No Single Player offline Mode then?

[Windsaw]

Why are people going on about shutting servers down before the game is even released ? Why would FD be thinking about that Don't seem logical to me

My reason why I will probably ask for a refund tonight is the fear that eventually the servers will be shut down.

However it would be stupid to ask Michael a question like "do you intend you shut down the servers" because they obviously wouldn't.

My question would be: Do you have a guarantee that the servers will still run in 20 years? Or in 10? Or even in 5?
Even if FD goes bankrupt?
In other words: What guarantee do I have that I will be able to play the game even after FD ceases to exist? (regardless how likely a demise of FD is actually)

If he can give the guarantee, I will stay.
If not, will will ask for a refund.

 

[jamotide]

Yes there is a difference, you need a connection for this game to work...... basically like people moaning about having to be online to play World Of Warcraft or EVE.... the online part is a core game mechanic, it has nothing to do with anything else really, simply put the game does not work without a connection.

You can;t just play EVE or Warcraft, you need access codes to authenticate and stay online, hence the term Always-on DRM

 

[undercovergeek]

See here for the business case breakdown.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=58789&page=350&p=1015492#post1015492

always with the totally blown out of proportion 'legal', 'lawyers', 'sue', 'fraud'

you could, you know, just apply for the refund and see what happens - before donning your brand new judges wig and passing sentence

 

[Herik]

I have seen people in the forums mention an offline only version, but was this ever mentioned by FD?

Yeah, but this seemed to have been thrown out; -just not DB's 'cup of tea' for the future of this game...

 

[cfs3corsair]

This really deserves to be quoted here:

"Let’s see. A company promises a very specific item, like offline single player play in order to glean more money from backers, and then waits until the very latest possible moment, before revealing that, “oh, sorry, we really won’t be doing that, psych.”

Seems to me that they would have known they were not going to have offline months and months ago, in fact from probably the very beginning, since you have to build the architecture pretty early on.

And now, when finally the people who in many cases backed this game BECAUSE offline was so explicitly promised, are told, “too bad for you, we’ve got your money and we will do as we see fit with it.”

Then, when they get mad and complain about being lied to, along come these strange creatures who try to justify the lies and spin it all around to make it look like the poor consumer is somehow at fault. “Most people are always online anyway, this is 2014, how 2013 of you to even think you would want a game that isn’t connected.” They are messing with your head, and implying, however obliquely and politely, that you are an idiot and passe merely because you expect a game that does not require a constant online connection.

You are being conditioned people. Conditioned by a very subtle pseudo peer pressure mechanic. The constant online is nothing more than DRM, plain and simple. They make up lame excuses to justify it, but in the end, it’s all fabrication designed to get you to swallow the constant online pill being shoved down your throat."

- JusticeInTruth, a guy from the RPS news

Seems legit

 

[jamotide]

Everyone outside this forum being wikipedia? Or the lawyers and courts that you're still thinking of pursuing FD through because of a failure to deliver a portion of the game that wasn't even mentioned in their KS pledge?

People in other forums,too, its actually quite amusing to see you guys try to claim this always-on DRM is not DRM.

 

[Unlimited Infinity]

The money paid by trusting people like me was also used as 'company assets' when they went public and sold shares of stock based on this 'false promises' cash. It sounds to me like a possible SEC violation in the way the money was listed as an asset. I think it could spell the end of Frontier as a viable company.
They lost me and my friends as customers with this one.

 

[Demosthien]

Yeah, to be honest, what with the mess Slightly Mad Studios got into with the UK Financial Services Authority regarding their "investors", I'd really love to see what a forensic accountant would make of all this. Because if left open to abuse I can see the "whoops we dropped this feature from our kickstarter, have a refund" as a path to all kinds of essentially free credit.

You sir... Get a gold star for seeing through all the bull and hitting one of the many nails in this saga on the head. There are consequences of the actions being taken by FD here, not just for them but for other Kickstarter projects and backers, and I don't think all those consequences will all be positive for anyone.

 

[deanlanchester]

I'm sure i'm not the only one who is,to say the least,p***ed off with the way this game is starting to drop the ideas it promised just to rush it out for Christmas.I only play the Solo option as the online play can get pretty annoying with all the idiots and griefer's that plague all online games...its one of the reasons i gave up on Eve Online.Do Not get rid of the Solo option...it means you can enjoy the game and remember we all played a large amount of cash for this.Huge problems are still in this game and have yet to be addressed....so they have to be in Beta 3.09 or i will have wasted my money..Cmdr Daddy O'Seven

 

[CobraMK]

Is that from the physical DRM-free copy that was promised as a future reward? Or are you playing on the same downloaded copy of the beta that the rest of us are?

Thats no matter if you download the Game or install from a DVD. DRM is inside.
Your Account, Email, verification Code and the Game key is bounded by Frontier. You see it right now and the DRM-Free Box dosnt exist any longer!

 

[undercovergeek]

a question for the DRM crusaders

i get home, i start the game, i play elite for a few hours, have a great time, switch it off, go to bed

exactly how has my quality of life and appreciation of the game suffered even if you want to call it DRM?

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Why are people going on about shutting servers down before the game is even released ? Why would FD be thinking about that Don't seem logical to me

Hopefully none of us wants that to happen, however an offline version would protect us from :-

http://mmohuts.com/editorials/mmo-graveyard

Maybe it will never happen. I hope not but...........

 

[stimutacs]

You sir... Get a gold star for seeing through all the bull and hitting one of the many nails in this saga on the head. There are consequences of the actions being taken by FD here, not just for them but for other Kickstarter projects and backers, and I don't think all those consequences will all be positive for anyone.

I should make it clear I'm not alleging any impropriety, in either FD's or SMS's case - for SMS I believe the involvement of the UK FSA amounted to them being told, "stop doing this, and also, you can never call this product an "investment" ever again". But generally as a CEO, "what would a forensic accountant make of my shenanigans" should always be in mind.

 

[phlOgistOn]

People in other forums,too, its actually quite amusing to see you guys try to claim this always-on DRM is not DRM.

It's quite amusing you didn't have a retort to requiring an internet connection to use google and yet how that isn't DRM...

I'm just showing that it's more than possible to require a constant connection to use a service without it necessarily being 'always-on DRM'.

I could also add: Skype and Youtube (excluding prebuffering of videos to watch later) to the list - services which require always on without being DRM.

 

[Mikey2305]

Still going guys? Well done... Catch up tomorrow

 

[Vlodec]

It's 6:45 pm GMT and DB still hasn't felt the need to make a statement.

All those who felt "sure" that such a statement would be forthcoming, what do you think now?

 

[Unlimited Infinity]

It's quite amusing you didn't have a retort to requiring an internet connection to use google and yet how that isn't DRM...

I'm just showing that it's more than possible to require a constant connection to use a service without it necessarily being 'always-on DRM'.

I could also add: Skype and Youtube (excluding prebuffering of videos to watch later) to the list - services which require always on without being DRM.

That's the dumbest thing yet, I never saw Google say that their search engine would be available offline, did anyone else see that?

 

[Demosthien]

always with the totally blown out of proportion 'legal', 'lawyers', 'sue', 'fraud'

you could, you know, just apply for the refund and see what happens - before donning your brand new judges wig and passing sentence

That's amazing! It appears as if you totally didn't even read the post at that link... But surely that wouldn't be the case? Surely you would have actually read the post before replying and quoting stuff that just doesn't exist in that linked post (except possibly the bit about me considering what my "legal" refund options were)?

I must be mistaken... I'll have a lie down.

 

[WeirdWizard]

It's quite amusing you didn't have a retort to requiring an internet connection to use google and yet how that isn't DRM...

I'm just showing that it's more than possible to require a constant connection to use a service without it necessarily being 'always-on DRM'.

I could also add: Skype and Youtube (excluding prebuffering of videos to watch later) to the list - services which require always on without being DRM.

Oh for the love of.... You cannot play Elite Dangerous online without an account, the game digitally manages your right to play (by requiring you to log in with a valid account). This currently happens and will still happen when physical disks are sent out because the servers still need to know who you are. This is implicitly DRM. Not that it matters but for some reason people are arguing about this point.

Oh yeah and actually Skype does have DRM it just doesn't charge for the right to use its services.

 

[Adept]

My reason why I will probably ask for a refund tonight is the fear that eventually the servers will be shut down.

So if you can't take the game, still functional, to your grave you don't want to play at all? I just can't wrap my head around this.

If you have followed the project, you know they want to keep working on Elite for a decade or more. The better it does, the more likely it is to have a long and thriving life. The single best thing you can do to "protect your investment" and ensure you get a long play time out of the game, is to not succumb to the fear, and enjoy actually playing the game. Some day we will all be gone, but not yet.