View of recent announcements vs. work in software development.

[Agony_Aunt]

Working in a software development company myself, and also being lead developer for an online game, i can appreciate how the ED devs and management have had to make some difficult decisions that have caused people a lot of anger and frustration.

I don't want this to become yet another vent a spleen thread, just keep your responses to the point and answer the poll. Ill keep the poll as simple as possible.

 

[Quietman]

Working in a software development company myself, and also being lead developer for an online game, i can appreciate how the ED devs and management have had to make some difficult decisions that have caused people a lot of anger and frustration.

I don't want this to become yet another vent a spleen thread, just keep your responses to the point and answer the poll. Ill keep the poll as simple as possible.

Veto'ing offline for all eternity I think was the incorrect decision, it's personally going to affect me pretty dramatically not being able to play it all year round; but in the end it's their game.

No matter what the reasons, technical/practical/financial/etc or even if it is deception, it's still their baby and as an engineer I can understand their reasons no matter what they are.

 

[T J]

I'm not happy that there's not to be an offline mode. It was very definitely and specifically one of the selling points of this software that motivated me to buy it. Nevertheless, I accept that it's something that just didn't work out. Dropping specific expected features or functionality of a product -- any product -- is never a good thing, and never a decision developers want to make. Why should they? Nobody chooses 'pretty cool' over 'totally cool' if they don't have to. So sure, I'd be happier if offline mode had happened, but I'm not turning in my pilots license over it.

I suspect this never would have become an issue if they'd had more fringles.

 

[Doomus]

Whilst I can understand the disappointment felt by some, personally I don't care about an offline mode at all. It honestly sounded like it would have been pretty awful anyway by comparison. I'm not a big fan of multiplayer games because I enjoy having my own experiences whilst gaming so I'll mainly be playing Solo which I feel is the best of both worlds. I may explore group play once the game launches but for now Solo mode does me just fine. My broadband is always on. My PC is always on. It makes no odds to me at all.

 

[teamkill]

Where is the "I'm a software developer and totally comfortable" option

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

Working in a software development company myself, and also being lead developer for an online game, i can appreciate how the ED devs and management have had to make some difficult decisions that have caused people a lot of anger and frustration.

I don't want this to become yet another vent a spleen thread, just keep your responses to the point and answer the poll. Ill keep the poll as simple as possible.

What is the point of your poll ?

Your post is valid, just confused as to where you want to take this thread ?

(ETA: Your profession is moot when it comes to legality / ethics of transactions)

 

[Eirichur]

I don't care about offline mode, and doubt I ever will. I get that Kickstarter is used for presenting visions, which nearly always need to be compromised a bit when being realized, due to circumstances which are impossible to foresee.

 

[littleminxundr]

As far as I'm concerned, the online/offline discussion is a station passed.

 

[Dalkeith]

I went for the fairly relaxed option in the industry but would have chosen something more positive if it was available.

I think they are doing an excellent job.

 

[UtterChaos]

I'm in development, but nothing to do with gaming (Intranets, databases, SSRS/BI etc.) and respect that Frontier would only have made this difficult decision if there was no other reasonable way around it. They certainly wouldn'd have intended to upset people and are thinking of the bigger picture.
I really got the sense, after following the mega-threads, that many of those upset were bandwaggoning, or didn't have a particularly good arguement for their upset, which totally ruined it for the rest of those that will be genuinely put out/have a valid reason for not being able to play.

I've been a daily lurker/rare poster since March 2013 and, to be honest, never even realised there was an offline mode in the offing - just assumed it was online solo/multiplayer - so was quite shocked by the response after Newslett #49.

 

[Jakcul]

I am a software developer, and the decision to drop offline mode is the best decision Frontier could make in this situation.

For any project like this, where there's a substantial amount of innovation required, flexible project goals go a long way towards allowing a project to succeed. If offline mode happened to just fall into place easily, then that would be great, but as with anything that treads new ground, sometimes things don't go the way you plan, and you have to cut your losses.

I can understand that for people who have unreliable connections, it's a bit of a bummer. However, as an amateur astronomer I will say this - if you have a poor connection because you live in a rural area, you will probably at least have something that the city-dwellers definitely don't - a clear view of the actual stars!

 

[Amorelia]

I have no problem with there being no offline, I am sure it's not a decision taken lightly. Just think the way it was handled was amateurish, short-sighted, and sadly not the first PR in this project.