kobaltkween posted at 9:44AM Thu, 26 December 2019 - #4374489

IMHO, that would be a shame. Admittedly, I never want to subscribe to software. If I pay for software, I want to be able to use it as long as it runs on my system. But outside of that personal consideration, the subscription model conflicts with Poser's dependence on a content community. Even if you say a little over 50% of the customer base likes it, I'd bet it at least rankles at least a little under 50%. Poser content is largely useless outside of the software. I'd bet about one in ever two customers would feel less confident about buying Poser content if they had to subscribe to use both Poser and the content.

What was the community buying at it's height in activity? Say an average of $50 per month per Poser (and then DS) user? Maybe even $100 per month? Even if the wages/cost of living ratio rose to where it was then, I can't see people paying that kind of money per month on top of a subscription, let alone risking that kind of investment on something they might stop subscribing to. I think I wouldn't ever risk buying any Poser specific content if I had to subscribe to Poser. After all, life happens. eclark is talking about not being able to pay for internet at all. And that's not uncommon here in the states. Last I saw any numbers, Poser is mostly used by hobbyist illustrators who are older. It seems to me a Poser subscription would be the first thing to go if people needed to tighten their belts even a little.

I own a lot of content I got on the "better safe than sorry" principle. I own a lot I haven't used yet. Having been around since 2002 or so, I would have spent hundreds, if not thousands, less if I'd been pressured to only buy what I had plans to use immediately, when I could be sure of still renting Poser. Heck, I'm not even sure I would have bought V4 under those circumstances. I had a lot of issues with her, especially compared to V3, and almost none of them were ever fixed by anyone.

It just seems to me that if Poser went subscription, Poser content sales would take a medium to enormous hit. Depending on how much of the market was pushed to switch from buying based on long term potential to buying for immediate use. I can't imagine a scenario where people who couldn't afford to pay for Poser outright decided to subscribe and buy content, so I can't imagine sales rising. Maybe I'm wrong (I'm sure there are numbers somewhere on this), but for something as non-essential as Poser is for most, I'd bet a one time splurge, at Christmas or a birthday if necessary, would be a more common fit.

But that's just my analysis given what I know. Bondware's data far supersedes mine. If they numbers say subscription would work best, I certainly won't argue. Though I would try to make the best decision for myself.

The comments you make certainly apply to me. I have a certain amount I can spend on the hobby each month and while I can boost it certain months if there is a good sale on any subscription costs would be deducted by the amount I have to spend each month. It is already reduced slightly as I buy a subscription for Vue but I do not buy content for that and I have only be paying this for a few months and I am not fully committed to continuing. The subscription would certainly be the first thing to go if I was struggling to pay my bills. If I lost access to the most recent a version of Poser, due to subscription model, I have still old versions that work but I would lose the ability to use Superfly so I cannot see I would spend out on any more Poser 11 content.

Like many I have content I have purchased on the basis that I can see a use for that but has never used to this date but the marketplace and vendor still have my money and rightly so. If there was a subscription required I would certainly be reluctant to buy on that basis thus I would be buying only what I could use at that moment in time.

At the end of the day it is the 'powers that be' that need to decide but I see nothing wrong in highlighting the possible impact so that they can make an informed decision. One wonders if the deactivation feature would have been implemented if SM had discussed it the open rather than sneaking in to an upgrade 'under the dead of night'. We will never know but it is clear some potential purchasers have not upgraded due to the deactivation feature.

 

 

I use Poser 13 on Windows 11 - For Scene set up I use a Geekcom A5 -  Ryzen 9 5900HX, with 64 gig ram and 3 TB  storage, mini PC with final rendering done on normal sized desktop using an AMD Ryzen Threadipper 1950X CPU, Corsair Hydro H100i CPU cooler, 3XS EVGA GTX 1080i SC with 11g Ram, 4 X 16gig Corsair DDR4 Ram and a Corsair RM 100 PSU .   The desktop is in a remote location with rendering done via Queue Manager which gives me a clearer desktop and quieter computer room.