Ever since the city management game launched on Tuesday, countless gamers have found themselves battling error messages and random disconnections that prevent them from experiencing what the SimCity was supposed to deliver in the first place -- fun. In response, publisher Electronic Arts is working around the clock to try to fix the problems and add more servers so people can play without worry.
Game requires an always-on internet connection. Thank god, because otherwise, people might actually be able to play it.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
As the servers crash one after the other, you, the admin and your army of underpaid technicians, must struggle against hordes of angry gamers burning you all in effigy, if you're lucky.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
I like this. Maybe next time EA decides to put always-connected DRM into a single player game, they'll remember the millions lost on this mess and think again.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
Maybe next time EA decides to put always-connected DRM into a single player game, they'll remember the millions lost on this mess and think again.
I'll bet they don't.
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
GORDON wrote:That kind of thing is only funny for like 3 days though. After that peeps would forget what the joke was supposed to be.
It's infinitely recyclable. I'm banking on human stupidity.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
Wow, from the Rick James "I did and didn't grind my boots into his couch" file...
SimCity’s critical reception is a sharp see-saw between positive outlet reviews and a considerable amount of unfavorable player feedback appearing on sites such as Metacritic and Amazon. Bradshaw’s response to the disapproval is refreshingly honest, if a bit sobering.
“I’d like to say it’s not fair that the game’s score should be punished for a server problem,” she explains. “But it is fair...
It doesn't matter what comes after those dots there, you're a dumb-ass for saying the part before.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
She didn't lay any blame on EA, which I find a little interesting.
She lay the blame on "massive" unexpected demand, and not enough servers to handle it all. Which is strange. Hardware is cheap compared to the relative cost of creating a huge piece of software. They should have had double the capacity of what they thought they'd need.
All in all, I think a lot of their current PR headache would have been lessened if they'd called the game, "SimCity Online." She said online-only was the idea from the very beginning. They shouldn't have tried to hide that component in a sequel to a game that has been offline-only for 20 years.
My gut feeling is still that EA forced them online-only, as a DRM issue. She'd be fired if she tried to throw them under the bus.
Edited By GORDON on 1363032981
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Hardware is cheap compared to the relative cost of creating a huge piece of software.
I work on a rather profitable website that aggregates and analyzes billions of rows of data served up by a huge, multinational company. They still cheap out on their hardware and the dudes that build/maintain it.
My gut feeling is still that EA forced them online-only, as a DRM issue. She'd be fired if she tried to throw them under the bus.
Bingo.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Maxis seem confident that online queues and congestion of SimCity’s launch will soon be a thing of the past. In the fourth update to the community, Senior VP Lucy Bradshaw reports that, thanks to an increase in servers and various fixes, they are now able to get “virtually everyone” into the game. Bradshaw also states that game crashes have been reduced by 92% from launch day.
I'd love to see the numbers on whether or not queues are getting shorter because so many people have given up and returned the game.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
