Affinity V2, updates, pricing and no subscription (moved)

[Cantisani]

4 hours ago, Terkoz said:

I'm afraid sir that it is you that has missinterpretted the situation when you purchased the software. There isn't an application on the planet that will keep updating a version of a program for a couple of years after it has been superceded. It is standard practice now that when you buy a software package you have access to updates for the life of that version. For when the next one comes out all development usually stops on the superceded codebase. This is why some companies offer a free upgrade to the next version when one is imminent. Not all companies do this though. In fact I think it is happening less and less these days because the communication between companies and their customers is much better these days. A lot of people are complaining about the level of communication from Affinity but it is actually much better than most. Not perfect of course but don't forget this is a small company that can't afford to have a huge communication team. 

Oh and the comments about fanboys? Man you don't know me at all. I've been a software developer for thirty plus years and am very hard on companies I use doing the wrong thing. It's just that in this case I've never seen such unfair criticism and felt the need to speak up.

I agree with every word you said. 🍺

[BigGandalf]

Some on here are misunderstanding me, I never said I expect lifetime updates but I expected for this lifetime slogan to mean that I get longer than my 6 months of updates, also I've seen some YouTube videos of v2 and they are saying that they are dissatisfied as it's not a major update to what some of you claim, they say you can do the same in v1.

[MDArt]

It is a major update, they've added loads of features.. it's £90 to own, that's really affordable, Adobe suite £50 a month to rent. Astute Graphics £130 no vat, so £150 to rent (plugins not even software). Zbrush £110 a year to rent. The value of owning software is so important to me, if anything happens and you and you can't afford to pay subscriptions they take away your rights to use.. In today's world and unpredictability, I like to know I have something I can use no matter what happens.. It's affinitys biggest selling point for me and I'm so glad they've held onto that pricing model.

I've bought digital products and they went on sale the very next day! This happened 3 times, I could of saved £250 but nevermind, sometimes shit happens.. don't lose sleep over it.. You can see how most people are fine with the update because they know how expensive software can be.. affinity is very cheap. 

[MDArt]

[GeRo]

9 hours ago, rvst said:

You can't buy the shares 

Of course. Just wanted to know why Terkoz creates fake news about dividend. Thanks anyway, rvst.

[PaulEC]

3 hours ago, BigGandalf said:

Some on here are misunderstanding me, I never said I expect lifetime updates but I expected for this lifetime slogan to mean that I get longer than my 6 months of updates, also I've seen some YouTube videos of v2 and they are saying that they are dissatisfied as it's not a major update to what some of you claim, they say you can do the same in v1.

Some people don't seem to understand that if someone bought a piece of software when it first came out, several years ago, they had to wait for years for many updates to be added. Someone who bought the same software a few months ago already has all those updates included. "Old" purchasers and "new" ones have exactly the same version of the software, the only difference is that some people had to wait for the updates to be added, while others received the software with all those updates already included!

(By the way, personally I would not believe everything I see on YouTube or on social media!)

[BigGandalf]

1 hour ago, PaulEC said:

Some people don't seem to understand that if someone bought a piece of software when it first came out, several years ago, they had to wait for years for many updates to be added. Someone who bought the same software a few months ago already has all those updates included. "Old" purchasers and "new" ones have exactly the same version of the software, the only difference is that some people had to wait for the updates to be added, while others received the software with all those updates already included!

(By the way, personally I would not believe everything I see on YouTube or on social media!)

You have a point, thanks for sharing. 

Your point is very valid and it does make perfect sense but that would mean that those who bought it even a month ago shouldn't get a free copy of v2 as they bought all of those same updates included in it.

[PaulEC]

10 minutes ago, BigGandalf said:

Your point is very valid and it does make perfect sense but that would mean that those who bought it even a month ago shouldn't get a free copy of v2 as they bought all of those same updates included in it.

I think the thing with people who bought v1 very recently is not about how many updates they get, it's more about how long they have used it before v2 was released. I can see that it is a bit annoying to buy one version of a piece of software, only to find that a new version is available a few weeks later. (I believe that in these cases Serif are trying to rectify the situation!)

[BigGandalf]

Thanks @PaulEC

Yes it's all very confusing, I was going to buy an Ipad pro mainly for affinity photo, but now v1 is not available and the v2 would not be compatible with my v1 on my pc. Very frustrating, only workaround is getting a windows tablet.

I waited for black friday too, That's why it's made me more annoyed.

[Artsketch]

1 minute ago, BigGandalf said:

only workaround is getting a windows tablet.

This wouldn't be a workaround, you can't compare it to an iPad Pro.

[BigGandalf]

3 minutes ago, Artsketch said:

This wouldn't be a workaround, you can't compare it to an iPad Pro.

The surface 8 Pro, some have traded there Ipad pro and macbook in for one of these.

[Dangerous]

5 hours ago, BigGandalf said:

Some on here are misunderstanding me, I never said I expect lifetime updates but I expected for this lifetime slogan to mean that I get longer than my 6 months of updates, also I've seen some YouTube videos of v2 and they are saying that they are dissatisfied as it's not a major update to what some of you claim, they say you can do the same in v1.

Serif have said they will be continuing with updates to Ver 1 but not new feature additions so you will receive more than 6 months updates in the future. Ver 1 will continue to work for you as long as your OS allows it.

Ver 2 does contain features that Ver 1 can't do and from what I understand is a major rewrite to the core program to allow continued development. You don't have to upgrade but the offer is a good one. I took the odder within minutes of the site going live despite just getting AD & AP around 6 months ago and I have no issue with the update cost. I don't have a commercial use so I will not 'get my money back'.

 

[Dangerous]

37 minutes ago, BigGandalf said:

Thanks @PaulEC

Yes it's all very confusing, I was going to buy an Ipad pro mainly for affinity photo, but now v1 is not available and the v2 would not be compatible with my v1 on my pc. Very frustrating, only workaround is getting a windows tablet.

I waited for black friday too, That's why it's made me more annoyed.

Go for the package, it is cost effective as you will then have the Ver 2 for your pc, the ipad of surface pro and a mac version if you decide to get one in the future and still have V1 to use if you want to.

[BigGandalf]

46 minutes ago, Dangerous said:

Serif have said they will be continuing with updates to Ver 1 but not new feature additions so you will receive more than 6 months updates in the future. Ver 1 will continue to work for you as long as your OS allows it.

Ver 2 does contain features that Ver 1 can't do and from what I understand is a major rewrite to the core program to allow continued development. You don't have to upgrade but the offer is a good one. I took the odder within minutes of the site going live despite just getting AD & AP around 6 months ago and I have no issue with the update cost. I don't have a commercial use so I will not 'get my money back'.

 

Yes I know, It's only critical updates for v1 now as far as I'm aware, as they'll be focusing only on v2 now, unless the next os update breaks v1 then they'll patch it to make it work again, I don't use it for commercial either, I'd never get a mac, don't really want an Ipad, the new iPhone 14 they made it non repairable, they put chips in screens, I don't like this stance from apple, I've heard apple may go subscription based soon too.

Its just that the Ipad pro is way cheaper than the Windows tablet, it's tempting. But doubt I'd upgrade after just 6 months though.

An idea is to buy another photo program instead, then it's a win win. Best of both worlds.

Thank you @Dangerous

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by BigGandalf

[GeRo]

3 hours ago, BigGandalf said:

the new iPhone 14 they made it non repairable, they put chips in screens

which has so much to do with Affinity V2, updates, pricing and no subscription

[A_B_C]

But one probably shouldn’t examine every single remark in this thread against the question whether it is exactly on topic. I would have to consider my own, earlier comments as off-topic then as well … they are probably even more off-topic than BigGandalf’s cursory remark … 😉 😁

[Terkoz]

9 hours ago, GeRo said:

Of course. Just wanted to know why Terkoz creates fake news about dividend. Thanks anyway, rvst.

LOL .. you sir are priceless. I said companies have to make money to pay dividends. This is not fake news but a fact of life. Now I wasn't aware that Affinity was owned by an individual as this is a general discussion not a news piece. So in this case the owner needs to make profit to pay for his investment in the company. Which is exactly the same thing. You seem to be the only one who doesn't get this.

[bayustudio]

16 hours ago, debraspicher said:

That's unfortunate, but you did get the later features. Some of us had to wait a bit for current tools. Though it is nice to be part of something as it changes over time. So yeah, you'll get to enjoy that feeling with V2.

Yeah, the excitement when a company announce new shiny features and you can get them right away
Its the perfect time to start experiencing it with fresh v2

[GeRo]

27 minutes ago, Terkoz said:

I wasn't aware that Affinity was owned by an individual

So this is why you wrote that it has to pay "it*s investers" a dividend. Understood!

[Frozen Death Knight]

On 11/19/2022 at 6:10 PM, Matthew Dickerson said:

Also just wanted to say for those v1 users complaining about not getting an upgrade discount - It's great that new and old users are getting a big 40% discount..

More New customers = More Money = More funds for development and hiring = More features and improvements = BETTER FOR EVERYONE!

 

Yep. With this announcement they also stated that the sales have exceeded expectations by nearly three times the amount within the first week. Clearly this launch offer has paid off for them and eventually for us who bought V2.

[knightlines]

Hi Ash,

Am I right in thinking that you are planning to bring V2 out as a full-blown install like V1 rather that an App version. I use NX studio to view my images from the camera and I use to be able to open directly into Affinity Photo from there, but with V2 this has not been possible. I really miss this way of working. What are your plans please? or is there a way in which I can do it anyway? Thanks for a great piece of software and keep up the good work. Regards Vic.

[walt.farrell]

53 minutes ago, knightlines said:

I use NX studio to view my images from the camera and I use to be able to open directly into Affinity Photo from there, but with V2 this has not been possible.

The instructions in this FAQ should help you. Some applications may work using the information in the first post. Others may need the helper .exe file from the second post.

 

[debraspicher]

On 11/20/2022 at 5:19 PM, GeRo said:

which has so much to do with Affinity V2, updates, pricing and no subscription

<sarcasm>Just wait until they start putting chips in us. That's why they're being so secretive. Was the sandbox solution actually meant for our thoughts? I think so. The lifetime wording makes so much sense now, it's so they can send our chips updates.</sarcasm>

[debraspicher]

3 hours ago, GeRo said:

So this is why you wrote that it has to pay "it*s investers" a dividend. Understood!

When I checked their wiki recently, it said Serif was owned by Serif Senior Management which was not very helpful.

[DigitalVisuals]

it was already clear from the beginning that every new version has a new licence model.  Yes Serif can ask some more for it, thats their rights. Every thing cost more, also they have to buy also their food and more.
So simple I have buy the new one without complaining.