David Braben will answer your questions at 4PM GMT/UTC

[Steve 67]

Thanks for taking the time to answer Qs David, missed most of it sadly, but we're all excited for the week ahead (48 of us in Elite 17th Gurkha), is there anything more you could tell us about group play? and good luck at the weekend!

[CommanderRyder]

Sorry for the repeat question but it does not seem to have been answered:

When exactly was the decision made to pull the offline mode?

Or, if you wish:

When was it known that it was impossible to provide an offline mode within your self-imposed timescale? I think we all know that the task was not impossible and that it is less a technical problem and more of a investment vs. reward decision.

It was answered, very well...

[NeonKnight]

First, thanx for a wonderful game.

My question is on something of....functionality I guess.

When viewing the GALAXY MAP there can be a lot of info there, and maybe it would be nice to have a way to see what system I have been to in the past, and what system I have not been to. Something as simple as Systems I have not been too are normal font, systems I have been to are in bold font. Easy to see, no additional filter to run and no matter what view I look in it is all the same (Allegience, Trade, Size etc.)

But, thanx again, and take care, looking forward to wasting as much of my two month vacation piloting across the galaxy as I can!

That's a nice idea. I'll see what we can do (would be post release now).

THANX!

[WeirdWizard]

Hello David, nice of you to poke your head out of the trench!

Let me just take aim..

Okay. Given that you seem fairly firm on the no offline mode thing. Would Frontier consider collaborating with a community led effort to develop an open source offline server that would be tolerably interesting to play? If not would Frontier make any specific efforts to shut down such a venture?

[tawhirimatea]

If I may say this for myself:

...
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). [...]
Except from constant bullying and incomodating your customers?!
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. [..]

So that is why offline mod is important for many players

Hello, just to clarify I am a standard beta customer, not original backer, so I "missed" part of the story.
That said : your first point seems to be well addressed by the SOLO mode.

I do see your (and many other's) point being able to play without an internet connection and personally I am a Open source fan so I would love to see the code published to the community, but that's just not realistic right now (it uses their proprietary engine, for starters).
So the problem there is not the "internet" part, it is the reassurance of being able to play the game regardless of the future of FD.
That said, indeed FD can go under, but we should consider that we just celebrated the 30th anniversary of Elite... meh, that's a pretty solid record I would say, so chances are that it will be around for a few years more, maybe.

[natte hond]

Why not release such an archive of the current build then? An offline sandbox is all people are asking for, there's no need to add a rich story or advanced support. Simply remove the "secrets of the galaxy" and modders could make the sandbox interesting down the line. I think that could be an acceptable compromise.

yes I agree , even if its only the ghost of what once was.
I would be happy with it then.
and I think a hole lot of others too.

[ConquerorUK]

Hi David ! One of ur Original '84ers here :-)

From Gamma/Preview onwards will the locations of ship equipment stay random in Stations or will they be fixed ?

Thx for ur answer ;-)

[David Braben]

Hello David...

I want to thank both you and Ian for setting a standard in the original Elite, to which I have always gauged others games by and I am surprised that even today, in the way Elite Dangerous makes me feel which is exactly the same as it was thirty years ago. Rarely does any game have the same feel to it.

My Question...

As I remember the Panther Clipper from Elite Frontiers and so enjoyed it's use; how will the new version of the Panther Clipper measure up compared to old version and when will it be available. We've heard little about it and I do wonder which roleplay it would cover best. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thankyou.

The Panther Clipper is coming. It is a big trading ship - a bit like the Lakon Type 9's big brother.

[Falkenherz]

Please, some comment about stealth mechanics? And about multi-player ships? (I asked earlier)

[Grimster]

I'm sorry you're upset. We do have a refunds policy, so you should get in touch. Please consider that we have been backed to make the game we were backed to make as best we could. This includes hard decisions (and many easy ones too), but those hard ones are inevitably balancing one thing with another. For me, quality wins, and that is what happened with this decision. Not everyone may agree with every decision.

Have you played the game? Why is the offline (as opposed to single player, which I understand) mode so important to you?

Hi. Thanks for the response. Yes I played about 5 hours this past weekend. I spend a sizeable part of the year in rural Brittany without comms but also fear for the longevity of the game. Having been playing FFE since release consider that to have been one of my best ever purchases. An online version will not have this longevity. I've already opened a ticket for refund hopefully that'll be dealt with pretty swiftly.

[Drexen]

It was answered, very well...

Okay, sorry. I must have missed it. Can you tell me what the date was please?

[nosscar]

4 billion stars, but David if I was to travel to the centre of our galaxy, what, if anything would I expect to find there, I have not seen before in the game. new races, new special anomalies. ect

[Dangerousdaze]

Just popped in to say that I'm enormously relieved to hear the answer to "that" question. I know on the surface it sounds like a huge decision but in the end it's quite simple; brown sauce is the only way to go with bacon.

[sngerous]

That's a nice idea. I'll see what we can do (would be post release now).

It was even better to have a notepad. Is it too difficult to allow notes per system?

[Brian]

Apart from the playable volume we have already seen, and the rest of the Galaxy - about what percentage of the game have we seen so far?

Brian