Sim City launch, BOMBS

[Luk3us 63]

 

EA promised again and again that its servers were entirely prepared to handle the influx of players simultaneously logging on for today's North American launch of the always-online SimCity reboot. But we had our doubts that things would go as smoothly as expected, and it seems like our fears were well-founded.

 

When I first opened up Origin to play SimCity earlier this afternoon, I was greeted with a message helpfully telling me that a slow network was preventing my game library from being loaded. It's possible that this was a problem on my end, but SpeedTest.net didn't show any problems. It seems that it was EA's clogged Origin servers that were temporarily preventing me from playing the game (the error appears to have been fixed roughly an hour after I first encountered it).

Microsoft editor Peter Bright reports letting his game hang at the loading animation for a full eight hours just after the game went live, with no results. He eventually was able to get in after two or three more attempts to contact EA's beleaguered servers. The Internet is full of similar reports from fans, including a video from popular YouTube game-streamer TotalBiscuit, who

he encountered for what he notes is "a traditionally single player game."

 

Origin didn't allow purchasers to pre-load SimCity before its official launch at 12:01am EST this morning, apparently because the development team was "working to polish the game until the very last second," according to a post from an EA community manager. This decision appears to have led to widespread download problems and delays before the game even unlocked and started downloading for many pre-order players. Some online reports indicate that even those with the disc-based retail version of the game were delayed in their installation by Origin server problems.

"We are aware of an issue affecting customers trying to download The Digital Deluxe edition of SimCity. We are working to correct this issue," EA said in a tweeted statement overnight. Later, even after the problems were officially "resolved," EA warned that "due to server load it may take up to three hours for your game to unlock.”

 

The Origin support forums are predictably loaded with complaints about download and login problems. A community manager had to hop on this morning to apologize and explain the process for requesting a refund.

 

Plenty of frustrated users have taken to the Metacritic user reviews to drag down the game's score. Many seem to be just generally complaining about the DRM and other issues with the game without being specifically inconvenienced themselves. The game's Metacritic user score currently sits at 4/10, with 61 percent of all reviews rated as negative. "It may be looked down upon to use this as a megaphone to shout through but the fact is that people need to see this, that NO-ONE should EVER support always online DRM for a single player game," Metacritic user penemue wrote.

The issues bring to mind the infamous "Error 37" that prevented many Diablo III players from logging into the game in the days after its launch last year, though it's unclear how comparatively widespread SimCity's server issues are. After that debacle, EA had a good chance here to prove that a publisher could launch a major, Internet-connected game with proper infrastructure and planning and without significant server-related issues. Unfortunately, EA seems to have squandered that opportunity.

 

Keep in mind that this was simply the first wave of SimCity's worldwide launch. Hopefully EA will learn from the experience and buff up its servers ahead of the game's official European launch on Friday.

 

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/03/clogged-streets-simcity-launch-plagued-by-server-problems/

 

One of the few reasons why getting the game a few days later than everyone else, is a good thing. They better have this **** sorted by Friday when it comes out in NZ. That or I'll have to go find a crack to make my legit game work.

[Plok 323]

"Game testing? What is that?" --Modern game developers

[PurpleGaga27 40]

What EA is doing to SimCity is winding up what Blizzard did to Diablo III. Server and game loading issues.... even C&C4 does not have this issue when it was released.

 

Another thing, they promised to release a F2P version of SimCity instead of a retail. Where is it? Thing is, this is all unprepared for from EA and I thought this game was supposed to be played similarly to Zynga's CityVille.

 

This is perhaps one of the main reasons why this game was bombed and overrated. Epic fail indeed for the remake of SimCity.

 

I am disappointed.

Edited March 6, 2013 by zocom7

[Guest Rabbit]

"Game testing? What is that?" --Modern game developers

 

It isn't entirely the developers fault here. Think of it like EA vs EALA with C&C 4, or EA vs Victory Games with this whole "Free to Play" bit when everyone hated it. The developers themselves want to make a decent game, EA just imposes specific restrictions on them that prevent them from putting something good out.

 

Sucks, but yeah. Someone somewhere definitely made some piss-poor decisions that screwed everyone over.

[PurpleGaga27 40]

Uh-oh, Amazon pulls the plug on the SimCity download from the store citing server issues:

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B007VTVRFA?tag=pctwix-20

 

So far the ratings at Metacritic are much worse than any recent Call of Duty game.

Edited March 8, 2013 by zocom7

[Luk3us 63]

I've been able to get on and off again, so far I have two very nice cities.

 

They're still butchered the game though, tiny cities, no terraforming, no subway systems. There are some good additions though, but its like they took two steps forward, and two back. Then stuffed some DRM in for good measure to really put the boot it. *Sigh*

[Doctor Destiny 41]

zocom, that's because EA asked everyone to pull the downloads and sales because of the issues they're having. At least they're owning up to their mistakes rather than pulling a Blizzard and thinking it will still be just dandy. Still a lack foresight but at least they're making an effort to rectify the mistake without added strain from additional sales. The problems are easier to correct when you're not constantly responding to stupid ****ing support calls.

[Sonic 295]

Yes EA are on the case and trying fix the problems. They are even giving out free games to smooth things over. Here's the press release....

 

A SIMCITY UPDATE…AND SOMETHING FOR YOUR TROUBLE FROM LUCY BRADSHAW
Here’s a quick update on the problems we were experiencing with SimCity – and a little something extra for people who bought the game.
The server issues which began at launch have improved significantly as we added more capacity. But some people are still experiencing response and stability problems that we’re working fast to address.

So what went wrong? The short answer is: a lot more people logged on than we expected. More people played and played in ways we never saw in the beta.
OK, we agree, that was dumb, but we are committed to fixing it. In the last 48 hours we increased server capacity by 120 percent. It’s working – the number of people who have gotten in and built cities has improved dramatically. The number of disrupted experiences has dropped by roughly 80 percent.
So we’re close to fixed, but not quite there. I’m hoping to post another update this weekend to let everyone know that the launch issues are behind us.
Something Special for Your Trouble

The good news is that SimCity is a solid hit in all major markets. The consensus among critics and players is that this is fundamentally a great game. But this SimCity is made to be played online, and if you can’t get a stable connection, you’re NOT having a good experience. So we’re not going to rest until we’ve fixed the remaining server issues.

And to get us back in your good graces, we’re going to offer you a free PC download game from the EA portfolio. On March 18, SimCity players who have activated their game will receive an email telling them how to redeem their free game.

I know that’s a little contrived – kind of like buying a present for a friend after you did something crummy. But we feel bad about what happened. We’re hoping you won’t stay mad and that we’ll be friends again when SimCity is running at 100 percent.

SimCity is a GREAT game and the people who made it are incredibly proud. Hang in there – we’ll be providing more updates throughout the weekend.

[PurpleGaga27 40]

I wonder what free game(s) EA has given away to players who bought SimCity.

 

The other question is, how many people (need a number there soon) owned SimCity and tried to load it with or without issues?

[Luk3us 63]

Now they're trying to bribe their customers eh? I don't mind that kind of tactic.

[Gben 20]

Nice work there. Action, solutions, and make-up sex.

[Doctor Destiny 41]

Now they're trying to bribe their customers eh? I don't mind that kind of tactic.

Sony gave out free games when they had to take PSN down for a month. It's a pretty common thing from game companies.

[Sonic 295]

Just purchased a copy of SimCity today. Haven't played it yet. Hope the damn thing works.

[Luk3us 63]

Oh it works most of the time, the newest patch hasn't really helped matters, the biggest problem traffic is still there. Plenty of other things like leaderboards and such aren't working properly and a range of other things. But its kinda fun.

[Nmenth 290]

I found this amusing.

[PurpleGaga27 40]

A bit late to post other articles regarding Sim City offline:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/16/simcity-modder-tells-us-offline-regional-play-easily-done/

and

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/03/17/ea-admits-simcity-could-have-run-offline-went-against-developers-vision/

 

Now as for the Sim City expansion:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/first-simcity-expansion-launching-november-12-6414713

 

Because the original game itself BOMBED with criticism regarding online and DRM, why is EA creating expansions anyway despite over 2 million copies sold? People will NOT buy the expansion unless an offline mode is present.

[Nmenth 290]

People will NOT buy the expansion unless an offline mode is present.

Apparently you have not met people yet. People will buy anything, no matter how brown, squishy, and smelly. People are stupid.

[PurpleGaga27 40]

After 10 months, EA/Mavis finally claims to have an offline patch to make SimCity work offline without an Internet connection (and that's the tenth patch!):

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2429438,00.asp

 

Now EA, what about C&C4?

Edited January 13, 2014 by zocom7

[Plok 323]

I'd link to one, but it's basically on the y'arr side of the 'net.

[Luk3us 63]

Ahahah, only a year late... But still, points for effort.