EA's Bad Week - the SimCity Saga Thus Far

By now you kids know how I feel about always-on DRM.  It makes me angry.  It makes the fire burn in me belly.  And worst of all, it’s a trend that shows no sign of slowing down in the near future.  I vented and raged about Diablo III when Blizzard released it last year, seeing white hot flashes of rage at the fact that I couldn’t play my single player game offline.  Seemed like a reasonable to me of course, since the game’s predecessor allowed me to do so,  but hey, maybe that’s just me.

As I’m sure we’ve all learned in a number of times in any history class, relationship or other real-life happening, history seems doomed to repeat itself.  This time it wasn’t Blizzard at the heart of the controversy though – instead it was EA, one of the OG’s of always-on DRM, and the release of SimCity, next in that line of addictive little sim games.  Fans were looking forward to it, and would be erecting tiny digital skyscrapers as we speak if it wasn’t for an absolutely catastrophic launch.

You see kids, the city is a sim.  But the horror was real.

For the last few days since launch, a number of users haven’t been able to connect to theSimCity servers.  Of course no connection to the servers means – you guessed it – no SimCity to play.  The few players that are in fact able to connect being dropped mid game with a suddenly severed connection.  The result?  Extremely unhappy gamers.  Check out the official SimCity Facebook page to see the kind or ire they drew from their customers.  You can take another digital trip over to Reddit where the subreddit /r/SimCity has a ton of discussions between unhappy peoples.

That’s the main story, but it serves as a springboard for a couple of other spinoffs in the SimCity saga.  Tuesday on the EA forums (I’d link but it’s since been edited), global community manager Marcel Hatam issued an apology to customers, saying: “If you regrettably feel that we let you down, you can of course request a refund for your order at [Origin's "contact us" page], though we’re currently still in the process of resolving this issue.”

Then I saw this floating around Twitter.  It appears to be a post of a support chat posted to the EA forums by a user going by the handle CalebPeters.  In that chat, we see the customer support representative telling the user that EA does allow users to request refunds, but doesn’t necessarily process them by their return policy, also adding that account bans are in store for users that dispute said policy.  Of course that chat image went Ebola-style viral across the web immediately after.  Marcel Hatan’s forum post has since disappeared, being replaced with the line “Please review our refund policy here: https://help.ea.com/article/returns-and-cancellations” (check poster EA_ComRaven).  This of course links to their return policy, which states that there will be no refunds.  Through their Origin account (@OriginInsider), EA then clarified that users would not in fact be banned for requesting a refund.  PHEW.  Three days of whirlwind nuttiness, all because of always-on DRM.  But wait, what’s that I hear?

**HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER!**

Enter Amazon into the heart of the melee.  Eager to spare their customers from what can only be referred to as a kerfuffle, Amazon has stopped selling SimCity on their storefront.  In addition to marking each purchase option as “unavailable” when selected, they give Amazon customers a warning: “Many customers are having issues connecting to the “SimCity” servers. EA is actively working to resolve these issues, but at this time we do not know when the issue will be fixed. Please visit https://help.ea.com/en/simcity/simcity for more information.”  Click that screenshot I took to see it full-size or hit up Amazon to see it for yourself.

So EA is trying to address the problem.  Naturally, they hate bad press and the prospect of losing future sales as much as the next company.  Today they announced that they are removing “non-critical” aspects of the game to help lower the stress on their servers, letting more people connect without getting the boot.

Now this is the second launch that I’ve seen destroyed by a publisher’s absolute insistence on always-on DRM (of course i say “destroyed” due to user backlash, not money).  It is also the second launch where the publisher claimed that the always on component provided benefits and was not implemented for DRM reasons.  “Oh it’s technical” they say – well I ain’t buying it.  Diablo III‘s DRM-laden launch was paired with sales. SimCity will still sell a bunch of copies once they get all this sorted out.  That’s two kids.  One more always-on DRM launch and I’m ready to call it a horrifying industry trend.

On an actual technical note, this was the second launch where AAA publishing houses didn’t properly test a stressed server load.  You’re requiring every single player to be online.  Don’t you think your servers and network should be beefed up to match it?

66. the NFL's concussion awareness campaign hits madden 12

image - amazon.com

i always talk about how closely art imitates life imitates art and on and on in an infinite 2-way loop.  sports games is where that sentiment is taken pretty literally, where studios like EA do their best to accurately replicate every sound, team, player and environment to enhance their customers' experience.  the TPC sawgrass course in the tiger woods franchise, for example, looks just about as nice as it does watching golf on tv in HD, and stuff like the 17th hole on the stadium course appears to be just as difficult to play without hitting the water.  i say appears to be because a tee time for 4 at sawgrass would set you back about $1500.  you have that kind of scratch to spend on one afternoon?  but anyway, back to the real matter at hand.

the case just illustrated is no different with EA sports' flagship franchise madden NFL.  these games have the graphic power to accurately track player motion down to the last detail - different players have different strides when walking or running the ball.  they even visually differentiate that way different quarterbacks throw the football to their receivers.  but the most recent addition to the madden line of games doesn't have to do with visual realism, it has to do with a more serious aspect of real NFL football - concussions.

concussions and player head injuries have been a big topic of discussion during the NFL's '10-'11 season, primarily injuries stemming from hard hits and helmet to helmet contact.  to emphasize the seriousness and risk of this sort of injury, new madden football games will show when one of the players' digital little team members suffers a concussion on the field, and more importantly, will show that player leaving the field for the remainder of the game - no exceptions.  this is a big change from earlier iterations of the game, where a concussed player could be back on the field after just a couple of downs on the sidelines.  when you think about that as what younger players see on the screen, it makes sense that it could possibly convey the message that head injury is isn't so bad.

john madden, who is still involved with the development of the games that bear his name, believes that it's time for that to change for two main reasons: (1) to make the game more realistic to actual NFL play, and (2) to show younger sports gamers and youth football players how serious a football head injury can be.  according to madden in an interview with the new york times:  “concussions are such a big thing, it has to be a big thing in the video game.” he goes on to say, “it starts young kids - they start in video games.  i think the osmosis is if you get a concussion, that’s a serious thing and you shouldn't play.  or leading with the head that you want to eliminate. we want that message to be strong.”

sports injury isn't something that i've really seen positively addressed at all in all of the sports games i've played over the years, but there are a few examples where it was handled a little... differently.  blitz: the league kind of goes the other way, allowing you to "juice" a player through an injury and run the risk of more severe injuries.  and EA's own NHL '92 showed recipients of hard checks lying unconscious in an almost comically growing pool of blood.the NFL and EA are working very closely to make sure that  head injuries are accurately portrayed in madden 12 and beyond.  "we want it handed off to the next generation.  there was a time when someone would get a concussion and you’d say he just got dinged, take some smelling salts and get back in the game. those days are over.”

this is a definite positive step being taken by EA and the NFL.  i'm sure there's going to be a flood of players that are going to argue that it's a game and that this will take away from their gaming experience.  those players are probably at least teenagers and really don't care about games being used as a medium for any sort of safety message.  but you have to consider the number of younger people and kids that play this game, and given what i've seen on my tv on sunday afternoons, it's definitely something i'm glad is being addressed.  it speaks not only to responsible game development, but the idea that a game is a medium that's large enough to encompass more than shooting bad guys and throwing touchdowns.

and that all aside, i'm curious about how james harrison feels about all this.


sources:
new york times
gamesradar

50. EA finally de-claws tiger

tiger '12 ps3 cover, as displayed on amazon

post number 50!  took me a while to get here, slowly but surely, and i thank everyone who reads this.  i honestly didn't think this little experiment of mine would last for more than a couple of months, but i'll be hitting the 1 year mark next month.  so as long as you keep reading, i'll keep writing.  and to the 2,200+ individual visitors from 70 countries, thank you.

now on to business.

tiger.  ohhh tiger.  the EA-tiger relationship is a constant source for material for me since i enjoy playing their golf games.  even more so since i picked up a set of clubs a couple of years ago.  remember those posts i did on that very relationship after his off-course mishaps?  sure you do.  the first one was regarding tiger woods pga tour '11, and sharing the cover with rory mcilroy for the US vs. europe ryder cup feature.  next was thinly veiled threats from EA, who basically said that tiger would be done if he didn't start performing better on the course (of course i'm paraphrasing here, they only talked about the connection between the best golf game and the best golfer but come on we all know what's up).  now it can be argued that EA has taken it a step further with tiger woods pga tour '12.  instead of the ryder cup, this one focuses on the masters, which is kind of a big deal since this tournament has never been featured in a golf video game since the dawn of golf video games.  but tiger isn't front and center here.  but now look at the cover - the sole focus is on the yellow flags of augusta and the masters logo, with "tiger woods pga tour '12" almost serving as a subtitle.

so my predictions were kind of right.  but also a lot of wrong.  is tiger off the new cover?  ehh, mostly.  but i also thought that tiger '11 would still sell fairly well, seeing as the margin between '09 and '10 was fairly slim.  well, sales for tiger '11 were down by roughly 50% since tiger '09 (reuters).  and these sales figures could have directly related to tiger's performance.  according to jesse divnih, VP of electronic entertainment design and research, "the sales issues of the tiger woods video game are much broader and deeper than tiger's personal problems and has more to do with the entire golf sport struggling in 2010." he continues, "of course, one could argue the decline in the interest of golf has to do with tiger's extended absence and returned poor performance. but even if that was true, it says a lot about the PGA Tour and their over-reliance on one person to carry the whole league. PGA exposed itself to this risk and now is facing the consequences."  he's still going to be a featured player in the game, as well as a member of team USA in the ryder cup feature, along with other big shots like bubba watson and zach johnson.

screenshot of augusta, from kotaku

which is pretty much true.  so now i feel bad for the man - in addition to his off-course problems he unofficially has the sole responsibility of carrying the PGA on his back - which i'm sure gets kind of heavy, EA is still sending mixed signals.  after a couple months have passed since the "best golf game, best golfer" statement, EA sports' president peter moore now says "if the insinuation is it's a reflection of EA sports backing away from its relationship that goes back literally 13 years with tiger, that's not the case whatsoever."

which i would wholeheartedly believe - if the ONLY cover that featured tiger prominently wasn't the playstation 3's collector's edition.

that aside i'm still looking forward to the game.  HD screens of augusta look awesome from what i've seen, there's a new feature to play with a caddy advising you, the ability to play through past masters tournament moments, and the playstation move sensitivity in 3D space is touted to be better than it was in tiger '11. jim nantz and david feherty will be the voice behind the game on commentary this year, and according to a short development story on kotaku, this is meant to be the most tour-authentic experience provided to the players of the franchise.

of course "authentic" includes what i'm sure will be many slices from my move controller in my living room, as they would invariably occur with a 3 wood were i at augusta.

44. EA squeezes some fresh truth juice for their boy tiger

and i'm back.  hope everyone's thanksgiving holiday went well.  mine was one of turkey bliss, including 2 varieties of mashed potatoes (regular and cheesy bacon) and made me feel happy in the belly.  anyway, down to business - we'll ease back in with a short one.  this one revisits the whole tiger woods scandal and EA en masse - you remember tiger, right?

now do you like sports games?  sure, who doesn't!  every gamer i know, whether they're spending 80 hours unlocking stuff on an rpg, years on a mmo, or tracking head shots in an fps, can enjoy playing a good sports game, even if the occurrence is no more than few and far between.  and chances are whatever their sport / game of choice is, it's produced by electronic arts.  in my opinion they make some serious stuff in their EA sports line, with team sports hits like madden NFL football and FIFA soccer, which try to deliver something new every year.  with their links to the NFL and FIFA, marketing these to the gaming public was fairly simple.  take madden NFL football for example - since they deal with the actual NFL and use real players and teams (of whose rights are owned by the league), marketing the game was advertising for the NFL, and the same sort of followed in vice versa.  picking a poster boy is easy, and everybody's happy.  it was a little more difficult for EA's electronic version of the PGA tour -  it just wasn't as popular as other sports in the US in the 90's, and on top of that they were being beaten by likes of microsoft golf and links, as well as jack nicklaus' brand of games.

tiger and his old fedex cup (pgatour.com)

enter tiger woods in the late 90's.  tiger was a great addition for golf for multiple reasons, and in my opinion is responsible for the resurgence of the popularity of the game from the late 90's to today.  EA hopped on the tiger train for their golf games after his explosive play and 1997 masters win, added his name to their game, and tiger woods pga tour is what we've gotten ever since.  his endorsement breathed new life into the series, and has grown in popularity as viewership for golf increased, continuing even today.  EA even held on to the tiger woods brand through his highly publicized off-course issues for tiger woods pga tour '11, because their concern is about endorsing "tiger woods the player."

"the player."  no pun intended.  i promise.

but according to reuters, recent statements by EA's head honcho john riccitiello may indicate that this partnership is on the rocks due to his performance post-crisis. "we have no plans to move away from him, but it's a business relationship on the basis of we make the best golf game and he's the best golfer." he went on to say "both of those things need to be true in the long run for the partnership to make sense."  later he seemed to backpedal a little, saying that this statement wasn't a threat to tiger.  but i don't see how it can be taken another way.  while EA is definitely giving a little breathing room to someone who's brought them so much success to bring his game back up instead of just immediately dropping him, there's still a message here:  start winning again, or EA will join the list of tiger's former sponsors.  and it makes complete sense.  if you want to sell these games, for any sport, you need to associate it with someone the fans are excited about.  madden 11 features drew brees - a super bowl champion and MVP.  heisman trophy winner tim tebow is on ncaa football 11.  do you think this year's madden game would sell as well if instead of drew brees, the cover art showed a triumphant tyler palko getting ready to bomb it deep?

the hyundai tournament of champions is in january.  tee it up strong woods, or we could be looking at a rory mcilroy solo cover for pga tour '12.  and while he's working on that, EA, work on those DRM methods.

15. EA plus tiger woods still equals ratings

yes, i'm going to be talking about tiger woods.

after the, shall we say, transgressions, on the part of tiger woods, we've seen the inevitable corporate fallout happen on pretty much every media outlet.  accenture dropped ties with tiger in december, followed shortly by at&t.  pepsico's gatorade brand followed suit, ending their sponsorship in february.  even one of tiger's most steadfast corporate allies, gillette, claimed they were going to scale back on using the tiger woods image in their advertising campaigns - now relying heavily on their primary front man, roger federer.

on the video game front, electronic arts has stuck by him.  since 1998 and the playstation era, every year has seen a new version of the tiger woods pga tour franchise, generally featuring a triumphant tiger in one of his various victory poses from a number of tour wins.  now going into tiger woods pga tour '11, the cover looks a liiiiiitle bit different, doesn't it?  take a look.  instead of el tigre alone and triumphant, his cover is now shared with northern ireland's rory mcilroy, the 20 year old upstart who is shaping up to be a bigtime player after ranking well in recent pga tournaments.  according to EA, mcilroy appeals to a younger generation of golf fans, and with the huge successes of european players on the tour, a european golfer should share the cover spotlight.  that all makes complete sense on paper, but the timing makes it kind of tough to believe with all of the current and highly publicized proceedings.  many people were surprised that EA even held onto the tiger woods name at all to sell their golf game. 

so after all of the other drops, why did EA hang on? when asked even back in january they renewed their support in tiger.  and recently on CNBC,  EA sports' head honcho peter moore gave some more details:  "we are a very different company, in regards to our relationship with tiger, than other sponsors that have cut bait.  he's in the game. he's not an arm's length endorser."  translation - he's a character in the game, not using the company's products on tv, like shaving with a gillette fusion 3 million or sipping tiger-branded gatorade.  keeping tiger woods out of a golf game would be like releasing the next version of nba live without lebron james, or madden 11 without adrian peterson.  or street fighter without ryu.  i think you get the idea.

tiger woods is still one of the most explosive sports figures in all of history, regardless of his "swing off the green.  EA sports forged a relationship with him based on SPORTS, and in all of their statements have been very specific in indicating that they stand by tiger woods the golfer.  others tend to agree, since sales of tiger woods '10 were only marginally different than tiger woods '09.  tiger '11 should still deliver.  this upcoming release of tiger 11 and tiger pga tour online somewhat coincides with his real-life triumphant return to the links at the masters golf tournament.  ratings are going to be through the roof, and the only thing that may rival his physical presence on the tour will still be his digital presence through EA.