new "real" Sim City in 2013

[catty]

Well, I have mine preordered since monday. Not on Origin though, in an actual store

The local on-line shop in NZ is doing pre-orders for it as well

http://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/PC-Games/SimCity/19759110/

and yes they ship overseas

http://www.mightyape.co.nz/help/Delivery/4/International-delivery-rates/15/

[Shark7]

"Yeah, like SC4, you can build out a region by yourself, and make all of the cities serially. There are lots of players who just want to control their own world, and they don't want anybody to interfere with it. But even those solo players are going to be participating in the flow of resources that constitute the core of the games economy – the economic landscape that they're operating in will be shaped by the actions of other players, even if they are only playing solo."

"We've addressed this elsewhere, but I just want to repeat, single player is definitely still a big focus. And if you want to play all the cities in a region yourself, that's absolutely possible"

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but to me those two statements seem a little contradictory.

If it is the case that my gameplay is going to be affected by some unnamed stranger halfway across the world, that is pretty much a game breaker for me.  I don't like having to clean up my own messes, I sure don't want to have to try and fix something some one else screwed up. 

[RickD]

Where is the difference if the gameplay is influenced by an abstract online function or some arbitrary offline algorithm? 

As far as I understand it is not like a specific stranger will log into your game and mess up your cities. It is just that the data source which the algorithm uses is an averaging of what other players do. They could as well use a random generator. I do not really see a problem here.

[WC_EEND]

Well, I have mine preordered since monday. Not on Origin though, in an actual store

The local on-line shop in NZ is doing pre-orders for it as well

http://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/PC-Games/SimCity/19759110/

and yes they ship overseas

http://www.mightyape.co.nz/help/Delivery/4/International-delivery-rates/15/

That awkward moment when buying the new SimCity for a shop in New Zealand and having it shipped to you (ie: across the globe) is cheaper than buying it locally

[jdenm8]

That awkward moment when buying the new SimCity for a shop in New Zealand and having it shipped to you (ie: across the globe) is cheaper than buying it locally

That awkward moment when buying any game from a shop in Europe or the United States and having it shipped to you (ie: across the globe) is cheaper than buying it locally

[Shark7]

Where is the difference if the gameplay is influenced by an abstract online function or some arbitrary offline algorithm? 

As far as I understand it is not like a specific stranger will log into your game and mess up your cities. It is just that the data source which the algorithm uses is an averaging of what other players do. They could as well use a random generator. I do not really see a problem here.

There is a difference.  That unseen algorithm only does exactly what it is programmed to do, based on my inputs.  That unseen player doesn't have any defined parameters, and as we all know, human beings are the most unpredictable creature on earth. 

Sure with the algorithm, you are going to get a result in the extreme now and then...with a bunch of players, you could get some really wild extremes that skew everything.

Plus I just don't like the idea of having to log into the internet to play a SP game, or have that game connect on its own...it could turn into a security issue.

[RickD]

But that would be extremely bad programming if the algorithm would not even out the extreme. I'll keep cool and wait until we know more. It is pure speculation now anyway.

[vortext]

Where is the difference if the gameplay is influenced by an abstract online function or some arbitrary offline algorithm? 

As far as I understand it is not like a specific stranger will log into your game and mess up your cities. It is just that the data source which the algorithm uses is an averaging of what other players do. They could as well use a random generator. I do not really see a problem here.

There is a difference.  That unseen algorithm only does exactly what it is programmed to do, based on my inputs.  That unseen player doesn't have any defined parameters, and as we all know, human beings are the most unpredictable creature on earth. 

Sure with the algorithm, you are going to get a result in the extreme now and then...with a bunch of players, you could get some really wild extremes that skew everything.

Plus I just don't like the idea of having to log into the internet to play a SP game, or have that game connect on its own...it could turn into a security issue.

Glad to see this is still an issue of discussion and not just me that's confused about it. I concur there is a difference between an offline, unseen algoritm and a online dynamic one. Sure the latter wil even out but only eventually. Say I have a medium sized region based on coal resource, played all by myself. Now someone across the globe decided to start a massive, multi-player region with millions of tons of coal, which makes it dirt cheap. I would hate it if this could cause a recession in my region, if only temporary.  And like Shark7 said already, I don't like to be online all the time. Besides, internet connections can have down time . . .   

But you're right RickD it's still speculation at the moment. I just hope Maxis adresses this issue as soon as possible.

[Haljackey]

I have some bad news to report... 

SimCity to require always-on internet connection: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/03/28/simcity-to-be-crippled-by-always-on-lets-change-this/

NOOOOOOOOOO!  Hope they change this. Gameplay should be primailily focused on single-player, multiplayer/online should be secondary.

[WC_EEND]

In my opinion that is one of the most bone-headed decisions they could've made (for reasons stated in the article). No doubt there will be "other ways" to paly the game so that it doesn't require an always on internet connection.
For instance, in my case, my internet and tv come through on the same line, so if the tv goes pear-shaped, you need to reset the router, which obviously also causes the internet connection to drop.

[Battlecat]

Bummer, I was hoping they wouldn't do something stupid like this.  But it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. 

Even Steam gives you the option to play offline. 

[j-dub]

I'm not surprised either, this is so typical, with typical people in charge, and their usual stubbornness and ignorance. This Origin crap was the same mistake they made with Mass Effect 3. Its a shame, the developers knew what they were doing, but EA's management now is at the point, where they are too concerned about money, that they don't care about their consumers. Its simple really, produce, listen to the consumer's demands, then profit. You don't be all like , and oblivious, then expect to make profit, without listening. Again, its the usual typical people running things, that, always having to learn the hard way, after failing it up for the rest of us.

If their like, you don't agree with the terms and conditions, then just decline, well fine, if you guys don't want to make 100 millions, by not listening to over 280,000 plus would-be buyers world-wide, then fine, will just take our business elsewhere. Honestly, how can these typical business men, not see it coming.

[NCGAIO]

Simple and fast.

I bet that most of the community will not buy!

Modding is what made simcity through a decade and it's coming later no positive confirmation of the EA is because they want the rent!

Nothing new when it comes to them and the importance they give to consumers just see below:

BATTLEFIELD ™ 3: Aftershock for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch
- (Released in December 2011)

March 31, 2012 - Online Services Shutdown

has more

http://www.ea.com/1/service-updates

[mike3775]

There goes any interest in the game from me. 

There are very few games I like to play online, and when I do, its usually with my real life friends only

[kassarc16]

Well, now I'll just wait for an unofficial patch before I buy it.

[jdenm8]

This is something brought up several times, especially in the Reddit AMAA, and Maxis tiptoed around the issue by ignoring those parts of questions.

They know this wasn't going to be received well, but from what I've read about the mechanics they're going to implement, it's not going to change. It's because of that stupid dynamic Worldwide Economy and Online Saving system that they are implementing and a lot of people have been arguing for of all things. It's more crap that has to be processed and it hampers the single-player experience.

EA! If you're going to keep ripping off Steam, then rip off the Steam Cloud. It works well. Don't force this crap. We also don't want people from elsewhere stuffing with our cities in any way unless we explicitly want them to.

[mike3775]

If SC4 had online only, I would never play it still.

I can just imagine some idiot troll seeing someone making a great city develop online, turn around and deliberately build a industrial wasteland next door with no anti-pollution controls for air or water just to screw over the person who may have spent hours upon hours building a great city

[Mr_Maison]

It was very entertaining reading this thread from beginning to this point. I discovered the news late as of yesterday and came here see the thoughts. According to what I read so far in the various articles, this will be a physics based city builder on a massive scale as everything is connected through cause and effect from the sim to the arsonist riding around the black van setting buildings on fire causing air pollution.
Hopefully the suits will do the right thing and give us our stand alone solo play option. So I'm not worried about the game itself sucking but those suits man.........

[Shadow Assassin]

Guys, the article got revised to say that the game requires an initial connection with the Origin servers, rather than constantly requiring a connection, so if your internet connection goes down, you'll be able to still play it. It's par for the course with that sort of DRM.

But, I get the feeling this is only being implemented because of the expanded multiplayer functionality that Maxis want to put into the game... so we're really gaining some and losing some.

It's not the end of the world, folks. I'm inclined to wait and see what they try to screw us over with rather than making such an irrational decision about not buying the game, right now, more than a year from release.

[kassarc16]

Guys, the article got revised to say that the game requires an initial connection with the Origin servers, rather than constantly requiring a connection, so if your internet connection goes down, you'll be able to still play it. It's par for the course with that sort of DRM.

Authentication is still required to launch the game at all, even if it won't kick you out like past Ubi games did. It's a failure point we don't need.

Still, the required use of Origin at all is a deal breaker for me. I already use Steam, I don't need another service.