Does anyone use the offline tab when they start the game?

[Trooper117]

Does anyone actually fly offline?

If so, why, and what are the benefits?

 

I sometimes wish we could go back to the old IL2 system and not have to rely on an external site to get access to the full game!

[Finkeren]

No benefit other than simply being able to start the game at all when master server is down or my ISP screws up.

Edited February 7, 2018 by Finkeren

[GridiroN]

It allows you to start the game without the internet I think.

[CrazyDuck]

Online gameplay (obviously) and dynamic campaign are disabled, everything else works (quick mission, scripted campaigns..)

[dburne]

I personally do not use the offline option, and I only fly SP.

 

I think I may have once or twice when could not connect.

[PatrickAWlson]

I use it all the time.  Faster start.

[OrLoK]

If needed i do.

 

Normally if i have a connection issue.

 

I didnt realise it was faster.

[Pail]

 

 

I use it all the time. Faster start.

 

It is perfect for PWCG missions and it doesn't affect the internet when my boy is playing Overwatch.

[Feathered_IV]

I use it when flying QMB or doing graphics tweaks as the faster load times are handy.

[CanadaOne]

Every time.

 

But even when starting offline, the game will refuse to start if there is an update ready. Even if you hit offline, there's still something going on.

 

Maybe offline isn't as offline as one might think.

[Pail]

 

 

Maybe offline isn't as offline as one might think.

 

Probably just a check of the correct game version. If it wants to start offline because the internet is not working it can still start.

[Pupo]

I do.

 

My internet connection is not stable enough to play online (downtime ~25%). If i don't play offline i get booted from the game after every quick mission / scripted campaign sortie.

[Trooper117]

Good stuff!

Faster load times, I should have thought of that

When playing PWCG or a campaign I think I'll stay in offline mode.

[unreasonable]

Always. Few things quite so satisfying as denying an intrusive and unnecessary internet link from monitoring your playtime.

 

Actually there are quite a few things as or more satisfying, but it still gives me a frisson of pleasure to say "no", you do not get to monitor what I do with my PC.

[56RAF_Roblex]

If I know I am only starting the game to look at a Track or try something in a quick mission then I choose Offline on the *assumption* that it will start quicker.   Maybe I am kidding myself but it does seem a second or two faster.   It also stops the CIA seeing what I am doing 

Edited February 8, 2018 by 56RAF_Roblex

[Trooper117]

Holy sh@t... you have the CIA in Cornwall?

Mind you, Your avatar is a communist pilot, what do you expect, lol!

 

What they should be doing is checking out those guys in Luftwaffe uniform... hmmmm

[Pail]

 

 

you have the CIA in Cornwall?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRH_Portreath

 

Chemical Defence Establishment, Nancekuke, Cornwall. R&D of wide range of organic chemical reactions, investigating aspects of reaction kinetics and thermo-chemistry required for process optimisation.....

 

Not that I would want to worry you Roblex but the story gets worse if you haven't looked it up before.

[Danziger]

I'm a truck driver. Rarely have a decent wifi connection so I use offline 99% of the time. When an update is out I try to get home time or find truck stop that I know has good wifi.

[PatrickAWlson]

Always. Few things quite so satisfying as denying an intrusive and unnecessary internet link from monitoring your playtime.

 

Actually there are quite a few things as or more satisfying, but it still gives me a frisson of pleasure to say "no", you do not get to monitor what I do with my PC.

 

As CanadaOne points out, it is still phoning home.  But a little less, I think.  

[Danziger]

As CanadaOne points out, it is still phoning home. But a little less, I think.

I think only if you start offline mode when you have internet. Most of the time my laptop has zero internet connected at all. I have had a problem before of knowing the wifi connection I had sucked so started offline and it wouldn't until I installed an update.

[unreasonable]

I think only if you start offline mode when you have internet. Most of the time my laptop has zero internet connected at all. I have had a problem before of knowing the wifi connection I had sucked so started offline and it wouldn't until I installed an update.

 

Yes, maybe not even then.  I have just checked by the high tech method of pulling the ethernet cable out of my PC. I can still log on to Steam offline and then play BoX with all the usual SP QM and scripted content.  Is the non-Steam version different?

 

I suspect that the new career mode will require a connection though, presumably the missions will be generated in the Kremlin rather than at home. 

 

Seriously, I just tend to do it when having to go in and out frequently while testing stuff from the ME, since you cannot have both open at once. It is just one thing less to go wrong.  (But I still perversely enjoy it )

[Wedgewood]

As other games also do, the game most likely only requires an internet connection to save your user and gameplay data and stats in the cloud (in the game's servers) instead of your PC where it's vulnerable to corruption or being accidentally deleted.  Recent games do this so that you can log into your profile on any PC and you will have all of your stats available.  There's absolutely no additional security risks to being online with this game.

[Trooper117]

Funnily enough, I had the old IL2 from the start, it's still on my hard drive today, and do you know, it's never been corrupted once

Maybe if this version did the same I might be lucky and never have the game corrupted...

[unreasonable]

As other games also do, the game most likely only requires an internet connection to save your user and gameplay data and stats in the cloud (in the game's servers) instead of your PC where it's vulnerable to corruption or being accidentally deleted.  Recent games do this so that you can log into your profile on any PC and you will have all of your stats available.  There's absolutely no additional security risks to being online with this game.

 

It may well save your game data and prevent accidental deletion but this is not why any game requires internet connection. This is for DRM purposes and so that publishers and/or developers can see what you are doing by tracking your usage so that they can adjust the fat/sugar/salt balance on their next product to optimize addiction.

[Juuuxie]

I boot in offline mode if I'm just trying to test something or are trying to make a video on the game in some light.

[CanadaOne]

Always. Few things quite so satisfying as denying an intrusive and unnecessary internet link from monitoring your playtime.

 

Actually there are quite a few things as or more satisfying, but it still gives me a frisson of pleasure to say "no", you do not get to monitor what I do with my PC.

VPNs FTW!

[Wedgewood]

It may well save your game data and prevent accidental deletion but this is not why any game requires internet connection. This is for DRM purposes and so that publishers and/or developers can see what you are doing by tracking your usage so that they can adjust the fat/sugar/salt balance on their next product to optimize addiction.

And to give us what we want. 

 

Funnily enough, I had the old IL2 from the start, it's still on my hard drive today, and do you know, it's never been corrupted once

Maybe if this version did the same I might be lucky and never have the game corrupted...

The game data itself won't likely go corrupt but the HDD it's stored on can. 

[Trooper117]

That was the good thing about the old IL2 you know... you could have multiple copies, simply copied and pasted onto your other hard drives.

I had three copies at one stage, just updating mission and campaign files etc, just in case.

[FuriousMeow]

That was the good thing about the old IL2 you know... you could have multiple copies, simply copied and pasted onto your other hard drives.

I had three copies at one stage, just updating mission and campaign files etc, just in case.

 

That's also what led to multiple copies of one person's purchase on many other people's machines that did not purchase.

 

In fact, you can have multiple copies on other drives and systems with this series. There is no stopping you there. Not quite sure why you think you can't copy this game across drives, and even systems, it's only the login that is tied to it running.

Edited February 10, 2018 by FuriousMeow

[unreasonable]

And to give us what we want. 

 

The game data itself won't likely go corrupt but the HDD it's stored on can. 

 

I would believe that if they actually gave me what I want - namely the full game on my disc, with no internet required, except for downloading updates which can be saved directly to disk and installed off line.

 

But they do not.   

[Wedgewood]

I would believe that if they actually gave me what I want - namely the full game on my disc, with no internet required, except for downloading updates which can be saved directly to disk and installed off line.

 

But they do not.   

Times are changing.

[Trooper117]

We all know times have changed... that doesn't mean it's for the better. 

I would much rather have the full game, downloaded and sitting on my hard drive, without having to be connected to the internet, that's all.

 

There are people out there that like it the way it is now... good on them, I certainly don't begrudge that.

But we are not all the same, and I would like it the way it was... I would only need the internet if I chose to play MP or DL a patch.

[Wedgewood]

We all know times have changed... that doesn't mean it's for the better. 

I would much rather have the full game, downloaded and sitting on my hard drive, without having to be connected to the internet, that's all.

 

There are people out there that like it the way it is now... good on them, I certainly don't begrudge that.

But we are not all the same, and I would like it the way it was... I would only need the internet if I chose to play MP or DL a patch.

I was under the impression that the game can be played without an internet connection.  Is that not the case?

[CanadaOne]

Give it time and won't be allowed to truly own anything, you will only be allowed to "rent" what is copyright protected. Which will be everything.

 

In a few years your Brand X fridge will only accept Brand X butter. Put in a different brand of butter and you'll break copyright and the fridge will turn off. Things like this are happening already. 

[Trooper117]

I was under the impression that the game can be played without an internet connection.  Is that not the case?

 

Yes, but then I don't have access to the full game, for example I cannot use the games campaign system unless I'm online.

[Wedgewood]

Yes, but then I don't have access to the full game, for example I cannot use the games campaign system unless I'm online.

I didn't realize that the campaign was restricted while offline.  Hopefully that will be something they change with the new release, otherwise I can see it causing problems for people who don't have reliable internet, or just choose not to be online.

[unreasonable]

I didn't realize that the campaign was restricted while offline.  Hopefully that will be something they change with the new release, otherwise I can see it causing problems for people who don't have reliable internet, or just choose not to be online.

 

I hope so too, but I do not expect any change. Having the career mission generation done at HQ was something that was done in Rise of Flight as well. The reason, in that case, seems to have been that the developers thought SP players wanted comparative stats tables of other peoples' careers like MP scores. 

 

Most of the time of course it does not lead to any practical problems - but if you live somewhere with unreliable internet it could be incredibly annoying to lose the connection just at the end of a long and interesting mission, so that the results do not count towards your career progress. This happened to me on more than one occasion.

 

My connection is now much more stable than it was 3-4 years ago - but there are still outages, and having SP affected is a pain.