Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Feedback On Simcity Gets User Banned From EA Forums

Posted by timothy on from the please-sir-can-I-have-another? dept.

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.

11 of 386 comments (clear)

  1. Was it EA..... by jythie · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Was it EA that had their forum and DRM systems linked in such a way that getting banned could also lock you out of content you had purchased, or was that another company? I vaguely recall it being a thing a while back.

    1. Re:Was it EA..... by tripleevenfall · · Score: 5, Informative

      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.

    2. Re:Was it EA..... by tonywong · · Score: 5, Informative

      Better summary here:

      https://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=beta

    3. Re:Was it EA..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      While I do want a Simcity game, as SimCity 4 is 9 years old at this point, I can't see this new product as a Simcity game. There is no local saves. There are preset map sizes (don't mind that that much), but there is a problem here. The player is not able to edit the land. I can't level a mountain to make way for a road. I can't build a system of streams and lakes. They want players to view making a city a puzzle that also takes into account terrain and wondering how to build a road around that mountain. They want the toy (not a game by Will Wright's point of view) to play with the players instead of letting the players play freely with it. Not everyone wants their cities to be compared to the works of others.

      At this rate, I doubt it will have any fun cheat codes as was a staple of the series.

  2. Except it isn't their latest game. by Aquitaine · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    1. Re:Except it isn't their latest game. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Sure, if that's what happened. EA has reversed the ban and is chalking it up to a bug.

      I.E. Nothing to see here, move along.

  3. I love the SimCity series by i+kan+reed · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And I have no reason to think the gameplay of this latest iteration is bad. But I'm never going to buy it. Ever. I don't care if that doesn't influence EA to stop being terrible, but all I can ever do is not buy their stuff.

    If you must play this game(and you don't) please pirate it. Please.

    1. Re:I love the SimCity series by brxndxn · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think it would send the strongest message if they could see the following:

      - sales rates go up when games have less DRM
      - piracy goes up when games have more DRM independent of sales rate
      - EA sales would increase if EA stops being assholes
      - EA does not see any of this because EA's head is in its ass

      --
      --- We need more Ron Paul!
  4. Solution is so simple.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    STOP buying EA games.

  5. DRM = NO SALE by Kaitiff · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I was an avid Diablo and Diablo II player. Same with Starcraft. These games gave me endless hours of enjoyment in some cases decades after release. I have not and will not purchase either Starcraft II or Diablo III. I am a 'lost sale' because of the WAR on gamers by the studios. Any game I purchase, in a store or otherwise, that I can't play at my leisure now or at any time in the future because the creator or owner of the license shuts down a server, or stops supporting the game will not be in my inventory.

    --
    If I sound stupid, it's not me talking....
  6. The rest of the story... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    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/