Unfortunately, this deal is no longer available
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247°
Posted 8 February 2013
CLOSED: SimCity BETA is back! Sign up now for FREE.
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geo.king
Joined in 2012
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About this deal
This deal is expired. Here are some options that might interest you:
PLEASE NOTE: The entry for this beta is now closed. Good luck to anyone who signed up!
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The SimCity beta is coming back! Sign up now for your chance to play this amazing game.
I was in the previous beta and I love it. This beta starts on Saturday 17 February 2013 and lasts just 24 hours, but this should be enough time for you to get a feel for the game before its release on March 8.
Edit1: For those of us who played the previous beta, EA have stated on their twitter you will need to sign up again as it's a new version of the game with a new beta key. Good luck everyone!
Edit2: Well this is confusing. EA have said you do and don't have to sign up again. In their FAQ they say this:
'Q: I've already registered for the previous beta, do I need register again?
A: No, if you've already registered, you do not have to register again.'
I'd register anyway but whatever.
Game info:
WHAT IS SIMCITY?
This is a new SimCity that delivers unprecedented depth of simulation. The model-like world and detail of the simulation make this the most responsive and personal SimCity ever. This is also the most expansive city management game yet where you can control a region that delivers true multi-city scale and play a single city or up to 16 cities at once each with different specializations. Multiplayer is also a first for the series, which adds a new dimension to your game as your decisions impact both your city and your region and creates new ways to play by collaborating or competing to earn achievements. Finally, SimCity is a live service that simulates real time updates from new challenges to new features and content.
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The SimCity beta is coming back! Sign up now for your chance to play this amazing game.
I was in the previous beta and I love it. This beta starts on Saturday 17 February 2013 and lasts just 24 hours, but this should be enough time for you to get a feel for the game before its release on March 8.
Edit1: For those of us who played the previous beta, EA have stated on their twitter you will need to sign up again as it's a new version of the game with a new beta key. Good luck everyone!
Edit2: Well this is confusing. EA have said you do and don't have to sign up again. In their FAQ they say this:
'Q: I've already registered for the previous beta, do I need register again?
A: No, if you've already registered, you do not have to register again.'
I'd register anyway but whatever.
Game info:
WHAT IS SIMCITY?
This is a new SimCity that delivers unprecedented depth of simulation. The model-like world and detail of the simulation make this the most responsive and personal SimCity ever. This is also the most expansive city management game yet where you can control a region that delivers true multi-city scale and play a single city or up to 16 cities at once each with different specializations. Multiplayer is also a first for the series, which adds a new dimension to your game as your decisions impact both your city and your region and creates new ways to play by collaborating or competing to earn achievements. Finally, SimCity is a live service that simulates real time updates from new challenges to new features and content.
More details at
Community Updates
53 Comments
sorted byChecking Out.
Sounds like those of us that still have the Closed Beta in Origin should be able to connect when the servers reopen, unless this is just promotional slang.
Thats the response to someone asking about it.
Yup, EA confirmed that the old beta is invalid now, and you'll need a new key, so anyone who has participated in the previous BETA will need to sign up again unfortunately.
OP updated.
Good luck!
(edited)
also read that if you pre-order it you will get instant access to the beta
(edited)
Only at Origin, and that's ridiculously overpriced in my opinion. Get it from Tesco for £30 or the Collectors Edition at GAME for £43 (like me)
i know i was just letting others know, gunna get the limited collectors edition with steelbook etc from game
Weird, their twitter is not the same as their FAQ. In the FAQ it states:
...but whatever. I've registered again!
FAQ link: simcity.com/en_…faq
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not the same thing hun, basically the Simcity is the full simulator version more upto date and something which couldn't be run on flash probably about 2-4GB download aswell, i have simcity 4 delux it was about 3GB
Correct. SimCity Social is a very limited game compared to the fully-capable SimCity, which the previous beta was around 1.9GB to download. Search on Youtube for SimCity 2013 gameplay if you want to know the difference.
In Beta 1 you could only play for a hour at a time
urm its the exact same beta with a few bug fixes. If you want to play longer you'll have to buy the game!
I remember enjoying Sim City 2000 / 3000, but it's been such a long time it's probably better off thinking of this as a different game. The preview videos released so far look interesting, so fingers crossed it turns out to be good
I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people who have voted it hot are opening their minds into thinking this 'always online' system might actually be of use in simcity. Or they just want a free game for a day. Both are very good reasons to want to be part of the beta. The first beta swayed me into thinking this game is actually pretty good and it made me pre-order it, because to me always online play is the path to the future. It's really handy for what EA plan to do with the game (building their own economy basically)
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Followed by the extortionate prices of the origin exclusivity for a couple of items, plus the additional £20 cost just for 3 different sets of skins for UK/France/Germany which is also Origin only - from which they might aswell be cutting their own throats, I just hope Cities in Motion 2 will remedy my need for a fresher experience.
I was genuinly curious as to what the vast majority posting here truly thought. Seems quiet from the thread, so, I guess most people either, don't know, don't care or don't know what it means. Personally, I don't want any game I own to have an always online to play requirement. The reason being, I've been in plenty of situations where there was no internet connection available. And with this upcoming game, that would mean no way to play this new Sim City. And there is no offline mode... Shame coz I liked the ol' Sim City.
EDIT: Oh, and, an online mode to build alongside others is great. Not knocking that! But no offline mode is a strange choice by EA. Read that last part as, not Maxis' decision.
(edited)
no single player is a killer for a handful of people. But this game requires a good computer to use, and most people have their powerful PCs at home, where they have internet. So I feel for you, but I think EA are going for 'the PC is the console' look for simcity.
Im signing up to try it out for free. Im not to keen on online only so doubt il buy it, maybe when it becomes significantly cheaper il consider it.
The servers were a shambles. I don't know how many beta participants they had (I'm going to wager in the region of 50,000) but, after initial reliable connectivity on the Friday night, EA sent out the bulk of the beta invites on Saturday morning - and promptly the servers became swamped. Unless you were very fortunate (and willing to sit in a lobby which wouldn't let you retry a connection until 15 minutes had passed), no gameplay was possible between 9am Saturday and 9am Sunday. If they don't get that sorted before the release date, it's going to be Diablo III all over again. (And hence why the "online-only" mantra is so frustrating - I don't want to play with internet randoms, don't prevent me from playing my game if your servers are being rubbish!)
The beta itself was extremely poorly managed. Users were pointed to a (public) bug-reporting forum, but the non-disclosure agreement meant that you were forbidden from posting screenshots... not very useful when you're trying to describe a bug. There were no staff communicating with users, and only one or two moderators whose sole purpose was to keep users updated on whether the servers were up or down. It meant that a lot of impassioned users were left shouting into the void, with no feedback on their thoughts & discoveries.
Most of my other comments have been said before... City sizes are far too small (the beta only lasts for an hour, but in every game I played (well, every one where I was trying to "win") I filled my entire city area within that time. Compare this to SC4's sprawling landscapes and it feels like a massive step backwards.
Then there's the inevitable EA factor. The initial array of buildings and services (including the ones that are locked-out in the beta) is relatively small; clearly these are going to be supplemented with acres of additional ones which have to be purchased with microtransactions. Considering you're locked-in to Origin, and both the standard ("Limited Edition"!) and deluxe editions of the game are hilariously priced (the deluxe edition is £65, and just includes a handful of extra buildings), it's going to be one heck of an expensive game if you're one of those people who have to own all of the content.
Good things... there were a few. Graphics are cartoony yet extremely detailed - the stats are still there (in the form of cool heatmap overlays) but you often don't need to look at them, because you can spot these trends in your gameworld. (I built a deliberately crime-filled city, and watching the neon police lights buzzing around everywhere at night was quite cool.)
Oh and you can't call a city Scunthorpe, because it fails the swear filter (it gets instantly renamed to "**********"). Yay for online gaming!
I understand where you are coming from, but EA specifically stated these beta tests are for testing the server demand ONLY. Of course they want to get rid of obvious bugs, but they're not going to change anything too drastic.
I agree the city sizes are too small, but you get to build on loads of other squares that weren't in the beta. I don't think the servers were down for 24 hours, more like 5. I was able to play at 3PM Saturday so it wasn't completely bad.
Sure, EA are going to make people buy a lot of content through DLCs, that's what they do. And there policy was disgustingly bad. But you get this with EA games. I just want a city building game which looks modern, feels great to use and can be played whenever I'm at home and want a game to play. SimCity ticks all those boxes, so it'll be fine. I'm sure they'll sort the servers out after this second beta is finished.
Yes they keep proclaiming that the smaller city sizes are compensated-for by the regional interconnectivity, but seeing as they've only given access to a single city tile for the beta, we can't test that. For all we know, that could be completely broken... and going on what I've seen so far, I wouldn't be surprised.
I do want the game to be good (and, given my wife's obsession with the series, I'm clearly going to have to purchase it regardless) but I just wish the game wouldn't give me the opportunity to hate it every time I touch it.
how did you get yours? they havent sent them yet
EDIT: or maybe I spoke too soon? '@doubleluckstur Not yet! They're being sent out as we speak (tweet?), so cross your fingers (toes/legs/etc.).'
(edited)
Congrats! Still waiting here