Lucy Bradshaw has addressed the problems with SimCity, which Maxis are working hard to resolve, and has even offered something for your problems.
Here’s a quick update on the problems we were experiencing with SimCity – and a little something extra for people who bought the game.
The server issues which began at launch have improved significantly as we added more capacity. But some people are still experiencing response and stability problems that we’re working fast to address.
So what went wrong? The short answer is: a lot more people logged on than we expected. More people played and played in ways we never saw in the beta.
OK, we agree, that was dumb, but we are committed to fixing it. In the last 48 hours we increased server capacity by 120 percent. It’s working – the number of people who have gotten in and built cities has improved dramatically. The number of disrupted experiences has dropped by roughly 80 percent.
So we’re close to fixed, but not quite there. I’m hoping to post another update this weekend to let everyone know that the launch issues are behind us.
Something Special for Your Trouble
The good news is that SimCity is a solid hit in all major markets. The consensus among critics and players is that this is fundamentally a great game. But this SimCity is made to be played online, and if you can’t get a stable connection, you’re NOT having a good experience. So we’re not going to rest until we’ve fixed the remaining server issues.
And to get us back in your good graces, we’re going to offer you a free PC download game from the EA portfolio. On March 18, SimCity players who have activated their game will receive an email telling them how to redeem their free game.
I know that’s a little contrived – kind of like buying a present for a friend after you did something crummy. But we feel bad about what happened. We’re hoping you won’t stay mad and that we’ll be friends again when SimCity is running at 100 percent.
SimCity is a GREAT game and the people who made it are incredibly proud. Hang in there – we’ll be providing more updates throughout the weekend.
I was so excited about the latest SimCity. I bought it and discovered issues that has me in buyers remorse. The need for an online connection is silly. I have terrific Internet stability and it isn’t an issue here but for others who don’t subscribe to my canle company, it is everything. The fact that my game is linked to my Origin account means no one else in my household can play with me at the same time. Both my husband and I are upset about that. I won’t tell you what my kids think. In order to participate in the multiplayer function with my family, I would have to buy numerous copies of the game. Not happening. I wish I could return my game now. The other thing that annoys me is that the building placements are odd. The zones are limited to the perimeter of the blocks that the player creates, leaving the center of the blocks bare. Zone creation is bizarre and I liked it better in previous versions when the color fills up the entire block you’ve created. I am not totally gone on this game: I like the road options and the add ons for the buildings. But the fact that I am hogging the game because I can’t play with my family is a huge factor if my disappointment.
Well done to owning up Lucy, but it is too little, too late.
The only thing that will ever bring me back to Sim City now is if you make it fully offline.
This fiasco has confirmed what I always believed, as do many others – 1) Companies can’t be trusted to keep things running, and 2) technology and users aren’t ready yet for always online gaming.
I have completely lost any remaining faith I had in either EA or Maxis after this.
The offer of a free game sounds wonderful, but if like myself there is nothing at all that I would want then it is pointless… It is a hollow gesture.
So from now on the only game I am left playing is The Sims 3… which I suspect will be the last Sims game I play as I believe EA will make them go always online with The Sims 4 and that will be it for me, both for The Sims and gaming full stop.
Without getting into any arguments with anyone, I would just like to say that I’m really enjoying the game, and that even if some view it as too little too late, I appreciate the response that Lucy has made (it’s better than Kip’s for sure :D).
I personally didn’t have many issues at all… a couple crashes but nothing maddening, I was able to get online pretty much when I wanted to — and when I wasn’t I just did something else. I’ve never played an always online game before so I don’t really have any opinions just yet over it
It’s a shame that such a great game has unfortunately gotten a rough go over stupid things that can mostly be fixed.
I lol’d reading this… But hey, at least they aren’t acting like they didn’t do anything wrong
I think the thing we need to keep in mind is that this game wasn’t meant to play offline. It was designed to be an online, social game. What Maxis didn’t consider, however, is that this would only work in a perfect world where every gets along. If they spent their time playing MMORPGs, they would learn that there are people out there that will grief others and take advantage of the virtual economy.
Although good in theory, I don’t think the game is going to work in the long run. There will be abandoned cities, bad mayors taking advantage of the good will of others, and bad experiences. It would have been better to create an offline game with the option of multiplayer/LAN.