Oh. Hello there. I didn’t see you come in.
That’s because I’m too busy playing SimCity. You heard that right, I’m actually playing SimCity. With a friend, no less!
Obviously EA’s efforts are finally making a difference. Maxis General Manager, Lucy Bradshaw, wanted to set the record straight about the problems, and was kind enough to throw in an apology.
“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.”
It should be noted that my original server still has issues. I’m playing on a brand new server that launched today. I’d tell you that server, but I’m admittedly nervous that if too many people hop on it, it won’t work that well anymore. Go ahead and sue me, I’m still a bit nervous about it.
So how does EA plan on making up for everything?
“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.”
Bradshaw also re-iterated that SimCity is meant to be played online. Which, in truth, it is. One wonders, though, if there’d be such commotion of the game was called “World of SimCity,” or “SimCity Online.”
But enough of that.
The game’s servers are stabilizing. The game is becoming more playable. I’m yelling at my residents for not building high rises. I mean, come on!