Jump to content
Due to a large amount of spamers, accounts will now have to be approved by the Admins so please be patient. ×
IGNORED

Simcity 4


Recommended Posts

  • Administrators

It's been massively crippled by always online DRM. LOTS of discussion all over about that. The game itself it supposed to really good but many people report major issues staying ingame due to DRM.

 

Brad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've played it and put it back on the shelf due to the above. Its really good, but really frustrating that certain things just aren't the way you want them.

 

If you're looking for sim2k with better graphics, move along. Its basically the sims in sim city.

 

The most frustrating thing is the DRM online BS. The second most frustrating thing is the lack of available space to build. The 3rd frustrating thing is the online stuff - you're relying on other people on your map to provide you with resources as you don't have enough space to build everything, but what if they've got no resources to give?

 

Its an attempt to make a multiplayer sim city and it doesn't work imo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators
DRM?? :unsure

 

Digital Rights Management: Essentially anti-piracy measures. In this case you MUST have a live internet connection if your playing the game as it authenticates against EA's servers. Also game saves are saved online. They will buffer locally until you connect though.

 

Brad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didn't even know this game was coming out... shows how much I pay attention to the PC gaming scene these days.

 

I'll possibly go out and waste a gift voucher on this because I love "The Sims" series.

 

Is DRM the answer? Probably not going by the feedback on here and in general onlien, but having had for a period a successful software retailing business, piracy is really kill the industry and something needs to be done to address it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my experience increased DRM tends to drive people away from your product or towards pirating it..

 

Especially when the DRM is as poorly implemented as it is in SimCity.. I would like to buy Simcity but the fact that I cannot play it if not online, save games are online not on your computer (results in games lost on feedback from people at my work) and constant server issues meaning paid customers cannot even authenticate the game and play it even though they paid for it, I will not be supporting this developer...

 

I like Sundberg's response to this kind of DRM (founder of Avalanche Studios)..

 

 

 

"If a DRM system constantly needs to be defended, something must be wrong. As a developer you will never win over any fans if you constantly let everyone know how much it costs to develop a game and how much money you lose.

 

I don't like always-on DRM solutions at all, since they offer nothing to the consumer. If you continuously give something extra for registering and being online, and award them for actually paying for and playing your game, it'd be different, but always-on DRM only says: 'Thank you for buying our game, we trust you as far as we can throw you.

 

"I know people who go and buy the game, but get the bootleg version just to get rid of the always-on requirement.

 

"PC games always have and always will be pirated, cracked, modded and what have you," he continues. "That is the nature of the PC as a platform; you can never get around this problem." The answer, he says, is to engage rather than enrage, to prove to customers that there is value in buying a legitimate copy of a game, and that you in turn value them for doing so."

 

"My solution to the problem is to start designing games for the PC player, and award PC players for being part of the community of your game and for staying connected to you - not forcing them. If you continuously tell the player that you care about their opinions, and appreciate their investment, you will lower the amount of bootleg copies. "

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The DRM isn't the worst part of this game, the lack of building space is. It's simply not possible to have your city the way that you want it due to an extreme lack of space. Even sandbox mode doesn't have a large map to build on.

 

I buy all my games anyway so the DRM doesn't bother me, its the way they've implemented it with server side saves and always online that sucks the fat one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

The problem with DRM is it only every punishes the legitimate purchaser. It's never reduced the amount of piracy. I've bought plenty of games and I always installed the CED cracks so I didn't need the disk in the drive. Stupid idea right there.

 

Brad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Due to the success of always online DRM on Sim City, it has effectively stopped piracy of the game. Same with Diablo III. They are the only PC games in recent memory that cannot be pirated due to the necessity of an always online connection. That's why it worries me that this shit is on its way to becoming an industry standard :(

 

Oh, and f*uck EA :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is true, but the hack has not been released to the general public as a patch/file, so at the moment, it still remains unpirated. You can modify the game files yourself, but you lose a lot of the game in doing so. All of the connectivity between cities etc. Which is how they designed the game. So it's far from 100% playable offline, playable in some ways, yep, but not 100%. Also, with that hack, no save games at all, as all the saves are cloud saves. So currently, it's still un-pirateable. Diablo III is also still unable to be pirated because all of the maps, loot spawns etc. are managed on the server side, not the client side.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Your right about some of the features for sure however I just found the crack in 30 seconds so it is available.

 

I predict that someone will release a patch for save games and maybe even "open" servers as had been seen before. If only as an "in your face" to EA. I just also out of curiosity searched for Diablo 3 and founs some interesting stuff like Diablo Server Emulation etc.

 

Brad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even if it does reduce piracy numbers the question is what % of those people prepared to pirate games would have bought them if they couldn't pirate them, and what % of people won't buy the games anymore (did before) with DRM getting this restrictive...

 

I think a lot of people were actually caught out with this title and regret purchasing Simcity, time will tell how well this works for the industry or at least EA..

 

 

 

P.S. Try Anno 2070 - published by Ubisoft so still has some DRM but no where near as restrictive as Simcity and can play offline

 

http://au.ign.com/articles/2011/12/02/anno-2070-review

Edited by joele
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I know about the Diablo III server emulation, it's totally bullshit :) Doesn't work properly, no real missions, crazy high level loot drops. It was more done as a proof of concept than anything else. Nothing remotely playable.

 

Anyway, I wasn't arguing for DRM, I hate the shit. I was simply saying that this is the first time in PC gaming history that DRM has actually stopped a game from being pirated for this long.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I decided to have a quick look at reviews of SimCity today, the DRM currently is killing this game. The review I watched showed Servers full and then you wait 20 mins before a retry is given.

 

I'll give this game a miss until this is sorted out - even then I still may not buy it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder whats costing them more sales, piracy, your the fact that the DRM is putting people of buying it.

I think this online BS is a crock, when I buy a game I want to own that game and not need to have to worry about servers, cloud saves or even internet to play it.

I bought a game 6 months ago and the DRM and other crap in it was so bad I couldnt get it to run, after spending 3 hours messing with it i just downloaded a cracked copy and was done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...