One of the biggest complaints about SC2013 so far is the lack of offline play. This is largely due to glassbox. (the gaming engine used for SC2013) Glassbox so happens to be very powerful, and used the right way, much can be done with it. The main issue is that while it is very powerful, it also so happens to be extremely computing-intensive. Maxis has compensated for this by putting part of the load on their servers, which seems like a smart choice, but it ends up leaving budget problems on their end as well. The restrictions on city sizes and disjoint region play are largely a result of this, since, accoding to Maxis, they cannot afford to host larger cities. The other primary disadvantage is with the longevity of the game in general. If Maxis ever shuts down their servers, the game is rendered unplayable.

Personally, I like that Maxis is pushing towards the future and taking big ambitions with the next Simcity. The online gameplay compontent isn't necessarily a disadvantage if they can really pull it off. I do feel like the technology for what they are trying to do isn't there yet, however. If they are charging $60-80 for the game and still cannot host large cities, the success of the game in general is left in question.

My personal feeling about glassbox is that it could easily be a success if they can tweak what they've done so that their servers can handle larger cities and regions. Also, of course I'm not paying $80 on a game until I know that their servers will be up for a good while. So, what are your thoughts on their choice on using Glassbox?