In the latest newsletter David Braben has announced, that Elite: Dangerous won't work without online connection. This is explained by the fact, that everyone can then participate in the happenings of the galaxy, which offers a much more dynamic experience:

"Galaxy, story, missions, have to match, and it does mean the single player has to connect to the server from time to time, but this has the added advantage that everyone can participate in the activities that can happen in the galaxy. A fully offline experience would be unacceptably limited and static compared to the dynamic, ever unfolding experience we are delivering."

This has of course resulted in a backlash, as players are complaining about it in the game's forums. Michael Brookes (executive producer)
explained that all the mechanics of running the galaxy are on the online servers:

"The data set and processes are huge and not something that would translate offline without considerable compromise to the vision."

What do you think? Is a greater and more dynamic experience more important than the flexibility of being able to play the game offline?

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JazHaz
2014-11-17 11:38

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One big consequence of this decision is that when the servers are shutdown, the game goes down with them. Unlike all the other games in the series where you can still play them today, ED going online only means that there is a limited life.

This game's galaxy is so big (400 billion stars) that it will take many years to explore. It will take a long time to reach the galaxy centre for example. I was looking for this to be the game I would play for the next 20 years. Looks like thats shot down in flames.

The main issue I have with Frontier Developments is their serious lack of communication and disrespect to us, the backers.

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Benke
2014-11-17 12:35

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A very vaild point and one that Frontier hopefully adresses soon. I think a good solution would be to make a promise that when the day comes when they cannot support or host the game anymore - they would transfer everything needed to run the game over to the community.

That said - I think Frontier have every intention of making this last for the next couple of decades if all goes well (that's a rather big if though - not many developers can say they'll be around in 20 years with much confidence).

Bengt Lemne / Gamereactor

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