I’m very tired of the upgrade process, at least for some of the products. I updated mask 3 times this weekend. It said there was an update, so I updated it. I launched it and it said “you’re running version 1.11 and version 1.20 exists. do you want to update”. I updated. After it updated and launched it, it said there was an update available. When I was done, I was running 1.22. Why not update to the latest version the first time?
AiDon, I do not agree that gordoco should not need to qualify exactly what kind of issues they are having in this thread. The fact that you and others are not having problems does not diminish the fact that they are. You of all people should realize that this is not a support thread - they are simply saying that they do not like the idea of paying even more for a product that does not work for them. The specifics should go to a support thread, not a thread discussing licensing changes.
I agree with all of the concerns regarding bugs that might still exist at the end of the one year period. Other companies either charge you by the year (subscription) or for a version plus updates. This policy of one year for both updates and upgrades is an unusual concept and we will have to see how it works out.
I like regular updates and bug fixes. Waiting a year or even years for updates and bug fixes only to see the same issues again after drives me mad in some computer games!
Unfortunately, the issue is that it is important to get help for a problem and statements that don’t provide specifics mean that the issue may not ever be addressed and therefore the frustration clouds the issues at hand. In this case there is a specific issue regarding the contents of a specifc layer that needs help and as this is a user to user forum it may be that the issue can be solved … and if you should think that other software does not have bugs, even the big players, Adobe included, have bugs that in some cases are around for many years.
Software is never bug free, unless you have a specific environment. Look at the OS software these days both windows and Mac are experiencing big problems on specific hardware.
I’m wondering why that layer crashes…what is different about it? It might be interesting to upload it and let some others give it a try, perhaps to learn what the problem is.
I have nothing against bug fixes or updates - I like to see bugs get fixed! I DO have something against an update process that makes me do 3 back-to-back updates to get to the current version.
My first Topaz purchase was Gigapixel AI and I’ve been very happy with the application. I’ve since purchased the whole suite. However, had I known Topaz Labs was intending to go to a subscription based model, I would not have purchased anything. Also, for me I have to look at my costs and whether a product is worth the cost because US currency in my country is much higher (35%)
Subscription based models for licencing or software upgrades, in my opinion are based on greed not support for us, your customers. In reading the comments, I observed a common theme - grandfather your current customers for free upgrades and charge customers for new upgrades.
As the to statement, the free upgrade policy ultimately prevented Topaz Labs from delivering the best possible products to us - I think you didn’t try hard enough.
I felt cheated upon reading your statement and I won’t paying for my “upgrade” come August 2020.
You are misinformed. What is proposed is not a subscription. The product you own will receive free upgrades until August or possibly a year from the time of purchase. If the new upgrade doesn’t contain additional features or functionality, you can choose to continue with what you own. Bug fixes are not upgrades.
It IS a subscription. Just one with different terms than Adobe. If you subscribe to paper magazines or newspapers, the fact that the old copies don’t self-destruct when you quit does not mean it isn’t a subscription.
Topaz is comingling “features or functionality”, as you put it, with bug fixes. After August, one will have to SUBSCRIBE yearly to receive bug fixes. And there are WAY too many bugs. If it quacks, it’s a duck.
Topaz has broken their word to all customers who bought at pretty elevated pricing for niche tools and used free updates for life as justification. They should grandfather those customers, period. Many of those customers, myself included, will not subscribe and go elsewhere. Some will use more nefarious means to get their promised free upgrades for life. Topaz deserves both of these outcomes.
I don’t care whether you call it a subscription or not. At the end of the day, in order to get updates and bugfixes after August 2020, we have to pay for them. That will occur every year that we want the bugfixes and enhancements. As has been mentioned so many times before, many of us justified the higher price because we would never have to pay for new features. When I buy a lifetime license, I expect to pay more - not a problem.
Don’t give me the line that “these products were not advertised to have free lifetime updates”. We all know that Gigapixel AI WAS sold with free updates, and TL has simply stopped development of the other 3 products, creating products with slightly different names that do the same things. That way, they could leave out the catch-phrase they have used forever, letting us buy ‘Sharpen AI’ believing that it would have the same licensing that ‘Sharpen’ did. A lie of omission is still a lie. An ethical company would have made it clear to existing customers that licensing of these products was going to be different from every other product they have ever sold BEFORE we bought it.
Eric could make this all go away with one simple change - grandfather current owners. Regardless of how much you like the tools or how much you may want to support the company, it is simply not ok to charge us over and over again for something we have already paid for - lifetime updates. Even if they were to offer a lifetime update version of a license, I wouldn’t fall for it again. All they will do is rename it in a few years and try to make us buy it again.
Yes, they are different - the workflow is less convenient and they all have “AI” stuck at the end of the names.
I bought a product called Sharpen Pro, and I bought a product called Sharpen AI. I was sent an email to upgrade to AI at a discount because I owned Pro. There was NO mention that it would not have the lifetime updates we were all used to, and there was NO mention that I would only get updates for 1 year. That lead me to believe it would have the same licensing as Pro - lifetime updates. If that wasn’t assumed by everyone - including Eric - there would have been no need for the email saying it was changing.
“You’ve previously purchased the Sharpen Pro adjustment, so we thought you would really like the new product we just released: Topaz Sharpen AI. You care about the quality of your photos, and we sincerely value your decision to make Topaz Labs a part of your editing process.”
I bought SharpenAi a while ago when it was still being advertised as ‘lifetime updates included’.
Now I’m going to be asked for $50/year to get bug fixed.
That’s just not good business. I might even go as fat as to say that’s fraudulent. In legal-speak it’s entrapment. In plain words, it’s changing the rules after money has been paid.
A promise is a promise. I paid money against a promise of lifetime updates.
When(/if) I get the bill, I’ll be off.
If I’m excluded from any future updates, I’ll be off.
If Topaz bosses decide to simply rename the software and make SharpenAi a legacy product with no maintenance, I’ll be off.
It’s not as though there are no other options around.
And, Topaz take note… do you think that this experience made me MORE or LESS likely to want to buy another Topaz product??
Am still irritated by all this. Topaz could halt all this bad feeling in an instant.
A reasonable change, it seems very fair and well thought out and at a reasonable cost. A refreshing change from most companies. I can get behind it, companies need to make money to stay in business.
I’m not a pro, just screwing around, so I like the $99 for multiple products, it’s fair and it makes me far more likely to likely to upgrade.
May as well look into a class action lawsuit. If we are damaged by changes in our original agreement, BAM. At least the lawyers will get our money back. We won’t.
Mean while, I’ve purchased other excellent products I was unaware of that are simply superb. That will show damages as I only used Topaz products. Breaking their agreement and using fancy product names, words and definitions to do so. I am surprised so many competing products are out there.
Good luck Topaz. You’re crushing your golden goose.
Us.
I just delivered 70 Photos to a client without using Topaz or Photoshop. The client is really happy.
Good business sense. A model that keeps TL breaking new ground.
It will also hopefully stop some (many…) of the annoying posts on various forums about ‘…my 15 year old Win95 386 cpu has problems coping with your Gigapixel Program… WHY do you make this software so I have to upgrade my HW so often?..’
HOW ABOUT MAKING THE OLD LEGACY UNSUPPORTED SUITE FREE… LIKE B&W EFFECTS Etc…?
The change makes good sense, however I think that the cost of upgrades would be a lot better received if the upgrade was not as much as 50% of purchase price, which seems too much to me. How about moving closer to 25-33 % instead.
I may be wrong but I think with a smaller upgrade price, fewer people would hesitate to upgrade and the increased number of people willing to upgrade would offset the lower cost of the upgrades.
In any case your products are EXCELLENT and they are a good value. Thanks for all the terrific programs that you have produced.
