I also hope that! Imagine that you need X amount of resource A to build something like an airport and you didn't put it. Ouch! On the other hand this would be more close to reality (and isn't that the objective of the game?) and would force us to interconnect our different cities.

I cannot believe it's taken them nine years to finally announce a new SimCity. What in tarnation have they been doing all this time? I know Maxis wasn't the culprit behind the crime against nature that was SimCity Societies. Oh, I suppose there was that marginal Darkspore game.... hmm.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/28/simcity-will-not-support-mods-at-launch/

Yup you read it correctly initial mods support will not be in Sim City 5 :( they "promise" to add it at a later point... like we haven't heard that one before. What was supposed to be an instant buy for me has instantly made this title put on a waiting list IF EA/Maxis actually decides to add full mod support.

How to shoot yourself in the foot.

And don't forget that you'll need Origin (not really much of a surprise here) but also an Always-On internet connection.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/28/simcity-requires-internet-connection-to-play-will-be-sold-outsi

"Lead designer Stone Librande confirmed that SimCity would be an internet-dependent experience. Players will need to be online on Origin while playing, even if that wasn't the point of purchase. The always-on connection becomes necessary with the game's emphasis on multiplayer and regional impact, and the use of a global economy that all players can influence."

Well, that has moved this game from "Keep an eye on it" list to the "Meh, maybe when it's very cheap" list.

As a point of interest, why the hell do publishers want to force gamers to be online while playing?

If it turns out true I won't be buying it, I'll just keep playing SC4.

Same here.

Why do I want my single player game to be affected by what the other players do? Simple answer, I don't want it. That's what multiplayer is for, not single player.

Indeed. I have a similar opinion on F1 racing games... I have no interest in racing against real people in something like that as most of them would be amateurish about it early on, and while that can be avoided later when people have played enough to sort them into ranks, there will still be at least 1/10th of players who are only there to mess people about (driving the wrong way or intentionally crashing etc) and usually later on there will be people who manage to find glitches or errors to cheat. I don't mind as much in something like Mario Kart or Burnout, but it would ruin the F1 experience for me.

With Sim City I don't really know the details of what multiplayer would involve, but I would guess at a minimum things like water and power deals will be brokered... what happens to my city if someone decides to pull out of a big power deal?
On the face of it, it's a good idea to let different people's cities interact, but it shouldn't be forced... lots of people, me in particular, hate being forced into something (google account for YouTube and Facebooks timeline usually come to mind here)

Even if the multiplayer aspect isn't forced I will probably skip SC5 if it forces me to start an Origin account and be online while I play.

i remember playing the hell out of 2000 and 3000 along with the sims when i was younger, i havent been into PCs much my current one is almost 10yrs old, maybe one city will make it to consoles the same way sims did

Well looks like EA lived up to all my fears and killed my interest in the game

I was totally lifting boycott temporarily just for this game and they just had to kill it.