Should more MMOs offer an offline mode? Many survival MMOs already do this

TheScavenger

Should MMOs offer an offline mode? MMOs like Ark and Conan exiles already do this, among many other survival games.

It actually makes sense if you are an oldschool MMO fan.

The biggest complaint on MMORPG.com and /r/MMORPG is MMOs are too solo focused and far too often try to attract the singleplayer crowd.

Imagine if WoW in the online mode made it so soloing was very hard, and a far more reliance and even bonuses to grouping to make up for the difficulty. Then they offered an offline mode for 15 USD a month (same price as monthly sub for the online version, this way Blizzard doesn't lose money) to play in offline mode. 

Suddenly all the soloers and singleplayer fans that oldschool MMOers hate wouldn't be seen in their game. The soloers will have a Warcraft open world huge massive singleplayer RPG...

and there is no warcraft huge massive open world singleplayer rpg...so no one has a choice but to play WoW if they want a warcraft RPG

But, this would then allow blizzard to really focus grouping in WoW for the online mode and make a far more social atmosphere. This is what many oldschool fans keep wanting for MMOs, and having an offline mode would fix that.

Blizzard could be first to do this. Then many other companies can join in. Heck, I know many people who'd play EVE Online as a singleplayer game.

And everyone wins. Singleplayer/soloers get the game(s) they always wanted and no longer need to "ruin" MMOs for the classic oldschool MMO fans.

And the best part is the companies can still make money from offline mode in this case, and not really need to maintain it much except maybe add in recent updates so there is always new content.

It works great for Ark/Conan Exiles and many other games. And even though they have a singleplayer option, many people still socialize and be a part of the community. But this lets the players have the choice.

Plus this would fix the MMO genre by removing soloers/singleplayers from the genre that oldschool fans hate. But also make soloers/singleplayers very happy at the same time.

Slapshot1188

No

rojoArcueid

offline + online modes offer me more value for my money so yes. If its online let it be a full on persistent MMO, and if it has an offline more as well let me host my own server to play with friends.

There is no reason why they can't add both. We are paying them after all.

Grunty

Sure, let's really make it easy to bring out all the exploits.

Slapshot1188

To be clear... your proposal for Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMO) is to have singleplayer offline mode?  And you think that makes sense for old school MMO fans?

I want you to read that over a few times.  Let it sink in... and then go delete this thread before more people see it.

TheScavenger

Slapshot1188 said:

To be clear... your proposal for Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMO) is to have singleplayer offline mode?  And you think that makes sense for old school MMO fans?

I want you to read that over a few times.  Let it sink in... and then go delete this thread before more people see it.

Yes. It makes sense. Then soloers/singleplayers won't dominate the genre. It doesn't effect oldschool MMO fans at all, in fact they'll actually like that the developers can focus on them instead of soloers/singleplayers since they'll be able to play offline.

The only thing is, the vast majority of MMO players solo and play the game like a singleplayer game anyway so the oldschool fans will go back to the niche hobby MMOs used to be. But that is what they keep asking for.

Rhoms

TheScavenger said:

Slapshot1188 said:

To be clear... your proposal for Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMO) is to have singleplayer offline mode?  And you think that makes sense for old school MMO fans?

I want you to read that over a few times.  Let it sink in... and then go delete this thread before more people see it.

[....]

The only thing is, the vast majority of MMO players solo and play the game like a singleplayer game anyway so the oldschool fans will go back to the niche hobby MMOs used to be. But that is what they keep asking for.

Is it really that simple?  I like to think that most players probably bounce around between soloing and grouping depending on what they feel like doing and how much time they have. 

An offline MMORPG seems counter intuitive.  There are tons of great RPGs and not so many great MMORPGs.  Let's push the devs to focus on creating the latter.

Theocritus

It depends on the game and what you can do offline.

Tokken

yes pls.

Octagon7711

If there are a lot of players that want a single player mode then the MMO would be empty and people would complain about no one being around.  Conan Unchained  has off line level increases and single player instances.  But a lot of MMO's already have some single player instances but few have a single player offline story mode.

Nebless

I just want to point out in no way shape or form would I consider Conan Exiles an MMO.  With a 40 people top per server that doesn't seem very massive to me.   Don't know how ARC is, but CE isn't.

And while a lot of players solo, they're chatting, helping others out as needed etc.... not to mention the big part of most MMO's I've seen is the Auction House in all of it's forms that you wouldn't have in a SPG version.

The only MMO I've seen that could have been considered remotely in a single player mode would be Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising after they shut the game down, but left the servers up til the pre-paid rental fee ran out.

Albatroes

I wouldn't be opposed to the idea since many of the current mmo play like single player games as is, like GW2/ESO/even FFXI in more recent times plays like a single player/co-op game.

Kyleran

No, its time MMORPG Devs stop catering to the crazy and just learn to ignore them and their money. 

Akulas

It's open to abuse

Octagon7711

One thing I always wanted was for MMO's that were shutting down to create and sell an off-line version, so it would actually become an RPG and they would make a lot of money with people wanting to have a part of the game to play from time to time.  Yes it would be big empty places with no people and basic NPC functions but it would be great for the memories.

iixviiiix

Something like legal private servers ? Well , that's nice if they was

Bananable

survival MMOs 
Lolz kids these days belive everything devs say.

MMOs like Ark and Conan

These are multiplayer games, not mmos.

someforumguy

Oh you are talking about survival games. No wonder, I could not come up with a MMO that gives offline play.

You can't just have offline play with a MMO. The MMO client doesn't have the server software to simulate the client. This is not just a switch you need to turn on.

The reason you can do this with a survival game, is because the clients are both server and client. It can do all of the world simulation within the client. This is a very clear difference with MMORPG's.

Kyleran

someforumguy said:

Oh you are talking about survival games. No wonder, I could not come up with a MMO that gives offline play.

You can't just have offline play with a MMO. The MMO client doesn't have the server software to simulate the client. This is not just a switch you need to turn on.

The reason you can do this with a survival game, is because the clients are both server and client. It can do all of the world simulation within the client. This is a very clear difference with MMORPG's.

There are two that I can think of actually, SotA and Elite Dangerous.

Not offline modes, but they both offer a solo player mode.

Both titles offered "reasons" why offline mode wasn't practical / possible. 

Scot

If we could have a solo mode for all those gamers who play Massively Multiplier and never interact with anyone that would be great. Leaving those of us who think MMOs are about grouping and so on in the multiplayer game.

It would be a tricky fit, but considering the benefits certainly worth a try.

Ozmodan

The entire point of a MMO is playing with others online.  If you offer single player mode it is not a MMO any more.  

Scorchien

yea , a wall of Oxymoron

btdt

I think players want an offline mode so that they can play when they have no internet access.  Most of the game doesn't require other players.

However, an offline mode in a survival game defeats the concept of survival.  You aren't under threat offline.  Anything that you accomplish offline is an advantage for when you do play online so it would be utterly unfair... unless everything that you do offline gets erased upon logging in.  In which case it would be pointless.

Of course it would further fragment an already fragile gaming environment.  If you think the worlds are empty now... wait for offline mode.  At which point it is officially now a lobby game... people only log in to raid.

fs23otm

What if game companies started licensing/renting space on their server farms for players to create servers running the official game with player controlled rulesets?

Rhoms

btdt said:

I think players want an offline mode so that they can play when they have no internet access.  Most of the game doesn't require other players.

[....]

Is the lack of internet access a real issue?

While an MMORPG might not require other players to move through the content, the main reason why I play MMORPGs versus RPGs is because of the ability to interact with others.  Is an offline mode for a massively multiplayer online game something most players want or need?

I think one of the big failures of companies' MMORPGs in the after-WOW world is trying to cater to all types players.  Rather than feature creep and being everything to everyone, I would rather a MMORPG focus on a few core mechanics and experiences that separate their game from everything else.  This is something I hope the upcoming crowdfunded MMORPGs can deliver.

Scot

Kyleran said:

someforumguy said:

Oh you are talking about survival games. No wonder, I could not come up with a MMO that gives offline play.

You can't just have offline play with a MMO. The MMO client doesn't have the server software to simulate the client. This is not just a switch you need to turn on.

The reason you can do this with a survival game, is because the clients are both server and client. It can do all of the world simulation within the client. This is a very clear difference with MMORPG's.

There are two that I can think of actually, SotA and Elite Dangerous.

Not offline modes, but they both offer a solo player mode.

Both titles offered "reasons" why offline mode wasn't practical / possible. 

Interesting to see if anyone who has played these as solo could tell us how it works and what issues they see it having.