The Feature Parameters pane provides an option to set the geometry type when connecting to SQL Server. Specifying the correct geometry type will also enable certain geometry specific symbology options.

Oracle defines the geometry type in the spatial index and so the geometry type is automatically selected in the feature parameters. If the database does not have the geometry type defined in the index then it will be selectable in the feature parameters.

WFS Server and Esri File Geodatabase defines the geometry type of each feature and is discovered by OpenCities Map.