Subscription for next version ?

[zifnab69_fr]

Hello
i have 2 FG II licences, 1 full, 1 lite and i want to know if the new staff is going to give free updates to the next releases ( FG III) or if they 'll ask us for money.
Because, i'll probably upgrade my lite to full but only if i'll don't need to pay for a new release ( i'm not going to pay for FGII full if i'll need to pay in some month for FGII +)
( sorry for my bad english)

Thank you

[mr_h]

I could have sworn that in one of the threads ddavidson said he was most likely going to drop the subscription idea. A lot of people came out against it. A Floating license idea is still out there, I think. I tried to find the thread but I can't seem to locate the exact thread/post.

Can anyone help me out here?

[drahkar]

A lot of what he asked is answered or at least addressed in this thread: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11098

[ddavison]

Plans for a subscription based model are currently scrapped. The community was overwhelmingly against the idea. If there ever is a subscription model, it will most likely be for adventure paths or something as opposed to purchasing them separately like there is now. It will not be required for using the core application in any form.

[zifnab69_fr]

well, sorry for my bad english. i really don't understand every thing... ( i'm french you know ;) )
Well, i use FG2 to make my own story and i'm not going to buy some
so now is it a good idea to buy an upgrade now for my lite license or not ?
( i 'll like to have 2 full licences to be able to play differents storyes with differents masters)
Will i' be able in the future to have the next FG version with no charge or not ?
thank you

[Spyke]

well, sorry for my bad english. i really don't understand every thing... ( i'm french you know ;) )
Well, i use FG2 to make my own story and i'm not going to buy some
so now is it a good idea to buy an upgrade now for my lite license or not ?
( i 'll like to have 2 full licences to be able to play differents storyes with differents masters)
Will i' be able in the future to have the next FG version with no charge or not ?
thank you
I can't speak for the developer, but in general this is usually one of those unanswerable questions. It will doubtless depend on how significant the changes are in the next version.

With most software there is a charge when new major versions are released (i.e. this would be FG 3) but no charge for updates to the existing version. We were given a great gift when FG1 was developed into FG2 without charge. When is Doug going to make a major version change to FG 3? Who knows? Maybe even Doug doesn't know, but I can guarantee it won't be any time soon. I'd lay odds that it's at least a year away!

So whenever you make these decisions you always have to make them based on what's around now or in the near future. Is it worth it to you now to have two full licenses? If so, upgrade.

I would make one point for Doug, though, in regard to charging for FG3, whenever that does come around. If a charge is applied, the software would need to be capable of continuing to work as FG2 for those who do not wish to pay the upgrade price.

Spyke

[ddavison]

There is no time table for a FG3 release. There are plenty of things that need to be fixed within FG2 at the moment.

[zifnab69_fr]

ok thanks every body.

Because me and my friends have all buy FG2 licences but we don't play very frequently , for us it's best if we can continue to play with our "client / server" software like now.

[Valarian]

Paying for a major version upgrade is a little different to a subscription model. I would hope that the client/server model for Fantasy Grounds will continue beyond FG2. If a subscription model becomes the only upgrade path I, for one, would not be upgrading. I would however pay a fee to upgrade to a future major release, if the benefit of doing so was great enough.

[unerwünscht]

There is no time table for a FG3 release. There are plenty of things that need to be fixed within FG2 at the moment.

This, I think, is the most encouraging thing you have said yet on the site, and you have said a lot of things that have made me a very happy user.

[MrJamela]

I can't speak for the developer, but in general this is usually one of those unanswerable questions. It will doubtless depend on how significant the changes are in the next version.

With most software there is a charge when new major versions are released (i.e. this would be FG 3) but no charge for updates to the existing version. We were given a great gift when FG1 was developed into FG2 without charge. When is Doug going to make a major version change to FG 3? Who knows? Maybe even Doug doesn't know, but I can guarantee it won't be any time soon. I'd lay odds that it's at least a year away!

So whenever you make these decisions you always have to make them based on what's around now or in the near future. Is it worth it to you now to have two full licenses? If so, upgrade.

I would make one point for Doug, though, in regard to charging for FG3, whenever that does come around. If a charge is applied, the software would need to be capable of continuing to work as FG2 for those who do not wish to pay the upgrade price.

Spyke

I mentioned this in another thread, but the best model I have seen for software upgrades is Zbrush by Pixologic.

They haven't charged their existing user base for any of the major upgrades.

Instead, they rely on finding new users (and the good word of mouth from the existing ones).

If you charge for a new rev (even a substantial one), a large group of users won't make the leap and while you are making money in the short term, in the long-term you are fracturing your community.

Gamers are loyal....

[drahkar]

I mentioned this in another thread, but the best model I have seen for software upgrades is Zbrush by Pixologic.

They haven't charged their existing user base for any of the major upgrades.

Instead, they rely on finding new users (and the good word of mouth from the existing ones).

If you charge for a new rev (even a substantial one), a large group of users won't make the leap and while you are making money in the short term, in the long-term you are fracturing your community.

Gamers are loyal....

Gamers are also willing to put money into helping see the products that they like using grow. A prime example of that is Downloadable Content for things like Mass effect and Fallout 3.

I think that FGII has the unique position of being able to create a platform where they can continue developing the base product itself, but offer content and features as effectively 'downloadable content' that you can purchase for more.