Farewell, and I am Personally Very Grateful To You ALL

[Patrick Connor]

As the head of QA for Affinity I have met many of you here on the Affinity forums, and I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you for helping make the Affinity suite what it is.

Some, indeed many of you will also have met me when we tested and worked on what we now call the Legacy range, for which I was initially a dev for PagePlus and later head of WebPlus and then Head of QA and then Head of Development of the final legacy releases (MPX6, PhPX8, DPX8, WPX8, PPX8 & PPX9), while Affinity was started behind the scenes.

I am personally very grateful for the help and assistance that you have offered other customers and staff alike to understand and improve the applications, and would like to say thank you and perhaps goodbye to some. I am not about to start naming you all, I will admit in the past we have run public and private betas with many here and the software benefitted hugely from your knowledge and ideas of how things can be better. If I started listing people I would forget someone and regret it, so please assume I do mean you, you are appreciated, yes even the "trolls". I know all your hearts are in the right place and just want things to be better, or you would not keep coming back.

You will shortly see what has been planned, but in the meantime this place will be switching to read only, so before it does please accept my personal thanks for everything you have done here. We have made something special that has a great future, and could not have done it without your help, and occasional deserved criticism. But lets not make this thread about that. Let's just say something (nice) about the great community it has been.

Thank you all so much, and see you soon I hope. 

 Farewell

Patrick Connor

[Arun Sarkar]

Hello

Thank you Patrick for anything & everything.

Wish you the best.

Regards

Arun

[Ali]

I hope that we shall be seeing you on the other side, Patrick! I am very glad to have met you (I'll never forget that Sunday lunchtime chat we had - hilarious!) and loved working with you behind the scenes, especially on PagePlus and WebPlus in the halcyon days - getting the hang of JIRA was an interesting process, but we got there in the end with your guidance.

Whilst I have not helped to test the Affinity range (I have only recently switched from PagePlus to Publisher), I have always understood the move you made away from the Plus range back then, even though I bemoaned the loss of a web design package at the time. This is another difficult moment, but I have always trusted you, and if you say it's going to be OK, then I shall sleep well. Hopefully Hallowe'en won't be what my daughter would call a 'jump scare' ... !!!

Good luck with the big reveal. I've always seen Serif as an extension of my family, especially as you are on what is home turf for me, and I hope that these changes are not going to impact negatively on your team. 

All the very best,
Ali x

[Affinity-Inspiration]

Farewell Patrick,

it's been an exciting time with fabulous software. Fabulous people with endless patience.

Thank you personally.

I look forward to the future.

[Alfred]

22 minutes ago, Patrick Connor said:

Head of Development of the final legacy releases (MPX6, PhPX8, DPX8, WPX8, PPX8 & PPX9)

I venture to suggest that the final update to CraftArtist 2 Pro (CA2) also deserves a mention, Patrick!

I’ve always enjoyed using and helping to test Serif software, and I look forward to seeing what you have in store for us at the end of the month. I’m sure I’m not alone in wishing we didn’t have to wait quite so long.

I hope that it isn’t “Farewell” so much as “Au revoir”.

Best wishes,
Alfred

[iuli]

Thank you for everything that you have done for this community since I can remember (2017). People like you were the Affinity’s soul. You’re a wonderful person.

Farewell, Patrick. 

[haakoo]

I also would pay my gratitude to you @Patrick Connor
I guess it wasn't an easy task coming from the Plus range which I used sparsely.
The first time I saw the affinities it was much in line with what I was used to with the program from Hemel Hempstead.
I knew there could be more to it but it stalled a bit, which I hope is somewhat corrected in the new iterations.
I hope, me challenging you and your staff didn't push any of you over the edge though.
I am Dutch and therefor, at times, blunt and direct and as a person sometimes "sour"😉
And like you said it was in the interest of progress.
So from me also the best of wishes for the future;

Hans or from whatever username you wish 😊

 

[jmwellborn]

It was “a sturdy belt in the kisser” as my son used to say as an 8-year old - when delivering or receiving a punch - to learn the news about my treasured Affinity apps.  But over these several years since first discovering them I have also learned to completely trust you and your elegant Serif team. Being rather long in the tooth, I plan to hang on firmly to my V2’s, while waiting with great curiosity for October 30.  I wish you and all your peers at Serif the very best in your next endeavor and look forward with great interest to see what you have created next!

[Old Bruce]

I have to say that I much prefer the recent "interesting times" here in the Serif/Affinity/Canva world. All the software I bought is still working and will continue to work regardless of the next phase. I am also more than just interested and curious as to how the next phase works out.

[SBH]

Dear Patrick,

thank you for your thoughtful message and for everything you’ve done for the Affinity community over so many years. Your dedication, professionalism, and calm presence have left a remarkable footprint.

I’ve always admired the team’s passion and commitment to both software and creativity. Some time ago, I even sent a little postcard (real hardware via snail mail 😄) to express my appreciation. I think it’s fair to say that your work has inspired and supported countless creatives around the world including myself. Thank you for shaping something truly special that many of us deeply care about.

It’s sad to see the forum closing its doors, but it’s comforting to know that the spirit of Affinity will live on. Thank you once again for your openness and your kindness toward this community.

Wishing you and your team all the very best for what’s next and hopefully, our paths will cross again soon.

[StuartRc]

Farewell Patrick....
.....Many thanks for the years of support, help and inspiration you have created here on these Forums....It is sad that they are coming to an end...BUT I am also sure that it is the beginning of a new journey...
...'Creative Freedom is Coming'.....well! personally I think it has it has been here for a long time...pretty much since these apps emerged into the world....
...certainly changed the way I do things now....😀
 

Once again big thanks.....it has been a fantastic journey....

[Patrick Connor]

Thank you all for your kind words, I am humbled.

[Frozen Death Knight]

Hey! Nice to see the face behind the keyboard!

Fare thee well! I do hope it does not mean forever though. 

[TomM1]

The forum has been a great resource but I won't see you on Discord ha ha.

[LoCapgros]

Thank you for all your hard work here in the forum, all of you. I've been using Affinity and looking for help and tips in the forums since 2020, but only recently have I joined with an account to participate. Too bad I hadn't done sooner. Hope to keep getting your great help somehow in the future! 🫶

[ℓurié]

If you had told me last year: "Hey, we're working on something big, so we will not be able to provide support as usual for the next months", then I would have happily waited without frustration. Unfortunately it didn't go that way. Now let's move on. Perhaps better communication would be appreciated in the future. Personally I don't want to know your secrets. I just need to know if the software will be developed and if I'll receive support. I've waited so far, I can safely wait until October 30th. I use Affinity in my work and I hope to continue using it.

I don't know if I'll be on Discord. So, thanks for your support and your work.

I wish you all the best.

[ℓurié]

This scene comes to mind, but I don't think the ship is sinking ⛵

[AiDon]

Thank you for your work in bring Photo, Designer and Publish into the mainstream as a professional suite. The effort to build rather than buy other applications is, to say the least, monumental and can only be judged by the success of that decision.

Hopefully we can see you again with other projects to bring mainstream photo editing, design and publishing to become easier for all to use.

Regards, Don 

[Affinityconfusesme]

@Patrick Connor Thanks for everything.

 

Just curious, this new product that is coming on the 30th, is going to be free for V2 owners?

[_Th]

Patrick, thank you for all you've done for Affinity and this community. Wonderful to have folks like yourself to work with. God speed.

[Ron P.]

Thank you Patrick for all you've done. I've thoroughly enjoyed learning and helping on the forums.  

[Komatös]

Hello Patrick,

I would like to thank you and also tthanks to the rest of the Serif team.

Serif has developed a damn good software package. When I first heard about Affinity by Serif, it was a revolution for me. I had been looking for an alternative to Adpay for a long time. The suite felt familiar to me right from the start, especially Affinity Photo. Affinity by Canva may well be an evolution for which Serif laid the foundation.

It was, no, it is, an honor for me to share my knowledge and experience. But I have also learned a great deal.

They say, “You always meet twice in life,” so let's see what happens in the future. Until then, I wish everyone here many wonderful and eventful moments.

With warm regards, Uwe

[GarryP]

What?… wait… hang on a second… I think we’re missing the bigger picture here.

I’ve just seen the change in his avatar and Patrick is really… a human!?!?!… and not a cat.

(I guess that explains why I couldn’t bribe him with fish heads and balls of wool.)

This is going to take me some time to properly get my head around.

I suggest that the forums be made read-only until we all have had enough time to fully process this ‘bombshell’.

[GarryP]

P.S. Seriously though, thanks for all of your help over the years Patrick. You’ve been the mortar which has held this place together.

[ronnyb]

All the best to you Patrick, you’re a stand up guy, always been professional and genuinely interested in helping users…