No Single Player offline Mode then?

[Boicey]

That's fair enough, and I agree entirely you should have both.

I see no reason why those of us who initially bought into this venture with the promise of an offline version should not be able to get our money back.

 

[Aqualarius]

As much as I want an offline version of the game, I fear that it's never going to happen. FD are unlikely to backtrack on this and produce an offline version, even if it is being reported on the BBC New website as well as hundreds of other news websites across the internet. They think they are right and are more likely to not even mention this incident in the next newsletter.

 

[EvJoAL]

if you intend to play on a notebook ? good luck with that !! if you intend to play on a laptop with a decent GPU, and you don't have access to wifi. Why not tether your laptop to your phone ? If you really want to play ED, you will find a way.

Now I know that solution is not practical for everybody. Military on operations usually have restricted internet access. I feel for these guys, wish them a safe tour and some awesome ED adventures when they get back.

For most of the people complaining here though, get over it. Accept the game for what it is and not what you want it to be, if you can't do that, well I'm sorry for you, but no amount of throwing teddies in the corner will change anything

I have a bad signal in the village. I buy the game is not to find a way, i wont bought to install and play.
As I wrote earlier promise was not fulfilled, offline. And so, where do I write to get my money back?

 

[synchromesh]

OUCH !!!

The Beeb hit hard......most have kind of underplayed it adding what amazing features are coming...
that's the hardest hitting so far ..

 

[mbpoblet]

Its a shame they never implemented something like this from the start in ED. Ensure you read the original post in that thread for comment reference/perspective.

I think it would have avoided all these offline issues they encountered late in the game.

From that link:

To be honest I would rather the game didn't use a p2p network structure nor be aimed at being massively multiplayer. I would think a game that you can invite people to play with you in that you then become the host server and ultimate authority would give you all the multiplayer you could want with none of the downsides of p2p.

In that way you could perhaps have your own servers for like minded people to join and play ran by someone else.

Either way a think a lot of problems with matching real people together can be mitigated if people are prepared to accept the AI could be used to always create nearby stuff where it's appropriate like in Frontier. Bumping into someone in deep space seems very unlikely unless you can detect them from much much farther away in the first place. Either way a solid AI and AI manager would be needed to ensure a good experience regardless of real player count.

Wow.

I know he's talking about a different, hypothetical, game, but he really doesn't exude confidence in Elite: Dangerous' "VISION™" and networking model...

And that was just a month ago...

Edit: Very interesting find, by the way. I'd give you rep, but the forum won't let me yet, sorry.

 

[tagos]

I believe this not very well worded letter from Mr. Braben served to ignite this issue at hand. Quote: "A fully offline experience would be unacceptably limited and static compared to the dynamic, ever unfolding experience we are delivering."

First off, rarely I have read a more offhanded way to drop a "promised" feature. You better had admitted from the very beginning (and not via later multiple peacework replies of Mr. Mike to angry forum members) that they way you programmed the game impede now a goal you initally proposed for the kickstarter campaign and as well admit that you do not have the resources to trace your way back and reroute the development process to make your initial proposal actually compatible with what you have produced so far. I think a lot of anger would have been avoided then. As other forum posters have pointed out, this is PR speak as you should not do it. Be more straightforward with your fans. We know already that this game is awesome, so stop patting your own shoulders in front of us.

Think about how the recent "flight-assist-off" debate got handled. Frontier changed it without prior discussion and also had an angry community at its throat. The compromise which was then proposed was a wonderful result and virtually everybody was content. I would have thought Frontier would have learned something from that episode.

That being said, I also do not believe much in this vision of a "ever dynamic" universe. What I have seen so far in the beta was still very static. All that happened was some commodity prices shifting and some wordy mumbo jumbo about a war at Eranin. Sorry, even a Children´s Day event or the Dark Moon market in the good old World of Warcraft is more dynamic than this. Maybe a lot of non-understanding would have been avoided if Frontier would explain exactly how dynamic this online-Universe is going to be. The current explanations about blockades and market shifts are really too little of a gain for a big feature cut like this.

Quite. At the moment there is nothing at all that is 'dynamic' about the solo online experience that wasn't delivered in Frontier over 20 years ago on technology the cheapest mobile phone would urinate over now. And all the other modes offer that's more is 'people'. And that's not entirely a plus.

Seriously. Come the 16th we need to be seeing something that blows our socks off in terms of dynamic background because at the moment it just isn't there.

 

[Chalito]

Hi!

I just registered to write down MHO. I backed way back in 2012 (just a few bucks, I live in Argentina and I really don't have much money), and I was so happy when I heard a new Elite game was being made. I've played the previous ones, and loved them.
So, the thing that bugs me the most about this thing is not that I need to be online to play single player now. The problem is that I don't know what will happen when eventually the servers go down for good. I can still play First Encounters today, for example. I was really excited to have a graphics-updated version to play. Now, in this case, and that's just my opinion (I know others have different problems), I'd be perfectly happy if they just went out and announced that WHEN the servers are closed, they will release the server code (open source would be a big plus) so people could keep playing in their own servers/communities (or even set up a local server on the same box so you could have a pseudo-singleplayer game).

Cheers!

 

[RGS]

I don't want to see it all burn down. I just want two things:

1) Either the game I paid for, or my money back.

2) (Optional) An apology for the exceptionally poor way the issue was handled (just casually slip the information in a newsletter entry squeezed between a bunch of unremarkable updates as if it weren't important, or worse, as if they were hoping no one would notice?).

Give me those, and I promise I'll disappear from these forums quietly and wish you all happy exploring/hunting/trading, and best of luck to FD.

Well said. I don't personally want 1) as Offline mode isn't an essential feature in my case + the game still looks very good. 2) however is absolutely essential for me though.

 

[Armour]

If the background simulation is sufficiently rich and complex, I wonder if some of the folks complaining (not the ones who literally can't play due to spending most of the year in an igloo or whatever) will be convinced about what FD are attempting, and agree with them that, when they stated that they couldn't offer that experience offline, they were right? I suppose we will just have to wait and see what the gamma brings...

 

[PIXEL]

Very very disappointed... I'm not looking for a refund and will enjoy the game for what it is, but i was hoping for Elite 4, not a World of Elite.

I wanted a save/load facility, to save a situation and practice it as i saw fit, like skimming a sun, speed docking, racing through a busy lane, or how-many-police-vipers-can-i-take-down-with-me? The kind of experiments a sandbox allows. Without an offline mode with a save feature, this goes down the drain, costing the ship and the time to get back into the situation before i'm allowed another try.

The wait for Elite 4 is still on then, it's a pity it won't come from FD.

Your view pretty much sums it up for me too
)-:

 

[paralipsis]

I have a bad signal in the village. I buy the game is not to find a way, i wont bought to install and play.
As I wrote earlier promise was not fulfilled, offline. And so, where do I write to get my money back?

If you bought it at the online store, go back there and submit a ticket requesting a refund. If you Kickstared it then I think you should contact FD via Kickstarter. Though I'm not 100% on that second one, as I'm not in that boat and have not researched it.

 

[Herne]

<snip>

Really ? Nice Comeback, and you couldn't be more wrong. I played the original Elite in 1984 on the BBC regularly for 2 years. I'm a happily married Father of Four, two of which judging by your post are older than you

FDEV made a business decision based on technical limitations, do you really think any amount of shouting here is somehow going to make it any easier to implement, I personally doubt it but go ahead, keep on crying !!

 

[ekholbrook]

...I also do not believe much in this vision of a "ever dynamic" universe. What I have seen so far in the beta was still very static.

To be honest, as an Elite gamer from way way back, I've tried getting into this game in it's beta stage and when I realize everything was based around starports and that hyperspace jumps where nothing more than a cool animation (that was obviously the same every time regardless of where you were), I slowly put the game aside, hoping the end result would offer something a bit more.

I have found the NON-Game, Space Engine, to be far far more entertaining as far as exploration. No, sadly there's no game there, but there also were no cut scenes like Elite is showing. You could land on planets (there's not much variety and the fractals are a bit iffy... but it's Waaaay more than Elite currently has).

The best part about SE is it doesn't need someone else equipment to run and the way it represents the Galaxy (well actually universe because you can jump from galaxy to galaxy) is, so far, more believable.

Somewhere over the summer, Frontier lost their way and got steered in a different direction. I'm surprised THIS is what DB has been waiting 30 years to develop (sure doesn't sound like his vision).

Nice graphics and a simulation of some star systems running off a server do not make a good game. Just ask NASA.

It's been said before that Frontier would have been far better served by rebuilding the last Elite game, but with updated graphics and some other enhancements with today's CPU capabilities.

There's next to nothing in the current Elite beta where I go "wow" except for when I scroll down the list of keyboard commands I have to learn.

 

[Vlodec]

Just out of interest, does anyone know if DB still has over 50% of the shares in FD?

It might be a factor in future developments.

 

[SJT]

Just out of interest, does anyone know if DB still has over 50% of the shares in FD?

It might be a factor in future developments.

56% at last count

 

[tagos]

OUCH !!!

The Beeb hit hard......most have kind of underplayed it adding what amazing features are coming...
that's the hardest hitting so far ..

It's just been rather forcefully demonstrated that the only features we can rely on being in the game are those we can actually see and play. When the game comes out it will rightly be reviewed as-is, not as-what-might-be. now don't get me wrong. i'm having a lot of fun with ED. But i'm an old elite fan and am just thrilled to be back in the Frontier galaxy. But I'm not confident that the features we will see by launch will meet the expectations of more modern and critical potential players. Frontier have my money. It's the potential players they have to impress and this is more difficult now you've thrown away the segment of the potential market for whom the solo offline is most important.

Especially if all the much vaunted dynamism solo offline was sacrificed for isn't shining like a sun.

 

[Stoo]

The BBC have hold of it now... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30097229

 

[CMDR Byrt Makklin]

If the background simulation is sufficiently rich and complex, I wonder if some of the folks complaining (not the ones who literally can't play due to spending most of the year in an igloo or whatever) will be convinced about what FD are attempting, and agree with them that, when they stated that they couldn't offer that experience offline, they were right? I suppose we will just have to wait and see what the gamma brings...

I'm hoping the gamma will deliver. The lack of communication from FD has me royally ticked off, and if they pull another WAHEY FREE PAINT JOBS FOR ALL! but we dropped a few things cos reasons AND EVERYONE GETS A PLANET NAMED FOR THEM FOR FREE! I might just hang up my HOTAS for good. I feel sad, very sad, about how this has all gone.

 

[EvJoAL]

If you bought it at the online store, go back there and submit a ticket requesting a refund. If you Kickstared it then I think you should contact FD via Kickstarter. Though I'm not 100% on that second one, as I'm not in that boat and have not researched it.

Thanks for the information. Actually all this sad story. Not worth the guys from Frontier do it. But... sad story

 

[Johnny Kelso]

The BBC have hold of it now... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30097229

Fans of forthcoming space-trading game Elite Dangerous are up-in-arms over plans to drop an offline version of the title..... I didn't realise! I must arm myself!