AffinityJules

Is it the software you don't like or the fact that you don't get discounts? It's not very clear.
As far as pricing goes, Affinity products are very competitive rather than extortionate and what they offer represents good value for money. There is no obligation for a company to offer discounts across any of their product ranges, none at all. If it were the case that product loyalty is rewarded then were does it begin and end? I could argue that, because I have been a loyal fan of the writer Steven King, and bought most of his books over the years, then would I be right in expecting a discount when I buy one of his books? I also own several Gibson guitars which I have collected over the years, and as an identical example, have I the right to expect a loyalty discount if I buy another one?
It doesn't really matter if the product is physical or virtual, the company producing it must survive in order to grow and adapt to modern times, even if it means changing or modifying their products.

As a longtime Mac user I had never used Serif's legacy apps because, well, they were for Windows. I think that you have to appreciate that over time, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with old legacy code, to add new features, to keep up with the changing Operating systems, etc.
If Serif wanted to increase the number of customers by also including Mac OS, how were they going to do that easily by porting their old code? To take advantage of new hardware and technologies, modern APIs, etc, they had to literally start over from scratch with a new slate, and this allowed them to develop for both Windows and Mac and iOS. They have said they aren't developing for Android or Linux but if they were at least it would be possible now. This is not something that is unique to Serif, I have seen many software companies over the years having to eventually rewrite their apps at some point, it is just a fact of life.
You may find yourself patting yourself on the back, proud that your old Serif apps work right now but there is no guarantee that they will continue to do so. I had bought many Adobe CS apps before they went to their CC cloud. On the Mac, on the latest MacOS, it becomes problematic trying to install older software. I keep an old Mac Pro with MacOS 10.7.5 so that I can run some of these older apps. You may find that Microsoft makes some OS changes in the future that suddenly make your Serif apps not run as smoothly. It is just the nature of the beast.
I must say that buying software, and each user's different views on what they expect, what they think they are entitled to, what they think they deserve, has always been fascinating to me. I have the utmost respect for software developers, the coders, etc. It seems like such a thankless job though, with far too many people ready to dismiss your efforts. Everybody seemingly wants everything for free. I don't understand that logic and never will.

I think the main change is mindset, comparing Affinity Photo to Photoshop will likely end in frustration because what people do is try to make Affinity Photo the same as Photoshop but Adobe has a 30 year head start and while some things may be similar such as Keyboard shortcuts it's just not a good idea to hold on to the Photoshop framework.
Affinity Photo isn't Photoshop, it's not a Photoshop Killer either, the killer for Photoshop is the subscription model, if Photoshop was the same or even twice the price of Affinity Photo I would bet my Grandma that most people who have bought Affinity Photo would have bought Photoshop instead. Adobe made the mistake of alienating its amateur users and forcing them into a subscription model that is really for Professionals that use Photoshop everyday and so can realise the cost as acceptable and work it into their fee's.
So, forget what Photoshop can do and focus on what Affinity Photo can do and how it does it. You have made a good start by wanting to orient yourself to all things Affinity and there are a substantial array of tutorials available, see my sig below for links to the tutorial section. 
Then of course you have us, the Affinity forum, which, I think is one of the best forums around, with eager to help people from all levels from professionals to the dabbler.

"I feel stupid asking, but where's the smooth selection tool?"
The 'smooth" tool/option can be found in the "select" window (top of the screen). Click on that, then select "smooth."

Hi All,
Stairs Down To Heaven,
Done with Affinity Photo.
See you with nice photos
Klaus
 
 

Cripes! If this is what you can produce when you're bored, then I'm all for seeing what you produce when you're interested.

Miss Maude Fealy - Colourisation

Completed (for the time being). This is what the painting would look like when framed. Current size over 1 meter tall, but infinitely scalable because it's all vector.

 

Cripes! If this is what you can produce when you're bored, then I'm all for seeing what you produce when you're interested.

Or most things starting with V! Bit of a doodle, I was going to have it as a solid pattern but liked the look of sort of capping the top and bottom and leaving some background.

Update 060618 01:44.

Tribute to Elon Musk's inspiring SpaceX corporation, in a retro-futuristic poster style. Hope you like it.

I've always been a Chess player as far back as I can remember.
This picture is a fanciful acknowledgement of that.

I've always been a Chess player as far back as I can remember.
This picture is a fanciful acknowledgement of that.

I've always been a Chess player as far back as I can remember.
This picture is a fanciful acknowledgement of that.

I've always been a Chess player as far back as I can remember.
This picture is a fanciful acknowledgement of that.

Thanks RIck G.

I've always been a Chess player as far back as I can remember.
This picture is a fanciful acknowledgement of that.

Not too sure why I did this, it just grabbed me as a good idea.

I couldn't help do a few tweaks to this as the first one had a few things that where bugging me - also have tried to add more of a sense of depth and movement
 

Just had a go at redrawing an all vector version of Chico Chung, a Kung Fu penguin character I did for the band EMPEROR CHUNG - I originally did the logo in illustrator so I cheated a bit 

Affinity photo and Krita. Personal work.

Not too sure why I did this, it just grabbed me as a good idea.

To celebrate 40 years since my fav movie was released ---- all vector
 

Not too sure why I did this, it just grabbed me as a good idea.