more than double the previous permanent upgrade license cost is not acceptable @ 19.99. No clue where you're coming from. Increases in costs are inevitable however such an ask is unreasonable. Counting on a black Friday deal each year is also short sighted. Increase the upgrade fee by 20 to 30% is more inline with typical software support increases.
I think at the core to my solution really comes down to stardock reversing the decision to locking software that isnt being subscribed to. That really might be the one area that is easier to come to a compromise with and I would like to take the time to reign in on it.
Obviously, if we are going to get locked out of our software Stardock doesn't have to put in any effort for quality updates or add new features at all in order to make money on a yearly basis.
Now, if we flip the script and choose whether we are going to resubscribe every year then we going to have a much better product and a much better line of updates then we ever have had for a fences. Basically we would probably get at least one new feature every year to justify purchasing a subscription. If no work is being done or we arent satisfied with the quality of updates we could always leave our product as is.
This also solves the ownership issue because then we will own whatever product and its updates up until when the subscription expires and keep the product forever.
To me this is actually one area that can be compromised on pretty easily.
Now as far as the actual price tag of a permanent license, right now that is a much muddier subject that it may be harder to find a solution to. Would the pricetag be worth more if there was a stronger commitment to updates and new features? I dont know, I will leave that part of the talk with you.
I see the logic here but.
What i will add is a discount for previous License holders. Example:
40% for V4 License owners. If you purchased this 6-8 weeks (Stardock current is 4 weeks) before another version release you are going to feel sick about it. 40% discount here is going a long way. Plus this is nice for longtime supporters too.
25% For V3
10% for V2 & V1
This example to ME seems fair all round. We will always spend our hard earned money when we see insentives.
NO one knows when hardtimes will strike, I wound not want be in a situation where i cannot pay to use this software and end up with nothing... Back to using native windows start....**** that!
As far as the actually sale price... £25-£30 for a new license for an official release (no beta testing here) is worth the money. I know some of you may say WTF bruh, but we all gotta appreciate what we get from Fences, Start & Groupy these tools are second to NONE! lets be real here! Stardock is doing a good job with these apps.
Oh and i think S'D should sell your three mains app Fences, Start, Groupy in a package deal too. Example £50 For all 3. Using the upgrade formula example above for new releases.
As of right now I am happy to sit with Start11v2 and groupy2 i can live without fences5. As long as there is always an insentive for me to updgrade i will. Fences V5 isnt doing this for me right now but if the price was right............
All the best!
