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Feedback On Simcity Gets User Banned From EA Forums
An anonymous reader writes "EA's latest SimCity game requires users to log on online even for single player. After being unable to log on for three hours, one of its users chimed in with his very polite $0.02 opinion, only to get himself banned by EA admins. Another great victory for DRM."
Update: 01/29 18:00 GMT by S : The player's ban has been lifted, and it seems to have happened for an unrelated issue anyway.
It isn't EA's latest game - it's a beta test with rules and restrictions typical of beta tests.
The game doesn't come out until March. Being 'unable to log on' for three hours might be a worthy complaint after that.
As part of the closed beta, just want to report I've had no issues at all, logging in to play the game. Granted, I didn't attempt on launch day, but it's been pretty decent. I was more upset with the limited playtime (limited to 1 hr) and inability to save anything. Also, a lot of the full game functionality is disable. Anyway, don't think it's right what EA is doing in terms of banning users posting negative reviews, but I suppose it's their site and they have every right to do as they please. Unfortunately for folks, this means fans of the game have to suck it up and deal with the EA BS, but at least they've finally released a new version of the game after years. Cheers.
Yes, it was EA. If you see an EA logo on a game, don't buy it.
I believe the story in question was EA Forum Bans Can Lock You Out Of Games http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/11/ea-forum-bans-can-lock-you-out-of-games/
And the follow up.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/11/14/ea-forum-bans-are-still-affecting-games/
I have no idea why anyone would buy any game, from any publisher, that required an internet connection for online play. Mind-boggling.
I love SimCity, but would never consider this game for that very reason.
Better summary here:
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=beta
If you want a pizza-and-drinks game... Munchkin. Doesn't take up as much space as a board game, as it's nothing but cards and dice, and it's a lot of fun.
There was an open beta on the weekend where discussing feedback was allowed and wide open. They even had a public forum for it: http://answers.ea.com/t5/Feedback/bd-p/Feedback
In fact DRM complaints were probably #2 on the complaint list... a mile behind the city sizes being absurdly tiny, which was the #1 complaint.
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
Here's the direct link to the article for future convenience (it's at the top of the above link right now but I doubt it'll stay there): https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130127/19023721799/redditor-points-out-flaws-simcitys-online-only-drm-gets-banned-ea-his-troubles.shtml
As he updated today, again on Reddit:
ref
Always On DRM is still a reason not to buy the game, as is buggy account management. However, the day-long Slashdot lag is providing only half the story.
About mid-day yesterday, I was banned from EA's Answer HQ[2] for, what I thought, was constructive criticism.
It turns out however, that EA is having really bad technical issues and managed to accidentally ban several users[3] . The cause, they credit, is something to do with the email opt-out. (Which explains why I did not receive information regarding the ban)
EA's representative did, however, issue an apology to me and I felt it only fair I set things right. (And give him credit for being an awesome guy in a place where he would normally be considered a dick)
I received a message earlier today (here on reddit) from Chris Deum[4] , the guy who heads up EA's Answer HQ, apologizing for the glitch. The message is below.
Hi Puppier,
I made a post in reply on both imgur and your reddit post, but I just wanted you to know that we've lifted your ban on AHQ. As you know, the system is sending out a lot of emails and it looks like you opted out of receiving mails from us, which for some reason is banning users. There's a few posts on it, for example here http://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Problems/Problem-with-Answer-HQ-banned-because-I-tried-to-stop-getting/m-p/419214/highlight/true#M1430[5] . It's not the biggest thread, but it's the first I could get to.
The team is working to fix the bug, but in the interim I actually have one member sitting scanning our logs for anyone that opts out, so we can unban them as quickly as possible.
Apologies again - as you mentioned. There's a lot of similar feedback to yours that hasn't been removed from the forums and the authors banned.
Feel free to give me a shout with any other feedback you have. I'll personally make sure it gets to the right people to make up for the annoyance.
Cheers,
Chris.
I finally did get SimCity to play and IMO it looks as if it will be a fun game. Although they still need to consider their always online policy, I believe that this game is looking out to be good. Thanks for all the support though and bringing this to the attention of EA!
TL; DR EA fixes false ban, EA sucks less.
http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/17e1ap/result_of_my_previous_ea_ahq_ban_post/
Steam will play in offline mode. Diablo III will not. Nor will Simshitty.
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