So it turns out EA's decision to make Simcity 5, also called "SimCity" in their official marketing, wasn't the best move. Aside from all the known problems, it turns out you can also exploit the online-nature of the saved games to enter other peoples' cities and take them over. How?
Explanation:
"As a quick recap: Modders found out that you can play SimCity in offline mode as a single-player game. In addition to playing the game offline, the modders have also opened up additional things like larger cities, expanded highways and better population management. In other words, they fixed the broken game that EA shoved down your throats.
However, with all this good news also comes some bad news. Modders have also discovered that it's possible to mess with files client-side to affect server-side activity. I think you all know where this is going. "
5 Comments
KrupoI should also mention this comment on the whole thing: "I think SimCity has reached that software event horizon where the shenanigans between the developer/publisher/hackers have become more entertaining than the game itself. "
EvilDeathBeeI was really looking forward to playing this game, until I heard of the DRM and I knew then it would be a big problem and decided not to get it, but I would never have dreamed it'd turn into the FUBAR mess that it has become. And the constant lying and bullshit EA and Maxis say is ridiculous.
I hope they'll add a single player option, offline play, increase the ridiculously small city size and offer a formal apology to everyone for all the outrageous lying. But this is EA, ain't gonna happen
gwiz665Well, they sure fucked this one over royally. It's a shame, because the game looks so nice.
GutspillerI hope EA learns from SimCity, and either comes up with better DRM, or learns not to use it at all because of this.
Companies that think they are in control of their community often learn the hard way, that the community is in charge.
The movie industry is still trying to recover from the lesson bittorrent is teaching them.
Jinxsays...This won't be the first time EA has shafted its customers and it won't be the last. The only way they'll learn that they can't operate their business like this is if it no longer becomes profitable, and I don't see that happening. Evidently people will buy it on release regardless of the warnings or EA's history.
This is what frustrates me, because I know friends who will whine and bitch about EA after having a bad experience with one of their games, or they'll read an article on the way EA treats its employees or the well documented way they bribe reviewers or try and manipulate user reviews on metacritic etc and yet when Simcity comes around they have it on preorder. What a surprise, EA are laughing their way to the bank with your money and apparently customers tears don't register on their bottom line enough for them to care.
Don't buy their games. Support the developers/producers who are worth your money.
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