3 ms·

Too little, way too late.

taylorbuley 13y ago
What do you mean? It's 2014 and offline play is a hot new feature! More toward my interest in submitting this article, I wonder what this means for us webapp developers. Should offline mode be taken more seriously? Or is this a game-only lesson?
- jonlucc 13y ago
  Personally, I think it's an even more limited issue. It is a franchise in which players always played alone on a single computer. I think EA could have done a better job meeting the desires of its actual players instead of trying to make the game they thought the players wanted.
- madaxe_again 13y ago
  You should be investing in advanced new technologies, and looking at the exciting new delivery methods available. We're evaluating these 5.25" "floppies", which promise an exciting new delivery method for interactive content. Seriously, though, it's a tough one. In the one hand we have ever-advancing connectivity, making the shift to thin-client and server-side compute compelling, but in the other, over-centralisation, which results in poor resilience and risk management. If I had to put money on it, I'd wager that the overall direction over the next decade (assuming we're not all ash before it's out) is going to be towards distributed computation, but still within the client-server model we recognise. Beyond there... NFI. Quantum computers and unicorns.
- freehunter 13y ago
  Following with what jonlucc said, Titanfall is online-only from what I understand, and there hasn't been a huge backlash against it. It makes sense, from some standpoints. The experience offline wouldn't be what the game developers wanted it to be. SimCity on the other hand, was never developed to be online-only. The reason it was is because EA got greedy, and everyone saw right through it. Now, should apps have an offline mode? Yeah, if at all possible. Let's take Google Play Music as one example. By default, it's a streaming service. But if I lose connectivity I still want to listen to my music, so I can download the songs locally. Now, I just found out the other day that these files aren't downloaded locally forever, so when I left a service area my music stopped even though I had downloaded it previously. Frustrating to no end. So yeah, if the app should have an offline mode and it makes sense to have an offline mode, don't neglect to put one in just because you want complete control. But in this case, EA was just being greedy, and didn't hide their intentions with a good enough excuse.
- vidarh 13y ago
  I first played Sim City on the Amiga when the original was released, and I've played various versions since. The problem is that they messed majorly with gameplay in a way that effectively created an entirely different type of game. For my part, I enjoyed Sim City as a way to tinker on my own, and have no desire whatsoever to play with others, and it seems that's the case for a lot of others too. When that's the case, I also don't want to be forced to be online when playing. It means nothing for webapp developers in general, other than that you should be aware of how your users use your app and not suddenly release a version that turns everything upside down and expect not to upset a lot of users.
LandoCalrissian 13y ago
Not only that, so much more about the game is still broken. Really just a huge mess on EA's part.
stronglikedan 13y ago
They just did it so that, when no one plays anymore, they could say "See! We told you no one wanted offline play."

What do you mean? It's 2014 and offline play is a hot new feature! More toward my interest in submitting this article, I wonder what this means for us webapp developers. Should offline mode be taken more seriously? Or is this a game-only lesson?

jonlucc 13y ago
Personally, I think it's an even more limited issue. It is a franchise in which players always played alone on a single computer. I think EA could have done a better job meeting the desires of its actual players instead of trying to make the game they thought the players wanted.
madaxe_again 13y ago
You should be investing in advanced new technologies, and looking at the exciting new delivery methods available. We're evaluating these 5.25" "floppies", which promise an exciting new delivery method for interactive content. Seriously, though, it's a tough one. In the one hand we have ever-advancing connectivity, making the shift to thin-client and server-side compute compelling, but in the other, over-centralisation, which results in poor resilience and risk management. If I had to put money on it, I'd wager that the overall direction over the next decade (assuming we're not all ash before it's out) is going to be towards distributed computation, but still within the client-server model we recognise. Beyond there... NFI. Quantum computers and unicorns.
freehunter 13y ago
Following with what jonlucc said, Titanfall is online-only from what I understand, and there hasn't been a huge backlash against it. It makes sense, from some standpoints. The experience offline wouldn't be what the game developers wanted it to be. SimCity on the other hand, was never developed to be online-only. The reason it was is because EA got greedy, and everyone saw right through it. Now, should apps have an offline mode? Yeah, if at all possible. Let's take Google Play Music as one example. By default, it's a streaming service. But if I lose connectivity I still want to listen to my music, so I can download the songs locally. Now, I just found out the other day that these files aren't downloaded locally forever, so when I left a service area my music stopped even though I had downloaded it previously. Frustrating to no end. So yeah, if the app should have an offline mode and it makes sense to have an offline mode, don't neglect to put one in just because you want complete control. But in this case, EA was just being greedy, and didn't hide their intentions with a good enough excuse.
vidarh 13y ago
I first played Sim City on the Amiga when the original was released, and I've played various versions since. The problem is that they messed majorly with gameplay in a way that effectively created an entirely different type of game. For my part, I enjoyed Sim City as a way to tinker on my own, and have no desire whatsoever to play with others, and it seems that's the case for a lot of others too. When that's the case, I also don't want to be forced to be online when playing. It means nothing for webapp developers in general, other than that you should be aware of how your users use your app and not suddenly release a version that turns everything upside down and expect not to upset a lot of users.

LandoCalrissian 13y ago

Not only that, so much more about the game is still broken. Really just a huge mess on EA's part.

stronglikedan 13y ago

They just did it so that, when no one plays anymore, they could say "See! We told you no one wanted offline play."