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People are pissed because it's an artificial restriction. People understand that talking to a server is necessary for an MMO to work, and they also understand i

People are pissed because it's an artificial restriction. People understand that talking to a server is necessary for an MMO to work, and they also understand it is not necessary for SimCity to work. When an MMO talks to a server. it's in the user's best interest. When SimCity tries to talk to a server, it's against the user's best interest, who might want to play in a place without an internet connection, but is prevented to do so by a system that does nothing for him or her to begin with. It's weird that this is not obvious.

orbitur 14y ago
I'm skeptical about EA doing this because they are scary and evil (although I won't argue with that specifically). I am open to the idea that there is much more to the simulation than users are able to replicate on their own computers at home. I wish EA/Maxis would address specifically why an always on connection is required, so we don't have an abnormal amount of unfounded nerdrage opinions floating around about DRM. DRM sucks, for sure, but I doubt that's the only reason this game requires a connection.
- winthrowe 14y ago
  I am not open to the idea that there is that much more to the simulation. If there was, there wouldn't be reports of people being able to play without connection for extended periods as long as they don't try to interact with the region. As far as I can determine, and others (I frequent /r/simcity, this seems the consensus) agree, the requirement for the connection boils down to two things: 1. Maxis thought that the interaction between various cities in a region and the global marketplace for resources was good multiplayer gameplay. 2. DRM. Which reason is actually primary will probably only ever be known by insiders of EA/Maxis.
- antihero 14y ago
  If the simulation is more complex than a gaming PC can handle, wouldn't that mean that EA needed to (if at capacity) provide a better machine (that they have to maintain) for every copy sold? That doesn't seem sane.

orbitur 14y ago

I'm skeptical about EA doing this because they are scary and evil (although I won't argue with that specifically). I am open to the idea that there is much more to the simulation than users are able to replicate on their own computers at home. I wish EA/Maxis would address specifically why an always on connection is required, so we don't have an abnormal amount of unfounded nerdrage opinions floating around about DRM. DRM sucks, for sure, but I doubt that's the only reason this game requires a connection.

winthrowe 14y ago
I am not open to the idea that there is that much more to the simulation. If there was, there wouldn't be reports of people being able to play without connection for extended periods as long as they don't try to interact with the region. As far as I can determine, and others (I frequent /r/simcity, this seems the consensus) agree, the requirement for the connection boils down to two things: 1. Maxis thought that the interaction between various cities in a region and the global marketplace for resources was good multiplayer gameplay. 2. DRM. Which reason is actually primary will probably only ever be known by insiders of EA/Maxis.
antihero 14y ago
If the simulation is more complex than a gaming PC can handle, wouldn't that mean that EA needed to (if at capacity) provide a better machine (that they have to maintain) for every copy sold? That doesn't seem sane.