Hamish W

I find it quite disappointing. I don't have 160 AUD to drop on software that I'm not really convinced is much of an upgrade, especially given the main changes seem to be a slight redesign with a mixed reception and some basic tools that should have already been in the program. I wouldn't really have a problem if there was fair upgrade pricing for previous customers, especially given how many of us have voluntarily supported Affinity through the store. I'm a hobbyist so it's quite difficult to justify. The excuse for not offering upgrade pricing is weak. Some of the sales have been made in app stores, so it is impossible to offer a discount? There are so many ways to make that not a problem, like having the upgrade offer be contained inside a licenced version of the app, on the popup where you regularly advertise... offers. If you had said you needed the money to keep the company going, then that's fair, but you didn't, instead making up a weird excuse and dodging the question that is seeming to frustrate a lot of customers. I've been an Affinity user for a while, but imagine someone who just bought the whole suite a month or two ago for full price. Well, they're now completely screwed, because 2.0 was not announced in advance, and new customers were still being sold a promise of future updates for their software which will now get none. Will they ever trust Serif or want to be a repeat customer? Nope. No warning. The most frustrating thing for me is the way it has been communicated (or perhaps miscommunicated). Over time, I separately bought the apps for a combined total of 165 AUD. It's weirdly insulting that you are now saying I can rebuy all the software for 160 AUD which is a limited time bundle price, making it a whole 5 AUD less than when I bought all the apps separately. Out of the blue I have to double the amount of money I've spent on Affinity software to get any more updates, and there is no roadmap or transparency or commitment for how long it is until I'll wake up one morning and get an email saying it's happening all over again with 3.0. For people working at Serif, please remember that while you may have known about this coming change for a long time, all of this was just dropped on us customers like a rock with absolutely no heads up. It might still be a nice deal for new customers, but it is not the generous deal for us that you are trying to imply. It's just a terrible deal. The Affinity software I own suddenly stops getting any updates immediately, with no prior warning. This legacy version is still relatively rough around the edges and has plenty of bugs that will never be patched. I can now spend the same amount of money all over again to continue getting updates using a limited-for-an-unknown-period-of-time offer and bundle price, which would only be a good deal if I wasn't already a committed user owning all the apps and supporting the store. This new software that I am being pushed to buy has absolutely no commitment, because getting updates until 3.0 could mean 10 years or it could mean 3 months. If I buy just one or two of the apps, then the files will no longer be intercompatible, nullifying one of the main selling points. My reward for being a loyal customer and supporter is absolutely nothing, and the seriously bad timing given the current global economic timing is weird. It's being called an 'upgrade' when there is no upgrade pricing and really you just have to buy it all again. That is replacing, not upgrading. It's still possible to go ahead and clean up the mistake to restore all of the customer faith that has just been burnt for no reason by offering upgrade pricing, including retroactively. Additionally, there is clearly a lot of need for transparency and communication, especially given how invested into your ecosystem you want people to be. Again, if your company needs more money, just say so — I'd buy a properly signposted update for fair upgrade pricing every 3-6 years without hesitation. I would be willing to keep buying from the store to make sure Affinity stays profitable while getting a little something in return. While I'd absolutely love to keep supporting Affinity, I have absolutely no reason to trust Serif ever again until this situation is resolved.