How much are you impacted by the decision to scrap off-line play?

[Sztripi]

I do not see how a game like Elite could possibly be enjoyed offline. Would you like to play Eve in single player? Sandbox, open world games and massive ones like Elite are a lot more interesting in Online. There'a a sense of competition, risk and surprise that you can't get in offline mode. Take for example Battlefield. Single player is nice, but multiplayer is where it shines because let's face it, you can't compare AI NPC to real players

Oh yes. That would be awesome. I would definitively buy single player EVE.

 

[Sztripi]

The game still has a single player game. Its just you require an internet connection, so like I said the only ones it should effect are those who have problems with an internet connection. And those I hope all get refunded, and maybe in the future when there internet situation is better they can play then.

Maybe by then the game is finished so it might be a better experience.

Eventually this game will be playable offline anyway. Sooner or later.

Please read the many, many threads about this issue, if you are seriously interested in the opinions of the offline group. You clearly do not know anything about their position.

 

[Jarek Storm]

I prefer offline games, but I do have a rock solid, broadband connection. I do not enjoy multiplayer, and play single player games now days, so I was disappointed by the loss of offline mode. However, I can still play Solo Online and I plan to keep playing for a long time.

What I would have preferred, is an Offline, single player experience which would allow for modding and player created content. That would have been the ultimate Elite Dangerous experience, fully customizable and completely unaffected by other players in my universe. I can only imagine the player made content and mods that would have been created over the years. It is one hell of a loss for gaming.

 

[Pytheas]

Although I would prefer off-line play for myself, I am fine with the way things are going. Here is to hoping that on-line solo play has at least considerable benefits .

 

[talshiarr]

It looks like exploits are being massively abused and so I won't feel happy playing open play etc. knowing that the galaxy has a lot of cheats and people starting in positions they simply haven't earned or deserve through fair play.

How are they being "massively abused"? Name one thing of any relevance to the game you will be unable to do or have been harmed by because people "exploited" something you haven't gotten around to? So far the worst thing I've heard is the rare commodities runs, which revolves around nothing more than buying what's available at a station and spending a long time flying somewhere else. And that is being toned down. I fly through system after system after system even near Sol and going to Lave where the only traffic is Cobras and lower ships. The universe is not destroyed.

 

[MrVibrating]

Oh I get all that... I simply don't consider the second I wait here or there to contact the server an issue.. sure there have been times ive gone to turn in a mission and it cant contact the server, but for the 99.9 other times its been just fine for me.. to ask for the game to be offline to save be a total of a minute in a night's play is not worth it.. there is also an argument to be said about portability.. I cant load it up on a decent laptop while im traveling and at a hotel with crappy internet either being online.. again I get it.. but then again i would never buy a game rated as an MMO (regardless of how technically defined of an MMO it is) for those times.. thats why i have other games.. Heck, i cant even load 1/2 my games unless steam can connect to the internet.. its not much different.

My only issue with playing online only, is that id actually like to SEE someone online with me, more then once a week in passing.. but as for the technical aspects in the background, i really don't care personally..

You're regarding it purely as just another MMO game - you seem to have no grasp whatsoever that all the faithful Elite fans have been anxiously waiting decades for E4, and that ED was supposed to bring deliverance.

Sure, for an MMO it might be OK, compared to any other MMO. But for an Elite sequel - and remember, Elite is supposed to be about seamless fluid freedom - it's a near-total failure to deliver. It's not seamless, nor fluid, but disjointed and jerky with jarring transitions, and denies full pilot freedom with its drastically restricted flight model.

I'm old guard Elite. I don't have "Steam", and i bought ED because it was supposed to be E4, not because it was an MMO. I wouldn't care two hoots about it having MMO capability if i was getting the E4 i've waited so long for, and paid for. It would be wholly incidental, and wouldn't bother me. Instead though, i've had my ultimate Xmas present ripped from my hands before i'd even unwrapped it.

This unfolding tragedy seems to have entirely escaped you. Still, i hope you enjoy your MMO, to go with all your others and your Steam thingy. Happy Xmas eh.

 

[FoxTwo]

Oh I get all that... I simply don't consider the second I wait here or there to contact the server an issue.. sure there have been times ive gone to turn in a mission and it cant contact the server, but for the 99.9 other times its been just fine for me.. to ask for the game to be offline to save be a total of a minute in a night's play is not worth it.. there is also an argument to be said about portability.. I cant load it up on a decent laptop while im traveling and at a hotel with crappy internet either being online.. again I get it.. but then again i would never buy a game rated as an MMO (regardless of how technically defined of an MMO it is) for those times.. thats why i have other games.. Heck, i cant even load 1/2 my games unless steam can connect to the internet.. its not much different.

My only issue with playing online only, is that id actually like to SEE someone online with me, more then once a week in passing.. but as for the technical aspects in the background, i really don't care personally..

Actually, you missed the point completely.

It's not about "saving a few seconds"... it's getting interrupted unceremoniously, jarring you out of the illusion you're flying a ship (notice I did not use the word "immersion" here *grin*).

Which is better:

1 - pressing the button to exit supercruise and IMMEDIATELY see the station zooming at you as you slow down to "normal space speeds"

2 - Pressing the button to exit supercruise, wait 5 seconds while staring at an empty starfield, suddenly the station pops into view and start zooming.

Just compare the effect of dropping out of Hyperspace vs the one dropping out of Supercruise. Which is more believable that you've just come out of faster-than-light speed?

I don't care if I never see another human player (in fact I don't want to) but the illusion is not "all there".

And no, Solo Online isn't a replacement. It's a kludge. I can work with Solo Online but this game won't be the Elite that I wanted, and I won't be investing too much time into it. I even cancelled my order of X52 HOTAS when offline mode was cancelled. I'm now just going to treat this like "just another game" (playable with kb/mouse and/or gamepad) and not "OMG I'm a pilot in space! This is incredible!" with a HOTAS setup.

EDIT - in case someone gets the wrong idea - I am FINE with ED being as it is now. I will still play it Solo Online, if only just to re-create, as much as possible, the feeling of the old 1984 Elite.

What I would have preferred, is an Offline, single player experience which would allow for modding and player created content. That would have been the ultimate Elite Dangerous experience, fully customizable and completely unaffected by other players in my universe. I can only imagine the player made content and mods that would have been created over the years. It is one hell of a loss for gaming.

Indeed. Modding was also partly what I was looking forward to. I had ideas about how to customise my own cockpit (colour schemes, moving displays around, adding tacky girlie pinup posters etc), and looking forward to spaceship skins from players, among other things.

 

[FoxTwo]

** Deleted Duplicate***