What would you like FD to do regarding offline mode?

[Zephyriel]

I'm not trying to start another debate, there's already one raging on the massive thread dedicated to the subject. There is also a poll asking if people are going to demand a refund, but I think it's not the right question to ask if we want to know wether the community is happy with FD's decision to remove offline mode.

Giving this a fair bit of thought, I've come up with a question with four answers which I hope will cover most points of view, and give FD and the community an unbiased result regarding our opinion on the subject. I've also added a fifth option for people who don't actually have an opinion on the matter, so that the results reflect the community as a whole, as much as possible.

So this is the big question : What would you like FD to do regarding offline mode?

- FD should focus on the online and not bother making an offline mode.
- I just want FD to eventually release an offline mode because I'll want to play after the servers are shut down (however long that takes).
- I'd like FD to start working on adding an offline mode as soon as possible, but I'll play online anyway.
- If there is no offline, I can't or won't play and will ask for a refund if possible.
- I don't care either way, I'll be happy with ED with or without offline.

For the record, I vote that I hope they eventually release an offline version. I don't need it now, but I want to be reassured that once the game is released, I'll be able to play it when and wherever I want, even if that is in 20 years when the servers are no longer up. Like all classics ED should be here forever!

My hope with this thread is that people at FD realize how important this is to (hopefully) a lot of us, and consider working on an offline mode at some point in the future, even if it doesn't have all the dynamic and evolving features of the online version. Surely 30 ships and 400 billion stars (plus the expansions) are enough to entertain one player even if the galaxy doesn't evolve over time.

 

[Fenris Wolf]

What would you like FD to do regarding offline mode?

Nothing at the moment. Just concentrate on the game.


What would you like the people moaning about the #FirstWorldProblem of there being no offline mode?

I wish they would shut up and let FD carry on with the development of the game.

 

[Zephyriel]

I wish they would shut up

Wow that's nice. I don't care much for your sarcastic tone, as far as I recall I haven't been disrespectful to anyone here, I'd expect others to behave the same way towards me.

And to be clear, my question is a long term one, I agree with you that at the moment, they should focus on releasing a solid game. Like I said in the first post, I'm just hoping they'll make an offline version at some point in time.

 

[Patrick_68000]

I chose the option 3. For my physical DVD in the collection box has more value and to ensure the future if ED ceases to exist online

 

[Tar Stone]

I want them to develop the online galaxy and take their time exploring some of the magic that online open has just started to produce.

I want them to scrap the walking around/fps stuff.

 

[foxpur]

Now as a Poll, this one is reasonable... you give several range if options that should cover all players. And it gives a better feel of the users opinion to FD for future development.

Congrats. A rare rep point to you.

 

[Im_Lost]

I think it should come after release some time. If they are worried about spoilers and people finding stuff offline and then going online, they could just have the galaxy generated from a different seed (apart from the core systems like Sol).

 

[Zephyriel]

A different seed might make things more complicated for the devs... Like Michael Brookes said it would be like supporting two different games. I think after a while all the secrets will have been discovered and shared by the players, so in a few months this point about the universe's secrets will be moot.

 

[Im_Lost]

A different seed might make things more complicated for the devs... Like Michael Brookes said it would be like supporting two different games. I think after a while all the secrets will have been discovered and shared by the players, so in a few months this point about the universe's secrets will be moot.

Most of the galaxy will never be explored, it's just to big. It would actually take 1000s of years to visit every system. Plus you can't datamine it either, because it's procedural and generated on the fly.

The problem is the systems around the populated regions. Or people using cheats to teleport to places offline and then going there online and profiting from it.

 

[foxpur]

A different seed might make things more complicated for the devs... Like Michael Brookes said it would be like supporting two different games. I think after a while all the secrets will have been discovered and shared by the players, so in a few months this point about the universe's secrets will be moot.

That's pretty much the same as my thoughts. It made some mad, noted, and some with real reasons. But now it's been said, they know the thoughts and hopes.
Now what is needed is player patience... that ain't gonna happen

 

[Zephyriel]

Nasher > It had been said that you couldn't use your offline save in online, to prevent abuses. So you would have one online save, and one offline, local save on your computer.

 

[Hermit]

I don't think people want the offline game just to play it if the servers shut down. I think this poll would've been better with a simple yes/no option. Sort of:
-
YES = I feel that Frontier should work on the offline game for those that backed the game because it is an important feature of it.
NO = It's not that important and Frontier should focus all resources on the online game.

 

[cpbtrading]

I voted second one down. I feel sorry for those that are disappointed that there is no offline SP.
At some point in the future the servers will shut down, so it would be nice to keep playing after that. Support of the game long-term is a vital element for FD to get right, certainly now, anyway.
Also mod making would have been nice to include, but I don't think that's a goer now either.

Oh, good poll btw.

 

[Severian]

The only thing they really need to right this second is to make it clear that Solo Online is perfectly viable on a poor internet connection and that it also does not have any PvP associated with it.

I've lost count of those whom are asking for refunds because they now think PvP is required and poor internet latency will ruin their experience.

 

[Im_Lost]

Nasher > It had been said that you couldn't use your offline save in online, to prevent abuses. So you would have one online save, and one offline, local save on your computer.

I know that. But people could explore offline and then when they find something valuable go and collect/mine it with their online character. Which reduces the risk they have to take, because an offline save can be rolled back if you die.

 

[Turjan]

This is a very rationally posed question, with equally rationally considered choices.

I highly doubt that FD had any nefarious motives in scrapping offline mode at this point in development - a negative reaction of this strength this close to a game's launch date is not something any company willingly engineers, so I am confident they did at least try to make good on their promise of an offline mode before coming to the conclusion that (at least for now) it isn't a viable option.

The future is uncertain - a fact FD have themselves just been smacked with in the realisation they cannot in fact provide the offline mode they intended. If we could go back in time to the Kickstarter announcement of an offline mode and present FD with the reaction on the forum today, you can bet they'd have done things differently!

Like I said, no one knows the future, so in my opinion, for FD to NEVER make an offline version of Elite Dangerous is somewhat short-sighted, if what they really want is the legacy of 30yrs of Elite to live on through this game. An offline version is evidently not on the cards for now, but I believe it should be done as soon as is humanly possible, for the sake of Elite itself if nothing else.

 

[Vagabund]

I couldn't decide whether to go for #2 or 3. In the end I chose #3.

I want to have the free choice of taking my premium collectors DRM-Free boxed copy of ED and play that game when I retire, long after the servers have gone offline.

 

[Fenris Wolf]

Wow that's nice. I don't care much for your sarcastic tone, as far as I recall I haven't been disrespectful to anyone here, I'd expect others to behave the same way towards me.

My apologies Zephyriel, it wasn't aimed directly at you. Mainly aimed at all those that are decrying that this step has been the ultimate betrayal of trust and how it must have been planned from the very start.

I just wish they'd cut the team some slack

 

[Turjan]

I know that. But people could explore offline and then when they find something valuable go and collect/mine it with their online character. Which reduces the risk they have to take, because an offline save can be rolled back if you die.

That woud be true...if the offline galaxy and the online one shared the same seed...

But if they were two entirely different animals, any information gleaned in the offline galaxy would be completely useless in the online one. Say via hackery-teleportery you managed to find the Thargoid homeworld in the offline galaxy. There's no guarantees it would even be in the same quadrant of the online galaxy, so the information has no value.

 

[Cmdr Cheese Wedge]

An offline mode is vital in order to keep ED alive in the future, and the modding potential would be enormous.
As is now i grudgingly accept what we have and understand where FD are coming from with injected dynamic events and such.