The Failure of the SimCity Launch.
- Thread starter Baldr
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I doubt Diablo III and SimCity will ever be fully cracked. It's been a while since the first game's release, and the only server mode pirates and crackers have been able to replicate is identical to the beta. World of Warcraft does have private servers, but most aren't populated with quest-givers or DM instances. I've taken a jaunt across a few private servers, myself, and apart from an empty Azeroth, there isn't much to look at.Desert Punk said:
Unless, of course, you're into visuals-assisted instant-message roleplays. Unsurprisingly, the private servers for WoW aren't skimping on the RP content. That's the only thing they *can* provide, currently!
I don't know about others, but I have come to accept that launch day clusterfucks are just part of the steady march toward the everything being on "the cloud". Its not just EA I put up with this from, I went to unlock Deus Ex: HR on steam the second it came out, it took TWO HOURS to unlock. Not download, unlock. Even after I finished the unlock (which required me to restart steam several times for several different reasons) Steam instantly started to download something (which I can only assume was either a emergency day one patch or missing files that were left out to prevent you from cracking the game before the launch) at a speed that occasionally dipped in bytes per second. I don't hate EA or online DRM because I simply see them as the natural last step in the constant rush to make everything digital that I sometimes felt like I was the only one resisting.Nurb said:
I need to remember this thread's url for the next time a PC Master Race Gamer insists that everyone who prefers the simplicity of consoles is a moron.
You do realize the people ranting about the ranters are no less cliche? If you don't want to be in a thread about people upset with some game, why be there? Do you think people will see how deep your mind is and suddenly pine over you?BeerTent said:
Page 2 guy can just tell his CC he wants a refund and he'll get it. If he only puts 1 game on an Origin account at a time he'll only ever lose that one game.
I'm not exactly seeing the logic in your post which may be ironic since I think it was supposed to be based around logic.
Downloaded it, played a good amount. Stopped for a break, and now I can't access the servers anymore.
Fun game though.
Fun game though.
Kind of defies the point of a discussion forum if you only let people in who will agree with each other.theultimateend said:
The guy is right, as a consumer the best/only real way to voice your opinion is with your money. Once a company has your money they don't give a shit about what you think or what you'd like, so if you have such a huge problem with how EA handles it's business, like many people on this forum claim to, it's hypocritical to then turn around and give them your business.
If you still wanna ***** about poor service despite repeatedly handing over money to these people, then fair enough; but you're essentially buying a shit sandwich from a shit sandwich vendor and then complaining when it's full of shit.
A lot longer than that. So much of the game is handled server side, honestly I'd be surprised if it even is cracked. So much of the gameplay is online that it's going to be really difficult to emlutate.Funkysandwich said:
Speaking of that, did people ever manage to fully get Diablo 3 pirated? I don't know if they did.
stop hating on DRM. You have the internet anyway, and companies are well within their rights to develop a product that forces you to pay for it to play it.
I have a problem with crappy launches but I'm also realistic of the challenges developers face when they are implementing their DRM policies. It's true that it causes an inconvenience to the legitimate customers. Unfortunately that's the reality of evolving counter piracy systems. Instead of raging about how evil X company is for their Y DRM policy, how about you punch every person you know whom pirated the game. THEY are the reason this rubbish exists and it is directly THEIR fault.
If everyone was honest we wouldn't need these systems in the first place. Making modern triple A titles is already a ludicrously expensive investment. Missing out on a substantial return because so many people can't be assed to pay a lousy $50 is stuffed. If I baked a batch of cookies and a random bunch of people broke into my house and stole them I'd be pretty pissed too. You'd better believe I'd implement cookie DRM after that happened. And lets not forget that rampant piracy is literally killing developers.
Don't be a douche; buy your games. Making sure that everyone follows this rule is the only way to stop DRM.
I have a problem with crappy launches but I'm also realistic of the challenges developers face when they are implementing their DRM policies. It's true that it causes an inconvenience to the legitimate customers. Unfortunately that's the reality of evolving counter piracy systems. Instead of raging about how evil X company is for their Y DRM policy, how about you punch every person you know whom pirated the game. THEY are the reason this rubbish exists and it is directly THEIR fault.
If everyone was honest we wouldn't need these systems in the first place. Making modern triple A titles is already a ludicrously expensive investment. Missing out on a substantial return because so many people can't be assed to pay a lousy $50 is stuffed. If I baked a batch of cookies and a random bunch of people broke into my house and stole them I'd be pretty pissed too. You'd better believe I'd implement cookie DRM after that happened. And lets not forget that rampant piracy is literally killing developers.
Don't be a douche; buy your games. Making sure that everyone follows this rule is the only way to stop DRM.
IamLEAM1983 said:
Um.. how is this any different from how World of Warcraft, or Planet Side2, or Diablo 3? That's how a massively online game works, halfs on your system and half runs on servers in the cloud. This is nothing new or evil, it's a design that is over 20 years old.
Not really. The best anywhere got was the ability to play what was more or less the same as the beta, with some weird side effects. Beyond that nothing else has been doable since so much of it is server based, which is the same hurdle that people are gonna face with this one.General Twinkletoes said:
Game's fun, works fine, played a bunch already, the multiplayer integration is pretty interesting, cities NEED to be bigger is my only gripe with it.
It's not really that different guys.
I was going to make a point but why bother with it when he already did it. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/6014-Xbox-360-and-PS3-Are-Just-Very-Crap-PCsJove said:
It's not really that different guys.
and yet consoles are getting the same shit we are, often earlierJove said:
more often then not the consoles are the new beta testers LOLi thought the selling point of consoles was that you didn't have to patch, but the most recent patch for BF3 on xbox requires you to BUY the free patch off the store if it dosn't work
how is that easier then PC?
People have been placed into 30 minute queues to play their single-player games they just downloaded and some people can't access their pre-ordered copies at all.BlackNoel said:
I'd say calling the launch a failure is absolutely spot-on at this point. If your game has these sorts of major issues at launch then you've failed to launch properly.
Actually, that's not true. In fact, it's quite the opposite.rob_simple said:
Boycotting a game is next to impossible (because it's too hard to get a significant number of people to agree on it) and just doesn't send the right message. Even if we'd boycotted this game until it didn't sell a single copy, EA wouldn't think "It's because of the DRM", they'd think "It's because no one likes the game!" and then they'd punish or close down Maxis.
That is literally the only response publishers have to bad sales. Look at Prototype 2, if you want an example. They wouldn't know why the game sold badly, they'd only know that it did.
So unless the message you want to send is "we hate this game, please close Maxis!" the solution is in fact quite the opposite to what you propose:
Buy the game, and whine about it.
Loud complaints give games bad press, and EA will notice bad press. The best proof is Mass Effect 3. People didn't like the end, so they complained. The complaining was so loud and obnoxious that it got headlines. Headlines makes bad PR for the game and it's publisher. So the publisher sat up and took notice.
If that same vocal minority had boycotted the game, literally nothing would have happened. The dent in the sales would've been insignificant.
People have been accusing me of wearing a tin foil hat about this sort of thing for years. You keep giving your money to EA and they keep giving you something that less and less resembles a game. If people don't stop pre-ordering and impulse buying, gaming will simply devolve into a series of scams. Who can make the most disingenuous video to fool the most people possible. We're nearly there now with A/CM. I'll be enjoying an earlier version of Simcity, any time I like. And no I won't be getting Cities XL. Monte Cristo has never released a fully functioning product in its entire history. They started out making games for cereal boxes, the quality still hasn't gone up a single notch.
If you keep pre-ordering and purchasing on day 1, you can enjoy whatever your end up with. If you can get it running. Game companies are untrustworthy scum. There is proof. You should treat them as such. If they want to EARN a different reputation, then I'd be happy to support them.
If you keep pre-ordering and purchasing on day 1, you can enjoy whatever your end up with. If you can get it running. Game companies are untrustworthy scum. There is proof. You should treat them as such. If they want to EARN a different reputation, then I'd be happy to support them.