SimCity Will Be 100% In A Few More Days

Crisis almost averted. General manager at Maxis, Lucy Bradshaw, has sent out a new update letting gamers know that SimCity's launch fiasco is almost a thing of the past (although I'm hoping the memories resonate well enough within the gaming community that this always-on stuff never repeats itself again). In the post Bradshaw states that the game isn't quite 100% but give or take a few days and they'll get there.

Following up on earlier comments from Maxis who stated that they were entirely to blame for the SimCity fallout – and I must admit they've been very admirable throughout this whole thing and extremely diplomatic – the latest blog post attempts to assuage gamers, and let them know that there is still hope and that the game may run the way it's supposed to, soon enough.

According to Bradshaw...

had hoped to issue an “All-Clear” tonight, but there are still some elements coming together. Tonight and tomorrow we’ll be monitoring each server and gameplay metrics to ensure that the service remains strong and game is playing great. We need a few more days of data before we can assure you that the problem is completely solved and the game is running at 100 percent.

You know, I hope out of all this that EA learns to leave always-on DRM behind for good. Ubisoft learned the err of their ways and flatlined any attempts to keep the anti-consumer measure out of any of their future games. It's disruptive to the play experience, it's inconvenient and plain and simple, it's anti-consumer.

By all accounts, most gamers have learned that after Diablo III's fallout and after the launch of SimCity, they'll probably be a lot more vocal about any other game that decides to adopt this measure...or at least I'm hoping we all maintain the horrid memories of this institution to keep it from happening again.

Throughout it all, gamers have said that SimCity is an exceptionally fun game...when they're allowed to play it. I'm hoping that the next step is possibly an offline mode so that there will at least be a historical legacy to cement this latest SimCity into the history books, and not because it was the one SimCity game that lived and died at the hands of EA's server longevity.

Again, mad props to Maxis for weathering the storm...I can't say the same for EA, who has, for the third time in a row used a development studio to take the massive public outrage for their bad business practices.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.