No Single Player offline Mode then?

[Marc Alexander]

It was a theoretical example that FD may one day find themselves in, I wasn't trying to suggest it as a description of their current situation. I tried to make that clear in the brackets, obviously I failed :/

Sorry!....

<hunts for glasses>

 

[Mengy]

I agree that it does not clearly state that there will be no offline mode. It would be good to have official clarification about whether or not there will be offline single player mode. I personally would love an offline single player mode as I love to use trainers. Trainers only work in offline single player mode.

Michael Brookes himself in this thread has clarified that there will not be any offline modes to Elite Dangerous, nor are there any plans to add one in the future. The game is completely online only now, despite any comments or promises by anyone at Frontier in the past.


That is simply a fact, there is no question about it now.

 

[the darkwalker]

Really? Yet you and I both have access to their forums but (hopefully) not their refund controls...

I feel sorry that you're forced into demanding a refund because of this situation - but I think you're not really sounding reasonable at demanding an instant response on a Sunday evening.

i think i was not being clear, sorry! i don't expect a refund after 1 hour, but the ticket has not been viewed yet.
since they have access to ticket system they have to atleast read and respond to it.
language barriers

 

[xxThe_Dice_manxx]

There wasn't some cosmic force that caused them to be unable to do it; it was either their design process that failed to adequately consider the implementation of offline mode or their misjudgement of whether it was financially viable in the first place. Either way it's a failure on their part which caused them to be unable to keep their word - hence an apology is appropriate, if nothing else.

It's already been explained why it wasn't viable,nothing was set in stone,everything was subject to change,no apology necessary.

But if FD were to apologise would that make you happy, is that all you require to put this nonsense to bed?

 

[Stormprooter]

... we have our faith shaken that if something as fundamental as an entire game mode can suddenly be 'not viable' then what next? ...

I doubt it was a last-minute decision. I suspect the offline 'problem' has been part of internal discussions at FD for some time (probably months), they have probably allowed a certain amount of resource to try to solve it, and have been unable to come up with a viable solution, and now it has been announced to us.

I expect FD are just as dissapointed as anyone else.

 

[Erna Jedermann]

Have you played the game?

No one has Played the Game....we all play an Preview with part of the full release...
so even you haven´t play Elite Dangerous right now....

 

[OillyRag]

full refunds?

how long have you been playing ED so far ?

 

[the darkwalker]

how long have you been playing ED so far ?

Have you played the game?
yes and so? i already had a full refund on minecraft (xbox) as i discovered that some functions were restricted on my system. we are not all americans here

and please stop bloating this forum with futile arguments if you are not bothered with the change.
go play what you have and stop harrassing people.
both of you

 

[jamotide]

+1.
I can see why Backers wouldn't be refunded, but those who bought the game should receive an unconditional refund. Infact I would be very surprised if they weren't refunded.

And I'd be very surprised if backers aren't refunded. According to kickstarter terms FD is legally bound to refund the money if they don't deliver the rewards. And they surely aren't delivering a DRM free version anymore.

 

[Captain Wiz]

It reads as there is still single player mode, as long as you are not forced to be in a multiplayer thats ok by me.

 

[FX2K]

Have you played the game?

The game has not been released yet, none of us have played the game as yet.
Regardless, this is a decision to be made by FD not a forum user like us.

 

[mbpoblet]

One of the issues I have with this online only position is something they simply cannot effectively address, and that's the connection lag I see in solo play on occasion that has caused me to:

1. Fail an interdiction. It literally happened as the interdiction began and by the time it went away I couldn't find the escape vector in time.

2. Overshoot a destination. I think it was Chu Hub or something, but I got a lag spike as I was very close and when it ended I had no time to throttle down and overshot.

3. Weird lag delays coming out of hyperspace. Sometimes the ship will sit there shaking around for up to 20 seconds waiting for it to sync with the servers.


You cannot avoid lag online, that's the bottom line. Sometimes your connection or the servers WILL be laggy, so you will end up at the mercy of one or the other instead of your own skill in an offline single player experience.

I see no merit in keeping the single player game online in spite of all of their justifications other than 'they want to'.

Yes, solo online has always been pretty nonsensical, its only justification (until solo offline was removed) being that it basically comes for free with instanced multiplayer, together with private groups (well, private groups have some added costs like frameshift slaving and whatnot).

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

We learn that a decent sized part of the proposed features may well permanently be on the cutting room floor, and, we have our faith shaken that if something as fundamental as an entire game mode can suddenly be 'not viable' then what next?

I think you read too much into David's statement, *in my opinion*. First part was about features on "cutting room floor" *due of feedback*. I think it's talk about all things changed by request of community and where devs saw good arguments to do so. Second statement is that game won't have all features to smallest detail worked out, because that would delay game considerably. Granted, there are few quite major things missing and I hope they will clarify this as Premiere and actual release date closes in.

Proposals never had given promise to be implemented as is (system travel changed a lot), implented in first version (crews were delayed), or implemented at all. Offline mode is different in that regard, however treat it as fundamental mode...ok, maybe you right but that's not how I have understand things in these 2 years. It's certainly fundamental for some people, no doubt.

 

[OillyRag]

<snip>

exactly my point

 

[Sylv3r]

As a kickstarter backer totally unaffected by these developments I am astounded at Frontiers decision and chosen method of announcement on this issue. I have held fire for a couple of days on posting on this issue because I really wanted to let it sink in and post a measured response accordingly.

As to the reasons the decision was made, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on that, however, as others have said, I am struggling to believe that it only became apparent that Single Offline wasn't viable in the last few days and this close to release. Surely it must have become apparent sometime ago that this was going to be the case, and as such, it should have been communicated to us, via the forums, and in the appropriate newsletter, as soon as it was so much as a possibility, let alone a 'tough decision made'.

Whether or not anything was 'promised' is fairly moot at this point, the point is that Frontier staff, (at least some culpability), and moderators, (not their fault), and the community at large thought there was the option of Single Offline still at 15:40 hours on Friday just gone, this is unacceptable. Whilst some of the people claiming they will take x, y or z legal action, report the issue, or in some way derail Frontiers launch event are, in my opinion, overeating, some of the people defending Frontier on this decision are equally as lamentable.

@ Frontier - You must realise, (and surely do), that crap sticks and becomes hard to wash off, some of those that have posted in this thread and others have been your most ardent backers and supporters, many of them have defended your policy and track record, sometimes rightly, sometimes not so much so. It was never their job to do so, nor was it requested by Frontier, however, do not underestimate what the good 'word of mouth' aspect has done for your name, your brand and your game. Also, do not underestimate how damaging it is or how long it will take to wash the stains out of the laundry from this mess of an announcement.

The omens are worrying to say the least now, we learn that the statement 'we are making the game we want to play' now actually reads, 'we are making a platform that may, one day, become the game we want to play'. We learn that a decent sized part of the proposed features may well permanently be on the cutting room floor, and, we have our faith shaken that if something as fundamental as an entire game mode can suddenly be 'not viable' then what next? It seems if something like that can be dropped then no proposal is safe, like it or not, some trust has gone Frontier, of course not from all, but from a percentage of fans, some heavily involved financially, be it in shares, pledge level or just 'word of mouth positives'. The problem is Frontier, that this is starting to smell like you are in a bit over your heads, be it financially or simply from an overreaching point of view, 'we will release when its ready' seems to have gone out of the window, it wasn't 'ready' before Fridays announcement and is even less 'ready' if fundamental features are being canned.

To those of you that cannot play without offline mode, or are at least affected by it, to a larger or smaller degree, you have my empathy and hopes that Frontier will change their minds on this, to posters arguing with those affected, some of you should take a step back and think, you really should. Many of us are backers of Elite Dangerous, very nearly all of us are supporters of Frontier, we of course can have differing views on Supercruise and mining, without doubt, but the rug being pulled out from under the feet of some of us affects us all, it may be you or me next, it may be a feature we consider vital next, it may be us asking for a refund if this happens again. We should stand as one here, a community united, because this has the potential to hurt us all.

Good post.
Thanks

 

[Jorlin]

I was looking forward to The Offline mode, as I have other commitments in my life, I may only get a couple o hours a week in on Elite. If it is as is sounds it is going to turn out like the consoles FPS where unless you can play everysingle hour you are going to get killed by people camping out side stations and destroying new players or ones that only play a couple of hours a week. very disappointed customer,

Solo Online will be there to prevent that.
Still will miss the Offline feature

 

[FX2K]

Excuse me but was I talking to you?

Perhaps not, but I was you.

 

[xxThe_Dice_manxx]

<snip>

If you bought some underwear and wore it for several days do you think you will get your money back?

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

And I'd be very surprised if backers aren't refunded. According to kickstarter terms FD is legally bound to refund the money if they don't deliver the rewards. And they surely aren't delivering a DRM free version anymore.

They are delivering DRM free version (see their definition of that in KS FAQ), and they are delivering goods. One feature get dropped. Not really strong basis for required refund. Will FD choose to refund it's their decision.

 

[the darkwalker]

If you bought some underwear and wore it for several days do you think you will get your money back?

stop trollbaiting pls

i already had my full refund on digital goods where i live.
and laws here are pretty clear, their text in their store is just pointless so...what are you after then?