POLL: All Content Available in Offline Mode?

I dont care about offline mode :/

 

Even people say no, there isn't much they can do to prevent people to access those contents without spending sometime on some kind of DRM, which is a waste of time anyway.

If anything good come out of this, we know there are about 550ish people browsing the site

 

I am 100% behind this gesture.

 

Bind not the mouths of the kine that tread the gore, I mean floor.....

 

Encouraging a healthy modding community would be very beneficial to the game I think. And as the game is on steam there is also the possibility of adding steam workshop support later on. Sandbox games are ideal for this kind of stuff and modders usually come up with some really creative and great things - even if the concept is super simple. (For example one of my favourite Skyrim mods is Bandoliers - all it serves to do is increase your carrying capacity but it is implemented so well.)

 

I guess when they said exclusive or limited they used words of a different definition than that provided by the Oxford English Dictionary or common American understanding ......

 

I'm one of the people who voted no in the Dev+ side and continue to vote no here (feel free to grab pitchforks and make voodoo dolls in my image).

My primary concern on the Dev+ side was alleviated by this being opened up to the entire community. Thanks very much to DS for doing that.

My reasons for still voting for no are as follows:
1) Doing something because hackers will do it anyways is a bad reason to do something. Just because some people will hack or mod a game to behave a certain way doesn't mean we should as well. There will probably be nude patches and alternate start options created. This doesn't mean we create those just because those in the modding community will.
2) Doing this to stop some of the cash grab naysayers is a good reason but I think it might backfire. This is hands down the best reason and intention and it makes me happy our Devs are trying to find good ways to stop the naysayers. Unfortunately, I can see this being used against us by those same people saying the devs don't hold to their promises of exclusivity or some other rubbish. Hopefully, it won't backfire, but that is a concern of mine as naysayers will use anything they can against us no matter how few straws they are grasping at.
3) Those who intended to only play single player may not have invested as much as they if they knew they would get it all for the basic price. This could cause hurt feelings and was the primary reason I pushed as hard as I did on the Dev+ forum. As this vote has been opened up to everyone, anyone who is single player only can speak for themselves and hopefully this vote will show this concern of mine is completely unfounded.
4) It sets a bad precedent that the devs will change their opinion and set in stone statements if enough people vote for/against it. It also means we can't trust when they use certain terms in pledges or on the add-on store.
5) Could lead to less income when next episodes are being created because people may not pledge expecting something like this to happen again later on (precedent has been set). This would have been a great option to include in an episode 2 fund raising item (much like GOTY editions tend to include all DLC).
6) Most of the positive votes appear to be by online only people with the philosophy of it doesn't affect me so who cares (see lots of the comments throughout this thread). I would have preferred to have voting options that include intended play mode, but c'est la vie.

I'm not interested in if people agree or disagree and wasn't going to post because my primary concern of lack of voices for those under the Dev+ level was alleviated by making this vote open to the whole community. The only purpose for this post is some people have expressed surprise that anyone would vote no, so I felt it was worth expressing my opinions and rationale. I will NOT be commenting further in this thread but if you really want to dig deeper or are confused/wanting clarification please PM me. My intention is to not sway people to my opinion or point of view, but purely for those who expressed genuine interest to understand at least why 1 person chose the way he did.

That doesn't mean I am not wanting other people to have what I paid for or what someone else paid for (that is most clearly NOT listed in my concerns), I paid what I did so the devs could make a great game, not for shinies to show off in online or offline mode. Ultimately, I fully expect this to be done and am happy for all of my friends that I bought the basic copies for to be able to use everything in the single player mode. I very much think it is a nice gesture by the devs, but my concerns aren't alleviated enough to change my vote to yes.

 

If we stick with *the letter of the law*, then I suppose it does look that way. But here are some alternate perspectives that feed into why I voted yes.

1. There are exclusive *real* rewards I'll eventually be receiving. Real *stuff* like autographed books, maps, deeds and the like that come as part of my four different pledge levels. Yes, I confess - I backed this game in a big way. The cold, hard, REAL items that I'll soon have in my hands are not going to be offered as virtual, non-existent shinies to offline players. So as far as I'm concerned, the definition is fulfilled.

2. With regard to virtual shinies, I will be playing Multi-player Online. Why would I care if offline players are enjoying themselves with access to special crafting tables, houses, armor, etc? Our paths will never cross and offline players won't just have items dropped in their bank for future use the way I do. They'll have to work for them by putting time and effort into the game to acquire them.

3. I am looking toward the future viability of SOTA - I want it to be around for a LONG time. As a person who will be playing multi-player online, I *need* offline players to love the game and give it positive word-of-mouth. Not to get sappy, but in this case, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." I am in the minority of backers - that is just a plain fact. All along, I had the weird notion that my $$ were put into this game to benefit ALL players. So making virtual pledge rewards and addon store items a part of the offline content is just a no-brainer to me.

4. Speaking of *the few*, there has been a lot of vitriol hurled at Portalarium during this development process (unfounded and unjust IMO) claiming they cater to the *whales* and don't care about the people who pledged less. This one move on the part of Portalarium proves otherwise to all the naysayers and haters in a big way. Additionally, this also proves that despite rumors to the contrary, the SOTA community IS a caring one. I may not know you, but I care that when you play SOTA, you have the absolute best time and get your socks knocked off in a good way.

5. Finally, things change sometimes. We adapt or perish to new realities as time goes on. I can fully understand why some people object to this course of action, but there is a bigger picture here than that one word *exclusive*. The big picture, as far as I can see, is it's not enough to give birth to this game. It needs to be nurtured and new people need to be exposed to it for it to get to episode 5. For people who don't enjoy multi-player for whatever reason, they need a reason to come give SOTA a try. If that means giving them access to virtual loot that at one time wasn't going to be available, then I'm ready to adapt. It builds good will for the future - a future I want to see well into my retirement years.

Respectfully,

 

I'm all for it. That way everyone can enjoy the awesome stuff the devs have created.

 

I'm still voting "Yes" and reposting my comment from the Dev+ poll below:

I pledged for the Lord Marshal tier and I reluctantly will vote "Yes". I say reluctantly because certain things were promised to be exclusive and I start losing trust when promises are broken. I fully agree with the points made in the OP and I believe that allowing all items to be available in offline single player mode will probably help the game gain players. As I agree with the reasons for this and I think what your doing is a small breach of trust (for me) and not a huge one, I'll wait and see what you do in the future. At least you aren't dropping the offline single player mode like Elite Dangerous did and is the reason I don't play that game, as I won't waste more time or money on a game in which I have completely lost faith in the developer. Note that I've told everyone that I know to avoid Elite Dangerous like the plague, so losing one person's trust isn't just isolated to that single person.

 

Personally, when Portalarium advertised exclusive rewards, I didn't think one way or another whether they applied to the offline game. It only ever occurred to me that they applied to the online game ( I could never see myself paying hundreds of dollars to add content to an offline game ). I believe that was always the implied context.

So I don't feel this is a breach of trust.

Just speaking for myself.

 

I think we have to remember that in the kickstarter, one of the stretch goals was to make a mod-toolkit, for a flourishing mod community. So from the start, it has been clear to me that offline exclusivity was never the intention. The two don't go together in my head. Good luck trying to keep offline pledge items exclusive once the mod engine starts turning. I think it's best to embrace the exclusivity in online play, and celebrate/support the modding community in offline play.

 

The caveat here is that to allow content access in offline will be much less work than *attempt* to prevent people from trying to hack the access (e.g. implement a DRM, get a different client for offline mode, and/or restrict content and force client to selectively download the assets, etc). It's not about doing something because hackers will do it anyways. It is more about reducing the amount of effort spending into implement the *blocker* that will eventually got cracked even if the majority were decided to say no. Fortunately, they mostly vote yes, so one less work to worry about.

Think of it like voting on whether people are happy if the river flows from north to south. People can vote no because they don't want it to flow from north to south, but the amount of effort to redirect the flow from south to north is substantial and rather be in vain because in the end the water may flow back to where the nature wants it eventually.

TL;dr just go with the flow. Do you really want the dev to focus on blocking content for offline mode instead having them working on adding the actual contents that we want to play?

 

I voted yes again. I don't see how it will affect anyone (at least from my perspective) playing online and it makes offline people happy. Obviously there are a huge majority of people that are on board with this idea. I also appreciate that they emailed me about the vote, as I don't frequent the forums very often for many reasons.

I intend to play all 3 modes, but I would guess it would be 70% Online Solo, 20% Online Multi and 10% Offline.

 

Breaking it down like this:

1. I'll still get everything I decided to pay for back when I decided to jump in and pledge
2. I did so purely based on ME having access to those things upon launch
3. I didn't spend one cent on anything to achieve a higher status over anyone

I voted YES.

 

I wanted to show off how rich i am.

I wanted to make a in game book writing down all the important people i know and placing it before the entrance of my house so all can read my status.
I would place 4 shining banners around it and write down VIP with bread before it.
I then would let my vendor not sale anything but put all my rare stuff in it with : look what i have. You do not.
I would them create a macro letting my avatar perform all my pledge reward emotes naked on the top of my stacked house deeds with a crown and singing:

I will not teach you. I will not teach all my moves.
I am special, even my grooves.


As i can't show off my "importance" on offline mode i voted Yes


Hugs the community. Grin

 

Offline has no relevance to the online world. Give it to them all.

I'd personally have no issue with online people being able to work towards some items later on, or having the ability to purchase some items for revenue later so long as there is no in-game advantage.

 

This doesn’t bother me, a I know that hacker will unlock the content anyway, so why worry about it.

As there can be no cross over to the online game who cares?

 

i like it

 

I Voted Yes For One Reason, There are some people within the Community who (for whatever reason) dont really Enjoy socialising with Other players, and like to be left to their own Devices, I Do Stress this point though, The higher Pledge items and Exclusive Rewards Etc, Should Only be available After Hours of Genuine Play (I.E Crafting, Adventuring, ) All the Good things we like to do. they shouldnt just be ready to use straight off the bAt, Yes this is offline And cant necessarily be policed By Devs, But that doesnt mean your not going to have to work hard to get the items you want.. its just not practical and Defies the purpose of Playing. There are many Good Arguments Both for and Against, And i have given my 2 Cents.