Just to clarify

unless you want to upload your score to the metaverse(you dont connect to anything) the only times you need to be online is for updates

'In order to test for galciv i won't need to connect to ANY servers? (sept when dowloading) unlike in steller frontier in which you have to connect to a server in order to make a "accout/hero"'

Updating and submitting scores to the Metaverse are the only times you will need to connect, and submitting scores is optional.

And just to note, you don't need to go online to play Stellar Frontier, either. I haven't actually connected to the SF Nexus for a year or so except to download the 1.04 update.

but you do send a signel to the SF nexus when you make your ship though...

thats why i cant play even when i want to play aginst the computer

I have no problems playing off-line, and, in fact, have no online character anymore. I never even have a connection open when I play SF.

I sometimes start GalCiv without starting Dregin.net. I have cable so I'm always connected. Will this affect my Metaverse/gameplay at all?

Ted,

I am always starting GC directly from a shortcut I created and put on the desk top without having the DGM active. When I finish a game and have the game summary screen displayed I switch to the desk top (Alt-Tab) and start up my dial-up connection. Then I switch back to the game and complete the end game sequence. This has worked for me every time. Some people have had trouble with sending scores to the MetaVerse, but I have the impression that those problems had nothing to do how the game was started (whether the game was started from DGM, a shortcut, or from within the galciv directory).