No Single Player offline Mode then?

[Blight]

Finally got on the store website (been having display problems with the store) and ticketed for a refund.

It's been lovely reading how passionate people are for the game on both sides, I just hope that FD honour my refund request - turns out with store purchases and beta access for a game I didn't agree to buy into it's to the tune of £113, expensive for the handful of Beta hours I've actually logged in.

Have fun guys.

Grim out.

I doubt you will get the whole 113 back mate. As this was primarily for getting early access, which you have gotten, you are likely to just get the purchase price of the standard game back.

This would also make sense, because plenty of people (not you of course) will try to get a refund, then just purchase again while the pocket the extra that they had already used for early access.

 

[Riktar]

If this is a threadnaught, I'm already preparing myself for the Armathreaddon for when the first Star Citizen's promises would start to crack

And you can bet there is a LOT of people watching this play out in the SC camp. Not to gloat, not to say I told you so, just for the sake of seeing how this all plays out. And this includes the players/supporters as well as Mr Roberts and team.

 

[tagos]

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...

No. A commitment was made and money accepted. You meet that commitment. That you've deliberately designed out the possibility of meeting that commitment doesn't come into it. The Ends never justify The Means. But they certainly need to deliver something amazingly dynamic now.

 

[Alf]

1560

Has anyone actually managed to get a refund as yet or has anything been said by the developers recently?

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

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.

Yes, he has.

 

[SJT]

I doubt you will get the whole 113 back mate. As this was primarily for getting early access, which you have gotten, you are likely to just get the purchase price of the standard game back.

This would also make sense, because plenty of people (not you of course) will try to get a refund, then just purchase again while the pocket the extra that they had already used for early access.

If it was billed as one amount with no separate itemisation of the components of the purchase, it may be difficult to deny a full refund.

 

[TangoAlpha]

I am considering asking for a refund. I guess I'll have to wait until the next newsletter for a full explanation from FD, assuming they'll give a full explanation but, given the language/method used to announce things, I'm not entirely convinced they will.

Given that the offline mode poll thread puts at least 60% of users wanting an offline mode, it's not surprising the amount of posts of this subject. I hope the amount of refunds that are being requested pushes FD into changing their decision. I don't want FD to fail but they are not producing the game I signed up to fund.

Sorry to all those who feel they have heard enough already, but this is obviously not as important to you as it is to the rest of us. I played BBC Elite for countless hours (...days, weeks, months, years) and still consider it to be the best game ever written, given the resources available. I am not an online multiplayer game player, never have been and never will be. I want an immersive experience and that doesn't include other gamers.

I also want to play the game where I don't have an internet connection, and when the FD servers are down (or have been shutdown, or FD no longer exists). I don't want to rent my game, I want to buy it, no forced authentication, no DRM, no server connection.

 

[rebelredneck]

Now having time to think about this situation some more, I remember an interview DB did sometime ago maybe a decade or so where he was waiting for technology eg: the internet to catchup to his vision of what he wanted to do for the next elite aka Elite 4. So remebering this seems like if DB wanted to do a stand alone elite he could have rolled out versions years ago since it has been 30 years since the original and 20 or so since the frontier and first encounters versions. So i think his vision all long was for a online version. Not for a second that I am condoning the way FD have acted, as I myself would have liked the offline option, but will settle for a online solo.

 

[paralipsis]

I doubt you will get the whole 113 back mate. As this was primarily for getting early access, which you have gotten, you are likely to just get the purchase price of the standard game back.

This would also make sense, because plenty of people (not you of course) will try to get a refund, then just purchase again while the pocket the extra that they had already used for early access.

At that level I'm assuming it includes future access to expansions as well as access to the beta. Setting aside the fact that the whole paying to be a beta tester is skeezy to begin with, I'm pretty sure anyone entitled to a refund of the game and also has a pre-purchase of the expansion content is entitled to their money back for the latter too.

 

[SJT]

Now having time to think about this situation some more, I remember an interview DB did sometime ago maybe a decade or so where he was waiting for technology eg: the internet to catchup to his vision of what he wanted to do for the next elite aka Elite 4. So remebering this seems like if DB wanted to do a stand alone elite he could have rolled out versions years ago since it has been 30 years since the original and 20 or so since the frontier and first encounters versions. So i think his vision all long was for a online version. Not for a second that I am condoning the way FD have acted, as I myself would have liked the offline option, but will settle for a online solo.

Or no publisher would touch it with a bargepole and then Kickstarter came along?

 

[alpharesearch]

I don't understand why the server can not be released right now.... there is no subscription or any other fees. And for DRM you still could use the client update program to check back every month or so. OK there could be spoilers in the server code, but just have the public server implement a different seed and that would resolve it.

 

[Lewlemit]

I am disappointed in this situation

I tend to shy away from on-line games I honestly prefer offline games so the lack of offline mode means that I have wasted my money I will be reconsidering my options regarding this and contacting frontier when I have decided what to do...

 

[paralipsis]

Has anyone actually managed to get a refund as yet or has anything been said by the developers recently?

Not as of yet, no on both counts.

 

[Phantom Mark]

Well this is a popular thread eh...

Well my 2c worth, not that it makes any difference other than making me feel better.

I would like to see a single player experience which is not dependent on servers, but a single player game which can periodically at the players choice be updated by the servers to include newer content if the player wishes.

Reason ??

Simply for long term assurance the player will be able to play the game long into the future regardless of what happens to FD, without wishing to sound horrible but if the company folds one day (as many games studios sadly do over time) the game can still be played for many years to come, and maybe even be modified and supported by the community if the developer is no longer in a position to do it themselves, there is many such games still being played today with this exact scenario where the original developer & publisher have long gone but the game still lives on supported by a dedicated community, having a game which is solely dependant on the survival of either makes me very nervous, history proves this sadly.

 

[Adept]

You have an odd notion of trolling. Having already submitted my ticket for a refund I had no idea my sentiment would be considered trolling by anyone. Disappointing to those who look forward to the online experience, but not trolling.

It was not addressed to you, was it.

 

[deusx_ophc]

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.

oh yes lucky sod has 56% - i am looking forward to a first dividend in 2-3 years. it will be a nice little big company to have a hold on.

 

[Armour]

Now having time to think about this situation some more, I remember an interview DB did sometime ago maybe a decade or so where he was waiting for technology eg: the internet to catchup to his vision of what he wanted to do for the next elite aka Elite 4. So remebering this seems like if DB wanted to do a stand alone elite he could have rolled out versions years ago since it has been 30 years since the original and 20 or so since the frontier and first encounters versions. So i think his vision all long was for a online version.

Also, in another interview I saw with him talking about the BBC Micro, he said that the best thing about that computer was the ability to deploy software to multiple units over the network, which ties in with his stated online objectives. He could have been dreaming of an "online" mode since the days of the original BBC version.

 

[paralipsis]

I don't understand why the server can not be released right now.... there is no subscription or any other fees. And for DRM you still could use the client update program to check back every month or so. OK there could be spoilers in the server code, but just have the public server implement a different seed and that would resolve it.

I doubt it's the procedural content they're afraid to spoil, but rather the hand made content that overrides the procedural stuff. That's still a totally crappy excuse, as tgere are still ways around that too, but it would not be fixed by changing the random seed.

 

[Grimster]

If it was billed as one amount with no separate itemisation of the components of the purchase, it may be difficult to deny a full refund.

No I'm itemised.

£30 pre-order
£65 Beta latecomer to that part, and literally 5 hours (maybe) login time solo play
The remaining 20 quid in smaller amounts for skins etc.

 

[Adept]

You find it hard to believe that I want my money back, and to return a product that has not met my expectations?

So when did you buy it? How come you never signed up on the forum? How much have you played?