Possible ongoing concerted attack on Affinity 2 on these forums

[Medical Officer Bones]

I have noticed that the majority of negative and "disappointed will not upgrade" threads since V2 was released are all started by new accounts. There seems to be a recurring pattern: focus on a single missing feature that's been requested for a longer time or on the new Windows installation method. Or undermine the new features.

Quite a few also mention they will not invest in v2 further and insist they are loyal, but disappointed users. Or "I am really interested, but..." then say they cannot purchase the software until that X feature, that the Y commercial option happens to have, is added. Or they mention they will not upgrade. "It's a promising release, but we should wait it out". "Why isn't feature X implemented yet! Outrageous!".

All of them are thread starters. All seem focused on one thing: focusing on generating negative feelings about V2 and the Affinity products. And all of them are created by accounts that were set up by new accounts following the V2 release. Some use older accounts that were inactive for a long time.

And these accounts often respond to other complaints if that thread is not gaining enough traction.

If I were the moderators, I would investigate if a concerted attack is going on to undermine the v2 release. It seems rather suspicious.

I thought about listing examples, but I think that it becomes quite obvious for moderators once spotted.

[Aongus Collins]

A similar thought crossed my mind.

[deeds]

Or it could be that you can't (or won't) recognise genuine disgruntlement.

[tudor]

That’s what you get when:

• The price of admission is very low ➡️ you attract a lot of users who will always complain about prices.
• Don’t have a roadmap, no public beta-testing for the major software releases, overhyped marketing before launch, bugs from v1 still not fixed in v2  ➡️ you end up disappointing some pro users.

And of course, there are some of them who just like to annoy anyone who is genuinely happy with what Affinity offers. But the main source of negativity on the forums is caused by Affinity’s own actions. 

[Aongus Collins]

If some people are disappointed and want to provide feedback, that's what this forum is for. Fine. Especially when they highlight specific issues. And some people have gone to a lot of trouble to describe and illustrate issues. Unfortunately it seems to me that other posts have expressed a level of negativity I'd associate more with Tw*tt*r than a  forum for graphics professionals. Just my two cents.

[rawii22]

That's a good point. There is one thing I can think of that might explain some of what you're talking about. I've used affinity for multiple years, and I only learned just now that your affinity store account and forum account are not connected, so I just made my account literally 5 minutes ago. I've read many forums on here for years as well, but not actually wanted to post anything until today since people feel so passionately about the V2 update, both positive and negative 😵

So, if I leave any feedback it's because I love affinity and not the other way around! 😁 Anything to keep affinity on top of adobe...

[François R]

We are just experiencing the dark side of human nature. And with this conspiracy theory, we've almost been 360 degrees around it.

Edited November 13, 2022 by François R

[Poor Composition]

So people who got 5 years of use out of Affinity 1 and/or have had their needs met in version 2 have an "I got mine" attitude and want to make unfounded allegations against people who aren't in that group to silence them.

[konbit]

I'm a new account. I came here and signed up to complain because I received an email from Affinity 2 days ago, telling me that the purchase that I just made for "lifetime" software was no longer being updated, etc.

I assume a lot of other new users – who would otherwise have no incentive to come here – are in a similar boat. 

"Concerted attack" seems to be a rather more elaborate explanation.

[tudor]

1 hour ago, Aongus Collins said:

Unfortunately it seems to me that other posts have expressed a level of negativity I'd associate more with Tw*tt*r than a  forum for graphics professionals.

Most negativity doesn't come from graphics professionals, but from people who don't use these apps to make money.

2 minutes ago, konbit said:

I'm a new account. I came here and signed up to complain because I received an email from Affinity 2 days ago, telling me that the purchase that I just made for "lifetime" software was no longer being updated, etc.

You already have your v1 license for life. What are you complaining about? Nobody promised you'll get free updates forever. That's not how software development works. Have you even used paid software before?

[myclay]

Signed in her since 2016  ( if it matters at all) , some complaints are imo warranted, some are indeed baffling and some are due to lack of usage knowledge.
We should try our best as seasoned users/customers of affinity products to help newcomers where it is possible.

[Optische Ausrichtung]

3 minutes ago, konbit said:

the purchase that I just made for "lifetime" software

Is there any reliable evidence for this statement? What makes you think Affintity will provide you with free updates for life?
 

[Artsketch]

Maybe people are afraid and angry that "lifetime" V1 isn't working anymore on next MacOS and iPadOS? It is ok to sell the V2 upgrade, but why exclude at least a necessary update to keep V1 running on next OS? Maybe it isn't necessary. 

[PaoloT]

5 hours ago, Medical Officer Bones said:

I have noticed that the majority of negative and "disappointed will not upgrade" threads since V2 was released are all started by new accounts.

That's one of the classic techniques for chaos. Just attack a weak point, possibly pointing to something concerning money, and then others will emulate your complaint. Rinvigorate at will. It would be very difficult for a moderator to recognize actual users and the agents of chaos.

Paolo

 

[konbit]

13 minutes ago, tudor said:

Most negativity doesn't come from graphics professionals, but from people who don't use these apps to make money.

You already have your v1 license for life. What are you complaining about? Nobody promised you'll get free updates forever. That's not how software development works. Have you even used paid software before?

No... I've never used software before. Thanks for the warm welcome. 

[konbit]

14 minutes ago, Optische Ausrichtung said:

Is there any reliable evidence for this statement? What makes you think Affintity will provide you with free updates for life?
 

Technically, I never got any free updates at all. Nevermind for life. Maybe it's because I'm part of the cabal that's working to bring Affinity down? 

[myclay]

People just need to acknowledge that they still have with V1 a perpetual license but it is now marked as legacy.
Affinity Suite 1 will continue to work on the original target operating systems with any OS update till it got marked as legacy.
Forward compatibility to new OS Updates or even OS versions can´t be guaranteed (cool if it works) and depends entirely on what Microsoft or Apple put as updates in their respective OS.

[PaulEC]

14 minutes ago, konbit said:

Technically, I never got any free updates at all.

Actually you got all the updates included in the version you purchased that the rest of us, who bought it before you, had to wait for!

Technically, either we should have got it cheaper, or you should have paid more, because you now have software with more updates than the versions other people bought years ago! 😉

[Pyanepsion]

On 11/13/2022 at 4:32 AM, Medical Officer Bones said:

I have noticed that the majority of negative and ‘disappointed will not upgrade’ threads since V2 was released are all started by new accounts.

It seemed obvious to me that there was a concerted attack, albeit at the margin, especially since one of these new accounts was talking about Affinity subscription before changing its text a little later. Too bad I didn’t have the presence of mind to fix the image.

Another mistake some of these new suspicious accounts make is to support each other in various very negative and unrelated messages. It should also be noted that none of the complainants provided any screenshots of purchases to support their claims.

Let’s remind here the new prices for desktop applications:

• Scribus = €0, but who really wants to use Scribus?
• QuarkXPress = €259 per year.
• Adobe Illustrator + Adobe Photoshop + Adobe Indesign = €71.97 per month, or €863.31 per year.

1. Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, or Affinity Publisher = €84.99 for life.
2. A combination of two programs = €169.98 for life.
3. All Affinity software = 326,94 € €199.99 for all platforms (Window, MacOs, iPad) for life.

There is an introductory discount of 40% for everyone, old and new users alike. New customers are obviously not concerned because they do not yet have the product, but if they were already thinking of buying (a priori by word of mouth?), they can also benefit from the promotional offer.

So, for a limited time: One Affinity Software only €48.99, two software only €97.98 €, all software only €119.99. all platforms, for life. That said, no one is forcing you to upgrade! Version 1 still works. For life. The same goes for the iPad version, starting at €14.99 instead of €24.99.

I therefore do not understand those who explain that they should pay even less.

 

[Poor Composition]

16 minutes ago, myclay said:

People just need to acknowledge that they still have with V1 a perpetual license but it is now marked as legacy.
Affinity Suite 1 will continue to work on the original target operating systems with any OS update till it got marked as legacy.
Forward compatibility to new OS Updates or even OS versions can´t be guaranteed (cool if it works) and depends entirely on what Microsoft or Apple put as updates in their respective OS.

People are acknowledging that. That's why people are unhappy. I bought the software 80 days before Serif abandoned it.  There is nothing reasonable about expecting someone to be satisfied with that situation. It shouldn't be "cool if it works" - it should be something that can be relied upon to work.

Serif should be addressing this in a way that doesn't involve buying a new product without consideration for what was just paid and the limited value provided. That's easily the worst customer service I've experienced from a software vendor.

[myclay]

The "cool if it works" is purely meant for any in the future related updates or upgrades of your used OS.

Has Affinity Photo/Designer/Publisher V1 stopped working today or yesterday? if not it is to be expected.

You could of course try to contact the customer support of Serif and ask if you might benefit of their grace period (bought the old Version just before the release/announcement)

[fde101]

38 minutes ago, Pyanepsion said:

QuarkXPress = €259 per year.

QuarkXPress also has a perpetual license when purchased directly ($699 normally but it is on sale at the moment and there are competitive upgrades); when purchased that way there is an annual upgrade plan for $299 per year, making it more expensive both upfront and ongoing than is subscribing (still cheaper than Adobe), but the license is perpetual - if you stop paying for the annual upgrade plan, you still have a license for whatever was current when your plan expires.

 

31 minutes ago, Poor Composition said:

I bought the software 80 days before Serif abandoned it. 

...

Serif should be addressing this in a way that doesn't involve buying a new product without consideration for what was just paid and the limited value provided.

The problem is that there is no consistent way for them to do so, as they have mentioned a few times already.  They might have done so for those who bought it from their store, but would not be able to for those who purchased from the various app stores, as they have no way to determine who that is.  If they offered upgrade pricing for those who purchased from their web site, but not for those who paid the same price to purchase from the app stores, they would just be shifting complaints to it being unfair that they are not accommodating the App Store users in the same way as those who purchased direct - again, something they can't really do in any consistent way.

There is simply no way to "win" that.

[rawii22]

On their website since 2020

Edited November 13, 2022 by rawii22

[Poor Composition]

Just now, myclay said:

The "cool if it works" is purely meant for any in the future related updates or upgrades of your used OS.

Has Affinity Photo/Designer/Publisher V1 stopped working today or yesterday? if not it is to be expected.

You could of course try to contact the customer support of Serif and ask if you might benefit of their grace period (bought the old Version just before the release/announcement)

I knew exactly what you meant. What you meant is wrong. It should be expected to work with updates for an OS on which it is supported for a reasonable amount of time. 80 days isn't reasonable. And just hope it works for a longer time isn't reasonable.

I did contact Serif and received a hard no. I didn't just post to the forums and say it was bad service.

[Poor Composition]

9 minutes ago, fde101 said:

QuarkXPress also has a perpetual license when purchased directly ($699 normally but it is on sale at the moment and there are competitive upgrades); when purchased that way there is an annual upgrade plan for $299 per year, making it more expensive both upfront and ongoing than is subscribing (still cheaper than Adobe), but the license is perpetual - if you stop paying for the annual upgrade plan, you still have a license for whatever was current when your plan expires.

 

The problem is that there is no consistent way for them to do so, as they have mentioned a few times already.  They might have done so for those who bought it from their store, but would not be able to for those who purchased from the various app stores, as they have no way to determine who that is.  If they offered upgrade pricing for those who purchased from their web site, but not for those who paid the same price to purchase from the app stores, they would just be shifting complaints to it being unfair that they are not accommodating the App Store users in the same way as those who purchased direct - again, something they can't really do in any consistent way.

There is simply no way to "win" that.

Except they are addressing it, with some people. There have been people receiving free upgrades or a 50% discount on top of the 40%. Unless all of those people are lying.