140°

EA Says It Took Over Six Months To Make SimCity Work Offline

In the wake of yesterday's news that SimCity will be getting an offline version, EA has come out with a blog post explaining just how they made it happen—and how much effort that took.

Saryk3787d ago

Boo f'in Hoo. Should have never been added!

Yi-Long3787d ago

Exactly. they created that 'problem' themselves. The community already said we didn't want all this Online MP DRM crap from the moment they announced it!

EA is going for a 3rd win in a row, when it comes to worst companies....

pwnsause_returns3787d ago

they should, they influenced MS to go ahead with all of this DRM crap..

Imalwaysright3787d ago

They don't need MS help to implement DRM. I have no idea why people believe that 3rd party publishers were the reason why MS was going to implement DRM.

-Foxtrot3787d ago

@pwnsause_returns

I think Microsoft influenced them to be honest, before the game came out they must of known about the Xbox One and it's DRM policies, things which EA must of liked especially when they had deals going on about TitanFall, so I think EA decided to add it into SimCity because they thought we'd be living in a DRM only place now.

I think it's what made them sign the deal about TitanFall being an exclusive. They thought Microsoft was going to kill Sony in sales with the Xbox One and they also thought Microsoft would be able to staple DRM and other policies EA liked down as a standard with this gen

However unlucky for EA they bet on the wrong horse.

just-joe3787d ago

Took the words right out of my mouth.

DragonKnight3787d ago

That's funny, because hackers were able to do it in a day. They had the game working offline for 20 minutes before the SimCity online check timer activated.

I guess EA really is full of incompetence.

brish3787d ago

I wonder if EA is intentionally trying to get worst company in america again?!

Either way I think they're going to win!

SirBradders3787d ago

Bad publicity is still publicity my friend.

Crazyglues3787d ago

@ SirBradders

Not when the publicity is "don't buy this game"

ambientFLIER3787d ago (Edited 3787d ago )

Is it too much to ask you guys to actually read the article before commenting? Or are you only here to troll and bash without any regard for facts?

"So yes, while someone was able to remove the 'time check' shortly after launch, they were unable to perform key actions like communicating with other cities that they had created locally, or with the rest of their region(s), or even saving the current state of their cities."

The problem is obviously NOT the drm check in...it's how your city affects others in offline mode.

hesido3787d ago

First of all, they could have made the online portion opt-in. The way they designed it forced everybody to go online, even required the game to be saved online. I'm also told the cities are a 9th size of Simcity 4.

They made online an integral part of running the game without apparent benefits. And it may be true that removing that thing may have required some effort, but an opt-in online with cloud saves as enhancement would not have necessarily increased the development by 6 months compared to tightly integrating online for the sake of DRM and then having to remove it while making sure you haven't screwed up, the latter is obviously harder. But it shouldn't have to be removed at the first place.

DragonKnight3787d ago

The point was that offline was working before EA did anything about it. What this article really is is EA saying it took them 6 months so create a save ability and adjust communications. That's still pathetic and wouldn't have taken a hacker 6 months to accomplish.

It's bullsh*t pure and simple.

3787d ago
NYC_Gamer3787d ago

EA is one of the worst publishers around and they have always done shady business tactics/treated customers like shit.

3787d ago
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80°

There are no "thoughtful" ads in video games, EA

There are no thoughtful ads in Video Games, EA. Leave them be.

Read Full Story >>
videogamer.com
northpaws11d ago

I think the only type of games that can gets away with it would be sport games, having those sponsors ads on the side like on real life.

But don't put freaking Doritos ads in Star Wars or something, it breaks the immersion. If it is a pop-up ads, then big no.

Hofstaderman11d ago

EA can thoughtfully eff themselves.

Makersbreath211d ago

EA coming back for the crown of being perceived as the worst company in gaming.

Chocoburger10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

One of my favorite series is the THPS franchise, and it was packed with ads, but it didn't bother me. Posters for skateboard companies, JEEP, and Nokia phones. It did sort of fit in with the game world, but that was the past, these days ad would be intentionally intrusive or unskippable loading screen type of imagery. Ugh, I know EA would do it in a horrible fashion. Screw them.

300°

Report: Sexual Misconduct Investigation Conducted at EA, Suspects Named and What They Did Revealed

EA senior staff has been investigated for sexual misconduct involving female coworkers, and these said people have been named publicly.

isarai17d ago

Aye just call Phil, i mean he somehow made Bobby Kotick's scandal disappear and gave him a few million dollar high five on the way out.

Cacabunga16d ago

I wonder if it will be censored with some in game ads.

MrBaskerville14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

Microsoft did, Phil Spencer played a minor part. He instigated the buyout that led to Kotick escaping all his controversies while getting a golden handshake.

Someone on Twitter calculated that the people hired in Tango and Arkane Austin could get a decent salary for roughly 17 years for the money Kotick was paid.

InUrFoxHole13d ago

Yeah some thing tells me Kotics $ was already guaranteed before MS made the deal. As for the studios... Let's be honest here... none of those studios made system sellers.

XiNatsuDragnel16d ago (Edited 16d ago )

EA about to go down like Activision and then Phil saves the day saying.this is good for the industry and consolidation will help create competition. /s.

MrBaskerville14d ago

Then they shutdown Codemasters and studio behind Jedi Survivor.

Atleast they could hardly do much damage that EA hadn't allready done. EA has shut down most of their studios by now.

ravens5216d ago

What's up with all these horny creeps. You gon be horny, fine. Just not at work take care of that shit before you go in. Rub one out if you have to. Don't be a creep at all. ESPECIALLY at work. But don't be one AT ALL.

Extermin8or3_16d ago

I mean part of the issue is that things transpired outside of work....

MrBaskerville14d ago

That's the thing he mentioned about not being a creep at all.

KwietStorm_BLM16d ago

You think deviants care where they are? Work sometimes makes it an even better situation for them because they can abuse their power.

mudakoshaka15d ago

Nerds think they are Gods when they are making video games.

NotoriousWhiz16d ago (Edited 16d ago )

"it seems that according to EA, given the events transpired outside of work between two adults, and the fact that once investigation has started that the alleged perpetrators didn’t do it again, the investigation is considered closed. [...] The victim still has to work with the people that harassed her."

Yep, EA is disgusting.

Extermin8or3_16d ago

I mean the fact stuff happened outside of work puts EA in quite a difficult position legally. These women don't seem to have reported the matter to the police which kinda ties EA's hands on what they can do. If they don't file reports of the crimes then yeah from EA's perspective it is stuff that happened outside of work. The only exception is the guy that apparently referenced things in the slack channel for work, spending on what he said proving it may be very hard and he may well be able to get away with plausible deniability. I don't like EA and I think these people need to be dismissed but without any legal action being taken, EA can't really do much without risk of being sued themselves for unfair dismissal etc.

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90°

EA to Spend Billions Boosting Share Prices After Mass Layoffs

EA has announced it will engage in a shareholder-pleasing share buyback program just a couple of months after mass layoffs at the studio.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
Yi-Long20d ago

Well, anything to make those shareholders happy, I guess. They're all that matters in this industry nowadays.

badboyz0920d ago (Edited 20d ago )

EA stocks haven't been profitable in over 5yrs. They better hope Take-two don't get the FIFA license lol.