I understand why people are hurt by this. I am sorry you guys feel like you've been scammed, or lied to, and while I personally don't think that is the case I hope you all bring this to a satisfactory conclusion.
However, this is one of the dangers of buying early access, and since some of you have downloaded and enjoyed their software (some have put hundreds of hours into the game already) at that point are you really entitled to a refund? I would think not.
That being said, I bought my copy of ED a little while ago, and didn't even realize an offline mode was planned. I am sorry people are not happy. Its an amazing game, and even with my poor connection (living in the Japanese countryside) its definitely playable and fun.
Wrong, they played a beta. If they are going to take this approach as a lame excuse to keep money, then I suggest nobody ever play or download a game until it's released and you have seen reviews on it. Probably should be doing that anyway. These guys are just taking advantage of a sort of gray area in the law.