No Offline mode

I like how ED looks and thought myself about "backing" it but with think twice about it I decided to wait even if it mean very likely lost some advantages. This above may be one, but small reason ... aka "do not buy cat in bag" Next is needed HW which I obviously do not have atm. MP always will be huge difference to SP, but games with SP may last "forever" ... and MP can be closed "overnight".

Question is, what is meant by "offline mode" and how often

Quote from Gibbon

the single player has to connect to the server from time to time,

is necessary to play SP.

IF it is like CF, where you CAN accept the recommended updating - but don't have to, to have a still playable game on your harddrive...
FINE
but if you have to do and would be unable to play without or even have to stay online for playing SP - That I would call an issue, 'cause it would be a break of promise made in the beginning of the kickstarter campaign.

Esp. the last point mentioned by Martind was an important reason for many backers - including me.

i think ppl will be able to live with that

Since there is sooo much other sweetness coming against you
this small bitter pill is - for me - easyly swallowd.

Wow ... just checked ED forum and in 2 days is thread about this filled with 246pages/3600+ posts ... ouch

I think most of ppl there are "older" players which get used to "old" games concept aka "SP". On other side this issue imo will not have much good outcome, is really hard to believe that some of these unlucky backers will ever backing any game again. And again imo is only matter of time when this will fall into lawyer(s) hands ...

Also hard to say atm how good will be ED sellable with a fact that its only MP game.

Quote from Martind Forlon

.... a fact that its only MP game.

not sure about that.

As far as I understood the newsletter #49, they're not going to scrap SP completly ...a kind of SP mode is still mentioned there.
I haven't followed all the discussion. IMO

Quote from Gibbon

...the single player has to connect to the server from time to time

has to be defined yet :

ALWAYS online for playing at all
or only
Everytime you play ONCE online - for "updates"

I can understand the people which are complaining.
IF there is not going to be a full SP mode like promised then done promises were broken.
Its like asking people for money for something they will in the end never get... and that is very close to a fraud actually.

Developers on the other side are creative people... they will give a SP mode AND demand that the players are online at the same time.
That does not exclude each other.

Had a "quick look" . into one of the less lenghty threads about this and as it looks like the actual state is - unfortunatly - that there will be only an online SP-mode. IMO rather useless at all with such a vast universe at hand, maybe only interesting regarding specific ..."central systems" of interest.

And the main reason for this upset is not the ability to play SP, but to play OFF-LINE at all,
...reservations about connection abilities, about possible server shut-down at some point in the future, about the once mentioned - even though vague possibility of modding, and last but not least about an eventual turn to P2P at some point.

I see why they ditched offline mode, and I hope the rest of them do too, since I think the final product, that is the final release of the game is going to be more then amazing. I've had a chance to play Beta more then a couple of times at my friends place and the game is absolutely stunning. I wish my ye'old laptop will be ready for it since I am planning on playing it once it comes out (3 days before the end of the first semester for me)

Well, I wouldn't call that a true answer, especially after he didn't answered even ONE of the many well educated technical questions in the "question-to-the-developer-hour" today.

And the statement, that the implementation of an offline-mode would cost more money and esp. time sounds like a cheap excuse to me to meet the sighted date of launch.
He even doesn't say it is not possible. But questions about a - possible later release were just ignored by him on the forum taday.

It is a break of a promise, that demonstrably boosted the kickstarter campaign. And all these backers that made it possible at all - hoping for a never-to-be-shut-down-cos-have-it-on-my-drive game are IMO understandable upset. Unfortunatly BD and Frontier don't move even a milimeter in their direction.
Might become a feast for lawyers. BAAD advertising.

Addendum:
The concern of these people is NOT the choice of SingelPLAY or MultiPLAY. It's about the choice of OFF-LINE-Play and due to this independance from - possible - Pay2Play and security of having a game they can still play in 10 years time (or is there a company-backed online-game, that's still on after 10 years ? {Freelancer is FAN-backed, NOT company-backed}).

I am hoping it doesn't end up with the project dying after the community backs out. I still hope there's a slight chance that the offline mode will be introduced. Just check on how SimCity launched. I know Frontier is much better then EA, so I am hoping it won't come to that.

Oh, and excuse my poor knowledge of the whole situation since I am not really following it that much. I know my money went to a good cause by supporting the game.

Found THIS SITE on the Frontier forums, a collection of official statements by Frontier about pulling the off-line version.

The most often answer to almost everything :

• "This isn't the choice we wanted to make, but one we had to. "

In dozens of iteration all over the forums there - mostly without any further comment with content.

IF, they deign to give - at least some explanation on the technical "WHY" :

• "The problem is that the galaxy mechanics all sit on the online servers. The data set and processes are huge and not something that would translate offline without considerable compromise to the vision." (Whatever this "vision" is.)
  
• "The online servers provide all of the data and processing for the galaxy, interactions between players and all transactions of value." (additional highlightend by me : not counting/important for SP at all)
• "...to manage the galaxy and interactions."
• "The generation of the galaxy isn't the main issue (although it is part of it). The issue arises from the processes and data that changes as players interact with the world."
• "It's not just the data on the servers, it's the processing of everything that happens in the galaxy - so generating missions, trading, events, exploration - the core of the game." (Bit of a contradiction to what's said above ??)

But these explanations are IMO almost entirely compromised by this :
"It is impractical rather than impossible, but circumstances mean that it cannot be done."

I think someone should show them THAT WAY , a one-man-show of a student, who, using procedural generation techniques has - for SP - achieved exactly that, a universe that lives and develops, even if the player IS NOT in these systems, with a very independent AI, that let npc factions have a life without "interference" by the player, but might interfere with the players life
Exactly what is the "beauty" of procedural generation, to cut the the amount of data necessary to do so down to something much more easy to handle - even on a laptop.

And the way they handle with all the alpha and beta-backers, that - utterly dissapointed by the broken promise - ...well, this is/will become another story in its own rights.
None that shade a favourable light on Frontier Developments.