I am interested to know more about the game, below are a few questions I need some answers. Bear in mind that I come from playing games like Diablo 2, Torchlight 2 and Grim Dawn, so I never really experience game like Path of Exile as the always online restriction is a deal breaker for me.
Developer blog said this game is build with online and offline play in mind but I cannot find any more info on offline play. Is it still in the plan?
Developer blog suggest that the game will be balanced and build with online multiplayer in mind. Will this affect players that plays solo offline?
The FAQ listed a few type of end game content, will all of them be available for offline solo play or some will only be available for online multiplayer?
FAQ suggest that there will be an online auction house and an online microtransaction store. If I only play solo offline and I purchased a few cosmetics from the online microtransaction store, will it be available to me for solo offline play?
Will I be able to take my solo offline characters to online multiplayer?
Do I have to login and authenticate with the server all the time even for offline play?
Will I be able to copy my game save file from my computer to use it on other computer?
Hello @scp-2662
I made a post very similar to yours about a week ago. You went into more details with your questions than I did, but our sphere of interest is the same. I also used phrase āādeal breaker for meāā
Anyway, I have not yet received a response from the developers ( @Sarno or someone else) even though they answered some questions about online play and game in general day or two ago. Due to this my hopes for Last Epoch and offline play have been toned down as I have decided to delay purchasing the game - at least until we get some clarification.
In the meantime I will keep an eye on your thread also as those are excellent questions and they address my concerns to a point and with much greater detail (except maybe number 5 ).
At release Last Epoch will offer both online and offline play. With few exceptions (user authentication, chat, leaderboards) the alpha is currently primarily client-side.
Could you perhaps rephrase your question?
We do not plan on making different balancing decisions for online and offline play, however we are aware that some players prefer group play, others prefer to fly solo, and others still enjoy doing both on occasion. Which you play should be decided by your preference - or current mood - and not because balance favors one or the other. That doesnāt mean weāll get it perfect in time for 1.0, but we will continue to improve balance over time.
The FAQ lists three forms of endgame PvE content, which will be available for those playing offline and by themselves, and links to information about PvP - which naturally will not be.
No - never.
If we have time, we will implement LAN support for āofflineā characters so that people playing primarily solo can still hook up with their friends (please note this isnāt a promise).
One of the main attractions of server-authorative multiplayer is the ability to group with other players without fear of them having abused local save files to create items which would be otherwise impossible, or otherwise modify things to their advantage.
We are considering the reverse - i.e. being able to duplicate an online character for offline play - however we will never permit an offline character to be played server-side.
Yes.
This is already possible - though for those on Windows Operating Systems the location of the save file is perhaps inconvenient. I imagine that will be changed in future.
I think that they are in the process of figuring all of this out, e.g. Sarno mentioned in another thread, that zone persistance is going to be handled differently for offline and online play and that it is a lot of work, so I think you have to give them some time to get a definitive answer to your questions.
And while I can understand having issues with online play, I would never play a hardcore character online for example, would it really be such an issue to just have a connection needed for authentification before you play offline ( and Sarno already mentioned this game will feature offline play at launch)?
I donāt see why they would make you have to have internet access for offline play. I assume it would work like Diablo 2 does. If not, I think the developers would be better off changing it to where offline play is completely offline. I know people like my brother that go out to sea for months at a time without an internet connection who would want to play Last Epoch also.
Edit: I understand that an online authentication process is necessary right now because only certain people have access to the alpha and upcoming beta. I would think that once the open beta begins or when the game is going to launch that they would drop this for single player.
You can never be sure unless the developer themselves confirms it.
Game like Diablo 3 requires you to be online all the time even when you are playing solo because they want players to have access to their real money auction house all the time.
This game has an auction house and an online shop, so it would be safe to assume that you need to at least authenticate online to check and authenticate with the server what is your last transaction to avoid players hacking and gaining access to cosmetic items they never purchase.
Games like diablo 3 donāt require you to be online at all times because of the real money auction house (which doesnāt even exist anymore.)
They do it to avoid piracy. With no online connection required its very easy to play a game completely for free. While I fully understand your point of view your tone is pretty entitled. You canāt blame a company for wanting to protect their creation, which cost them a lot of money to produce.
Whether online authentication is effective or a good idea is a completely other story:) A complicated one. This is most likely the reason for the delay in an answer. The game is still in development. Perhaps the developers themselves donāt know their final answer. Itās a difficult choice to make.
I can tell you though from my experience its a fantastic game with a huge amount of potential.
I could see that too. Otherwise, people could steal the game. Maybe there is a way to make it be secure and able to be totally offline for players that want to play single-player offline?
I mean on the other hand, Grim Dawn can be completely offline and they have sold lots of copies.
Iād support the game regardless, Last Epoch is a lot of fun and I enjoy testing things as they are implemented.
+1 to offline mode I have no idea why everyone is moving to online all the time in ARPG, this alone will most likely give this game less success then Grim Dawn and if the servers are far people like me that are in Australia will have horrible ping and no fun at all, Wolcen beta is out but due to their Servers being in Canada my gameplay is horribly lagy and chopy and that alone will make me leave a negative review on Steam or elsewhere. I can see this game having a huge success to as it is superior to Wolcen as that and Grim Dawn are its main competitors D3 is old and bleeding players and PoE is something I could never get into. I also hope Grim Dawn 2 gets announced late this year but isnāt released for a few years.
Iām so happy to not be alone to prefer my game solo and offline
Iām sure Last Epoch is going to explode their competitors because it get both online and offline.
Btw,Iām more than okay with DLC for my solo playā¦ give me a lots of pets to buy to continue to support the game!
@Verveine they already got 5 cosmetic pets on top of the alpha and beta pets in the cosmetic pet list in the alpha. Then every item apart from jewellery has a cosmetic slot and 1 to 2 augment slots as well. Note Amulet has a cosmetic slot. So there be plenty for you to spend your money on.
I hope that is the case, the only reason I am holding back from purchasing this game is due to the online check as I do not want to buy something that I cannot play.
Since they announced the beta, maybe we can get an answer from the dev to confirm this?
I suspect they donāt want to answer the "will it allow completely offline play?ā question at this point (as it may limit other options they may want to pursue later)
If you look at Grim Dawn - it requires Steam and Steam must be online at least the first time you play!?
I believe Steam then requires you reconnect periodically for some features to work - whether GD requires this Iāve no idea - same for LE I guessā¦
Itās worth remembering that some online requirements are more related to anti-cheat and anti-piracy than multiplayer - they realize some people lack Internet access for periods of time but 100% offline games are far more likely to come with onerous DRM systems and other nonsense you probably donāt want eitherā¦
