''Everyone’s connected all the time, so we felt like it would be fine to do that'': EA Maxis on Always-Online DRM, Sheep, Mutants and More in SimCity

[Fireslide]

If the market for DRM free games is large enough, there will be developers and publishers seeking to exploit it. In the mean time, there's a huge catalogue of old games people can play that don't require online DRM. It sounds like the benefits of having this game always online opens up some cool gameplay dynamics.

[TRB]

Jason: Well, this was built from the ground-up to be multiplayer. I think by having it be a multiplayer game

They are going to be in the **** if it turns out to be just something gimmicky and the 'real' meat of the game is still basically single player.

[ChainsawMcP]

I don't agree with "internet connection required to play" for single player games but...

Not everyone is connected all the time. This sort of attitude is what makes people hate EA.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201

Oh, the irony...

routers die, Phone lines degrade, surges happen, Exchanges blow up. All of these are enough to put you out of action for a couple of days. Oh no internet and no gaming, guess you have to stick to watching tv.

Yep - surges happen - and hard drives/graphics cards/computers die - but with cloud saves - you just move to another computer and continue your game - so there is good and bad to the technology.

When i was in a Teenager

!!! ???


Sure the "internet connection required" is a pain - but it isn't the end of the world* - there are always external factors that affect what we want to do - My son nearly had a panic attack when we had a 2 hour blackout a month or so ago - I had to light candles and make coffee by boiling water on the gas stove - it was positively stoneage.
(I had to access the internet with one laptop and a WiFi/3G modem - while he used the other laptop to watch TV - He asked what happens when the battery runs out... I said the car's outside and it has a lighter socket kid...)


*Anybody want to start a pool on how long it takes for a crack to surface that disables the online check? Given that it already has the ability to withstand a dropped connection for some unknown length of time...

[Aphyosis]

Aphyosis wrote:
When i was in a Teenager

!!! ???

Wait, that was only this morning!

Good catch, i best edit that...

[DontShoot]

This aint getting my money. No single player game should need a net connection and this is a single player game no matter what they say.

Did you even read the article?

Honestly I don't get the whole "HOW DARE YOU DEMAND I BE ON THE INTERNET ALL THE TIME!!!!"

How often are you without the internet these days? Hell a smartphone on average has a better connection that a 56k modem did when they were standard.

Ehhh, yes i did. Did you read the article or even what i posted? I think not. The game is going to require a conncetion at launch. This is a major issue as I have had mutlple issues with my net connection over the past few years. For the record Im with Node. Any single player game that requires a net connect to start\play is a lemon and Simcity is a single player game no matter how they spin it.

[Marius]

I think the main issue here is that SimCity has been a single player game for the entire rest of the series, so now people are unsure about something different.

Buuut... it has been 10 years since the last SimCity, so they're fine to try something new.

[Otto-matic]

I suspect the "multiplayer" will be more along the lines of what Demon Souls had. Other players affect your world a little, and may passingly interact occasionally, but it will be a largely solitary experience. The always online is DRM, pure and simple no matter how they try to dress it up. Cloud saves and the other wonders of the tech can also work without requiring a constant connection.

With all this talk of 'This is what AAA games need to survive' one wonders why they even bothered making Skyrim. Surely Bethesda must be nearly bankrupt from making that (even if the next is the inevitable MMO).

[Marius]

Skyrim still has a significant cloud component.

The Steam Workshop only works for registered copies. Given how much Elder Scrolls has always depended on mods on the PC, it's as much DRM as any other system, if you're going to frame things in terms of DRM.

[wazzuppi]

Thats cool, il be playing my simcity internet free and with it on over my tuungle lan multiplayer

Times like these you just gotta torrent

[cyclobs]

i'll stick with simcity4 for now as i'm enjoying that quite a lot and i wont have to put up with tards disturbing my citys.

[Marius]

i'll stick with simcity4 for now as i'm enjoying that quite a lot and i wont have to put up with tards disturbing my citys.

I'd like it if you could send gunboats to raid other cities...

[Ashigaru]

This aint getting my money. No single player game should need a net connection and this is a single player game no matter what they say.

Did you even read the article?

Honestly I don't get the whole "HOW DARE YOU DEMAND I BE ON THE INTERNET ALL THE TIME!!!!"

How often are you without the internet these days? Hell a smartphone on average has a better connection that a 56k modem did when they were standard.

Ehhh, yes i did. Did you read the article or even what i posted? I think not. The game is going to require a conncetion at launch. This is a major issue as I have had mutlple issues with my net connection over the past few years. For the record Im with Node. Any single player game that requires a net connect to start\play is a lemon and Simcity is a single player game no matter how they spin it.

It's a Multiplayer game. 'nuff said. And I did read the article, hence why I'm harping on about the interwebs. And yes I did read what you posted, or else I wouldn't be responding to your comment whilst quoting it...

I too have net connection issues allll the time. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop playing this because of that. They're building multiplayer based capacity into the game from the ground up (in the article) and from what I've read elsewhere, it will give you interactions with your neighbours like nothing they've done in the past. Instead of trying to set up a self-sufficient city, you can have places like Las Vegas, or coal cities, or eco friendly cities, or pure automated production cities which will all help feed into your neighbours. Ie a eco friendly city requires high tech etc, but will not rely on the city itself for manufacturing. You would therefore require a nearby neighbour to be a manufacturing giant so that you can get your green eco products made for you. By the same token, to be an industrial mecha, you need a place for your workes to be entertained. Enter the leisure city one plot over where they can go and play.

It's not SimCity of old, it's a new beast and I think it'll be a lot more fun than people are giving it credit for.

[nit3hunt3r]

Sometimes it amazes me how some people have eyes that look forward but don't use them.

[André Axe'm]

It does sound like a dodgy gimmick though.
Maybe some real details would help?

[cyclobs]

i'll stick with simcity4 for now as i'm enjoying that quite a lot and i wont have to put up with tards disturbing my citys.

I'd like it if you could send gunboats to raid other cities...

then play anno