Offline Mode (2.5.1 and beyond)

[finch]

uuuhhh nice... I just did a test... I changed my date 4 days ahead and disconnected internet... and voilà... my modules are disabled! nice...

 

where can I ask for a refund? wasn't like this when I bought all the modules back in time...

 

BEFORE A CONNECTION WAS REQUIRED ONLY TO ACTIVATE THE MODULES!!!!!!!!

[BIGNEWY]

uuuhhh nice... I just did a test... I changed my date 4 days ahead and disconnected internet... and voilà... my modules are disabled! nice...

 

where can I ask for a refund? wasn't like this when I bought all the modules back in time...

 

BEFORE A CONNECTION WAS REQUIRED ONLY TO ACTIVATE THE MODULES!!!!!!!!

 

Working as intended, thanks for testing

 

pro tip: don't change the date of your pc and disconnect your internet.

 

Support can always be contacted here

 

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/support/

 

please read the EULA before doing so

 

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/support/license/

[finch]

Working as intended, thanks for testing

 

pro tip: don't change the date of your pc and disconnect your internet.

 

Support can always be contacted here

 

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/support/

 

please read the EULA before doing so

 

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/support/license/

 

Yeah... thank you is always nice have answers from you guys with your sarcasm...

[David OC]

uuuhhh nice... I just did a test... I changed my date 4 days ahead and disconnected internet... and voilà... my modules are disabled! nice...

 

where can I ask for a refund? wasn't like this when I bought all the modules back in time...

 

BEFORE A CONNECTION WAS REQUIRED ONLY TO ACTIVATE THE MODULES!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks for testing that for us finch:thumbup: was wondering what would happen.

 

Guy's lets just see how it goes, ED already made changes for people that go away a lot and don't have internet for weeks etc. All they need to do is not mess with there bios when offline, not many will anyway or need to.

 

The only thing I see if there are many people in countries that will lose there internet for over 3 days, as finch has pointed out:) Depending on statistics going forward (Support Desk tickets), then perhaps bump it to 5 days no internet if needed etc.

 

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Edited May 6, 2018 by David OC

[finch]

Thanks for testing that for us finch:thumbup: was wondering what would happen.

 

Guy's lets just see how it goes, ED already made changes for people that go away a lot and don't have internet for weeks etc. All they need to do is not mess with there bios when offline, not many will anyway or need to.

 

The only thing I see if there are many people in countries that will lose there internet for over 3 days, as finch has pointed out:) Depending on statistics going forward (Support Desk tickets), then perhaps bump it to 5 days no internet if needed etc.

 

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not if you lose internet for 3 days, but if you don't run the game for 3 days, and when you decide to play and you don't have internet then you can't use it.

[BIGNEWY]

not if you lose internet for 3 days, but if you don't run the game for 3 days, and when you decide to play and you don't have internet then you can't use it.

 

If you are without internet for more than 3 days often I would suggest using the offline mode, you will be ensuring you can play, it is there to be used.

[finch]

If you are without internet for more than 3 days often I would suggest using the offline mode, you will be ensuring you can play, it is there to be used.

 

BIGNEWY, I'm not concerned of losing internet for 3 days... the problem is that somebody don't run the game in 3 days or more then when he/she will decide to play and don't have internet then can't use it or go offline, with this protection you are limiting the legitimated users to play, you know that? I can lose internet just for 1 hour, 1 day or whatelse but if this happen after the 3 days that i haven't run DCS then I'm not allowed to play. And why I should remember to switch offline and online if I decide to don't play for a week or 3 days? You are asking everyboidy to do this to prevent problems... but the main problem is that this solution is not going to work for everybody

[BIGNEWY]

Sure in this "what if scenario" you would not be able to play.

 

Bearing in mind a tethered phone is enough to connect.

 

For 99% of the users out there 3 days is more than enough.

 

ED have given this a lot of thought, they listened to the feed back and they provided an off line mode for users without internet connections for long periods, it is working well as far as I can tell. We will have to see what ED decide in the future.

 

You feedback will be seen so thanks for sharing it.

[finch]

last thing, so I will not seem I'm against any kind of protection, why we can't have a system like steam? Is ED afraid somebody can install it on more than one computers? and if so? where is the problem in having 1 or more PC with the game, and use it not at the same time? another example, If I live in 2 cities and I have 1 PC in an house and another in the other house, right now I need to buy the modules twice to use it, right? with steam I can install the software in all the PCs that I want and use it not at the same time, it's a different approach... steam is linked to the user, DCS standalone is linked to a machine that I can't touch or I will lose my rights to play... it's frustrating

[BIGNEWY]

last thing, so I will not seem I'm against any kind of protection, why we can't have a system like steam? Is ED afraid somebody can install it on more than one computers? and if so? where is the problem in having 1 or more PC with the game, and use it not at the same time? another example, If I live in 2 cities and I have 1 PC in an house and another in the other house, right now I need to buy the modules twice to use it, right? with steam I can install the software in all the PCs that I want and use it not at the same time, it's a different approach... steam is linked to the user, DCS standalone is linked to a machine that I can't touch or I will lose my rights to play... it's frustrating

 

Wrong

 

you can login to your ED account on a different pc. You just can not login to the same account on two pc's at the same time.

 

The only reason to buy a module twice is if you are using two pc's at the same time then you would need another account to do so.

 

Also on topic for off line mode:

 

You can not go offline on PC "A" and then online on PC "B" it has to be done from PC "A"

[David OC]

last thing, so I will not seem I'm against any kind of protection, why we can't have a system like steam? Is ED afraid somebody can install it on more than one computers? and if so? where is the problem in having 1 or more PC with the game, and use it not at the same time? another example, If I live in 2 cities and I have 1 PC in an house and another in the other house, right now I need to buy the modules twice to use it, right? with steam I can install the software in all the PCs that I want and use it not at the same time, it's a different approach... steam is linked to the user, DCS standalone is linked to a machine that I can't touch or I will lose my rights to play... it's frustrating

 

I believe Steam has not enough protection, ED wants more and fair enough too, I would. If ED wasn't also on steam they might have gone a different way.

 

I have steal beasts which uses the CodeMeter dongle for licensing.

 

 

They also use Time-Limited License also, that just loads in the container. This works for them and is very secure for their software, they don't sell any individual modules so ED couldn't use this type of security. Plus I pay yearly to use this software, ED would love that right...;)

 

 

 

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[finch]

Wrong

 

you can login to your ED account on a different pc. You just can not login to the same account on two pc's at the same time.

 

The only reason to buy a module twice is if you are using two pc's at the same time then you would need another account to do so.

 

Also on topic for off line mode:

 

You can not go offline on PC "A" and then online on PC "B" it has to be done from PC "A"

 

no wait.. I didn't understand... so what you are telling is :

 

I can install DCS on the PC A

I can install DCS on the PC B

I login to PC A and all my modules are ready and I can play

I logoff on PC A

I do everything I want to PC A (change hardware, bios, HD, format, destroy it without loosing my rights to use DCS)

I login to PC B and my modules are ready and I can play

in the meantime my PC A is ready again because I formatted it or repaired it so I go offline to PC B and can use again the PC A

 

and I can do all this without the ED's help? if this is the scenario then I'm sorry because I thought something different

[birdstrike]

what happens if i stay in online mode and just dont start my pc for more than 3days? will i run into trouble?

[BIGNEWY]

no wait.. I didn't understand... so what you are telling is :

 

I can install DCS on the PC A

I can install DCS on the PC B

I login to PC A and all my modules are ready and I can play

I logoff on PC A

I do everything I want to PC A (change hardware, bios, HD, format, destroy it without loosing my rights to use DCS)

I login to PC B and my modules are ready and I can play

in the meantime my PC A is ready again because I formatted it or repaired it so I go offline to PC B and can use again the PC A

 

and I can do all this without the ED's help? if this is the scenario then I'm sorry because I thought something different

 

If you are going to make changes to PC "A" you would want to ensure your were not in offline mode first and deactivated any module using the old starforce. Then you could do whatever you want to PC "A"

[finch]

If you are going to make changes to PC "A" you would want to ensure your were not in offline mode first and deactivated any module using the old starforce. Then you could do whatever you want to PC "A"

ahhhhhhhhh so the starforce is still present? still need to deactivate the modules? we still have the 10 activations/deactivations?

 

edit:

wait... you said "the modules using the old starforce", ok.... means that some modules are still using starforce and some not, right?... but will be the old starforce modules be migrated to the new system?

[David OC]

what happens if i stay in online mode and just dont start my pc for more than 3days? will i run into trouble?

 

No as long as you can connect to the internet and validate the license, if my internet went down, never has tho. I would tether my phone to the PC to validate the license. I.E When you relaunch DCS.

 

If you think you wont have internet for whatever reason or taking your laptop away with no internet, use the offline mode.

 

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[BIGNEWY]

ahhhhhhhhh so the starforce is still present? still need to deactivate the modules? we still have the 10 activations/deactivations?

 

Only on some older modules, ED is moving away from starforce with the new DRM. I would imagine they will all eventually be using the new system

[finch]

Only on some older modules, ED is moving away from starforce with the new DRM. I would imagine they will all eventually be using the new system

 

yes... I edited my message when you were answering :)

now everything is clear, not perfect because in the rare case something happen when you are not offline you still need to contact ED and ask to have your modules reactivated

 

ahhhhhhhhh so the starforce is still present? still need to deactivate the modules? we still have the 10 activations/deactivations?

 

edit:

wait... you said "the modules using the old starforce", ok.... means that some modules are still using starforce and some not, right?... but will be the old starforce modules be migrated to the new system?

 

ah... how can I know what modules are still using starforce and what don't?

Edited May 6, 2018 by finch

[BIGNEWY]

No worries, a lot of these what if scenarios will never happen. The majority of users wont even come across them. If they do the support team are ready to help.

[sc_neo]

@BIGNEWY Could you relay that notion of automating the switching between offline/online mode when accessing and exiting multiplayer as i described in posts 61 and 67 to ED?

 

Would you say that this somehow undermines or impinges on the idea of EDs new protection system?

[finch]

If you put standalone DCS into offline mode you need to re-enable it on the same pc before making changes to a PC. It can not be enabled from a different PC

 

sorry, I was reading back but this message you wrote seem to contraddict what we said lately, am I wrong?

 

damn... I'm confused now.... so when I can change the hardware/bios/hd or modify something on my PC? I have to be online or offline??

Edited May 6, 2018 by finch

[BIGNEWY]

sorry, I was reading back but this message you wrote seem to contraddict what we said lately, am I wrong?

 

damn... I'm confused now.... so when I can change the hardware/bios/hd or modify something on my PC? I have to be online or offline??

 

Offline mode is tied to your hardware ID and account on the PC you went offline with, changing the PC while in off line mode will create a problem.

 

I dont understand the confusion. It is simple I think, if you dont have a connection for long periods use off line mode, for everyone else there is not an issue. Carry on as normal.

Edited May 6, 2018 by BIGNEWY

[BIGNEWY]

@BIGNEWY Could you relay that notion of automating the switching between offline/online mode when accessing and exiting multiplayer as i described in posts 61 and 67 to ED?

 

Would you say that this somehow undermines or impinges on the idea of EDs new protection system?

 

if you go into offline mode you can not use multiplayer, you need to enable it to go online and use multiplayer or update, or download a module.

 

There is no automatic switching, you have to do it manually.

 

or am I missing what you are saying?

[finch]

Offline mode is tied to your hardware ID on the PC you went offline with, changing the PC while in off line mode will create a problem.

 

I dont understand the confusion. It is simple I think, if you dont have a connection for long periods use off line mode, for everyone else there is not an issue. Carry on as normal.

 

so how can I use the 2 PC as in your example? I can't go offline on one and then online on the other because as you said now I need to go online again on the same PC, this is confusing me... and again... if I need to change my hardware what should I do? leave it online?

[sc_neo]

yes, you do sort of. I think i know how the current implementation works and its fairly simple to understand.

 

What am asking to be considered; make the switch between online mode and offline mode automatic (not requiring manual user action) so whenever people either leave multiplayer or shut down dcs, offline mode is automatically enabled (provided there is an active internet connection). No matter how long users don't start DCS, if there is an internet outage that day DCS is still in offline mode.