All north american servers have been shut down for 3 hours.
This is just hilarious.
Try now, I just got on the East Coast server.
I'm up for an AT region. Origin user name is D3vilD0gs. I've been playing reliably on europe east 2, but will give another server a try to join a good region.
I actually think anyone who bought this game and cant play it deserves what they got.
Come on, who didnt see this coming? When you read about the always online part, who here thought that the launch would go smoothly? When Blizzard's Diablo III was also a screwup on launch.
In fact, can anyone point out to me a DRM laden title that required user to be permanently online, that had a smooth launch? Just one?
Of course not. Companies buy enough hardware to satisfy the average demand when things have settled down, but never the initial glut. Its not worth it for them. And you know why its not worth it? Things like bad launches do not affect their bottom line as much as expensive server hardware. Anyone who bought this game has 99% likely been through a similar problem with something like Diablo III, and yet you still bought it, on release day. You are the reason why always online DRM is still made - because silly consumers still gobble the games up like they are going out of fashion.
Exercise a little restraint and we might actually see an end to always online DRM.
Woohoo! Over 200! Haha, this might take a while.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pe...te-servers-and-drm-function-properly/nMy1wrtC
As much as I agree with the folks that are upset about this whole fiasco, this is not a Federal government issue (even though I said Holder should get involved earlier - I changed my mind).
As much as I agree with the folks that are upset about this whole fiasco, this is not a Federal government issue (even though I said Holder should get involved earlier - I changed my mind).
Let's say a company is selling a service to customers in many states, and said company has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars for said service.
If the company is unable to deliver said service, yet is refusing refunds to all customers, what federal agency would handle that?
So some people want the government to come in and take action over a game? A game that they bought? Where is the personal responsibility in that? Should government come in and take action if some food tastes bad or if some hardware is faulty?
You bought the game, that's it. If its bad, then that's OK too. Move on. Wait and see if it can get better. If not, then learn your lesson. Anyway, many people had an idea that the game is connected to the internet and that many people would buy it when it would come out and yet they still bought it the first day. Maybe waiting a month after release would have been a better move - but that doesn't change things now.
I might just wait for this game to drop in price a bit then I'll get it.
So some people want the government to come in and take action over a game? A game that they bought? Where is the personal responsibility in that? Should government come in and take action if some food tastes bad or if some hardware is faulty?
You bought the game, that's it. If its bad, then that's OK too. Move on. Wait and see if it can get better. If not, then learn your lesson. Anyway, many people had an idea that the game is connected to the internet and that many people would buy it when it would come out and yet they still bought it the first day. Maybe waiting a month after release would have been a better move - but that doesn't change things now.
I might just wait for this game to drop in price a bit then I'll get it.
A suggestion... Do not exit your current city. From what I've read on the EA forums if you do, you're screwed.
Many people on the EA forums are claiming that the servers have all been down for 3+ hours, so you must be lucky!
The issue is that with any other product there is generally a return/refund policy. With this, there isn't. Yes, there are "as-is" and "final sales", but I find it hard to understand why games are the last bastion of mass marketed products that still do not have a return policy. I'm trying to recall another product that has this as part of it's sales policy - I can return food, cars (lemon laws), sneakers, clothes, tools, etc. but not media.
FTFY. The only time you can return any type of media, that I'm aware of, is if it's unopened, even then, for games or dvds/bds (not sure about cds), even if they're shrink wrapped most stores usually won't take it back.
Ok; how about if a record label sells 100,000 music CDs that won't play.
That petition came from the author of this Forbes article.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonev...rn-policy-for-defective-and-unplayable-games/
His main gripe is that consumer protection laws vary from state to state, and in some cases even digital verse physical copies even have different refund policies. He is using this SimCity release as an example to get things standardized so if the game is unplayable, anyone unsatisfied can get a refund.
It's a reach though, since like you mentioned, just because the game is unplayable now doesn't mean it will remain that way.
A suggestion... Do not exit your current city. From what I've read on the EA forums if you do, you're screwed.
Many people on the EA forums are claiming that the servers have all been down for 3+ hours, so you must be lucky!
Ok; how about if a record label sells 100,000 music CDs that won't play.
The focus should be on the consumers, not the companies. It is the consumers who buy stuff without waiting. It is they who are eager to pre-order an $80 game without any second thought. Besides, we have so many laws in this country yet we still seem to want more. We want our big daddy, the government, to come in and save us.
The consumers get what they deserve.
Let's say a company is selling a service to customers in many states, and said company has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars for said service.
If the company is unable to deliver said service, yet is refusing refunds to all customers, what federal agency would handle that?