Sim City struggles with server problems

Many gamers have been looking forward to Sim City for months, a sequel to a game that for many is iconic as nostalgic.

For a lot of those people, the game isn’t working.

Like so many games in recent times, including the catastrophic launch of Diablo 3, SimCity is having server problems locking many players out of the game entirely.

Sympathies for EA are few and far between at the best of times, but this latest problem has caused SimCity dwellers to rage in the loudest way they know how: to a bunch of other internet nerds.

In particular one interaction has gone viral, a conversation between one disappointed customer and an EA rep who flatly denies a refund.

Customer: “Why can’t you offer me a refund?” Adrian (EA rep): “Return policy.” When the customer called the rep up on the fact that the press release from EA read “if you regrettably feel that we let you down, you can of course request a refund for your order,” the truth became clear.

He could request refunds all day forever, but that didn’t mean he’d necessarily get one. “That is correct,” wrote our friend Adrian, “that this is where you can request a refund, but as our policy is stating is also the our decision to process a refund.”

Grammatical inaccuracies aside, you get the picture. This is not the first time a game with always online DRM has struggled at launch, as the exact same thing happened during the initial days of Diablo 3.

Although the heat does invariably cool off, it still begins with gamers going absolutely mental at the prospect of being cheated out of a few days of play time.

The solution is simple – boycott the games that are, clearly, taking the piss, or wait a week or so and buy the game after launch.

What do you guys think? Is this a rip off by EA, or is it simply teething pains?