FEEDBACK ON SERVICES 2.0 UPDATE
This update has been widely received as greatly disruptive to carefully designed cities, ruining previously functioning cities and driving players to high in-game currency costs simply to replace services and utilities that were sufficient prior to the update. It is causing players great distress and takes the joy out of a previously beloved game. To remedy this situation:
1) EA should compensate players for broken promises. From EA’s own announcement: "During the rollout, any negative effects from service coverage—like abandoned buildings or unhappy citizens—will be temporarily paused, so you can explore Services 2.0 without worry."
This appears to not have been true — players who have received the update are reporting immediate negative effects, including dropping happiness levels, abandoned buildings requiring costly repairs, and great reductions in population levels resulting in reduced tax revenue. EA should offer compensation to all affected players — in form of in-game currencies — for these losses and the breaking of what was promised in the roll-out announcement.
2) Services 2.0 should be upgradable to at minimum meet the levels of the original services, so as to prevent longtime players having to rip up their carefully crafted designs that many of us spent years developing.
To give one example: prior to the update, a small fire/police/health station could cover up to 18 residential zones max in the most economical layout. If with services 2.0 such a small station once fully upgraded can only cover 200 units, that means it can only cover 4 fully upgraded buildings (i.e., 4 epic buildings at 45 unit demand, or 180 units total). This would require a massive redesign, as to place either several more small stations or the bigger capacity stations to make up for the new capacity gap would require more space, which in a fully built city means demolishing of existing residential zones and/or removal of specialization buildings. This forced redesign of already developed and until now perfectly functioning cities is unacceptable. At the very least all services should have the ability to be upgraded to a max level that meets their original capacity. That is, for the small stations in the example, a max level of at least 18*45=810 units. Similar math should apply to all other services and utilities, including the Mayor’s Pass "Super Services" buildings.
