SimCity

So it's going to be SimCity Societies 2 with limited preset regions and online play...

*sigh* as I expected, I'll pass on this game...after waiting almost a decade, a bunch of people decide to remake the game and claim that they actually are doing it accordingly to what we want.
I really doubt those hypocritical "we listen to the fans" claims.

No terraforming? What exactly are you thinking? It's like you are purposely trying to destroy this game. I don't give a crap about your tiny simulation! Just give me the gameplay!

This so called realistic simulation is no more than beautifying details, they BY NO MEANS, make the game better. Need I to elaborate more? I don't think so, I'll just have enough by saying: I regress this game, the way developers handle it, and will never entrust any game under the publisher, EA"

" medium-sized map in SimCity 4": Too small.
One of the think that I expected from the new simcity is bigger map then simcity 4. :(

I hope this gets enough bad reviews so that they totally reconsider putting out this game. The game isn't realistic and its kind of childish. It does not at all appeal to the original Sim City players and will be a total flop. All the hype and they totally reconstruct the game into a Sim Societies 2. "Yeah, it’s definitely SimCity" No it isn't. Has he ever even played SimCity3000 Simcity4 ? It misses the concept of creating a large scale metropolis and a medium sized city that's probably like 1 square mile isn't realistic at all. You cant terraform ? that's such a disappointment. I was expecting something like Cities XL 2011 but Sim City style..which is better but i guess i will be playing that and Sim City 4 Deluxe until something better comes along.

These PR articles continue to avoid addressing the massive amount of disappointment SimCity fans are logging. It's super strange... are they purposely avoiding the fans because it would mean reworking the game?

Multiplayer seemed very interesting at first but sacraficing the control over how the cities connect is really disappointing. I suppose it keeps the game more simple in the sense that you don't have to worry about getting the roads to connct seemlessly while working with others online, but I'd honestly rather put the effort in getting a realistic region layout, which is normally the goal many players like myself set. Now, its gone.

Will Wright, please come back.

I love it how all these self proclaimed 'die-hard fans' are saying they're not gonna buy the game just because no terraforming and always online? Clearly not die-hard fans as they have said they are.. I'm still gonna buy it when it's out :L the only thing that bugs me is the price, £45 for a game? That's quite a lot :s

To the developers: Look, are your hands tied about online play? Did some executive higher up the ladder tell you that cloud play had to be made mandatory by some means so that nobody can pirate the game?

I say this because I understand the game is partially simulated in the cloud, and I understand that multiplayer has a huge effect, but... What happens to this game 4 or 5 years down the road?

There was 10 years between Sim City 4 and this game, and all we could do was play it while we waited or waste money on trying crap games like Cities XL or games from EA (but not Maxis) that were "sim city" in name only. If the same holds true to this game, we won't even have that from 2017 until 2023 because we need the cloud to play.

I will still buy this game, but I expect that at the end of it's lifespan you either make the server code public so we can keep playing, or release the next game in the series before axing this one completely. Preferably both. It's only fair.

BTW, Even though I seemed a bit aggressive toward this game, I REALLY want to give my thanks to the people involved in answering this interview :) I really appreciate and admire your objectivity and honesty! Though the game is less than what I expected, it doesn't necessarily means it's gonna be horrible. There are gonna be UPs as there is DOWNs. I think I'll give it a try...not buying it yet though...

So far, this game seems to move away from many of the areas that I enjoyed about the SimCity franchise.

The lack of terraforming and community mods is right at the top of the list. I also dislike disasters, so reading that they are a "big part of SimCity" is disappointing--I hope they are, at least, optional.

I am most disappointed, however, in the lack of information about transportation networks. I haven't seen enough details yet about the options I will have for highways/interchanges, light rail/commuter rail, multi-lane avenues, etc.

I canceled my preorder for now, until I know for sure this is a SimCity game that will beat out SC4. So far, I don't think it will.

Hello, I am waiting new SimCity with impatience. I have 2 questions about roads to ask SimCity creators:
1) You said there will be highways but we can build huge intersections and interstate systems (like California) or we can just build 6 lanes (3-3) roads and crossroads with traffic lights?
2) I saw your videos that there are road signs like "Airport", "SimNation". Will they change to more realistic signs in 2013 or these ugly signs will stay ?
Thank you

Yeah, and therein lies the problem, there is just so much of the game not shown/known about and only 6 months to release.
I too, cannot commit to a pre-order due to the dearth or information for what should be a very in depth game.

It seems like the two lead devs on this project are approaching our questions with a "you guys haven't even played it yet, so what do you know?" attitude. So disappointing. We may not have a clear vision of what SimCity 2013 will ultimately be like, but with the limited information you're giving us we can certainly say this: We don't like the direction this is heading in.

And we're the ones whose support you want, because we're the ones who will spend money on this game.

Hey, if you don't like money, that's okay with me. I'll go spend it on more worthwhile games. It just saddens me to see that fan feedback means so little to the developers of this game.

The no terraforming isn't that bad, but it is a huge disappointing, but I am relived that we can layout roads, cuz in part 1 they said something that kinda sparked rumors that players can't layout innercity roads

Come on guys (the ones that are getting angry at the old time fans), let us be worry about the game we have been playing for 20 years. You like on-line mode? Great, we do to. We just want to make sure that the game will suit us, old times fans like it will suit you (post SC3000-4 fans). We are not asking for anything more than an offline mode that would guarantee us that we can play the game even if someday EA stop the servers (or at least launch our city to play even if there is no internet connection). We all love the game and for us is quite frustrating to see this issue being ignored by what was, once, a revolutionary game developer very close to the fans. You have to recognize the fact that Maxis is not clearing our doubts and when we come here and see such a naive post by the PR team, it is so... arrogant.

Also, no God Mode for terraforming, fixed traffic systems between cities and such a superficial approach to traffic (where is the subway, the monorail and new tools for us to use?) are big deals. They are so big that the only explanation I can find to understand the absence of this tools is a $40 expansion that we are going to be obliged to buy just to have such basic stuff. Stuff that were once the selling propostion of the old SC games. They were the sales argument in the promotion of old SCs and now they are saying that this is out? Come on... and I thought at the beginning that the proposal of this home and blog here would be different... It would include us...

By the way I just saw it on a special blog: New SimCity Multiplayer will be paid like Diablo 3 ?

This blog proves you don't listen to your fans. The new Simcity looks SO restricted, and as such, I along with thousands of fans will be restricting our wallets. Push the release date back and change this ABOMINATION!

Im with everyone else. I have been waiting for this since SC4 and I have played SC2k since it came out. This is not sim city, regardless of what you suckups will say who is and who isnt a true Sim City fan. The true sim city fans are the people who still play SC4 up to this day with the amazing community mods. Calling people 'Your not a fan of Sim City' because they wont buy a game that is 6 months from release with little information about the game just shows your intelligence.

I still don't see why we had to go and make a whole new game from the ground up? The simulator for SC4 was amazing. All they needed to do was 3d it, throw in Glass Box, make some changes here and there, and then done. Was it really needed to completely start from the ground up when there is already a game under the same name and type selling copies still nearly 10 years after its release?

This Always online crap is just... not happening. I will just stick to SC4 if that is how its going to be. Take a good hard look at Ubisoft and how well this is working for them. Not sure if serious, or just stupid. A game that has always been about solo play... suddenly is trying to become online play... Cities XL tried this. it failed horribly. This game wont be an exception once people realize how terrible it is. I know some people will like the idea, but not everyone... I don't understand why we cant make things OPTIONAL. Is it so hard for game companies to do this? Options. you dont have enough of them.

And the no terraforming... Well I can somewhat live without but I really like it for building custom maps... It makes it feel more like MY city.

My excitement is pretty much gone for this game. I will wait for reviews to see if its any good... right now it all looks like pretty lights and smoke but nothing actually there.

I do have questions if they feel like answering it after this long message: Why is Sim City going down the route that other games have tried to take but failed at doing? So far, everything that I am hearing as official from MAXIS is very similar to the same stuff that came with Cities XL. That game had to abandon its online play to survive. What is going to make Sim City different from them? Are you just planning to use the Sim City title as a means of getting some quick cash? Is this for pride because some other company tried to make a similar game but failed so MAXIS needs to show them where they went wrong?

You have to ask yourselves, people are asking questions about things that they wanted in the game from the beginning and your telling them 'no, we aren't doing that'. What kind of example is this setting for the future of sim city?

and idc anymore... I figured I would chip in with the hope that just maybe someone might make the game that is the true successor to SC4. Because this rework from the ground up does not sound like it will be right now with the things they have said so far. I could be wrong, but I will be skeptical and won't spend my money on another useless game after what happened with Societies.

See you on the other side.