Am I unreasonable in feeling annoyed about this? Less than a month ago I bought Mimic (1). Now Mimic 2 appears. I can live with that - it's what usually happens when I buy any piece of software. I certainly intended to upgrade to Mimic 2 (or 2 Pro) at some stage. But on checking the DAZ site, I find this: "Upgrades from Mimic 1 will only be offered until June 30th, 2003. " I mean, OK, I can understand that discount offers only run for a little while, but this???? If I want to upgrade from the version I only just bought from the very same company, I've only got about 30 days to do it, and after that they're going to make me pay the full price????? I think that's absolutely shameful. Is this the wonderful customer service that I've heard Daz praised for? I'd love to know what other people think about this, or if there's any sane justification for allowing only one month for an upgrade offer.

E-mail them and ask about. It may mean free upgrade. (If you bought Mimic less than a month ago, upgrade may be free.) I don't have Mimic, so I don't know on this one.

I'm not sure I just made sense, so I'm going to try to qualify. If an item goes on sale (or into the Platinum Club) within a month of when you bought it, and you ask DAZ, they'll usually refund you the difference. So, I mean the disclaimer might be related to that and you should ask them about it. My brain's fried; I have no idea what's going on. Ignore me.

Well, I like DAZ. They've been great, but I have to agree with you on this one. It has always been the practice that previous owners of software got to upgrade at a reduced price. Now if this price is lower than what the normal upgrade price would be, then I don't have a problem. But I wonder if there is a trend here. Corel is offering Painter 8 at a speacial price to previous owners for a limited time which appears to be unspecified. So what does that mean? If I miss the window, do I have to pay the full price?

Hello Morphy. I could be wrong about this but I don't think that after June 30 you have to pay full price, but the regular upgrade price. I believe that the full price is 199.00. The upgrade price from Mimic 1 is regularily going to be 159 (or thereabouts) but before June 30 it will be $111.00. But, having said that I think I remember having seen something about not being able to upgreade from 1 to 2.0 pro directly after a certain period of time, you would have to get 2.0 first. I feel for you about this upgrade thing though, I ALWAYS just miss the boat. Did it with Carrara, did it again with Lightwave (Ouch!!) I didn't take any chances myself this time; I just upgraded from Mimic 1 to 2.0 pro for &111.00 and based on what I'm hearing from the early reviews I'm glad I did. Best of luck to you my friend...

Attached Link: http://www.daz3d.com

Morphy, Fyrespiryt is correct. If you have purchased Mimic within the last 30 days (and actually a bit further back than that due to an announcement we had made about Mimic 2 being about to be released) then you will get to upgrade to Mimic 2.0 for free. If you wish to upgrade to the Pro version however, you will need to pay for that upgrade. Any other questions, please contact our sales team [sales@daz3d.com] and they'll help you out. Everyone's out of the office today, but from what I last heard, all the "free" upgrades for those who had just recently purchased Mimic 1 will start to be sent out on Monday. Thanks, Steve Kondris DAZ Productions, Inc.

Thanks for that, Steve. I'll look forward to my freebie upgrade to v2, and will probably then upgrade to the pro version. however, while I'd be the first to admit that I'm not the brighest firecracker in the box, the info on the site is a tad open to misunderstanding - it gives the upgrade price, then adds a note that upgrades from Mimic 1 are only available until June 30. Wouldn't it be clearer (for duffers like me) if it said 'FREE upgrade only available until June 30'? But thanks for the reassurance! Morph.

That is good to hear, Steve, but your site is a bit confusing on that issue. I clicked the upgrade from 1 link and see "Was: $64.95 Sale Price: $45.47" as well as "Upgrades from Mimic 1 will only be offered until June 30th, 2003." That implies to me that I'll have to pay 45.47 just to upgrade from 1 until the end of June and then I'll have to spend 64.95 to upgrade. Nowhere I see does it mention a free upgrade although that was specifically listed on the site for the last month or two. Of course, I could be just overlooking it. shrug I bought Mimic 1 a bit beyond 30 days ago, hmm, March 24 to be precise. Sales@Daz assured me I'd be able to upgrade for free to the new version, which convinced me to buy version 1 at that time rather than wait for 2 to come out. The upgrade notice from 2 to 2Pro is $111.97 ?? Wow! So, because there is a sale...let's see now, this is confusing. Mimic 2.0 "Was: $199.95 Sale Price: $139.97 Sale Ends 6/30/2003 at 23:59:59 " and the upgrade from 2 to 2Pro is: "Was: $159.95 Sale Price: $111.97 Sale Ends 6/30/2003 at 23:59:59 " That tells me that a new Mimic user could buy v2 for 139.97 right now and then upgrade immediately to v2Pro for an additional 111.97....pause.....and yet the v2Pro full price is listed at "Was: $199.95 Sale Price: $139.97 Sale Ends 6/30/2003 at 23:59:59 " Now I am all confused. Maybe more caffeine in my system? Less?? lol I knew I shouldn't have spent a grand on that new digital camera! That makes it tight now. hmm. I guess I'll have to see what users say about version 2 before I decide about upgrading from 1. Ok, I added the three to my cart to see what really was going on... Mimic 2 Pro (Upgrade from version 1 or 2) ps_ap043 $159.95 (On Sale: $111.97) [Remove] [Move to wishlist] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mimic 2 Pro ps_ap042 $199.95 (On Sale: $139.97) [Remove] [Move to wishlist] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mimic 2 (Mimic 1 Upgrade) ps_ap044 $64.95 (On Sale: $45.47) [Remove] So what's the scoop, Steve? I'm totally baffled. Steve (also!)

I just logged in here to say the very same thing. I can't believe they are doing this. One of the first times I have to feel fully POd about DAZ... Usually a company will offer an upgrade to existing customers pretty much forever...but only until June 30th ???

I read another article in another thread here where someone said he got it for about $79 total. That included the June sale price, the upgrade from mimic 1 and his platinum membership discount. I THINK I qualify for all three except I've owned Mimic 1 for over a month. But, the DAZ system didn't show my REAL price with discounts and all that. Just confusing as heck to me. Still, not a big deal, I can call DAZ Monday and find out what the scoop is I guess. I won't have time to play this weekend since I have to work all weekend.

and looking at the upgrad to pro vs. buying the whole shebang, only a $20 savings???? That doesn't seem quite right either, considering Mimic 1 was $75 or some such. ..well $28... To me, that means a new customer buying mimic 2 Pro can get it for not much more than an existing customer with version 1....where's the incentive for existing customers? This whole pricing scheme is a bit strange, although once the price is at list, it appears to be a bit more in line...maybe

As confusing as the pricing may seem, the product itself looks stunning, even if it's a touch slower than I'd like on slower PC's. My main thought for the hour is - am I the only one who thinks that DAZ should shift their "release new products and/or revamped web site designs" from the end of a week to the start if the following week? Just to reduce the "weekend confusion" that usually seems to follow? As for customer service - I've found DAZ to have improved immeasurably this year in general. Vastly more impressive than my previous experiences, and much more likely to call a spade a spade, as it were.

I thought it was a little sudden to only allow existing customers one month to upgrade, or pay full price if upgrading from version 1. Like someone else said, usually existing customers can upgrade forever with no limitations. This is just a ploy to get everyone to purchase the program within a month. I also want it on CD--not a download. I remember my rush to pre-order Poser 5 and I still don't use it. If I order the basic version and then use that to upgrade to Pro, is there any discount after June? It is very confusing.

I also visited DAZ -- after getting a notice about Mimic 2-- and all I got is '"weekend confusion" as whe3d said. I like that expression ... generally I am very satisfied with DAZ but this time I am confused as others in that thread.

... where's the month figure coming from? to quote - 'If you have purchased Mimic within the last 30 days (and actually a bit further back than that due to an announcement we had made about Mimic 2 being about to be released)' this suggests more than a month... note the 'actually a bit further back than that ' sounds considerably more than a month.

Kaiback, the (approximate) month is from the quote on the DAZ site: "Upgrades from Mimic 1 will only be offered until June 30th, 2003. " As it stands, this implies (apparently wrongly, to judge from Steve's reply) that anyone who hasn't upgraded Mimic 1 by that date will have to pay the full, non-upgrade price.

1. Re: DAZ upgrade policies... by whbos on 5/31/03 15:03 [snip] This is just a ploy to get everyone to purchase the program within a month. Sadly DAZ does commonly employ this kind of "trick". In many ways you get a discount for being an "early adopter" and having, fairly often, a number of upgrades to what you bought. If you sit back and wait for "everyone else" to go through the "initial release" headaches then you get to pay more in $$$ - not ENTIRELY unfair, but it can be irritating. However they ARE a business, and have to try and guarantee a regular(ish) income - having regular "mini-sales" ("on release" discounts) allows them a predictable "hit" of cash influx, which I'm sure their bank and accountant fully approve of. ...and if this is our first "hands-on" preview of DAZ Studio then, despite being too busy to use it much so far, my main comment as a Poser 5 semi-fan has to be "Bring on DAZ Sutdio cos I want it now!". PS Am I the only one who spotted that MIMIC2 specifically states that DAZ Studio or Poser can be used for final renders, and takes this to mean that at least limited animation support (as far as rendering AT LEAST) isgonna be built into the base DAZ Studio product?