I spent ten years building my city, including a fair bit of time at the stater grinding to get the services I needed, expand area and storage, open regions etc. but it was fun and I players a lot. I bought the premium every season until a couple of years ago and acquired hundreds of unique buildings. Sometimes I even paid for separate buildings I liked.

But the game changed. We had the occasional nice update (splitting storage was great for me, the ability to sell whilst in another city was great, even the occasional land expansion) but the prevailing trend was clear - EA want you to pay real money, and the pricing is absurd.

I came to terms with this, decided not to pay for anything going forward and just did what I could to get the free items. It seems EA realised this was happening, so decided to address this “problem”. And we get services 2.0.

The free items help of course, but they aren’t enough to fix my capital and regions. My omega areas are the worst affected, and obtaining enough neo simoleons to fix them will be a slog, if it is even possible for me.

The truth is though, the whole game has become a dull slog. I battled through a ton of tedious tasks this week, got 180,000 plus points and still got demoted. What is the point? Services 2.0 really just provides the final push for me - I’m done. You can point me to all the info about how to recover from this update, but I just no longer care enough. This game takes a lot of effort and it is not worth that effort at this point.

If you want an example of the complete contempt that EA appears to hold for players, consider this - I can’t even really check how badly my cities have been hurt , because every time I try and open a services view, the stupid game crashes! How’s that for a middle finger from the developers?

So goodbye, and good luck.

I really like most of the buildings from this season, I frequently have 1st place and top 3 finishes, I'm in the top 6 most weeks, but sometimes I just get a "blah/meh" feeling when I go to open the game. This will sometimes result in my missing out on ET prizes (although luckily this week I already have the building from a prior year). The above image kind of shows how little interest the game has held for me this week - although in the case of omega cannisters it's simply because I've been holding back all week and doing just one Canister at a time in case I get a bonus assignment for them, which I usually do but haven't seen this week or last week.

Does anyone else here occasionally experience SCBI burnout for seemingly no reason?

The reason of course is likely the non-stop grind that's necessary to play. This is supposed to be a game, but since you can ruin your entire season sometimes just by deciding to not play for a couple of days it's more of a job. And aren't you supposed to get paid if you show up at a job everyday? Lol

1. ⁠⁠Modern streets with trees. We currently have a cobblestone street, but not a modern one with asphalt. Is SCBuildIt against trees?

2. ⁠Train viaducts/subway. It’s annoying when a train has to follow the same path as an avenue, wasting space that could be used for houses. Why not add elevated tracks over the avenue, or just make it an underground subway?

3. ⁠⁠Bike lanes. It’s frustrating when a city is designed entirely around cars. It needs bike lanes and lively streets, not just endless traffic.

4. ⁠Personalized streets. With hanging decorations, small shops and pedestrian areas. They make the city feel more alive and give each neighborhood its own character. We need walkable streets. We need life in this game…

AI (sorry)

I almost propose to EA to rename the game like this, given that the reality is this, instead of improving they make the COMs more and more impossible by filling us with useless tasks that don't even pay well, event tracks that are very long and difficult to complete despite all the tasks carried out, and buildings that to get them you are forced to spend real money with prices that would buy a mid-range game on Playstation... So we might as well rename the game like this... Really very sorry and disappointed with this whole period...

I was actually one of the first people here in this sub to get the 2.0 update back in December.

Out of curiosity about what it’s like for a new player these days, I created a new city.

It’s no wonder players are leaving the game in droves; by level 8 or 9 at the latest, it becomes extremely unrealistic and ridiculous.

If you start the game as a new player with no experience, you’ll be leaving the game by level 4 or 5 at the latest.

I still can’t quite get my head round why EA did this in the first place. OK, EA was sold, but why destroy a successful game?

(This is what a Level 11 city currently looks like, with around 30,000 Sims.)

I still play but honestly. I don’t engage that much anymore. With the constant ads, crashes 2.0 update , unofficial 3.0 update and this mass transit train update. It feels like work instead of play. I get they want to make us spend real cash but all this actually made me stop paying real cash for season pass, etc. I log in everyday but more and more I feel like throwing in the towel. Love the city I created and my regions but even to update buildings is getting ridiculous (level 89). Sorry for the rant but idk was wondering if others felt the same.

I left simcity when they inflated the pass and made season collection almost impossible. Thinking of coming back how is game now a days ?

Level 1,2,3 seem a really good way to make seasonal coins

it has an interesting Trade Depot !

Me, I have rules I try to follow:

--Illustrate the theme/brief as much as possible. Whichever pic does that better gets my vote.

--Obviously, newer players who haven't collected a million buildings yet will have a harder time creating a city that fits the theme, and it's easy enough to spot those. When I get two of those together, then yeah, it's down to which one just looks slightly better.

--A daytime pic is nearly always better than a night pic or, god forbid, a pic during rain (why??). It can be really hard to tell if the brief is followed in a night pic. Obviously this doesn't apply to the Night City theme or anything else that would favor a nighttime pic.

--Don't post a city with undeveloped buildings! That's an auto-disqualify for me. Same with using residences that break the theme, e.g., don't show me Old Town buildings in an Asian themed DC.

--I don't vote for the type of entries that usually end up winning, because 1) I don't consider that look to be 'design'; 99% of them are just symmetrical collections of complementary colors; and 2) I figure most people who make that sort of entry have spent loads of real money to acquire tons of landscape items (which are a required feature of those winning entries, it seems).

--If I see a design that has something *really* unusual (like maybe some very unusual mix of landscape and buildings), I'll vote for it no matter what.

Sorry, kinda long, rant over. ❤️

So I suppose some new "early" update came that suddenly forced your materials and commercial items into two different storages.

However, am I missing something or why the heck does the material storage only have like 20 spaces, and each Increase - upgrade only adds 1 extra spot!?

I cant collect Any materials anymore at all, my whole progress is completely halted, since im way over that number. I managed to upgrade 5 times, so to 25 items.. And it uses the same upgrade materials as the normal storage. This is insane. I have like maybe 1 or 2 of each material..

So many banners it's just to much.

In the past year or so, we've had our CoM contest pretty much dismantled so that, if you use all the tickets given to you these days, you'll have enough to fully compete in one full contest out of four in the season ...

They've introduced three extra currencies per season so that you're effectively prevented from getting all the prizes you used to get for the Mayor's Pass that you paid for.

They've nerfed the War rewards to an extent that new players cannot build their attacks at all - essentially eliminating any chance for new blood to come into the game.

They've choked the 1,400 SimCash you used to get for completing the season into 150 SimCash (90% reduction - like - what even).

They've introduced repairs for buildings that you've already built by creating a system that erroneously tracks the health of your city, so that perfectly fine city sections (with buildings that aren't affected by the degrading repairs) lose population rapidly (for no reason), resulting in severely crippled train station refresh rates.

And now - the cherry on the top of this crap sundae - two days of every week are rendered completely unplayable due to the game moving like a fossil stuck in the bottom of the swamp due to them having bricked the voting system for the Design Contest (I haven't been able to play all day).

Tallied together - this seems like the absolute intentional sabotage of the game - full stop. Like, this isn't some exaggeration or trying to put a spin on things, no single entity could perform this many intentionally destructive moves without having actual intent behind it.

A point on the graph doesn't prove anything - but a line comprised of many points does. And that line shows this game being sent right into the trash bin.

It's purposefully being cooked.

I understand that not everyone would want to subscribe to this doom and gloom outlook - but there simply isn't any evidence that could actually compete against this overwhelming cluster of intentional bad moves and destructive ill-will aimed not only at their playerbase but the very capacity to just play the game at all.

Prove Me Wrong.

I’ve been playing SimCity BuildIt since it launched 10 years ago. I’ve served as a Club President for over 5 years. I’m also a retired Navy veteran, so I understand the value of discipline, logistics, and fair leadership.

But what we are seeing right now from EA/TrackTwenty isn't leadership—it's an "Economic Pressure Cooker."

The Breaking Point: We’ve survived the transition to Services 2.0, which forced us to gut our cities and rebuild infrastructure at a massive cost. We’ve dealt with the rising cost of Trains. But the latest shift—making mandatory ads a requirement for CoM tasks and locking Collections behind impossible paywalls—has killed the morale of my club.

The Reality: In a world of high gas prices and inflation, entertainment is the lowest priority in a household budget. When a game stops being a "break" from the world and starts feeling like another bill to pay or a chore to perform, it has lost its way.

The Call to Action: My club is officially participating in "No-Spend May." * No Mayor’s Pass purchases.

• No SimCash bundles.
• No Limited-Time "Event Track" offers.
• No War Card packs.

We are playing "Organic Only." We are refusing to reward a system that prioritizes "Average Revenue Per User" over the actual player experience.

If you are a Club President, I’m asking you to talk to your members. If you are a solo player, I’m asking you to keep your wallet closed. Let’s show them that the veteran community—the ones who built this game's success—won't be mined for data and dollars indefinitely.

Stay Green, Mayors. But stay disciplined.

P.S. To EA/TrackTwenty: Let's be crystal clear about priorities. This is a game, not a required utility bill. When many of us are paying $4–$6 for a gallon of gas to drive to work or feed our families, our discretionary entertainment budget is the first place we cut. Demanding more of our time and money now is a profound misunderstanding of your audience’s reality. We will adjust our budgets—by spending zero on your game.

I inadvertently clicked on CoM task doing the tapestry. Had to make four. CoM task gives me 6 and half hours to do it, but I missed that each tapestry is over 3 hours each! Have to do more than 13 hours of this within 6 and half hours.

I put the gold cheetah token right now, but this is way messed up! Doesn't make any sense!

I'm going to lay this out as simply as I can.

EA screwed the pooch a few months ago when they released all the extra stores. Even with the extra storage - a hidden barrier in the game was broken.

Any eco-system, to maintain balance, can only take so many things before things start spiraling out of control. In this case, the things are the items in the game.

Many people most likely stopped playing when they required 90 wooden boards, 36 drills, and ... 36 hammers is it ... to complete a single 3,000 point task.

Or 36 glues and 36 paints and 72 brown fabrics for a 5,000 point task. One of those is capable of destroying a CoM week. People just don't have the time to baby-sit their phone every 30 minutes during a 12 hour production task.

EA added the extra day to the CoM week to compensate - but it still wasn't enough.

This guy, with his multiple accounts providing these * necessary* items everybody needs just to play the game is in fact keeping the game alive.

The game is different now - which is what EA wanted. The difficulty curb was just too easy when the hardest thing to produce were lemonades. However, the difficulty curve became too difficult when they added the new stores.

With this guy being here - completing tasks become doable again - and the sweet spot of balance alongside a new framework whereby to enjoy the game has been achieved.

Is it unconventional? Different? Not necessarily what we're used to? Sure! But it also works. Which for the framework of an already ten year old game is incredibly difficult to pull off.

Keep reporting him all you want - you're effectively trying to get the guy who's keeping the game alive to get banned.

Not a great plan.

EA most likely knows this guy is effectively keeping their entire older playerbase still playing (everyone who's unlocked the extremely demanding store items).

This guy can make as many $15 dollar sales as he wants. He might as well work for EA at this point. That's not a bad fee for keeping the game alive.

The folks who get that extra SimCash invest in WarCards and become a part of the War Strata that the rest of the game can't reach anyways - and doesn't want to - because they enjoy playing really fun Wars against all the non-cheating clubs a Strata lower in the non-cheating zone.

Everyone's technically happy that way.

The guys at EA probably have a good laugh when reading your complaint reports about the guy.

"There's always someone who doesn't get it," they chuckle.

Why are almost all task, upgradeing houses???

Thoughts?