I think a lot of the issues were EAs bad roll out of servers. With the offline ability mode just introduced I believe people should reconsider their poor review on that piece. The game structure is similar to all of the old games, but it really does add a whole lot more. I have been able to connect my MacBook to Orgins, go in offline mode on that and then run the game whenever, to include not hooked to the internet. It has been a blast!