Aww, don't get too demotivated about that. Its not like all ppl with crowdfunding projects try the fraud route. In cases like this its actually surprising how eager those behind are to drain their good name down the toilet :(

Considering that the offline element was promised part of the funded project I don't think anybody requesting a refund should have too much trouble.

Also considering that even if they now grudgingly agree to make a offline mode because off the fuzz you can assume the bare minimum to it at best. :(

I've never heard of this game before now, but after reading this, if I HAD funded it, I would threaten a class-action lawsuit if they didn't live up to their promises.

Elite was one of the big hopes in my long list of DRM free and offline functional games to come.. was with the News and Kickstarter from first sight..

but I guess this is where we have come in the time from "day x - kickstarter came up - big hype, big promises" to "ah well it doesn't work like that, we still need more money (+publisher), other third party interests get in, we won't make that load of money we want"

the days in which i believed the Developers statements on Kickstarter are long gone, but so is my hope for new Kickstarter projects who look promising but fail because people like me and others loose the trust in the campaigns and better stay with there funds and give it to the ready made game when it's on the table or on GoG obvs ^^

I will not loose hope for one day DRM-free version (maybe with less gigs and medium graphics, smaller universe etc.) but for now I burry Elite in the big hole of what could have been probably one of the best in a decade is taking a turn (or some turns) for the worst

Maybe I'm just being cynical/pessimistic, but I've always suspected that Braben wanted to make Elite D full online since the beginning. They just hinted at the offline mode in order to attract the attention of people (like myself) who're not attracted to online gaming at all.

Guess what? They did it!
Many people flocked to Elite D because they wanted to relive the Elite experiences of past years (like me - I still remember the hours I spent on Elite+ when I was a kid).

Now that the hype train is on full steam and the game is about to lauch, at the last moment they claim: "oh, guess what people - we couldn't make Elite D for single players".

Not very nice at all, mr. Braben. I guess this is one ship in which I will not fly.

That's right, but i believe that when the game already is on your hard-drive it is fully self contained and portable so you can archive and store it for later use. I think I'll investigate by copying it over to another machine thats totally off-line.

The Linux version is a fully self contained tarball with all the needed files in it - and does not need Internet access for single player or lan. (have tested that one)

Even if they can cook up the best reason in the world for breaking their promise to their backers at such a late date (a few weeks before release) what difference does it make? The product is equally worthless.

Definitely a shitty situation for backers this, as well as yet another lesson in terms of the lack of accountability that goes hand in hand with crowd funding projects.

I discarded Elite early on, you could smell the online craze and all the shit that comes with it nowadays from a mile away. Mildly interested in Limit Theory atm, the lack of a campaign puts me off a bit as does the 'everything procedural' design philoshopy but the dev's change of heart about mods and support for mods partially makes up for it.

On-line only game? Good for me, then, for there will be another "modern" crapware I won't have to deal with for the next 20 years...

Refund requested as not providing the offline mode makes the game not DRM-free and also prevents modding it.

Just requested a refund as well.

It seems like Fdev is adamant about the online requirement, and the game developers do not care at all.

I was hoping to to relive the memory of playing Elite. Not any more.

Maybe I should consider Star Control 1+2 on GOG instead.

My commiserations to the backers. I hope you get your money back

Here's hoping that Frontier would be thoroughly smeared for their behavior and fail to succeed in their efforts. Companies that abuse their customer's trust should lose their future prospects.

If Frontier had announced that Elite Dangerous was an on line only game from day one I would not have a problem,though I think to omit single player is a stupid decision.
But to go back on what they promised the backers is wrong,wrong,wrongg.

Well i am pissed i was one who backed the ks for it after seeing an offline mode. I can understand beta being online for testing but this just plainly sucks. Think i will ask for a refund on this and i was so looking forward to a collectors edition.

I don't think it's much of a problem that an singleplayer game goes online. Sure, it is kind DRM-like, but I'm not all that religious about that.

EDIT: What I DO think is a problem, though, is when the multiplayer mode interfer with my singleplayer experience, so that I have to listen to random players typing messages like "Plz join 2 hlp pvp gygygaf lol!!!!!!!!!!!!"