Status of Offline Mode

PA has been release a week ago with no offline, UBER said that it will be soon after release. it would be nice to hear any official response on this matter.

even the briefest hint will do

Actually....Uber stated in multiple streams and threads that offline mode would be ready by launch, so nobody has any idea why they scrapped offline functionality for other game components for launch =P

Fixed that for you.

I don't get why they even released it without the offline/LAN mode. Now it's only available on Steam and from Uber directly but not on GOG. I backed because I wanted to support the fair treatment of costumers with a non-Steam, non UberNet DRM-free version of the game. And the current version, the release version, is in no way DRM-free. That doesn't resemble the fair attitude I thought I supported, more like the attitude of a huge publisher they wouldn't work with according to their kickstarter trailer.
I get that it's hardly possible to release this game with everything working to perfection with the limited funding (compared to classical financing) it has received, but I think it's appropriate to expect the basic announced features to be working.
It's a feature they advertised and what got money in but they didn't deliver it until the release. Why release it if it doesn't even have a basic offline mode ready?
This is no accessory to be put on the side line (read: implemented some time after release) if it wasn't advertised that way.

Dood....in this case "SOON" is WAY unhelpful, because Uber actually had offline mode set for launch...usually they get annoyed when you ask for when something will come, except for offline which was pretty much the only thing they have ever confirmed would be coming on a specific time, which was launch...
"SOON" doesnt cut it here

Ah all of ya quit your bitching. When its ready, its ready.

**** happens. Maybe they planned it to come out at luanch, but something unexpected stalled that feature release...

Not that I don't agree with the fact people are getting up in arms about issues, but dude if you say that a car is to be delivered on a specific date and you don't deliver without word...that's kinda iffy.

They said it'd be in the launch and it was a promised feature of the Kickstarter. Not having it on launch without a public word as to why is seriously shady and therefore I think they really should adress it.

There were more than a few words on the matter though, many directly from Mavor himself. Uber didn't go out of their way to shout it on the release (and why would they?) however they did make it very clear to the community that the server was unlikely to be ready.

@squishypon3 made a nice compilation of comments by various members of the team. The short version is that:
1: It was (and still is) being worked on
2: It wasn't going to be ready in time.

Various people in the community got a look at the server live at PAX and the consensus was Uber were correct in their position- obviously the server works, however setting it up at that point was not a task for amateurs. Obviously to release the server for single player it has to 'just work' and ideally be equally simple for a local LAN. It will likely be somewhat more involved for creating an externally accessible fully leaded server but that is less of an issue. I think the point is they're having to build quite a few tools to automate setting the thing up.

At this point, it's not really even the fact that offline isn't in that bugs me the most, though I still feel I received an incomplete product. I pretty much quit playing because I'm tired of dealing with the servers anyway.

It's the fact that you can't find any definite information about the issue whatsoever without visiting the forums. I'd wager most people who purchase a game don't do this. There's still no explanation of this particular feature's absence on the official site news page, FAQ, Steam page, Youtube site, or Kickstarter page. Backers and Early Access purchasers who don't check the forums, but bought in with the understanding that there'd be offline, are now in the dark as to why it isn't here.

Moreover, the information concerning the issue of offline and DRM free found on the forums is generated entirely by users, not developers. Their threads, like pon3's and other posters, that contain quotes the very few quotes from developers that pertain to the matter. Even then, the threads are awash in apparently conflicting information, or more often, just arguments between posters.

There is, quite simply, no readily accessible official address as to why the game is still always-online and contains DRM. Uber has been very transparent about everything but this, and has admirably and consistently kept the community abreast of progress and updates. But they have been regrettably opaque about offline, and the removal of any mention of it anywhere as a feature at all is very disquieting to me.

I know many don't agree with me, and many don't even consider it a big deal and are content to receive the feature whenever it's delivered. I'm not, and I can't help but feel a bit insulted about the way the issue has been handled. So long as this is the case, threads like this will continue to be a recurring theme and a rather annoying broken record. I'm definitely not alone here.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We keep asking these questions, thinking we are going to get answers.

Nothing but constant nagging shall ever suffice. What else are we to do?

offline drm free single player gaming was my number 1 reason for kickstarting this game. Id like to hear from Uber why it was the feature they felt was best to cut at launch especially when they always said we wont realese till its ready.

I do find it very concerning that the offline mode hasn't been released yet.

A major selling point for this game was that friends and I would be able to play it at LANs.

It's concerning that Uber seems to think that this feature is unimportant. I find myself being frustrated further when most of the time when I try to play this game, it ends up freezing/ lagging for no apparent reason.

A lot of South Africans share my frustration.

When I occasionally do manage to play a match unhindered, it's a fantastic experience.

+1

While giving direct ETAs is pointless anyway a statement from Uber what exactly is slowing the server release down and what dimension of soon (days, weeks, month, centuries) we are talking about would probably calm a lot of people down.

Communication is the one thing they are dropping the ball on atm. In the run up to release, PAX etc it was excusable. Now it's just rude.

If you believe the fanboys, they already communicate. They clearly said they're working on offline in an off-the-cuff response on page 4 of a thread posting made back in August! No need for an official stickied response; you guys are just being silly.

Besides, they need this time to put cheevos in. Priorities!

More than offline mode, we need server side optimizations asap, because while the client side has been drastically optimized, the server side is just a pain when it comes to handle hundreds of units. Most of the time sim is dropping down to 1, and it's all because of path finding taking ages to be computed. Unless of course Uber server are not sized accordingly to enable large battles. And when i say hundreds, it's less than 800 units ...

Count me in with the 'I can't really play until I get an offline server' crowd I've been looking forward to a LAN game with the wife & kids for ages, still can't play.

Call me cynical, but it worries me that the only official response has been to remove 'offline' and 'drm free' from the store pages. I mean, why do that instead of perhaps listing the feature with a * (coming soon!) ?

Yes, I agree with you. In fact, I saw the modified store pages even before PA was released.

It has been two weeks without any official response about offline mode, and I can easily tell something is up. Whatever it may be, we may never know.

Considering that five negative reviews dominate the PA store page as of now, it would be nice to have a true, up-to-date official response (something like "Offline mode is coming soon") from the developers to calm down the naysayers and lift up spirits.

Two weeks is not a long time of development. Two weeks is literally nothing to worry about. I mean, sometimes it wouldn't suprise me to see someone say "Brad and Neutrino just commented on it in a thread yesterday, but they haven't commented all day about offline, so does this mean they changed their mind and are quietly trying to hide it?".

Oh, by the way, it has literally been less than two weeks, they had touched on the subject since launch, that actually happened, it counts, so either listen or don't ask, but don't ask and then ignore.