No Single Player offline Mode then?

[delaney]

As mentioned in the newsletter thread the game has changed a lot since the initial kickstarter. One of the biggest changes is the importance of the the offline component to manage the galaxy and interactions. This isn't something we can translate into an offline experience as we'd effectively have to make a new game world - we couldn't share the same world and that throws out the intent for a shared universe.

Michael

I am sure most people who want to play offline without a server connection won't mind a separate game world.
I know I had intended on playing offline on one of my machines when I am in countries with bad internet connectivity...
sure it would be nice to be able to continue with the same commander when I am out of touch for 2 or 3 weeks.

And I am sure many of us here hate the idea of Solo Players mixing with the MP game anyway..

The big issue here is longevity, I can still turn on my old computer and play Frontier or Elite, in 20-30 years time, will I be able to boot up an old PC and show my grand kids ED?

 

[the darkwalker]

Maybe not try and destroy something that the majority of people involved still support, because of my own disappointment? just a thought...

and why do you fear that this game will be destroyed? cause now you won't be able to play it if it fails?

 

[Nomadski]

indeed, that's a bummer :/
however there are loads of caveats and this situation is particularly controversial, think about it:
a game funded on kickstarter, then passed on their store wich still is not yet delivered, so it's technically still a pre-order with pre-release access
quite a mess isn't it? heh

The whole consumer law on digital goods is a mess, and has been a major cause of consumer P-taking by gaming companies for years. Sadly gaming is not one which is understood or particularly cared about by the lawmakers, apart from the tax revenue side which I can assure you has VERY strict and clear regulations!

 

[the darkwalker]

Ah, so arguing semantics here will change the time it takes them to answer ask the refund tickets, then?

Got you.

no sorry i forgot to edit that post, i clarified some posts after

 

[CmdrPSB]

indeed, that's a bummer :/
however there are loads of caveats and this situation is particularly controversial, think about it:
a game funded on kickstarter, then passed on their store wich still is not yet delivered, so it's technically still a pre-order with pre-release access
quite a mess isn't it? heh

I agree the right thing for Frontier to do is issue refunds to people unhappy with the decision, who either no longer want the game due to lack of offline mode, or can't physically play it. They can't suddenly magic an offline option out of thin air because enough people are angry. Unless they say "no refunds", the rage is a bit misplaced.

 

[jamotide]

Maybe not try and destroy something that the majority of people involved still support, because of my own disappointment? just a thought...

Destroy?? It is already destroyed for those who wanted to play offline. How about you not discredit and insult those people because you are afraid FDs messup will affect you in any way, jsut a thought. It will affect you, btw, once the servers go down.

Yup. This is the thing to do.

uhm but how can they do that? Their whole argument rests on their claim that it's not possible.

 

[jabokai]

Frontier is not some magical place where every and all things happen. They are just humans, developers - and they can't make miracles happen. They shouldn't be getting threatened either.

Someone was asking for miracles? Strange, I just thought people asked for an offline mode.

But no, they should not be threatened, if such is happening. By and large they seem like a nice bunch... just have terrible PR and are not helping themselves in any way since then!

 

[Windsaw]

Two more major german websites report:
4Players

Gamestar

4Players even went so far to include a screenshot of the FAQ and refer to a screenshot of David Braben's reddit confirmation, that the offline mode would be in.

 

[jamotide]

Ah, so arguing semantics here will change the time it takes them to answer ask the refund tickets, then?

Got you.

Definitely, the amount of collective anger will influence their decisions.

 

[Voivod]

uhm but how can they do that? Their whole argument rests on their claim that it's not possible.

They never said it's not possible.

 

[Bordersquirrel]

Good luck to David and the team but...

Having read some (not all...I can only take so much rant in one sitting) of this thread I am surprised by the extreme reaction of some people on these forums to this decision by Frontier. It's their game (albeit funded through Kickstarter) and they have to make the decisions that they feel will give the best in-game experience to the player-base. I don't believe it was a cash-grab or any kind of deliberate deception and I wish Frontier and the team the best of luck in making a game that they are proud of and that delivers rewards for all the efforts that they've put in to the project so far.

That said, I believe that the game that will now ship is a different game to the one which myself and probably most other people on this forum have paid for either through Kickstarter pledges or (like me) through purchasing the Beta Access version of the game. With this in mind I think it's reasonable for Frontier/Zaonce to provide full, unconditional refunds to people who purchased the game based on the specifications, functionality and direction that was being presented at the time.

For anyone interested please find below the text of my Refund/Cancellation request submitted to Zaonce via their support site today. I'm not threatening or ranting, I'm not accusing anyone of fraud or deception, I'm not summoning my army of imaginary weaponized lawyers; I just believe that what I paid for and what I will now receive are now fundamentally different products and I think this needs to be recognised.

Hi,

Frontier have recently announced that they will be reneging on one of their Kickstarter project promises to retain a fully-offline single-player mode of this game. This was the main reason that I bought the game (including paying extra for Beta access) as I've been burned numerous times by recent console and PC games which require an always-on internet connection. Without exception games requiring a consistent internet connection for single-player mode are frustrating and unpleasant experiences for gamers when their home internet is down or when the company servers (or just the internet at large) experience issues. And they will experience issues despite the best intentions of Frontier (or EA...or Ubisoft...or...)

At this point the game is not only not the game I paid for it is also fundamentally and irretrievably broken. As such I would like to request a full refund of the purchase price of this game (which has already been uninstalled from my PC).

Cheers

Dave

 

[Titus Balls]

The Desaster Weekend is over but i Think with this Decision from DB to cancel the Offline-Play Frontier is now loosing many Money from KS-Backers! Me too.
I read abiut Backers who have spend 5000pounds and they want their Money back!
Was this the right Decision Mr. Braben??

He's since taken stock and changed his mind after the initial anger.

 

[SuBSynk]

Destroy?? It is already destroyed for those who wanted to play offline. How about you not discredit and insult those people because you are afraid FDs messup will affect you in any way, jsut a thought. It will affect you, btw, once the servers go down.

So by your reasoning its ok to destroy something entirely because its destroyed for a minority of people already? Lovely mindset.

If the servers go down, just like countless other games i have played i will have had hundreds probably thousands of hours of gaming out of it and expect nothing more.

 

[noodle]

I agree the right thing for Frontier to do is issue refunds to people unhappy with the decision, who either no longer want the game due to lack of offline mode, or can't physically play it. They can't suddenly magic an offline option out of thin air because enough people are angry. Unless they say "no refunds", the rage is a bit misplaced.

I think this is actually the crux of the issue, currently. It was very short-sighted to send out the last newsletter without having a very clear and transparent accompanying statement and FAQ regarding refunds. Even if that was essentially "nobody is getting refunds", at least we'd all know exactly where we stood.

 

[Nomadski]

Two more major german websites report:
4Players

Gamestar

4Players even went so far to include a screenshot of the FAQ and refer to a screenshot of David Braben's reddit confirmation, that the offline mode would be in.

I think you might have posted in the wrong thread - the media one is the one you want...I think?

BTW did anyone see the full version of the reddit ama where DB and MB answered there would be an offline mode, and a user posted (paraphrasing) 'I bet 50 of whatever currency you use this changes...' a year ago when it happened. Got downvoted too.

 

[CaptainKremmen]

yeah and guess what...still no refunds

With it being so easy to send out online messages and get replies these days, it's easy to forget that there are real-world implications and limitations to consider.

It's worth noting that the speed at which a business decisions gets made can feel glacial in comparison.


As a side note, you posted this at 9:47am Cambridge time, on a Monday.

 

[jamotide]

They never said it's not possible.

Yeah they did, read the dev comments sticky.

 

[Juniper]

Yeah they did, read the dev comments sticky.

Not quite, they said they would have to create two games to support it, and they weren't going to.

It's a business / practicality decision. Not a technical one.

We know it's technically possible... it's been done at least 3 times before by Mr Braben himself no less.

 

[Windsaw]

Yeah they did, read the dev comments sticky.

I did.
They said "not reasonable".

 

[jamotide]

So by your reasoning its ok to destroy something entirely because its destroyed for a minority of people already? Lovely mindset.

What do you mean "destroy"???

If the servers go down, just like countless other games i have played i will have had hundreds probably thousands of hours of gaming out of it and expect nothing more.

Good for you,but I still play all my good old games, because they are still fun. Was planning to do it with this one as well, that is why I backed it with 10 times more money than my other games cost.