city at a time. Past Sim Cities made you do a big city and maintain that....this one gives you a big land and makes you maintain smaller cities... while at the same time saving money and resources to build a shared thing in the free space (like an Aiport or something). Some people like the new social aspects, some don't. The always DRM thing was or wasn't needed, I don't really care... but what it DOES do is make your decision matter. In past Sim Cities when you made a mistake you just hit the LOAD button and went back a save. Here, when you put down a road, it's there for good...even if you abandon that city.FelipeInside

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

[QUOTE="DanielDust"] Very Not a single bug, not a single thing not working properly, all the complaints I randomly read about it are from excessively stupid people, like "pollution destroys my entire city" (there are ways to regenerate), lot ran out of water my city is ruined (water is unlimited, you have to think how you can manage water "production") and other stupid things like that, the only valid complaint is the city size, some like it some don't, I adore it, because I can admire the variation of the buildings and it's also easier to manage the kind of things you want, one starter city, then dedicated production city, utility city then there's no reason not to go crazy and work on some awesome designs for a strict tourist city and so on, if it were a complete deal I would have just thought of a basic layout and I would have spammed certain things that work as best as possible "like anyone would", I'm tired of such games, all city builders before SC 2013 work like that.DanielDust

How big is your payroll at EA?

If you find smoke and mirrors and no freedom "fun", then I guess ignorance really is bliss.

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

[QUOTE="DanielDust"] Yes this is EA a company that does sell its games on good sales. Financially they did shoot themselves, but strictly speaking of the game, it's a masterpiece, by far the best city builder ever made and I also welcome the DRM, "all" PC games should be always online as far as I'm concerned, be it big games or indie games.DanielDust

You cant be serious

Coming from someone who's gametime is clocked at about 49 hours, I can safely say you're full of sh*t. There are so many bugs it's like they released a beta.

[QUOTE="DanielDust"][QUOTE="wis3boi"]

You cant be serious

chrisrooR

Coming from someone who's gametime is clocked at about 49 hours, I can safely say you're full of sh*t. There are so many bugs it's like they released a beta.

dat mass transit

The DRM and origin didnt bother me that much. It was the city sizes that stopped me buying it. Which Im glad I did because I hear there are plenty of bugs and the AI is atrocious and the sims mess up the simplest tasks.bonafidetk

the one guy who opened up the game's code to see if it worked offline (which it did) found that the entire simulation is one big illusion and a joke.  One of the functions called is 'GetFudgedPopulation'

[QUOTE="chrisrooR"]

[QUOTE="DanielDust"] Very Not a single bug, not a single thing not working properly, all the complaints I randomly read about it are from excessively stupid people, like "pollution destroys my entire city" (there are ways to regenerate), lot ran out of water my city is ruined (water is unlimited, you have to think how you can manage water "production") and other stupid things like that, the only valid complaint is the city size, some like it some don't, I adore it, because I can admire the variation of the buildings and it's also easier to manage the kind of things you want, one starter city, then dedicated production city, utility city then there's no reason not to go crazy and work on some awesome designs for a strict tourist city and so on, if it were a complete deal I would have just thought of a basic layout and I would have spammed certain things that work as best as possible "like anyone would", I'm tired of such games, all city builders before SC 2013 work like that.wis3boi

Coming from someone who's gametime is clocked at about 49 hours, I can safely say you're full of sh*t. There are so many bugs it's like they released a beta.

dat mass transit

[QUOTE="FelipeInside"]Sim City 2013 is more like a "Sim City Social Online" game. It presents smaller cities and social aspects to build them alongside your friends, and also tackle more than one city at a time. Past Sim Cities made you do a big city and maintain that....this one gives you a big land and makes you maintain smaller cities... while at the same time saving money and resources to build a shared thing in the free space (like an Aiport or something). Some people like the new social aspects, some don't. The always DRM thing was or wasn't needed, I don't really care... but what it DOES do is make your decision matter. In past Sim Cities when you made a mistake you just hit the LOAD button and went back a save. Here, when you put down a road, it's there for good...even if you abandon that city.Justforvisit

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

[QUOTE="chrisrooR"]

 

 

Coming from someone who's gametime is clocked at about 49 hours, I can safely say you're full of sh*t. There are so many bugs it's like they released a beta.

FelipeInside

dat mass transit

[QUOTE="FelipeInside"][QUOTE="wis3boi"]

 

dat mass transit

 

DanielDust

^^ But weren't those all addressed with the 8-9 Patches that have come out? I remember reading about the patches as they were released and what each did. I know for sure the traffic and water thing was fixed, I've never seen buildings randomly shooting out of the ground though... My wife plays Sim City and although she mentions it has issues, she has also said they have fixed a lot of them. http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/simcity-update-8FelipeInside

No. Some were patched, but ultimately still suffers from other issues once the ones patched are fixed. A few redditors put together a list of known building glitches yesterday. Honestly, anyone who's trying to tell us that this game is fine now is blowing smoke up our @sses. 

Police Station: Police cars clump, chasing a single criminal as a giant convoy while ignoring other criminals. Police get stuck in traffic, despite sirens. Cars can inexplicably disappear, particular following disasters or road deletions. Police Precinct: Ditto on the cars. The helicopter is useless, as it can't actually make arrests. One would expect a police helicopter to make it easier for police cars to find, chase, and apprehend a criminal. Unfortunately, it appears that police cars ignore criminals being followed by a helicopter until they otherwise would have pursued that particular criminal on their own.

Fire Station: Fire trucks form a giant convoy and proceed sequentially from fire-to-fire, rather than dispersing and hitting multiple fires at once. Fire trucks get stuck in traffic, despite sirens. Trucks can inexplicably disappear, particular following disasters or road deletions. Large Fire Station: Ditto on the trucks. I haven't seen the Helicopter actually work, but maybe I've missed it.

Hospital: I've often seen several clinics in my city fully packed, while the hospital sits empty. Ambulances get stuck in traffic, despite sirens. Ambulances can inexplicably disappear, particular following disasters or road deletions. Ambulances will only take sims to the clinic/hospital that they are plopped at originally no matter if another medical facility is closer or if the one they were plopped at is full

All power plants: Power sharing between cities is laggy.

Nuclear power: melts down for no particular reason, despite a highly-educated workforce.

Sewage Pipes: get overloaded for no particular reason, even when others nearby aren't handling anything. Sewage sharing between cities is laggy. Water: while not a bug associated directly with the building, the water resource in general is far too finite, and the water table is never replenished by rain. Water sharing between cities is laggy.

Recycling Center: Myriad bugs. Sometimes (possibly due to being staffed by the wrong Wealth level Sims), trucks just never leave the facility. Also randomly stops processing recyclables, potentially due to the Recyclables capacity being full. Recycling trucks proceed through the city in a huge conga line, rather than dispersing.

Garbage Dump: Garbage trucks drive through the city in a pack, rather than dispersing. University: Education doesn't prevent nuclear disasters. Further, a University's attendance is inhibited by the presence of an Elementary School in the same city. Education and Tech level from a University don't spread throughout a 2km x 2km town, and citizens from across down won't drive to the University.

Bus Stations: This applies to all buses. Buses destroy cities, no question about it. They form a huge convoy and generally fail to pick up passengers. Buses cause horrendous trans-regional traffic jams, and generally are worse than just not having public transportation. If you demolish a bus terminal, you may lose all your buses if you try to rebuild it somewhere else. This is much like the ambulance bug.

Streetcars: Pathfinding issues abound. Trade Depot: Delivery trucks inexplicably disappear. Freight has no discernable purpose. Delivery trucks destroy commodities by failing to deliver them, then returning to the garage with a full load.

Commodity Specialization buildings: Delivery trucks inexplicably disappear. Specialization HQ's: The Global Market is still disabled, so any Commodities Market-related functions are pointless. You also occasionally can't access specific storage lots (Trade HQ with Electronics Division, for instance, doesn't unlock all Electronics storage lots.) Helicopters will approach the higher level HQs, then fail to be able to increase altitude to go above them. Apparently, the height limit for helicopters is lower than the height limit for the HQ's. This results in the helicopters being stuck flying into a building and completely useless to the city.

Casinos: Attendance and profits bleed to nothing over time. You can't add high wealth gambler capacity to the Elegant Casino, making it unusable.

Residential spiral of death: Residential buildings stop producing workers, shoppers and as a result become indefinitely unhappy. These buildings still pay taxes and only produce students. Despite having absolutely no happiness, they refuse to become abandoned. If you have a city with a ton of residential and complaints of lack of workers and shoppers, look for these. When you demolish them, they will be rebuilt into functioning buildings...for the time being.

Arcology: This Great Work is largely pointless. It provides shoppers, workers and students to your region, but this serves only to increase traffic to apocalyptic levels. International Airport: Another Great Work which does nothing but increase traffic. Its freight-related functions are pointless, as freight doesn't do anything. Taxi cabs from the Airport are devastating to your traffic situation.

Space Center: This increases your tech level, but you already need a University in order to research this. Its tourism-related function seems to operate, provided that you can handle the traffic.

Parks: Parks come with available (invisible) Goods embedded within them. This is what gives Sims happiness when they visit parks. When you delete a park, its goods are not also deleted; instead they remain where the park used to be. Sims continue to go to this spot to get happiness, sometimes ignoring Commercial buildings. This can lead to failure of Commercial areas for no apparent reason.