Hell yeah, this is a fricken awesome game!

Hmm...

http://www.minerwars.com/About.aspx So let me get this straight - you need to be online for single player play?

I believe the reasoning is that they have netcode or something to do with sectors being saved on their servers. It is diablo 3 but then again with diablo 3 you can play it offline (I think). Another analogy would be Anno 2070 where you can play it offline but much of the content (aka arc upgrades and stuff) are unavailable. I believe they said if the company went belly-up, they would release the source code for their servers so you could still play.

Oh, that makes sense. That's smart in a way, as I'd imagine it reduces the download size by a significant margin.

I've never been on board 100% with the idea, but if so many can put up with it with Diablo III (which I just watched someone play and thought was a bit mediocre), I'm sure people can put up with it with Miner Wars, if it's as good as the first response says.

Plus - we don't get get 6DOF games often. I'm not going to complain about it if it comes with a bit of a damper. It's still a 6DOF game.

Have they added a single player mode that doesn't require a constant internet connection yet?

If not, not interested.

EDIT: Oh read the other posts. Not interested then.

Shame. Only reason I'm not jumping on it is that it's expensive. :/

Same here, always online DRM == pass for me.

But wasn't Miner Wars an ugly looking top down multiplayer games set in caves ? is it the same game and am I thinking about another game?

EDIT : Apparently the game I was thinking about is "Miner Wars Arena"

"This game will not use any sort of DRM. Now let us describe the DRM we use." Sheesh.

That's the crux of the issue. Diablo III does NOT have an offline mode. It never will. Activision Blizzard has a clear and logical reason for this - they want to push the Real Money Auction House on its player base.

But what I don't get is why Keen Software House is insisting on the same for Miner Wars 2081. To reduce the download size of the game? Really? Affordable high-speed broadband is commonplace in the majority of homes nowadays, and we have 2 TB hard drives in our gaming PCs now. I don't know if I'd rush to get my DRM pitchfork, but I do find it more than a little disingenuous that they're passing it off as if it's nothing to be worried about.

And frankly, I dismiss any claim that "they'll release the source code so people can still play on servers if the company goes under" – unless it's clearly put in writing on their website in their about page. It reminds me of this mythical notion that Steam will miraculously let people continue to play their games if they go under, even though they've never officially, explicitly stated this.

To go further with this, what if, as is more common these days, Keen Software gets bought out by a larger development house or a big publisher? Would they still have the rights to release the server code? It's hard to say, because whatever Keen says would be irrelevant if another company owns the IP to their game.

Frankly, it's disappointing and sobering that we're so hungry for a decent 6DOF game that we're willing to forgive things like always-online single-player gameplay, and even excuse it by taking it almost on faith that they'll release the code for free if anything happens to the devs. Here's an idea - why not just not make it require an online connection in the first place?

i bought this a long time ago. is this the deathmatch mode thing or is it the real game?

The real game.

Miner Wars Arena is the top-down deathmatch-style arcade shooter, in the same sort of vein as Steel Storm: Burning Retribution. Miner Wars 2081 is an online 6DOF FPS.

Trust me, you're not the only confused one around here.

HELL YEAH FUCKIN YES PISS UP MY ASS FINALLY IM GONNA PLAY THIS MOTHERFUCKER LIKE THE LIVING DAYLIGHT RAN OUT OF ANTI-DEPRESSANTS!

It is surprising that Miner Wars is getting a free pass for the very sort of always-on DRM Ubisoft was so widely criticised for--and Ubisoft themselves don't even use that any more, so what possible excuse could Keen Software have?

Minecraft's DRM is nothing more than a first-time login check, after which it can run in offline mode forever (even if moved to a different PC), and yet despite that it's gone on to sell 6+ million copies. I have no fear that I'll lose access to Minecraft if Mojang suddenly went belly-up; Keen Software's hollow promises of source code hold no such assurance.

I'm not willing to overlook intrusive DRM just because the developer is small and/or working with a neglected genre. If they want me to respect them they must first respect me, not the other way around. I will not buy Miner Wars in its current state.