No Single Player offline Mode then?

[mattensky]

I just had my refund request denied. I only bought the game 6 weeks ago from the online store on the basis that it would be offline upon release. I bought the game + beta for 50 pounds (given the beta access as an extra was only 15 pounds, I assumed that - at minimum - I would receive a refund for the 35 pounds?).

There was no explanation other than a vanilla statement about me having downloaded it.

I immediately thought that maybe offline is back on the table then - and came here to see what was what.

But as far as I can tell, DB has said nothing new . . . or am I missing something?

- no apology to those who have paid money for an offline game?
- no clarification or extension of the refund policy to those who are aggrieved?
- no clarification of the nature of the technical limitation that makes offline impossible?

I just don't get it. To all those out there who have been banging on for days about what an amazing company FD is and why we should have faith in them and support them - what is the basis of this? I can't see it. This is turning out to be by the far the single most negative experience I have ever had with a computer game. FD's behaviour has been fundamentally dishonest, and I struggle to see how it is not out and out theft. I would not trust a word this company said in the future, and will warn all the people I know who play games to stay away -

I am ashamed of myself for encouraging friends to buy this game. I hope none of them have. I will certainly now discourage them.

I have made another request for a refund in case there was some mistake. I guess the next thing will be to pursue it through my bank or paypal or whatever. But am just in shock right now.

 

[kspn]

Personally find it only mildly disappointing that offline mode is not going to be a part of the game.

I was looking forward to having my own private universe, however I am not overly fussed as I have found that solo mode is quite fun.

i am looking forward to launch day

 

[Papa Smurf]

To be fair they weren't really promises. Just enticing suggestions of what might be possible. They could have retextured the original Elite and run away laughing with the money. I'm sad that they didn't give this feature a go myself. My internet sucks and playing is not really something that I can do when I want. I guess I'll play when I have time and my connection works well enough to allow it.

To be fair they were not promises but project rewards. Please reread Kickstarter's TOU.

If you are unable to fulfill all of your project’s rewards, you should make every reasonable effort to find another way of bringing your project to a satisfying conclusion for backers. Steps should include offering refunds, and detailing exactly how funds were used. For more information, see Section 4 of our Terms of Use. "

Again I believe that they could have handled this matter with more finesse but they didn't... what they actually was royally f***ed it up. You either allow for refunds, or you make damn sure you only promise things in your KS campaign that you're actually doing to deliver, so that those who fund your project can trust that they're not standing on a rug that's going to get yanked out from under them at the end.

 

[Phelix]

I'm pretty sure that EU citizens are protected under law from that move they just pulled, meaning anyone who actually purchased the game of the site are entitled to a full refund when a substantial part of the deal is removed. So if Braben & co wants to test that out, I'm pretty sure he is gonna lose, cause EU kinda dislikes companies who tries to bend their customers over to shove it where the sun don't shine... They kinda like to reverse that big time...

 

[synchromesh]

Plus we must also remember that, when it all boils down, they are consumers who've paid for a product and aren't getting 100%. Now, I don't know about other people, but when I pay for something I do expect that 100% and will take things back to a shop if it falls less than that. Some may say,"Well, you can't honestly expect 100%, be realistic." But the reality of that is I paid for 100% of the product, so I should get that.

Problem is its all covered under the "Risks and Challenges" under the kickstarter......Things can change without obligation provided they tell you first before delivery

 

[noego]

Wow, you must be happy that we didn't end up with an horse breeding simulator, if everything was up for change.

Yes I am. Offline is so far the only "promise/suggestion/whatever" that FD has reneged on, that I have been able to notice. The rest at least is promised "in the future", though I guess there will be more that will turn out to be "suggestions only" rather than promises.

Having said that, I'm here because the particular choice of dropping offline is bad for me. I won't ask for a refund because I'll be able to play from time to time, but... I'm sad it'll depend on the weather so to speak.

 

[poet1960]

Steam,Consoles,Androids....Elite Dangerous !!!

While I realize this is my own preference, my reply to all of those would be, and that's why I don't use any of those. I play on PC and that's it. And if some company tries to force me into playing how they think I should be playing, then I will never buy their game.

Seriously, do you go buy a car and then expect the dealer to tell you how to drive it, or where you can go with it, or what you can do with it? You could turn around and put a whole new engine in it if you wanted. Try to see the reality of this.

 

[DaveB]

I bought the beta, combined with the full release and an expansion pass. Didn't get refund for any of it.

No, you didnt "buy the beta, combined with the full release and an expansion pass." You bought into the project as a beta tester (which you got), by doing so you invested in the project and at that level you expected to be rewarded with a copy of the released game and all expansions released in the future. (which you will get.)

Attempting to claw back your investment at this stage because you see the design going in a direction you don't like - I don't say it's impossible but I hope you can afford a really good lawyer to make it happen for you. You're not a purchaser, you're a dissatisfied investor and as such the rights you have are very different.

 

[Papa Smurf]

I just had my refund request denied. I only bought the game 6 weeks ago from the online store on the basis that it would be offline upon release. I bought the game + beta for 50 pounds (given the beta access as an extra was only 15 pounds, I assumed that - at minimum - I would receive a refund for the 35 pounds?).

There was no explanation other than a vanilla statement about me having downloaded it.

I immediately thought that maybe offline is back on the table then - and came here to see what was what.

But as far as I can tell, DB has said nothing new . . . or am I missing something?

- no apology to those who have paid money for an offline game?
- no clarification or extension of the refund policy to those who are aggrieved?
- no clarification of the nature of the technical limitation that makes offline impossible?

I just don't get it. To all those out there who have been banging on for days about what an amazing company FD is and why we should have faith in them and support them - what is the basis of this? I can't see it. This is turning out to be by the far the single most negative experience I have ever had with a computer game. FD's behaviour has been fundamentally dishonest, and I struggle to see how it is not out and out theft. I would not trust a word this company said in the future, and will warn all the people I know who play games to stay away -

I am ashamed of myself for encouraging friends to buy this game. I hope none of them have. I will certainly now discourage them.

I have made another request for a refund in case there was some mistake. I guess the next thing will be to pursue it through my bank or paypal or whatever. But am just in shock right now.

Sorry to hear it man... I believe they are blanket refusing everyone.

 

[Hermit]

Problem is its all covered under the "Risks and Challenges" under the kickstarter......Things can change without obligation provided they tell you first before delivery

I bought mine from the this site, not from the kickstarter.

 

[Bog]

"long on promises, short on delivery"

Have you actually played the game? This is one of the richest, most fully-featured and certainly the most beautiful space game available today. Sure, I'd love an offline mode - but I don't see the omission of offline play as reason to virtually firebomb the studio. That's ignoring a vast, incredible amount of artistry, programming effort, insanely great sound design, worldbuilding and universe building, creating a realtime renderer for purpose that's doing things nothing's ever done realtime before.

And if that's all just window-dressing that you don't care about, then Oolite's free. You know?

 

[Tubz]

Just thought I'd post some info on another games take on offline mode. To confirm SCs stance is that private servers will be available post-launch, The 50hr single player campaign SQ42 will be available completely offline pre-launch.

Private Servers:

You can start a private server and play by yourself! You’ll lose some of the experience, but there will be a Privateer-style game there.

we absolutely will push updates to the single servers whenever possible. Some of the content is going to come from player actions (well, a lot) and it may not transition over. But when we’re adding stuff like new models of ships and new fixer missions and so on, everybody should get it.

Content updates will absolutely happen for the single player portion of the game, both the Privateer world and Squadron 42. We want to do addon campaigns for S42, just like the original Secret Missions. You can access your ship offline in the Star Citizen mode… I think the Earth Navy will assign you a different one for the S42 storyline.

I guess the goal is to keep adding short (or sometimes long?) campaigns to keep the single player adventure going for as long as people are willing to buy add ons!

 

[poet1960]

"long on promises, short on delivery"

Have you actually played the game? This is one of the richest, most fully-featured and certainly the most beautiful space game available today. Sure, I'd love an offline mode - but I don't see the omission of offline play as reason to virtually firebomb the studio. That's ignoring a vast, incredible amount of artistry, programming effort, insanely great sound design, worldbuilding and universe building, creating a realtime renderer for purpose that's doing things nothing's ever done realtime before.

And if that's all just window-dressing that you don't care about, then Oolite's free. You know?

Did they deliver what they promised? Yes or no? And don't play semantic word games.

 

[synchromesh]

While I realize this is my own preference, my reply to all of those would be, and that's why I don't use any of those. I play on PC and that's it. And if some company tries to force me into playing how they think I should be playing, then I will never buy their game.

Seriously, do you go buy a car and then expect the dealer to tell you how to drive it, or where you can go with it, or what you can do with it? You could turn around and put a whole new engine in it if you wanted. Try to see the reality of this.

I agree...I go in town ...buy a physical game...Install it....Naff all on the disk it all gets downloaded via steam...and they really own it.....All I have done is rent it and the disk and box are useless!!
But my point was...keep the game if you cant get a refund....Its not getting better ....Almost everything you buy needs to be activated, Downloaded by steam or Microsoft....It just might be worth hanging on to it..
One day he may play it and enjoy it ..

 

[Bog]

"Semantic word games" is a tautology. Could. Not. Resist.

"Did they deliver what they promised"? 98% yes. Pretty damned good for a Kickstarter campaign - though you really should read the terms and conditions on making a blind investment. My mum always told me never to gamble more than I could afford to comfortably lose.

 

[noego]

Just thought I'd post some info on another games take on offline mode. To confirm SCs stance is that private servers will be available post-launch, The 50hr single player campaign SQ42 will be available completely offline pre-launch.

Private Servers:

You can start a private server and play by yourself! You’ll lose some of the experience, but there will be a Privateer-style game there.

we absolutely will push updates to the single servers whenever possible. Some of the content is going to come from player actions (well, a lot) and it may not transition over. But when we’re adding stuff like new models of ships and new fixer missions and so on, everybody should get it.

Content updates will absolutely happen for the single player portion of the game, both the Privateer world and Squadron 42. We want to do addon campaigns for S42, just like the original Secret Missions. You can access your ship offline in the Star Citizen mode… I think the Earth Navy will assign you a different one for the S42 storyline.

I guess the goal is to keep adding short (or sometimes long?) campaigns to keep the single player adventure going for as long as people are willing to buy add ons!

Hopefully for backers of that game that's more of a promise than a possibility an enthused developer threw out there.

 

[Phelix]

No, you didnt "buy the beta, combined with the full release and an expansion pass." You bought into the project as a beta tester (which you got), by doing so you invested in the project and at that level you expected to be rewarded with a copy of the released game and all expansions released in the future. (which you will get.)

Attempting to claw back your investment at this stage because you see the design going in a direction you don't like - I don't say it's impossible but I hope you can afford a really good lawyer to make it happen for you. You're not a purchaser, you're a dissatisfied investor and as such the rights you have are very different.

I would love to see them make me an investor, cause that would also make me entitled to a payout if this game takes of and actually becomes successful, although I doubt it with DRM being a thing gamers tend to avoid like funny looking rashes on their dates... How did I become an investor?

 

[noego]

"Semantic word games" is a tautology. Could. Not. Resist.

"Did they deliver what they promised"? 98% yes. Pretty damned good for a Kickstarter campaign - though you really should read the terms and conditions on making a blind investment. My mum always told me never to gamble more than I could afford to comfortably lose.

Yes and I've complimented them for that. But how about they give me 1% more? It can be done. I backed the alpha and would pay MORE to have offline as an additional feature. People will bash me for my stupidity and I deserve it, but I'm weak to my needs.

 

[poet1960]

"Semantic word games" is a tautology. Could. Not. Resist.

"Did they deliver what they promised"? 98% yes. Pretty damned good for a Kickstarter campaign - though you really should read the terms and conditions on making a blind investment. My mum always told me never to gamble more than I could afford to comfortably lose.

Heh, which brings us to this point.

Maybe those people have had enough and are finally making a stand against those who try to dupe others out of their money with slick words and legal chicanery.

 

[Papa Smurf]

Problem is its all covered under the "Risks and Challenges" under the kickstarter......Things can change without obligation provided they tell you first before delivery

Again..... if you are unable to fulfill all of your project’s rewards, you should make every reasonable effort to find another way of bringing your project to a satisfying conclusion for backers. Steps should include offering refunds, and detailing exactly how funds were used. For more information, see Section 4 of our Terms of Use. "

I believe that they could have handled this matter with more finesse but they didn't... <snip>. You either allow for refunds, or you make damn sure you only promise things in your KS campaign that you're actually doing to deliver, so that those who fund your project can trust that they're not standing on a rug that's going to get yanked out from under them at the end.