No Single Player offline Mode then?

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Nomadski

Nomadski
While I respect Drew (I have his book) that read rather like an apologists entry. Again, your views on this will depend on what side of the fence you are on, it will merely add to your own sense of being right.

The fact DB is tweeting about a friend of FD's safe blog, rather than approaching the community with a full and frank post from the horses mouth, covering the types of things we really need to hear with clarity and honesty, says a lot that about the missteps they have made, and are continuing to make regarding handling this 11th hour decision that affects a good number of people now, in the short term, and very possibly long term too.

It is worrying the size of the reaction, and the lack of urgency to engage directly from FD.

Makes me think of this

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Brucolac

B
Juniper said:
Unless the community have a prior Escrow agreement with Frontier, which in all honesty, is something we should seriously consider.

If Frontier are genuine about wanting people to play if the worst happens, then this should be no problem for them...
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Maybe you could start a Kickstarter campaign to pay for such an Escrow arrangement; lets say the fee will be about $1,000 per person per year of the arrangement. Work out how many people need it, how many years you'll think you might want to keep playing the game, and you'll have your funding goal.

Or did you think such services cost nothing? Remember, Escrows have to be provided by a third party.
 

Stormprooter

Stormprooter
T@F said:
It's there in black and white and you're still making excuses trying to twist the words lol.
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As the one who provided the link, I do have to say, that at that time (January 22nd 2014), offline was very much still on the cards, as all we had to play with were the single-player combat scenarios.
Much as I am dissapointed (bitterly dissapointed tbh), I do understand that FD have had to make a very tough call, and I do accept the explanations as given, and for the greater good I do accept that offline is most certainly not going to happen as I expected.

I can only hope beyond hope that some form of offline game can come along at some later date - even if it is stale and boring compared to the online experience, or perhaps something completely different like a single-player campaign mode, and perhaps configurable combat practice or something, anything, so I can get into my Cobra or whatever and fly around for the times I am without an internet connection.
 

Ericlas

Ericlas
Wolframium said:
If you support the "online only" decision, please read this before posting: for many of us, the issue is not internet connection. Sure, that is a deal-breaking problem for some unfortunate folk, but it's not all. What bothers a lot of us is that:

1) We want to be able to play a game that is in no way affected by other players: my money, my spare time, my game, my universe. And, if I choose to, my mods and my rules. Should we ever feel like having a gaming experience that is influenced by other players, it has to be our choice, not FD's.

2) We feel cheated by the way this was handled by FD. We understand that plans can be changed, but a change as massive as this cannot have been decided mere weeks before launch, and worse still, it cannot be just nonchalantly mentioned in a newsletter entry between things like "feature X will be added post-launch" and "we're really happy with the way things are going", as if it were a minor detail that is barely worth mentioning. It isn't a minor detail, and the fact that they are treating it as such makes it even more aggravating, because they couldn't possibly not know that this was going to upset a lot of people.

3) We are rightly worried that the game may change over time, depending on the fluctuating fortunes of FD. Just ask the fans of vanilla WoW what they think of all the changes Blizzard made to the original game.

4) We want to be able to play ED for decades to come, just like we have done with the other Elite games. With an online-only mode, the game's lifespan is intrinsically limited to the servers lifespan: if FD goes bust, so does our game.

5) We want to be able to pause, resume, play at our leisure, without things changing while we're gone. Our reasons are our own and they are as many as there are people complaining in this thread, probably more, but mostly it's due to the fact that we are adults with real life priorities, and we feel the game should be playable and enjoyable not just for the hardcore gamers who can happily play away six to twelve hours a day without a care in the world, but also for those of us who only get to play in short half-hour breaks, or less. This is not an unreasonable request, it is simply the standard for all single player games, and this game has always promised to have a single player mode (or are we going to ditch that too now?).

So, dear "onliners", feel free to criticize those of us who are complaining, feel free to defend FD to the bitter end, but please, in the interest of constructive debating, refrain from posting things like "why do u care its 2014 every1 has internet access lol", because that only covers one objection among many (and rather poorly at that). You want to explain to us how wrong we are? Great! But please address all points that are being raised, don't just tackle one and ignore the others. Thanks.
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I can understand your point very well, but then again, i repeat myself by asking...what now?

Ericlas said:
Yes but what now?
They stated that it became too difficult.
They stated they tried and it wouldn't work.
They stated it would mean to create another game.
What now?
Is it all about just an excuse by the developing team?
Is it to stand ones point, no matter what?
Asking the team to develop a singleplayer mode, even if it couldn't be financed, just for the sake of it?
Even after telling it would be dull or boring?
Just to experience exactly that?

I am angry as well, as i looked forward to and i don't like the feeling not being able to play what i want, when i want.
But i really don't get the point what so many are expecting from FD now.
You feel cheated? They offered a refund. What else can they do?
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Notker

Notker
Hm, because i dont play 'offline' games' any more since about ten years i see only advantage if devs 'must' work on good online-gameplay feeling. But sure if folks supported EF for offline gaming then there is a huge disapointment. But i think there will be still the online version single player. Its really a problem to have internet today? Anyway, for me EF is only interesting as MMOG, at least online 'multi'multiplayer.
 

Wonne

W
OMG, 360 Pages...nice threadnought.

So if this is the reaction to some "minor" feature missing that was somewhat somewhere maybe promiesed on Kickstarter, is someone else also as crurious as i as to what will happen to Star Citizen when they get into the same kind of excrementstorm? Because IT WILL HAPPEN.
 

Cmdr Eagleboy

Cmdr Eagleboy
RGS said:
I hope they'll make this right. I want to get behind FD again, but this issue has left a very bad taste in my mouth (and clearly I am not alone). Either 'no further comment' or a hard nosed approach won't cut it for me. This issue wasn't one to try and slip under the radar and hope no one really noticed guys...
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I don't think it's that easy. They didn't hope for this to slip under radar - they know how much people cared about this feature, and Michael's stressful comments clearly shows. But PR wise there's nothing David or Michael would say will ease the pain, or will make up to it. So it is better to shut up, take beating, and issue refunds when sensible requested.

They might come up with announcement...I am not FD...but I wouldn't be surprised if they won't do it.
 
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Phobos

Phobos
<SNIP>there are more than enough systems to hide from players! Everyone in the western world has access to the internet, even mobile...
 
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Wyzak

W
Angus said:
I'd be very interested to see that quote.
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No, he actually says the exact opposite:
We have always said the way to play the game is online - indeed it says so in the quote of me being circulated. The choice was develop the game in the way we wanted, or not. Trying to make it offline would have made both experiences worse than we were willing to tolerate. We had to make the decision and have done so. I would say that an offline rewrite of the game is unlikely for the future. Michael
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Nauht

N
They did it 30 years ago, you'd think they'd have learnt a bit since.

They're obviously smart cookies and given that other games have done a working economy offline the explanation given just doesn't quite hold up. Basically every Civ game, X series, freelancer etc... has an offline economy and game.

What constant online means is they can control what's available to the players in terms of content, DLC, microtransactions, skins, DRM.

Be realistic, what content do you think requires a constant online presence?
 

Wolframium

W
Ericlas said:
I can understand your point very well, but then again, i repeat myself by asking...what now?
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Honestly, I still hope they reconsider. It wouldn't be the first time a gaming company realized they screwed up and tried to fix things. I am waiting for an official statement by David Braben. If they really choose to ignore the uproar and go through with the online-only mode, I will definitely consider the refund option.
 

Dan Dare

Dan Dare
I think the problems for FD releasing an offline mode for this game are mostly twofold. The file size issues of having all of the game downloaded onto your PC, AND the file security issues, once they are downloaded.
I think these security issues may be of even more concern than the download issues, as the work done so far could be more easily hacked, cheated or stolen if none of the game is remotely stored.
Not a dev though, just my feelings on the matter.
 
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