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 | | the Sims/EA-Land Online Shutting Down |
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 Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:00 pm |
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| Raven |
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| Location: Detroit, MI, USA, North America, Earth, Sol, Orian's Arm, Milkyway, Uni Alpha-Prime |
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I happened to stumble upon an article that referred to TSO shutting down. I was a little surprised... i mean, there have been some bad MMOs before, but i don't remember any of them getting shut down (or maybe the ones that did were just so bad i never heard of them to begin with, i don't know). But i am still a little shocked by someone like EA having such issues with MMOs (i've been hearing that both the Matrix and Lord of the Rings aren't too great either--and now we have Warhammer on its way). Granted, it should be basically clear that Sims online wouldn't have worked... i haven't played it, but as far as i know, it's not much more than just chat rooms with 3D avatars... which has been done many times before and since... for free--so why would anyone want to pay for it. it's nice for a game to be completely open ended, but it's also nice for it to have goals... that's actually what allows people to call it a "game" to begin with... and the simulated accomplishments can appeal to egos a bit better and get people to be willing to hand over cash a bit more than letting them pretend to get married to an avatar that they're only hoping is really a chick.
For those that want to check it out to watch it burn in its final month:
http://ea-land.ea.com/blog/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-9931757-52.html
| Quote: | April 29, 2008 2:40 PM PDT
'EA Land' closing just weeks after debut
Posted by Daniel Terdiman
Earlier this month, I wrote that Electronic Arts had made an announcement to members of its long-running but poorly received virtual world, The Sims Online, that it was re-branding the service as EA Land.
On Tuesday, however, EA announced on the official EA Land blog that it is now planning to shut the service down altogether.
"It is with mixed emotions that today we are announcing the EA Land experiment will soon draw to a close," the blog entry read. "Since 2002, EA Land/(The Sims Online) has attracted a very special group of players...and we certainly appreciate your participation in the EA Land community. The lifetime of the game has drawn to an end, and now we will be focusing on new ideas and other innovative concepts in the games arena. We'd like to thank everyone who has taken part in this online community as a unique experience in the virtual world."
According to the blog entry, EA Land will shut down for good as of August 1, 2008.
This is an odd turn of events. Why, for example, would EA go to the trouble of re-branding The Sims Online and then almost immediately shut down its successor?"
EA did not immediately return a request for comment.
However, fans of The Sims Online (TSO)/EA Land were not in a sentimental mood about EA's decision.
One commenter on the blog entry wrote, "I guess EA changed it all to EA Land, taking away the TSO name so they could close it without closing The Sims name."
That's a rather pessimistic view, of course, but it raises an interesting point.
The Sims Online was originally a much ballyhooed follow-up to The Sims, the best-selling PC game franchise of all time--which recently sold its 100 millionth unit. But TSO never caught on and was widely seen as a failed attempt to port the single-player game to an online, multiplayer environment.
Still, EA kept TSO running, even as it was eclipsed by other social virtual worlds, and it limped along with a small membership.
All along, one reason the game never really caught on was because it didn't give users the ability to create much of their own content.
But with its announcement of EA Land, EA promised that users would be able to finally create content.
Well, I guess not. Whatever the reason EA is shutting down EA Land, it certainly does put the period on the end of the rather depressing sentence that was The Sims Online.
A lot of people feel that if EA had decided to really champion the game, it could have been a hit. It had every advantage: Amazing name recognition, the spiritual guidance of master game developer and The Sims creator Will Wright, and an eager audience. But the company never got behind it, and it became a PR nightmare.
And now, finally, it is being put to sleep.
R.I.P. TSO. |
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"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed." |
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| Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:40 am |
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| Raven |
| Google Meister |
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| Joined: 24 Oct 2005 |
Posts: 2877
Karma: -17
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| Location: Detroit, MI, USA, North America, Earth, Sol, Orian's Arm, Milkyway, Uni Alpha-Prime |
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| I tried to get in and look around for at least the sake of appeasing curiosity, but after d/ling the client and patching all the updates, it just won’t let me in... keeps popping up "internal error". so yea... i'm still somewhat curious about the goings on and all, but i give up... |
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_________________
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed." |
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