Let me preface this by saying that this is my first post but I have been following the development of the game with interest for a very long time and started playing about a month ago. Since then I’ve already sank more than 100 hours into the game and I’ve had an absolute blast, especially with the Runemaster! While I am enjoying the game a lot I am concerned about a few things and was hoping to get some clarification.
First of all, transmog i.e. the ability to change the appearance of an item without changing it’s stats. I understand that EHG is an indie company in the truest sense of the word and resources are limited so things like cosmetics naturally have to take a backseat to gameplay features. That said, the gameplay in LE is in an astonishingly good place atm, especially considering that the game is still technically in Beta, and I wanted to know whether or not this feature is being worked on for the official release of the game. Visuals are a very important part of games for me, as I know they are to at lot of other people, and it really doesn’t feel great when you get an amazing piece of loot but it doesn’t have the right visuals (particularly in an A-RPG where there is so much variance in itemization).
This brings me to my second concern regarding MTX cosmetics and Offline Mode. When I first started playing LE I picked Offline Mode because I always play A-RPGs solo and saw no reason to play online and unnecessarily expose myself to potentially shaky server connections. However, I did not understand that the choice was permanent (I assumed it would be a matter of a simple toggle) or that MTX cosmetics and the Cosmetic Tab would not be available in Offline Mode (I assumed the Cosmetic Tab was simply not yet enabled because the game is in Beta). This is a big concern for me because I am physically not able to start from scratch in Online Mode due to chronic wrist pain. That’s also why I never participate in seasonal type content in A-RPGs (can’t start over every few months). As I stated above I love cosmetics and visuals are a big part of playing video games for me so I would love to spend money buying all sorts of cosmetics and I genuinely do not understand why we are unable to do so in Offline Mode. I assume there are technical considerations/limitations for this, but as I know close to nothing about coding, I can’t imagine what those would be.
So to sum up: (1) will transmogrification for in-game items be eventually implemented; (2) will MTX cosmetics and the Cosmetic Tab be enabled in Offline Mode; and (3) if not will transferring Offline characters to Online ever be possible?
1-Not sure about this, someone else may clarify it better, but I seem to recall something to the effect that yes, it may happen in the future, just not for now.
2-There is already a long thread about this: Offline cosmetics
3-Won’t happen, also discussed in that thread and many others. Long story short, offline characters can be edited to add levels and gear and everything else, making it unfair to import to online and join legit characters.
There is, however, some debate whether you should be able to import online to offline.
Hmm, this just raises more questions than it answers, for me at least. So the concern is that Offline Mode will somehow be vulnerable to what is essentially cheating? That legit never crossed my mind. I picked it only because I knew I had no interest to play in a group and didn’t want to have to deal with potential server issues (D4’s launch was a complete disaster on that front, as with everything else, lol).
But if that is the concern then shouldn’t something be done to prevent modding or whatever will lead to potential cheating rather than completely wall off Offline Mode from the rest of the game? And what do any of those concerns have to do with the cosmetics being Online only?
That’s good to know at least, hopefully it’s soon.
Can’t be done. If it’s offline it means local files which means someone will eventually hack it.
Nothing, they’re separate issues. Importing offline to online will never happen. Cosmetics being available offline is something that was discussed in the thread I linked. Some were against, some were in favor. There was no comment from the devs (although you can be sure they noticed it and the ongoing discussion.
Kain has commented on that at least once. The below linked thread was the only one I could find with a cursory search but I thought he’d posted more than that.
I was referring to preventing modding/hacking of offline files. That really can’t be done. Not even Denuvo DRM prevents this, it just delays it longer than other DRMs. Basically, unless you have some online verification you can’t prevent modding/hacking and even then there are successfull hacks done.
Wow, I really had no idea. I wasn’t kidding before when I said I have no clue how coding works, lol. Ok so that part makes sense at least, even if I don’t fully understand it. But the cosmetics seem like an entirely inrelated issue. There is really no reason why they need to be a “connective feature” aside from a fear that otherwise people might hack them for free? At least that’s what I gathered from reading through that thread you linked. But surely there has to be a way to make them tamperproof? You know, something like requiring entering a key to unlock them. I guess the devs just think it’s too much trouble? But then aren’t they shooting themselves in the foot by completely locking themselves out of an entire potential market of Offline players who might want to actually buy cosmetics? And is it realistic that everyone will play Offline just to hack free cosmetics instead of paying a couple bucks for them? Idk, it all sounds super paranoid to me. You can tell the people behind this game are gamers themselves to have thought about all of that, lmao. I am just a casual video game enjoyer and all of this is entirely lost on me.
There really isn’t. Keys don’t work either. Just look at all the professional software (windows included) that gets hacked constantly even though they require license keys. It’s just something devs have to deal with. If there’s no server connection, it will be hacked.
That is one of the opinions on the thread, held by some, me included. It’s possible this will change and the devs will make it possible. It’s possible it won’t. One thing is for sure: as long as the discussion remains civil and constructive, the devs are listening to us and taking our opinions into account.
The problem isn’t so much one of everyone will just hack it, but rather one of fairness, meaning that it’s unfair that someone that hacked the files can get the same thing that a legit player paid for.
Then again, MTX offer no in-game advantage.
It’s not an easy question to answer and there are many points to consider. Ultimately, the devs will have to decide which way to go and, in my opinion, neither option is fully right or fully wrong.
Yeah, I agree. Thanks for laying it all out for me, it’s given me a different perspective for sure. I just never even considered most of these potential problem areas so it all just seemed so arbitrary and confusing to me (it was like a “just take my money” moment, lol). Fortunately, I had the self-awareness to realize there must be more to it than what I was seeing and to seek answers. I hope the devs see these sorts of discussions on here and it helps them see things from our side in turn.
In the meantime I guess I am just gonna keep hunting for exalted items that not only have the right stats but the “right” look too and limit my choice of uniques somewhat. I am lucky I guess because on my Runemaster at least there is only the one pair of unique gloves that sticks out like a sore thumb but there is no replacing it because of the insane amount of ward retention it provides.
Piracy is the biggest issue plaguing the game development industry. Note that EHG is basing their entire future development support on mtx sale (there is only a one time box price for the base game. All expansions are technically ‘free’). This isnt paranoia. It is the reality of the industry and why so many games are moving online.
I should also point out that over time, the total value of cosmetics available will not just be “a couple of bucks” but in the realms of tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars (of course, the developers wont be expecting players to buy everything available, just as walmart won’t expect a shopper to come in and buy one of everything). Also, the devs would not be able to sell time-exclusive mtx when people can freely access those assets for play (which has been a successful business model for EHG’s competitor, GGG).
I get all of that now but it still leaves me in the same position I was in before. When I got the game I couldn’t have ever imagined that choosing to play Offline would lock me out of buying MTX cosmetics. Literally no other game, A-RPG or otherwise, that I have ever played in well over 20 years of gaming has had that sort of limitation.
I understand their concerns regarding piracy but I also see no reason to be forced to play online when I fully intend to always play the game solo just to have access to cosmetics which I also fully intend to pay for. Not that it’s particularly relevant to the wider topic but I happen to be a lawyer so for me whether I pay $30 for a game or $100 or sink thousands into cosmetics as I did in PoE (which I don’t even play anymore) is completely irrelevant to me because I can afford it.
In other words I WANT to pay them for all of these MTX transactions but they aren’t letting me. I am sure I am not the only one who is in that boat and they would do well to figure out a way around it not just for our sake but for that of their own business model. If having a completely offline mode prevents them from selling MTX cosmetics to players then they simply need to add limited connectivity for the purpose of preventing potential piracy. I would be perfectly fine with that. What I can’t do is spend another 100+ hours leveling and building a character from scratch just for the privilege of being allowed to pay them for MTX cosmetics because they didn’t do a good job of explaining the consequences of choosing Offline mode. As I have repeatedly said I only picked it because I intend to play the game solo and didn’t see a reason to have to put up with potentially shaky server connections. I had no idea that it would also lock me out of cosmetics.
Anyway, I am going in circles here. The bottom line is that this clearly a major issue as evidenced by the enormous amount of discussion on the topic both here and on other online forums and that something needs to be done about it for everyone’s sake. I personally couldn’t care less what the solution is, they could even add a third mode that’s only partially offline, they just need to find a way to let me give them money. LOL!
If they make it so the cosmetics/MTX you buy is in offline mode I would stop playing in online. I would jump over there to buy a pack or two and then hop back on my offline character.
I just feel wrong playing in offline when I can’t use what I spend money on even if the only thing I use is the portal effects
The issue with that is, over the last few years, the userbase has made it abundantly clear that any form of limited connectivity DRM beyond the VERY FIRST TIME YOU LAUNCH THE GAME for offline mode is unacceptable.
EHG has previously considered a once every 30-day DRM check for offline mode, which would function in a way to allow cosmetic unlocks in offline mode, but due to previous promises and claims during their kickstarter, alpha, and beta, they decided against that since the users were promised true offline mode, which entails everything they’ve given now.
Having no check on cosmetics for offline mode would just cause people not to buy cosmetics and play offline mode with mods and file modifications. It would hurt their profit-margin.
Having temporary checks for cosmetics would go against their original promise and the second promise they made after mulling it over on the forums and Discord.
Offline mode will have one check when you connect to the game for the first time on your computer. Afterwards, so long as your computer is the same, it will remain truly offline. This allows you to use mods and skin edits on your personal machine to do all sorts of things in the future, which means offline mode in the potential future could even have a modding scene like Grim Dawn.
This has been discussed in the past, long before you joined. The users who supported their kickstarter and alpha/beta came to this conclusion after much discussion on this forum, and I’m sure the threads are still around somewhere.
If you want to look into past EHG posts and past discussions about this topic, you should start here:
That assumes there is going to be a modding scene at all. In my experience a game has to be really popular, like Game of the Year popular, for a truly vibrant modding community to spring around it. Not that LE isn’t a great game but I don’t see it being a runaway hit like BG3, Hogwarts Legacy, or Elden Ring. A-RPGs just aren’t that popular.
This really confuses me and I just don’t understand it. It sounds to me that the people who are picking that as their proverbial hill to die on don’t want a game but rather the bones of a sandbox that someone else does all the hard work of creating for them and then going wild in it, basically something like an MMO private server but for A-RPGs. That’s just weird to me and if that’s what they want they should just make their own games or go play Minecraft or whatever. /shrug
Also I don’t understand why the devs would listen to those voices because if that’s their base… well they don’t really have a base because those people aren’t interested in what the developer wants to do with the game in the long term and want to take it in their own direction.
Probably extremely limited, perhaps none at all. Because most players will play online, for trade and multiplayer. Even more so now EHG is considering restrictions on offline, like having to kill a boss online once before you can fight it offline.
What confuses me is your post, to be honest…
You seem to assume people asking for a true offline mode do so because they want to edit or mod or whatever. This is conspiracy theory domain.
The majority of players who want offline do so for a simpler reason: because they have bad internet connection, or none at all, and still want to be able to enjoy LE.
There might be a few matching your description, but that would be a very, very small amount of players.
That’s just not true. It might not have thousands of mods like BG3 does, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have mods. Even a train wreck like Wolcen has dozens of mods.
Yes. Judd said it but specifically for newly introduced boss fights. It’s to prevent offline from quickly finding optimal strategy to defeat the boss thru free modding of your character abilities and items.
