No Single Player Offline Mode then? [Part 2]

[Shoklar]

I think the writing is on the wall now. It seems to me that offline has been dropped because it doesn't suit FD's revised vision of the game.

You know what. I am glad they took a stance even if it was a painful one. It will spare us months of patches to get right, forums even fuller with complaints more'n we have now, and major disruption to the game once released. I am actually thankful Frontier Developments have spared us that headache. Again, I give them a big heart felt thankyou for that.

Shok.

 

[Michael Brookes]

Dear Mr. Brookes,

First of all, thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. There is one thing many of us have been wondering: why was the bad news divulged like that, with nonchalance, at the end of a newsletter entry without even being dignified with its own title or paragraph, as if it were a minor change of little importance? Some of the people who have been complaining have suggested that either you had vastly underestimated the importance this change would have for many people, or that you were deliberately trying to draw as little attention to it as possible, hoping that few people would notice. I have no reason to doubt your honest intentions, so right now I am going with the first option: did you really not see this coming? Had you really how much offline mode meant to a lot of us? Or is there another reason that I have not considered?

I hope you're still online and answering questions.

Thanks.


edit: I apologize in case this question has already been answered. I've been reading so much about the subject in the past few days, it's hard to keep track.

The newsletter is our widest communication so is where we put announcements related to the game. I don't think putting something in a newsletter that goes out to more of our backers than visit the forums is exactly hiding it.

Michael

 

[Antigonos]

Its not internet Problems for everyone look here is an example. I log into Final Fantasy 14 a real MMO. Play for 5 hours. not one disconnect, one hiccup or anything. Any other MMO same issue no issues. I log into Elite. Play solo for 30 minutes. Get disconnected randomly for no issue. Try to grab a mission. Failed to acknowledge mission from server. Buy a fitting an transaction fails. Sure its Beta but there has been no reassurance anywhere to indicate this will be fixed. I mean there have even been any patches for awhile and I am still having these issues. And when 3.9 comes out how many more issues will be introduced.

Log into Open Play and have a even wider range of problems after 1 hour or so. They are marketing Elite as an online Game when online is so broken it makes my head hurt. And you know what I do not want to spend several hours earning money just to lose it all from fines because i got disconnected from the server in the middle of a mission that failed as a result.

You cannot market a game as online if close to half you player base is having various issues with the online aspect and lets be honest there are a lot of people having issues. There are still enough issues with solo mode to make the game not enjoyable mainly losing out on mission because of disconnects.

the game is not released yet ...

 

[mbpoblet]

Where was this screen shot taken from? Is there a link?

Braben's Reddit AMA.

Also from the same source, this and this.

Edit: Dammit, ninja'd again! Curses!

I'd hazard a guess at the dutch version of reddit

edit: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/15od2s/i_am_david_braben_cocreator_of_elite_creator_of/

 

[Solei]

can we move on please. want to get back to looking forward to the game.

What are you doing here then? No one is preventing you from playing the game. Play it instead of wasting your time trying to downplay our problems.

 

[foxpur]

Can't help wondering how much whining there would have been if they did release offline seeing as Frontier said how substandard it would have been!

It would have made the forums much quieter

 

[Deyn]

As mentioned before we believed that would be possible at the time. The game has changed considerably in scope since the kickstarter, the game we are making is much bigger and better than what we pitched back then. Most of the changes stemming from the excellent feedback we received. Many of features require an online component and that's what has ultimately prompted the decision. Repeating myself again -) ) but the decision had to be made and we made it.

Michael

It would have been wise then to include the customers in the discussions about "dropping" the Offline feature, if the "new" features from the "feedback" would indicate it causes problems with one of the deliverables?

I said before, if a Project Manager would drop a committed deliverable, agreed upon with the customers/stakeholders, drop it without even consulting and discussing this with the board of stakeholders and his customers (the people who pay for the product), he is virtually asking for a legal dispute.

Which I think is not in anyones interest.

Maybe if you would have told the customers that the shiny online feature will come at the expense of the offline mode, people would have given feedback, indicating they could spare some of the online dynamic stuff, to be able to play the game at all?

I personally decided not to leave and have a refund, but I can really understand people who do... and I'm not happy about that decision either, especially as it will spoil my experience of exploration, and may be mining and trading also, because every weekend I can play, the galaxy and its economy has magically changed...

 

[amigacooke]

As mentioned before we believed that would be possible at the time. The game has changed considerably in scope since the kickstarter, the game we are making is much bigger and better than what we pitched back then. Most of the changes stemming from the excellent feedback we received. Many of features require an online component and that's what has ultimately prompted the decision. Repeating myself again -) ) but the decision had to be made and we made it.

Michael

Is the decision on the 'no subscription' model likewise under review?

 

[Warbler]

You know what. I am glad they took a stance even if it was a painful one. It will spare us months of patches to get right, forums even fuller with complaints we have now, and major disruption to the game once released. I am actually thankful Frontier Developments have spared up that headache. Again, I give them a big heart felt thankyou for that.

Shok.

What I'm interested in that FD are not honouring the Kickstarter agreement; because they won't, not because they can't. To tell us this close to release is not right. They've had two years to sort this out. The stance they have taken is completely self serving. If FD haven't been dishonest then they have been negligent in my view.

 

[CmdrPSB]

What are you doing here then? No one is preventing you from playing the game. Play it instead of wasting your time trying to downplay our problems.

I'm not sure anyone could possibly downplay the problems.

 

[Ecks Theory]

There is no sinister conspiracy theory in operation.

Michael

The wording of your sales department would beg to differ. Why are you selling beta access with a full game included instead of a pre order of a the full game with beta access included? Seems its so you can enforce your terms and conditions even though the final product hasnt been released. Seems pretty sinister to me.

 

[bsolar]

If I remember correctly Sim City had the code to run completely offline - that isn't the case for Elite: Dangerous.

I can understand this is the case, but it's clear you cannot have realized this for Elite: Dangerous only 1 month before release. Offline mode was still being confirmed as a feature of the released game 2 weeks ago. Frontier basically went from "it's going to be in the game" to "the design of the game doesn't make it possible" overnight.

I appreciate that you and your team tried long and hard to find a solution, but that makes even more clear that you knew for a long time that a problem with offline mode existed, a problem which you should have communicated as soon as possible to limit the number of customers which committed their money expecting you to deliver something you promised but knew already was problematic to deliver.

About "technical solutions" even MMOs like World of Warcraft are playable offline through private servers. In the case of WoW these are not official and forbidden. Would Frontier consider making an official private server available? That would make the game playable offline, with your official server available for those wanting the official, online experience. I understand that this would solve the problem technically but could not play well with your business model...

 

[Only]

Those that are eligable under our current rules have been processed and we're looking into other cases.

Michael

Hi

What about those people who purchased Alpha/Beta and have already been refused a refund under currently refund rules (only pre-orders of standard game).

If the refund policy changes and beta/alpha buyers qualify will they be asked to re-submit a refund request?

Thanks

 

[foxpur]

We've also added a number of features and changed others. This is the nature of development. Did we want to drop offline support? No - we know this is an emotive feature for some players. We spent time and effort to try and find a workable solution which meant that the news was released later than we would have liked.

Michael

Michael, I think that even if you produced dates and videos with the meetings and the day by days taping of those working on it... this has reached "Conspiracy Theorist" level and some just won't believe it

 

[phlOgistOn]

Michael, I think that even if you produced dates and videos with the meetings and the day by days taping of those working on it... this has reached "Conspiracy Theorist" level and some just won't believe it

Those videos were faked by Kubrick dammit!!!!

 

[Michael Brookes]

It would have been wise then to include the customers in the discussions about "dropping" the Offline feature, if the "new" features from the "feedback" would indicate it causes problems with one of the deliverables?

I said before, if a Project Manager would drop a committed deliverable, agreed upon with the customers/stakeholders, drop it without even consulting and discussing this with the board of stakeholders and his customers (the people who pay for the product), he is virtually asking for a legal dispute.

Which I think is not in anyones interest.

Maybe if you would have told the customers that the shiny online feature will come at the expense of the offline mode, people would have given feedback, indicating they could spare some of the online dynamic stuff, to be able to play the game at all?

I personally decided not to leave and have a refund, but I can really understand people who do... and I'm not happy about that decision either, especially as it will spoil my experience of exploration, and may be mining and trading also, because every weekend I can play, the galaxy and its economy has magically changed...

I see your point, but at all stages the game is the one that we've set the vision for so ultimately we have to make the decisions. We've always been quite clear on that point.

Michael

 

[Reax]

I am not looking for a refund myself as i will probably still play the game for a bit.

BUT if u need a refund and FD wont give it just get your credit card company to do a charge back. 99% of the time they will always do it.
and if you paid with paypal (cant remember if that was an option to pay with it) just get them to do the charge back as they always do for digital goods anyway.

There is no such thing as no refund these days. if company's don't offer what you where described 99% of the time you can get a refund.

 

[Ecks Theory]

nevermind misread.

 

[Marc Alexander]

No, this is not a feature. This is a way the game can be played. The lack of offline SP changes the nature of game itself! And in latest newsletter you stated that it was rather design decision and not technical.

feature
ˈfiːtʃə/
noun
noun: feature; plural noun: features

1.
a distinctive attribute or aspect of something. (if you believe Google!)

The 'something' is the game Elite Dangerous. Aspects include online single player and online multiplayer. Another feature - 'offline' has been dropped.

You're welcome

 

[noodle]

Michael,

Thank you for taking time to address some of the concerns expressed in this thread.

My specific concern is that I backed to the level I did during Kickstarter in order to secure the premium boxed set - a standalone product that would allow me to install and play the game in ten years time. That boxed set is now worthless to me. I can't help but feel a bit (albeit unintentionally) scammed. If you're not prepared to give refunds to backers (and I do realise what a can of worms this is), would you maybe consider offering a refund of a fixed amount against delivery of the premium boxed set reward?