SimCity, as you probably already know has seen one of the most disastrous launches ever. Players all over the world have been venting their frustrations on Twitter, Facebook and even to fellow passengers on the bus to work.
You see, SimCity requires the player to always be online, the only problem is, EA wasn’t prepared for the amount of people who were trying to access the game and the game servers, causing a massive breakdown between the publisher and players, some even calling for a boycott on all EA products.
Many have sought a refund in light of the disaster that is SimCity, but instead of giving out refunds as promised, EA is attempting to build the bridge with the promise of a free game.
In a statement on the official EA blog, Maxis general manager Lucy Bradshaw wrote the following:
“Here’s a quick update on the problems we were experiencing with SimCity – and a little something extra for people who bought the game.
The server issues which began at launch have improved significantly as we added more capacity. But some people are still experiencing response and stability problems that we’re working fast to address.
So what went wrong? The short answer is: a lot more people logged on than we expected. More people played and played in ways we never saw in the beta.
OK, we agree, that was dumb, but we are committed to fixing it. In the last 48 hours we increased server capacity by 120 percent. It’s working – the number of people who have gotten in and built cities has improved dramatically. The number of disrupted experiences has dropped by roughly 80 percent.
So we’re close to fixed, but not quite there. I’m hoping to post another update this weekend to let everyone know that the launch issues are behind us.
Something Special for Your Trouble
The good news is that SimCity is a solid hit in all major markets. The consensus among critics and players is that this is fundamentally a great game. But this SimCity is made to be played online, and if you can’t get a stable connection, you’re NOT having a good experience. So we’re not going to rest until we’ve fixed the remaining server issues.
And to get us back in your good graces, we’re going to offer you a free PC download game from the EA portfolio. On March 18, SimCity players who have activated their game will receive an email telling them how to redeem their free game.
I know that’s a little contrived – kind of like buying a present for a friend after you did something crummy. But we feel bad about what happened. We’re hoping you won’t stay mad and that we’ll be friends again when SimCity is running at 100 percent.
SimCity is a GREAT game and the people who made it are incredibly proud. Hang in there – we’ll be providing more updates throughout the weekend.”
There’s no clue as to what the game may be, it could end up being a cheap title or it could be a free choice of anything from the Origin Store, but players are still unhappy at this point, understandably.
Personally, I’d be asking for a refund and would maybe look into getting the game again at a later date once I’m sure all the issues had been resolved. Put it this way, if you bought a toaster from town and it didn’t work properly, you’d go back and get a refund, why should games be any different?
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Have you had troubles with SimCity? Have you requested a refund but been denied? Let us know down in the comments section below.
Source: EA Blog