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I have been waiting for this for years...

...and yet I won't be buying it.

No save games and no offline play means no purchase.
 
The question I have been wondering and hasn't been answered yet, is it a you purchase per platform or buy once, play on all platform? If it is pay by platform I am only getting it for my PC instead.
 
Wooo! More server space for the rest of us!

And what happens if the servers get taken offline or whatever? (Yes, yes not for ages blah blah blah).

Only online play sucks and all your really buying is the ability to connect to those servers, not the game...
 
And what happens if the servers get taken offline or whatever? (Yes, yes not for ages blah blah blah).

Only online play sucks and all your really buying is the ability to connect to those servers, not the game...

I don't give a **** so long as I get a couple years of good gameplay.
 
no offline play? really?

Really.

http://savegameonline.com/c3-features/extensive-drm-restrictions-hurt-simcity

I am a huge Sim City fan and still play Sim City 4 after all these years. Even though I am online all the time, I wonder how long until they decide to turn off their servers. Other people who are offline due to travel or rural area or whatever will just be screwed I guess. Also I remember what it was like to TRY to play Diablo III and their servers couldn't keep up. Thousands and thousands of people couldn't play a single player game, even though they were online, because the servers were full. Always-online for a single player game is anti-consumer in every way.

Also no save games. I like to save up money and save the game before a big project. Maybe it will be massive terrain changes, putting an expensive freeway in, or triggering a bunch of disasters. If I change my mind or want to go back to pre-disaster, I won't be able to. You are essentially in a permanent hardcore mode.

Also no mods. Mods have been crucial to enrichening gameplay and in some cases fixing bugs EA never gets around to. Some of the bugs are actually crucial.

I'm sure it will be fun for the casual gamers who don't mind the restrictions. For the rest of us it is pretty easy to just stick with Sim City 4. The tremendous amount of user-generated content available through modding is able to keep the game fresh. I would have loved an update to the engine, but not with all of the restrictions.
 
Worse than Activision???
Bobby Kotick is the Osama Trash Hussain of the gaming industry. He replaces fun with shareholder profits. Not the right man for the job mithinks. Valve wins all gaming bouts btw.

EA suck too though, but they haven't ripped the warm soul out of gaming like the devil kottick has done in many, many ways over the last 4 years.

Activision took over Blizzard (gaming darlings) and the effects are starting to show!
Pay to win? It'd be laughable if it wasn't so horrible!

......does command and conquer mean anything to you?
 
Honestly, anyone who buys SimCity now and enriches EA - and validates EA's behavior - is a little nuts, IMO.
 
Wow, a scathing review of EA and it's practices here. Nothing new to most of us, but it's garned national attention.

Excerpt:

'SimCity' launch proves disastrous
Furthermore, Adrian advised the customer that his EA account would be banned if he disputed the result. For those who are not familiar with EA's Origin distribution service, an account ban not only prevents users from playing online or buying games, but also bars them from accessing games they have already purchased.​

I'm kind of glad I just picked up an iMac G5 the other day to rebuild because I should be able to play SimCity 4 on it, since it won't run on my Intel-based Mac's.
 
The worst thing about this game is te fact that it involves EA Games. I won't buy it on release day just because it's EA, I'll have to look and see what people say first.

Worst company in the gaming industry.

Smart choice, it turns out.
 
I don't give a **** so long as I get a couple years of good gameplay.

Don't you think this sets a disturbing precedent though? I can take a SNES game or old PC game from the 1990's and enjoy it right now just as I did back then. Twenty years from now, heck, ten years from now, how many games from this era are still going to be playable? Games are expensive enough now to where I consider them investments. If I know I'm not gonna have that investment available to me later on down the road, I'll happily spend my money elsewhere. Of course I want to enjoy my games now as well, but I simply refuse to spend $60 on a game that will one day be useless.
 
Played for a couple hours. Meh. I expect better, but at the same time I have a feeling EA will release some runner up versions with larger cities. Of course for another 60 dollars. Really wish EA died, they ruin gaming.
 
Yeah, I frankly don't have any plans of buying games with online DRM anymore. Just speaking from the Diablo 3 experience. Even now 10 months after the Diablo 3 release I still experience lag, server downtime & getting kicked out..

Just look at the Sim City Amazon ratings, it's insanity. 90% of the ratings are 1/5!
 
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Played for a couple hours. Meh. I expect better, but at the same time I have a feeling EA will release some runner up versions with larger cities. Of course for another 60 dollars. Really wish EA died, they ruin gaming.

What makes you think it'd be 60$?

The first expansion pack to TOR (EA owns Bioware, remember?) will be 20$ to normal people and 10$ to subscribers.
 
What makes you think it'd be 60$?

The first expansion pack to TOR (EA owns Bioware, remember?) will be 20$ to normal people and 10$ to subscribers.

I think you missed the point, instead of shipping the game with what it should of had in the first place they crippled it to sell more expansions/new versions down the line.
 
I think you missed the point, instead of shipping the game with what it should of had in the first place they crippled it to sell more expansions/new versions down the line.

It makes perfect sense for a company. Business models from the 90's wont work at present as they did before. Expansions keep you interested in the franchise and keep the cashflow coming in.

In saying that, Im happy to pay $60 and another $30 for expansions in the future for simcity, but the whole DRM issue kills it. I spend 25-30hours a month flying and would have enjoyed playing a few hours of SC during that time.

I'm voting with my wallet. Most likely EA wont change their stance with DRM. Not playing SC will also make me lose interest in the series. I'll just wait for a hacked offline version *cross my fingers*
 
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Making the game "online only" is just a horrible move. I've never felt the need to connect to the internet when playing their previous games. And to top it off, they are having issues with their online service. Some games aren't saving etc... that's a Deal Breaker for me...
 
On-line Only? Not thanks

I love the game. But to not be able to play it on a cross-country flight (unless I buy in-flight Internet), or at home without an Internet connection, is truly ridiculous. Sure, require online registration or certification of your computer you load it on to protect from piracy, but to always be connected for play? No thanks. I have no desire for multi-player, so should not have to maintain a connected status to run.

I hope it fails on launch, and EA is forced to patch the game to delete this Orwellian requirement.
 
Wow, a scathing review of EA and it's practices here. Nothing new to most of us, but it's garned national attention.

Excerpt:



I'm kind of glad I just picked up an iMac G5 the other day to rebuild because I should be able to play SimCity 4 on it, since it won't run on my Intel-based Mac's.

Install it on your G5, patch it with the official nocd / intel patch. The copy of game to your Intel Mac and it will work. :D
 
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