New SimCity Requires Constant Internet Connection

[vcatkiller]

so how many of you turn your internet off .... ever
most of you wont even notice its needed

That part isn't that much of a problem. (unless you live in regional Queensland like some of us do and live with internet that drops out for no apparent reason)

Origin is my problem. Do not want.

[caitsith01]

so how many of you turn your internet off .... ever
most of you wont even notice its needed

You understand that just because something is technically possible, doesn't mean it should definitely happen, right?

I mean, there's not technical reason that the police can't install cameras inside your house to make sure you're not committing any crimes in there, but you wouldn't be cool with that.

I see no reason why just because EA technically can spy on and control our use of a game, it is justified that they do so.

[akira675]

so how many of you turn your internet off .... ever
most of you wont even notice its needed

I love this sort of idiotic comment.. It really shows off your ability to jump into a discussion with little regard for the 4 prior pages of discussion explaining why what you've said isn't the issue whatsoever.

[zakynthos]

and they wonder why PC piracy is rampant.

[libbaz]

Online login not a problem for me. As others have said ea will (read: should) patch that out if they ever decide to shut down the authentication servers. If not I'm sure the community will be more than happy to do the hard work for them, releasing some kind of mod/crack.

As far as I'm concerned at this point, the only 2 things that could stop me playing the game are;
1) It turns out to be a bad game.
2) It ships with an activation limit.

Given its going to be a core EA game and tied in with Origin I think the likelihood of EA shutting down the servers within 5 years is slim, unless its a **** game that nobody adopts.

EDIT: Also, on the point of Origin, how many haters have actually tried it. I'll admit, I'm a hater, very much so. I find it a buggy platform that's so minimalist its almost featureless, but even I can see it will be a fairly decent service in about 1 years time. Need I remind everyone of 2005 Steam? Horrible piece of software, arguably worse than what Origin released as. Now I couldn't imagine a world without it (Steam).

[vcatkiller]

Yeah I didn't plunge in and use Steam immediately either. It was about a year or two later before I really started using it seriously. Same thing with Origin. Why would I want to adapt early now, while it's still a buggy beta, when I can wait a year for it to mature and actually start working properly?

That and it's yet another content delivery system. I've already got a few installed and I don't particularly feel like installing yet another one. If EA can't be bothered releasing their stuff on an already established system, and want to force folks to use their own, then I'm not completely bothered with buying their products. Simple. EA can take a flying leap as far as I'm concerned.

[a3gis]

EDIT: Also, on the point of Origin, how many haters have actually tried it. I'll admit, I'm a hater, very much so. I find it a buggy platform that's so minimalist its almost featureless, but even I can see it will be a fairly decent service in about 1 years time. Need I remind everyone of 2005 Steam? Horrible piece of software, arguably worse than what Origin released as. Now I couldn't imagine a world without it (Steam).

Except Steam was brand new (and, really, the first of its kind). Origin on the other hand is the EA Downloader V2.0 (or is it more like V3 or V4?) - which was also launched in 2005 and has been a piece of **** in all its incarnations since. so yeah, i'm not expecting great things from Origin in a year's time.

[Potato Sauce]

Will definitely be checking out Simcity 5, loved sim city 4 and rush hour.

Also, I don't get all the hate about Origin, its just another steam that has no effect on my computer's performance and I find its more minimalist style so far quite nice (steam has so much **** in the client I don't use or need but can't remove).
It also doesn't seem buggy to me at all compared to steam when it first came out and I reckon its good to have another system to give steam some competition.

I always have both origin and steam running at the same time and it has no effect on my gaming or my PC's performance whatsoever.

[Vencha88]

Also, this could really just be because SimCity5 is a multi game? I mean how can they deliver on the promises and systems of the game without it being online?

And Origin is fine right now. It starts up when I ask, quickly and without any resources and is only on my screen when I want it too. I haven't had an issue with it since BF3 came out.

[a3gis]

And Origin is fine right now. It starts up when I ask, quickly and without any resources and is only on my screen when I want it too. I haven't had an issue with it since BF3 came out.

Issues I've had with Origin:
a) region **** - that is harder to get around due to no gifting and better region detection on addresses than Steam has bothered to implement
b) chat windows that wont. ****. close.
c) ocasional conflicts with Mumble (wtf?!)
d) lies about download speeds to look better than Steam
e) lies about Origin being better at delivering updates than Steam, hence not offering some games like BF3 on Steam - then why doesn't my BF3 handle all its updates inside Origin? Why does it wait til I'm ready to play a game with some friends to make me update the browser plugin?
f) friends list glitches where you have to restart Origin to connect to a friend's game of something (notably in Syndicate and ME3).
g) has made NO attempt at improving on anything Steam is doing - 1 example i've thought of: i would like Steam to let me download extras for my games when the game itself isnt installed (eg - so i can download and listen to soundtracks at work without installing the full game at work). Steam doesnt even show you the extras a game has until it's installed - Origin, on the other hand, shows all of that, even presents you with download buttons, but they aren't usable til the game associated is installed.
i) if you attempt to use a VPN to buy a game in another region's acceptable pricing and they detect it, they flag your account fraudulent and wont let you buy anything from Origin at all after that (clever way to increase piracy) - AND THEY DONT TELL YOU THIS HAS HAPPENED. Contacting their support staff leads to a merry chase up the support tiers til you can finally find someone that can unset that flag.

The only good thing i have to say about Origin is that cache availability is better than the Steam content servers - there was no stuffing around getting BF3 on launch day, it downloaded at max speed.

[Vencha88]

And Origin is fine right now. It starts up when I ask, quickly and without any resources and is only on my screen when I want it too. I haven't had an issue with it since BF3 came out.

Issues I've had with Origin:
a) region **** - that is harder to get around due to no gifting and better region detection on addresses than Steam has bothered to implement
b) chat windows that wont. ****. close.
c) ocasional conflicts with Mumble (wtf?!)
d) lies about download speeds to look better than Steam
e) lies about Origin being better at delivering updates than Steam, hence not offering some games like BF3 on Steam - then why doesn't my BF3 handle all its updates inside Origin? Why does it wait til I'm ready to play a game with some friends to make me update the browser plugin?
f) friends list glitches where you have to restart Origin to connect to a friend's game of something (notably in Syndicate and ME3).
g) has made NO attempt at improving on anything Steam is doing - 1 example i've thought of: i would like Steam to let me download extras for my games when the game itself isnt installed (eg - so i can download and listen to soundtracks at work without installing the full game at work). Steam doesnt even show you the extras a game has until it's installed - Origin, on the other hand, shows all of that, even presents you with download buttons, but they aren't usable til the game associated is installed.

The only good thing i have to say about Origin is that cache availability is better than the Steam content servers - there was no stuffing around getting BF3 on launch day, it downloaded at max speed.

So most of your issues with Origin is that it's lying and not Steam?

[a3gis]

So most of your issues with Origin is that it's lying and not Steam?

yup.

same with my issue about breathing carbon dioxide because it's not air. Air does the job I want it to, carbon dioxide does not. But here comes carbon dioxide, after the fact, all "hey look! I'm a colourless, odorless gas too! Breathe me!"

[Vencha88]

So most of your issues with Origin is that it's lying and not Steam?

yup.

same with my issue about breathing carbon dioxide because it's not air. Air does the job I want it to, carbon dioxide does not.

So if SimCity5 required a connection but was on Steam, would you buy it?

[caitsith01]

Also, this could really just be because SimCity5 is a multi game? I mean how can they deliver on the promises and systems of the game without it being online?

I bet you 100000000000000000 simoleons that it will have a singleplayer mode, or at worst a mode where there are on-line neighbour cities that you don't have to interact with if you don't want to.

[DoHo_]

EDIT: Also, on the point of Origin, how many haters have actually tried it. I'll admit, I'm a hater, very much so. I find it a buggy platform that's so minimalist its almost featureless, but even I can see it will be a fairly decent service in about 1 years time. Need I remind everyone of 2005 Steam? Horrible piece of software, arguably worse than what Origin released as. Now I couldn't imagine a world without it (Steam).

Right, 2005 Steam, vs 2011 Origin... EA had 6 years to create a substantial product. Valve were leading the way with Steam.

I used it with BF3 (the beta at least) and I found that my Origin friends list for that game was pointless because I still had to log-in, add friends and join games via Battlelog. I can't figure out why Origin was even needed except to just be there. It just didn't do anything different or better to Steam. I would rather keep my games collection in one place. Steam has a large selection and just does everything better.

Origin didn't do anything except just be there. It offered no services and had no purpose.

So if SimCity5 required a connection but was on Steam, would you buy it?

I know this wasn't directed at me: but, yes. Absolutely. The online thing isn't an issue for me (and yes I have had my internet cut out and I haven't been able to use Steam or play games for days and it was terrible, but Steam is a service in every sense of the word. Origin is just another program on the Task Manager list where I have no idea what it's doing but I have to keep it running because turning it off will break something.