[PC] SimCity impressions

[PR_GMR]

I played for over 2.5 hours this evening (man, what a time sink) after trying for about 5 minutes to access my starter city.  Damn, what a time sink this game has the potential to be.

And yes, I've said time sink 3 times.  Third time's the charm!

Yeah. The more time I put on it, the more I see how much time this game out of my life this game will consume. You can make some striking cities with it. All they need to do is keep smoothing out the servers and things will be good.

I played for over 2.5 hours this evening (man, what a time sink) after trying for about 5 minutes to access my starter city.  Damn, what a time sink this game has the potential to be.

And yes, I've said time sink 3 times.  Third time's the charm!

yeah, I was surprised to see Origin say I've played 8 hours so far.  surprisingly not a lot of that has been waiting to access the game-  if there is a queue or the game won't connect I just move on to something else.

I've 'Guild Wars 2' at the ready to play whenever these Origin servers get silly.

[Arkon]

Ok, we need more folks generating power, so I can buy it all up...in an attempt to bulldoze one turbine from my wind plant...I bulldozed the entire thing...

 

[wonderpug]

I've got a bunch of excess I'll put on the market (if I figure out how).

edit: Wait, do I even have to do anything to sell it?  I think my excess is just available for you to grab on your own.

[PR_GMR]

Ok. Picture time.

Here's a progress picture of my city of Cabo Rojo. I'm playing with arched roads. Everything needs to be tightened up considerably, but so far, so good.



How cool can cities be in this game? Here's a snapshot of a city from an Asian player in the Europe West 1 server (I believe). When I checked on the neighbor cities on my region, I had to take a snapshot of it. It's so impressive.

[Arkon]

I've got a bunch of excess I'll put on the market (if I figure out how).

edit: Wait, do I even have to do anything to sell it?  I think my excess is just available for you to grab on your own.

Yup, I am already buying all of your excess, and still falling way short...

[Asharak]

How cool can cities be in this game? Here's a snapshot of a city from an Asian player in the Europe West 1 server (I believe). When I checked on the neighbor cities on my region, I had to take a snapshot of it. It's so impressive.

That is very nifty. Is there any way you can check the population of that city easily? I'm curious how efficient a layout like that is.

- Ash

[metallicorphan]

Wow,great pics GMR


makes me quite envious,and wish a console version would happen...i love how obvious the Industrial and Residential Areas are,unlike the SNES version i grew up with

[wonderpug]

I've got a bunch of excess I'll put on the market (if I figure out how).

edit: Wait, do I even have to do anything to sell it?  I think my excess is just available for you to grab on your own.

Yup, I am already buying all of your excess, and still falling way short...

Do I actually see any of that money?  I can't find anything in my budget numbers that shows an income from anywhere other than my usual RCI.

Also, please stop sending your arsonists to my city.
 

[Clanwolfer]

Aside from the obvious, the city sizes are a big thing that make it less appealing to me.

I want to build this and instead they're letting us build... what? Spokane? Madison?

[Asharak]

Do I actually see any of that money?  I can't find anything in my budget numbers that shows an income from anywhere other than my usual RCI.

I'm not playing the game yet but I think I read something -- on QT3, maybe? -- that some external stuff is paid in periodic lump sums, rather than hourly, and thus isn't reflected in your budget pages? Which seems like it would be opaque and confusing, but maybe that is what is going on? Or maybe some parts of the trade system are still broken?

- Ash

[Arkon]

Do I actually see any of that money?  I can't find anything in my budget numbers that shows an income from anywhere other than my usual RCI.

Also, please stop sending your arsonists to my city.
 

Yeah they need to patch in some better city reports, so you can get more info on budget, jobs etc...I have tons of jobs that no one is filling and I have no clue why.

And sadly...I have so many arsonists I can't keep them contained.

[wonderpug]

Also, please stop sending your arsonists to my city.
 

And sadly...I have so many arsonists I can't keep them contained.

This is where the level of detail of the simulation is really neat.  I was playing this morning and then saw a limo appear in town representing Mayor Arkon taking a tour of my city (I assume because you were looking around yourself).  A bit later I get the message that arsonists are coming from your town, a fire starts and my fire trucks are dispatched, and then my police units go on a chase after the suspect and catch him.  One more spot taken up in my prison, but I assume the arsonist count for the region as a whole then went down by one.

Arkon, you'll receive my bill shortly.

[CeeKay]

Also, please stop sending your arsonists to my city.
 

I bet they come form Cabo Rojo.

[PR_GMR]

This is exactly how launch day went.  

[PR_GMR]

Also, please stop sending your arsonists to my city.
 

I bet they come form Cabo Rojo.

The CaboRojans haven't burned anything down. It's the wonderpugians, I tell you! 

[Arkon]

Also, please stop sending your arsonists to my city.
 

And sadly...I have so many arsonists I can't keep them contained.

This is where the level of detail of the simulation is really neat.  I was playing this morning and then saw a limo appear in town representing Mayor Arkon taking a tour of my city (I assume because you were looking around yourself).  A bit later I get the message that arsonists are coming from your town, a fire starts and my fire trucks are dispatched, and then my police units go on a chase after the suspect and catch him.  One more spot taken up in my prison, but I assume the arsonist count for the region as a whole then went down by one.

Arkon, you'll receive my bill shortly.

Yeah I wasn't viewing your city, but I saw a car representing you visiting Green Acres.  I get a News @ 11 report about once per day that arsonists are on the loose...I am somewhat tempted to burn the city down after building up some money, and making it an industry, gambling and crime have with Dr. Vu....

[tcweidner]

I have plenty of extra cops and fire, but am I to far away from you guys to share my stuff,  Im in the mean street of the region I guess,  it sure is ugly here.

what dictates building style?  I see some of your guys skyscrapers and they are sweet,  mine all look like some housing project from the 70s...... Keep humming the "good times" theme to myself.

[The Grue]

Keep humming the "good times" theme to myself.

Not getting hassled, not getting hustled...

[wonderpug]

I have plenty of extra cops and fire, but am I to far away from you guys to share my stuff,  Im in the mean street of the region I guess,  it sure is ugly here.

what dictates building style?  I see some of your guys skyscrapers and they are sweet,  mine all look like some housing project from the 70s...... Keep humming the "good times" theme to myself.

Click on one of your housing projects and check the wealth, which I'm guessing is low. If you want it snazzier, stick some medium or high wealth parks in the vicinity.  High density, low wealth housing isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. Some of your most profitable industrial factories may be relying on low income workers.

[metallicorphan]

Eurogamer Article headline and sub-headline

Sim City Servers appear to be coping as game hits UK

UPDATE: It looks like the servers have collapsed again.

 

This is from that article

info: You are now ready to chat with Brian.
you: Hi
you: I would like to request a refund for the game SimCity that I bought on Origin. I cannot play the game because of consistent server issues. I deem the Product not working and by Norwegian Consumer laws I request a full refund and that the game is removed from my Origin Account.
you: Hello?
Brian: Hi. Thank you for contacting EA help, how may I help you?
you: I would like to request a refund for the game SimCity that I bought on Origin. I cannot play the game because of consistent server issues. I deem the Product not working and by Norwegian Consumer laws I request a full refund and that the game is removed from my Origin Account.
Brian: I am very sorry to hear that, do you have a digital or physical copy?
you: I have a digital copy
Brian: And you have already downloaded the game?
you: Yes, I preordered the game on 06.03.2013 and it was preloaded yesterday
you: I have been unable to play it because of server issues.
Brian: I apologize but we are unable to offer a refund on digital downloads. This is part of the terms of service found at the following link http://www.ea.com/terms-of-service Section 5, 9 discusses the refunds. You can find specific details by pressing CONTROL + F and searching for the key word "Refund". We are working on the servers and they are getting more stable. The game just released so I appreciate your patience. am sorry that we can not issue this refund. Is there anything else I could help you with today?
you: I am sorry, but this is unacceptable. Are you aware that you are in Clear violations of Norwegian Consumer laws? It is illegal to sell or advertise a defective Product Norway and not offer refunds if it is broken
you: What is the address and phone number of Your Norwegian Offices? I am going to report this to the consumer affairs Office, and would like this information for my report.
Brian: Norway 21 08 17 06 +47 21 08 17 06 Norwegian: 8AM-5PM GMT, Monday through Friday. That is all of the information I have for you at this time.
Brian: Because you have already downloaded the game we are not able to refund you for the product. But the servers will be fixed soon. I can promise you that.
you: Also, I will claim the charge on my credit card as fraud and have my bank follow through on this.
you: Your assurance of the server issues is of no concern to me, I have zero tolerance for issues like this.
Brian: If you do that it is possible that action will be taken against your origin account.
you: You have taken my Money an not delivered the promised Product.
Brian: I am very sorry, but the product will be fixed.
you: Is that a threat? What kind of action, I have other games there that is not affected.
you: Are you actually saying that you will Block my other games If i report this sale as fraud?
you: I want to be assured that my other Origin games will not be affected
Brian: If you claim a fraud charge against origin you face a chance of your account having action taking against it. I am very sorry, but you can not claim a charge back against that.
you: Of course I can, if you sell me a Product that is not working, it is clearly fraud. I will let this rest for a week, if the Product is yet not delivered to me in working order, I will claim that this is a fraudulent transaction.
Brian: If you do that your account will face action. Please have patience and give it sometime.
Brian: Thank you for contacting EA. Is there anything else I can help you with today?
you: No, thank you for nothing. I am disgusted that you can even think of threatening to Block my Origin account over this when it is you who are clearly in the wrong. Appalling.

[Roguetad]

Yuck.  That's the worst kind of customer service.  So they can ban someone from access to games they already purchased on Origins?  So basically they don't truly own the digital games they purchased?  That doesn't seem legal. 

[Arkon]

Well, I just got screwed big time...a meteor hit my town...dead center on my mayoral mansion, and the high wealth area...I have had to shut down the ferry service, recycling, police service and the shuttle bus depot just to keep from going broke, and I can't float any new bonds at the moment.

[Arnir]

I can survive the outages, but why should I be happy about it?  Life certainly will go on, but the idea of buying a game that doesn't work and then supposed to just play something else until it is fixed is why game companies get away with crap.  Of course, that is exactly what I will do.   I was guilty of poor judgement by preordering and I'm getting my just desserts.  Should I make sure I have a bicycle ready in case my new car doesn't work?  Speaking of which, I'm surprised SimCity doesn't have a bicycle traffic model.  That seems to be quite the star for many cities now.  Hmm.  Anyway, hopefully they will get it fixed soon.  This would/could make a decent case study in business school.  Hmm.

Anyway, enough of the complaining.  When I can get into my city I have not yet figured out how to draw truly straight line streets.  I know how to find the tool to do it, but if my first road is off then oops. 

Also, my town isn't adjacent to anyone else in our region so I can't export anything until we have a road connection, I believe.

So far this game has a lot of potential.  The towns are way too small, but I wonder if that isn't a function of keeping system requirements manageable. 

My town, Trendy Point, is mining coal and ore.  Is there a place ingame that lets us know what the region has already built in terms of governance, so we don't duplicate ministries?

[Arkon]

I wish it did, however you should get notices when you get access to new buildings based off of government buildings already built.  It took maybe 10 minutes after I logged in to let me know I could build some new things.

[Razgon]

So, your game doesnt work - What to do? You of course petition the white house about the issues!

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/simcity-launch-disaster-continues-gamers-petition-ea-white-house-1C8769125

[Arnir]

I built a department of utilities.  If there was one in the region already, it wasn't working for my town.

I'm waiting for the President to invite me over for a beer summit on this issue.

[Lee]

So far this game has a lot of potential.  The towns are way too small, but I wonder if that isn't a function of keeping system requirements manageable. 

I think it was RPS that ran an article that is exactly why towns are small. They want this game to be playable by everyone, so they made the towns very small so everyone can play it. They plan to increase city size eventually once the average home computer gets faster.

[Knightshade Dragon]

Ok - I'm researching and am going to build a Solar Power Great Work (or whatever they are called) to provide solar for everyone in the region.  It should be done tonight.    

[Arkon]

Ok - I'm researching and am going to build a Solar Power Great Work (or whatever they are called) to provide solar for everyone in the region.  It should be done tonight.    

Holy cow, how do you have enough resources to do that!

And are you using all 3 cities you claimed KD?

[wonderpug]

Ok - I'm researching and am going to build a Solar Power Great Work (or whatever they are called) to provide solar for everyone in the region.  It should be done tonight.    

Wait!

I heard a bad first impression from someone else on how the solar power great work works.  Supposedly it only provides the extra power during the daytime (which makes sense), but what's worse is that it won't start up in the morning until the workers show up, so the actual operable time can be quite small.  And since the power supply isn't 24 hours, you need alternate forms of power anyhow. 

If you want to give it a go anyhow, I'll be curious to see if your impressions.  Just wanted to warn you about possible buyer's remorse, though.  : )

[Arnir]

Ok - I'm researching and am going to build a Solar Power Great Work (or whatever they are called) to provide solar for everyone in the region.  It should be done tonight.    

You are going to put my coal business out of business!!!  I'll sue!!!  I'll......  I hate the sun.

[USMC Kato]

Can I get an invite to the North American West 1 server GT region?

[USMC Kato]

Can I get an invite to the North American West 1 server GT region?

Sorry I did get the invite but then the server failed so I think I may have lost the previous invite.

[Arnir]

Can I get an invite to the North American West 1 server GT region?

Sorry I did get the invite but then the server failed so I think I may have lost the previous invite.

I tried to invite you but it won't let me, so I'm thinking it is still out there somewhere.

If the demand is there, I am happy to start a second region on the same server and make it for GT.

[tcweidner]

the invite usually will stay in your mailbox thingy and you can keep selecting it over and over if need be.  Thats how I finally got in.

[Knightshade Dragon]

Ok - I'm researching and am going to build a Solar Power Great Work (or whatever they are called) to provide solar for everyone in the region.  It should be done tonight.    

Wait!

I heard a bad first impression from someone else on how the solar power great work works.  Supposedly it only provides the extra power during the daytime (which makes sense), but what's worse is that it won't start up in the morning until the workers show up, so the actual operable time can be quite small.  And since the power supply isn't 24 hours, you need alternate forms of power anyhow. 

If you want to give it a go anyhow, I'll be curious to see if your impressions.  Just wanted to warn you about possible buyer's remorse, though.  : )

Yep, I run a solar farm backed up by wind in my own city "Perpetually Poor Place".   My university is researching the solar dojobby, and it's only 500k, so why not.  I think it's the cheapest of all the great works.  I've got 300k in the bank and it'll be at 500 when the research is done.  If it helps everyone, awesome.  

[tcweidner]

as of friday night 6 Est. I still see at least 6 free cities available on the gaming trend region

[Arkon]

Kato, will send another invite when I can get in.

[Arnir]

Should we put strategies/questions here or should a new thread be started for that?  I can't remember the protocol.

[wonderpug]

I vote for keeping everything in this thread.