Hardly shocking that a company cares mostly about profits is it?
Heads up- the "outrage" is a vocal minority and even though you are trying your best to hurt profits, the game won't be hurt from the loss of this minority.
No Single Player Offline Mode then? [Part 2]
- Thread starter Brett C
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Hardly shocking that a company cares mostly about profits is it?
Heads up- the "outrage" is a vocal minority and even though you are trying your best to hurt profits, the game won't be hurt from the loss of this minority.
He was telling the posters to stop sniping, not adding to the discussion. He did that days ago over and over and got nowhere!
seriously...
I do fear though that making this game online only will seriously jeopardise its staying power. Probably relying on extra future features to keep it popular in time and thats if they deliver these extra features! Whats the average life span of an online only game? Im sure its not longer than most good offline games! Plus would suck if you find yourself with a spare couple of hours and been dying to play Elite to then find a server issue stops you from playing!
I'll try to reconsider that then, since you suggest it. I'll be back later on.
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That's too bad. I've been monitoring the thread and I still missed him. Things get lost in this froth.
Besides, if modders manage to, officially or extra-officially, get their hands on the mission spawning and galaxy changing models, it won't be "dead" and "static" and "empty" for long. At least for those that want a more, shall we say, interesting offline experience
Which is a big part of why I prefer offline games. And why I never, ever, purchase for a console a game that is also released for the PC. The chance of tweaking the game according to my preferences makes for such a better experience, for me at least, that I'd potentially be willing to pay double the price to have proper modding capabilities (even though the moddable PC version tends to cost a fair peny less than the non-moddable console version
)Michael Brookes
Game Director
Besides, if modders manage to, officially or extra-officially, get their hands on the mission spawning and galaxy changing models, it won't be "dead" and "static" and "empty" for long. At least for those that want a more, shall we say, interesting offline experience
Which is a big part of why I prefer offline games. And why I never, ever, purchase for a console a game that is also released for the PC. The chance of tweaking the game according to my preferences makes for such a better experience, for me at least, that I'd potentially be willing to pay double the price to have proper modding capabilities (even though the moddable PC version tends to cost a fair peny less than the non-moddable console version
It is true games on PC get so much extra life thanks to modders! It really is a shame that David Braben of all people has chosen to take the route of no offline, especially after how all his previous Elite titles did so well offline! Do we really need the MMO setup?
MorkFromOrk
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You are talking about an approved driver delivering a clearly defined service. Failure to deliver that service is obviously grounds for complaint and refund.
ED was not a defined service (at least in KS and even in Beta). There were many aspects that were listed as aims for inclusion. Many made it in but many did not. The paying in advance was the investment to get something out the end of it.
A closer analogy than yours would be investing in the hairdressing training course for your son/daughter on the understanding that that they will style your hair for you for no additional cost in the future and then complaining because they could do 75% of the styles in the brochure but just couldn't quite manage to master the mullet. You've had your hair done already in the various styles that they mastered, can still have access to all of the other styles that they learned to do, but no, without that mullet, however badly it ends up being done, you would want your money back.
Whatever analogy we use it will never match reality but the only people in my analogy that can get their money back are the ones that booked an appointment in advance of said stylist's graduation (ED pre-order) and then get told they can't have the style they requested in the first place; or alternatively did not use any haircuts during the work experience phase (Beta) so did not get the benefit of early access.
Look on the positive side. with FD as the stylist, at least they are graduating, they may not pass with distinction but at least the investment didn't go completely to waste.
That's true, but you could argue that it's offset by the nature of the way this project got off the ground. Go back and watch the KS videos where FD were still at the stage of not knowing if they'd not even make the target - while they were thanking us for our support so far they were also encouraging us to do more. It's not the same as a "normal" project where a company ships a game and says "there you go, that's it" and you have a more informed choice as to what it is and whether it suits you. People invested trust into FD at the start, as well as cash. So I think some leeway is okay, as well as a recognition of that commitment people made beyond an, all too easy, "thanks for the cash".
What DB has said they'd do now - really look into individual cases and what they were after, what they got, how much they've played, etc... is, IMHO, simply acting on that recognition, rather than fobbing it off. Do they legally owe us that? Of course not... probably not morally either, but as a gesture of true recognition and appreciation then perhaps so.
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Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it FD will sink as a result of this - it most likely won't (and from what I've read, few people actually wish that, even among us offliners). But to suggest that there will be no consequences at all also seems a little unrealistic to me. This problem has hurt the image of the company in the eyes of many people, and if you go read on the various social networks and gaming portals, you will find that there's people who were planning on buying the game and have now lost interest.
So, will FD go bankrupt within a year because of pulling offline mode? About as likely as Balotelli to be at the top of the scorers table at the end of the season. Will there be no consequences whatsoever? About as likely as Balotelli to never score another goal again for the rest of his career.
From the business perspective, legacy games being around and modded long after they've stopped being sold is not a factor. It's of course nice for the creators, but it's not something that can or should drive the design.
Elite is a platform. The 1.0, MMO Elite of 2014 we get on the 16th is just the start. Barring anything terrible, the game will continue to grow and expand, bringing more depth and fidelity over time. That is a ride I want to be on. The idea that the KS was about an Elite IV as an off-line successor to the original, Frontier and FFE would not have excited me very much. I would still have backed that, but what the actual project is is something much grander.
The world has changed, and it keeps changing. Internet is here to stay, and we are more and more connected. Elite Dangerous will IMO change how we see both space games and MMOs, and will set the bar really high for the competition.
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There are consequences. Why do you think a lot of us have reacted quite strongly to these threads and the rabble rousing on other sites and reddit?
Well there a ton of games across a multitude of platforms from consoles, pc's and iOs/Tablets that require internet connection to play, even if just for log on and authentication and they do prettttty well. Heck the majority of my PS4 games require internet (Destiny is one example).
This issue affects a minority of people with real connection issues (travel, work, etc...). The rest are mainly upset at a perceived loss of something that is in essence largely trivial and would probably never touch.
Things people post on comments sections on the internet are closer to ramblings than determinations. The same people who write them are just as likely to swing back the next time they see good news / something exciting. As unfortunate as this whole business was, it has been massively overblown by a self-aggravating circular discussion of it.
Well all this talk of third world countries and no internet, that is the least of the problems.
Here in Belgium we have just had a notice come through the door to tell us that during the winter we will have no electricity between 17:00 and 20:00 every day as the electricity power stations cannot generate enough power.
Here in Belgium we have just had a notice come through the door to tell us that during the winter we will have no electricity between 17:00 and 20:00 every day as the electricity power stations cannot generate enough power.
That is precisely the point I was making: there will almost certainly be consequences. I used an analogy that I now see is probably less obvious to a non-English audience, but I assure you that's exactly what I meant.
Does it not bother you that you dont own your copy of the game? When i say this i mean you are reliant on the developer to support the game for as long as you want to play it. Sure DB has said they would release an archive of the server but he also said offline would definitely be included. Personally yes i love the game and its online gameplay but i have a bad taste in my mouth after paying for beta backer for what i believed would be an offline and online game, leaving the purchaser the option to play the game how they see fits best into there life. To be brutally honest if this was advertised as just an MMO before i backed it then i definitely wouldnt have purchased it no matter how good it was reported. Thats my opinion before anyone attacks me!
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A great example of how the internet is not here to stay, for many its barely existent. Many would have thought the whole world had constant 24/7 connection to the world wide web but truth is they dont, there are still al large number of Elite gamers that just dont have the internet connection required to play Elite when they want. Also before someone says if you have no power how can you play it offline? Yes you have a point but this isnt always the case, many people use back up generators where they usually have power outages, many have power but no internet! like those who work abroad or on ships for months at a time. These may seem a few cases but there are actually thousands and many loyal Elite fans who have just been snubbed!
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I'd reckon the average lifespan of an online only game is pretty short, but then most of them fail. If they succeed then they are like Eve Online - ie no end in site, they endure.
I'm relatively hopeful for Elite for a number of reasons and worried for some others. I'd be stunned if it went offline after a few years and we never got our hands of a version of it to play offline, be that an archived version of the current galaxy as Mr B said or even a specifically developed offline version of the game at retail (when FD realise it's not working out online but can see a commercial opportunity for an offline only version).
Irony overload if they had to release an offline only version of the game and drop the online one
Personally I could see a hoard of Elite servers running in 10 years time - some private, some subscription, some something else. The Elite Multi-verse
Essentially I'll be very surprised if the game doesn't endure in some fashion in the long term. Too much love for it going around and I don't believe Mr B would deny us all his game in any form if his online dream for it doesn't work out.
No it doesn't... I rarely own my own copies of films either. Things change.
Also, I guess I never took any of the proposals as promises and this is a key focus of the argument really. They were to me all proposals and all subject to change.
We weren't promised all the ships, or seamless flight into SuperCruise, but we got those. You win some, you lose some.
I liked the idea of offline when i signed up, sure... but as things were released, Alpha, Beta etc... i realised that Online was were it was at and that i had no reason to play offline. I don't have a lot of time to play, like many others... I have 2 small kids and a job that has me travel abroad 80% of every week. I will play when i can and I look forward to seeing the game state change as nothing bores me more about online games when everything stays the same and you do the same old grind to the same old places doing the same old missions for exactly the same rewards.
If I pick up a mission or cargo, then i complete that run before logging off. If i can't due to a personal situation, then that s a shame, it s possible I lose some time in game, but what's the rush. Frontier had a vision of 10years with some great looking ideas for release and even more so with the expansions. I am in this for the long haul and have set my expectations thusly.
Absolutely. I'm just shocked about the pessimism from some of the people here. With that kind of thinking, no grand venture ever gets done.
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