Simcity Burns

[Teaos]

These are not new problems, games had similar problems for years. you would think they would have learned their lesson.

[Tyyr]

Until we force them to with our money they never will. Gamers made EA. They are only as shitty as we allow them to be. All it would take is putting on our big boy pants and deciding we're not gonna take it anymore and just stop giving them money. If just one game completely fucking tanks we'll have their attention. If two do their shareholders are screaming. If three do, this shit changes. But it won't, because collectively gamers are little five year olds with zero impulse control.

[Teaos]

Or they decide to take a short term hit for what they see as long term wins.

[Tyyr]

They've got share holders. Their share holders are not going to sit by and watch tens of millions of dollars of development and marketing costs get pissed away for no return. A private company might be able to play the long game but with their shareholders breathing down their necks EA can't afford to.

And hell, just stop buying EA games so long as they continue to be fucking assholes. It's called impulse control. There are hundreds of games out there right now to play. Find one, play it, and stop giving these shitheads money.

[stitch626]

Last EA game I purchased was... Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed... about 2001.

[Nutso]

Until we force them to with our money they never will. Gamers made EA. They are only as shitty as we allow them to be. All it would take is putting on our big boy pants and deciding we're not gonna take it anymore and just stop giving them money. If just one game completely fucking tanks we'll have their attention. If two do their shareholders are screaming. If three do, this shit changes. But it won't, because collectively gamers are little five year olds with zero impulse control.

I think you might enjoy this.

[Tsukiyumi]

And hell, just stop buying EA games so long as they continue to be fucking assholes. It's called impulse control. There are hundreds of games out there right now to play. Find one, play it, and stop giving these shitheads money.

damn right. frankly, they've got nothing on the roster that I'm interested in enough to put up with this kind of shit. I was considering buying Sim City a few weeks ago, but... well...

[Nutso]

And hell, just stop buying EA games so long as they continue to be fucking assholes. It's called impulse control. There are hundreds of games out there right now to play. Find one, play it, and stop giving these shitheads money.

damn right. frankly, they've got nothing on the roster that I'm interested in enough to put up with this kind of shit. I was considering buying Sim City a few weeks ago, but... well...

I did not realize how useless EA had gotten until my brother bought Madden 2009. Our favorite game to play was NFL 2k5. We had that and Madden 05. NFL 2k5 was behind Madden when it came to most everything, except gameplay. The gameplay was by far superior to anything Madden had put out, and you know what? It still is. There is a small community that continues to update the rosters.

EA simply hasn't put any thought into improving the cash cow that is Madden since they won the Exclusive Rights from the NFL. Same fucking engine, slightly improved graphics, and a different useless gimmick each year, and the same dumb fanboys who keep buying that retread fucking game. It's going to keep happening every year because the same people just can't resist pretending they are leading their favorite football team, and thus keep lining EA pockets with cash for essentially the same game from 2006.

There was an old joke that EA would sell the game with everything, but the helmets. You can't play football without helmets. So all you have to do is buy the same-day DLC to get the helmets and play the game. The football comes free of course, provided you are connected to the Internet. EA! It's in the game!

[stitch626]

One of my favorite EA (well Maxis) games is SIM Coaster, and I would love (conceptually) if it was remade with simple upgrades.

However, can't trust EA.

[Tyyr]

I've stayed away from EA for a while, they didn't have much that interested me aside from Mass Effect, Battlefield, and Sim City. Well, first they fucked Battlefield 3 up with the "Premium" upgrade which was paying them $30 for sight unseen DLC, getting priority in the server queue, and not artificially having your access to DLC delayed. In other words, you paid them not to punish you. Then Mass Effect 3 happened. Fuck Mass Effect 3. Now Sim City is circling the drain. Even with stability improvements it's still a shallow shadow of it's former self. Postage stamp sized maps, no traffic simulation, no services simulation, no emergency services simulation, no economic simulation, nothing. It's Societies with more menu options. What the hell kind of Sim City is it when people start and finish a city in one sitting? How the hell do you sit down with a blank region, start work, and finish in one night? These are probably some of the smallest maps since Sim City on the SNES. Whats worse, they're fixed and there's no random generator. In other words if you don't like the maps the game came with... TOUGH. Well at least until they bring out the "Maps Pack" DLC for $5.

Back when I first heard of Sim City 5 I couldn't wait to see how they'd build upon SC4 and make things even better. Turns out they threw that out and tweaked Societies.

[Teaos]

Okay I heard an interesting theory that I dont necessarily agree with but was interesting.

The most popular game of all time for woman gamers was the sims, and online was second life. People in the gaming industry are speculating they are trying to bring in aspects of those style games to appeal to a much wider demographic, theoretically doubling their customer base.

[Tyyr]

It's just stupid enough to be true. The Sims was about controlling one small family or group of friends, decorating your house, raising a family, etc. Sim City has none of that personal connection. It's not about controlling a family, it's about controlling a population and when you need to being a cold unfeeling bastard. I just don't see what appeals about the Sims crossing over that much with Sim City. I've played the Sims, it held my attention for about a week before I turned it off and forgot about it. My wife played it for about a year.

And second life? I have no idea how anything about Second Life translates to Sim City.

I don't doubt that EA would love to find a way to market all their games to a female demographic but you can't alienate the rest of the customer base doing it. Besides, I don't know, nor do I want to know, what people would think a "girly" game would be. Never mind marketing it. I think the biggest problem is that video games are traditionally a male medium, if you could get people past that I don't think you'd need to market to one sex or the other. Just make a good game and it'll sell. If you really need to market then add strong female characters and PC options to play as a female. Trying to "girlify" games is stupid.

Stupid enough that EA would try it.

[Teaos]

The way you interact with your neighbours and such... does feel a bit like Farmville. A game dominated by female players.

[Tyyr]

Maybe, I dunno. Then again I think Facebook games like that are a blight. They're less social that, "Bug the shit out of your friends to get them to play and hopefully some of you will give us money."

[Teaos]

I would say its sexist to assume woman prefer playing games with family and babies, and team work involved, but the evidence does support it somewhat.