Well firstly I wouldn't of gotten myself into such a ridiculous position in the first place.
Putting that aside for a moment and assuming that we actually believe that this is a technical/resource problem then I would either a) push back the launch or b) apologise, admit that offline won't make it for launch and commit to provide it as soon as possible.
It is frankly inconceivable that offline can't be delivered in such a way as to have no impact on the online part, except in possibly attracting people away from the online galaxy (which frankly would only prove that offline was better, at least for those people).
The problem I'm guessing right now is that in order to make development reasonable, prevent cheating, and make online work (It would have to be separate code) they designed server software which can handle many, many multiples of clients in different regions. Everything spawns when a system is active. The question is if it does any prepares for nearby clients so the world is generated and ready. Is it all persistent? Calculating all the positions of NPC ships constantly? Hard to say.
To make a server side client, you would have to write entirely different software, as your home PC is unlikely to handle a universe of the size they are making. Think EVE online, they use massive cluster nodes to operate. A system you enter in Eve like Jita has it's own server cluter due to the volume of players in it.
In order to release a quality game, you are not going to be able to make a good 'offline component' when you see the change in development and scope of the game.
It would be like asking Eve for an offline version, it's unrealistic. You'd get something that you were not happy with, and complain that they were punishing you or something because you hold this magical idea that they can make it just as good as the online multi-server version of the game, and that you were ripped off since it's not.
Or you wouldn't even realize how good the online is, and just complain that the game is bad in the first place. When in reality, what YOU wanted was bad. What they want is a great game.
I'm incredibly sorry to people who live in places were regular internet access is a problem or poor. However, I know I've personally moved to areas for work relating to IT, and to ensure that I will get a good internet connection, in fact, I won't move to buildings or places I know to have poor internet, because I rely on that for a lot of my gaming.
Haven't any of you played X3? It's a single player offline game, it's great, does trading and stuff, but haven't you always wanted something like that, but an online version with a truly dynamic galaxy, with your friends and players affecting the world you see in ways you may not thought of? That's what they're giving you, they're doing very well and working very hard. You might be a little disappointed, and I understand refunds for people who /cannot/ play the game, as they will /not/ have internet available most of the time.
However, for the rest of you that has okay internet, you need to let it go and be okay with it. In fact, you can still do lag free gaming for the most part, as your higher pings will only affect transactions in solo mode like updating a system you're in, or buying / selling product. Not shooting an enemy.
Some of you I suspect are not even backers, and were intending on pirating the game and got choked over it. You people especially need to go away.
So for those of you adversely affected, you have my sympathies, for the rest, let it go, look at all the great aspects of the game. It's okay, you're okay, you'll have fun.
