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EA have already launched a product like this: Battlefield 3. It was pretty unstable in the first weeks and the game required an internet connection and login to

EA have already launched a product like this: Battlefield 3. It was pretty unstable in the first weeks and the game required an internet connection and login to even play the game. Since it's a PC FPS that's not CoD, it didn't get too much press. I, for one, will not trust another game a DRM-laden game again due to BF3 and SimCity 2013 just reinforces that.

aqme28 14y ago
Battlefield 3 is a bad comparison because it's intrinsically a multiplayer franchise. No one complains that they need an internet connection to play World of Warcraft, because it's expected. Additionally, BF3 had an offline single-player mode. SimCity could have an offline single-player mode, but elected not to.
pc86 14y ago
I've seen pirated copies of (single-player only) BF3. What about the DRM is so different between that and Sim City?
- tobyjsullivan 14y ago
  I believe BF3 used internet connectivity only for DRM which means it's easy to carve out. SimCity actually computes the game mechanics on their cloud servers.
  - nwh 14y ago
    It doesn't. The game can survive without a connection for 20 minutes. The only logic run on their servers is save/load.
    - jaredmcateer 14y ago
      Anything that happens at the region level requires the servers.
- dylangs1030 14y ago
  Imagine one as a gate keeper and one as a patrol. In one you need to get past the gate keeper. In the other you need to be constantly vigilant everywhere because the code is fully DRM integrated. Games that utilize internet connectivity for DRM only can simply fake the internet connection. On Steam, this is done by tricking the copy of the game that the .dlls and relevant Steam .exe are running and everything is in order. Comparatively trivial to do, and these games are cracked very quickly. However, games like Simpsons Tapped Out, Sim City, etc. go a step further and prevent you from playing without an internet connection. This means that instead of just needing to fool the game initially and cruise from there, you can't just surgically remove the DRM. It's too integrated into the back-end code. The only solution is to fake a server. Much more difficult.

aqme28 14y ago

Battlefield 3 is a bad comparison because it's intrinsically a multiplayer franchise. No one complains that they need an internet connection to play World of Warcraft, because it's expected. Additionally, BF3 had an offline single-player mode. SimCity could have an offline single-player mode, but elected not to.

pc86 14y ago

I've seen pirated copies of (single-player only) BF3. What about the DRM is so different between that and Sim City?

tobyjsullivan 14y ago
I believe BF3 used internet connectivity only for DRM which means it's easy to carve out. SimCity actually computes the game mechanics on their cloud servers.
- nwh 14y ago
  It doesn't. The game can survive without a connection for 20 minutes. The only logic run on their servers is save/load.
  - jaredmcateer 14y ago
    Anything that happens at the region level requires the servers.
dylangs1030 14y ago
Imagine one as a gate keeper and one as a patrol. In one you need to get past the gate keeper. In the other you need to be constantly vigilant everywhere because the code is fully DRM integrated. Games that utilize internet connectivity for DRM only can simply fake the internet connection. On Steam, this is done by tricking the copy of the game that the .dlls and relevant Steam .exe are running and everything is in order. Comparatively trivial to do, and these games are cracked very quickly. However, games like Simpsons Tapped Out, Sim City, etc. go a step further and prevent you from playing without an internet connection. This means that instead of just needing to fool the game initially and cruise from there, you can't just surgically remove the DRM. It's too integrated into the back-end code. The only solution is to fake a server. Much more difficult.