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Even when you could get online, the game was often sluggish and prone to random disconnections and lost save files. A year ago, the disastrous launch saw thousands of people unable to play the game for lengthy stretches of time due to network issues. That pesky DRM disguised as a game feature is now gone, and good riddance. Just turn on offline mode in the Origin launcher before firing up the game, and you're good to go without the Net. This is a straightforward patch that removes the need to connect to the Maxis servers before being able to play. Gameplay has been carried forward almost untouched in Update 10.
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Removing one of the primary irritants that made the game so aggravating at launch has done surprisingly little to make it likable, since all of the same old miscues like multiplayer-centric regional city building and dumbed-down zoning continue to make your mayoral duties fussy and unrealistic. Still, it's a case of too little, too late. After months of demands, the long-awaited Update 10 for SimCity has made the city-building simulation available for offline play.
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