What could have been done to prevent the SimCity capacity issues.
Let's hope these guys get it right.
And the result is...
I understood that this article might come off as me being a know-it-all. However, I hope that it helps everyone realize that we, as the consumers, do not have to put up with this. The fact that SimCity server capacity needed to be increased by 120% is unacceptable. Any level of performance testing would have highlighted this as a concern very early on in the project. It many ways, it seems that the ball was dropped.
At the end though, I have to admit that this is another sign of the growth that the industry is still going through. It’s a shame that these incidents will lead to negative reactions to “always online” features within video games. I think this feature can lead to some very exciting dynamic content for future games. However, to do it right, you need to create these features, support them, and ensure that they sit on a steady infrastructure. For that though, you need to invest money. Bungie made it a point to note that they did that for Destiny. While it’s not the sexiest announcement, it will make all the difference in the world when you don’t notice you’re connected to a server at all.
