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DAZ|Studio F.A.Q (Last Updated: 2024 Nov 21 2:01 am)
Reason why they are going this route is the SANE DAZ users are sick of the direction they are going with DAZ so guess what they resort to, to getting their DAZ assets: PIRATES LIFE! This is why they are doing it cause people are sick and tired forking out money to companies that don't give two Fs about their customers. Pirating is becoming a norm and as long as these companies keep catering to the Weird ones, our wallets will remain closed. I hear some vendors are already leaving Daz and going to places like Renderhub to start selling in hoping to gain any sort of income. Get woke, go broke, and you can't change my mind Gen 9 was not woke. Gen was a disaster and gen 2, 3 and 8 were great. Why go back to the very thing that was a disaster? Answer: to cater to the weirdos. Screw daz.
Really, we get it, Daz is going full Adobe and they're trying to do it slowly in hopes of not pushing customers into leaving en masse. They've got moderators trying to make it sound like everything's business as usual, pay no attention to the encroaching subscription features and content. Enjoy the happy cartoons, it's the last free update you'll ever get. Remove all criticism so it looks like everyone is happy with Premier and wants more stuff locked down in the subscription.
You may get that, but it is not an accurate reflection of reality.
At this point I wouldn't put it past them to have a timebomb coded in 4.23 if not earlier versions so if you don't update each time there's a new release your program starts falling apart and when it eventually becomes subscription only, anyone who doesn't keep really old versions of Studio on hand will end up either subscribing or not being able to use their content anymore.
They tried moving to subscription content when they released the Connect DRM, but the backlash was too much then. Now they're trying again.
No they didn't - there was no subscription element in Connect, nor any suggestion that there would be.
Manifestly there wasn't - and indeed they pretty switftly agreed it was a reasonable compromise to have things encrypted for a while (was it a year of six months?) and then make them available unencypted and through DIM. Connect was an anti-piracy measure, as well as a tool to make it easier to install missing content needed for a scene and to reduce the amount of data that needed to be downloaded for an update (just the changed files instead of the whole zip) among other things. But it did need to be able to validate orders to enable decryption on load (which it did by getting the order history from Daz, rather than sending information about isntalled files to Daz), and that provided a tool that could be used for the subscription-linked content with additons to the application (to ask if the user had a sub, plus whatever it uses to know which content is subscription-linked).Do you think we're stupid? Obviously there was a subscription element in Connect, because that's exactly what they're using it for.
You've clearly forgotten what happened when they released Connect and the encrypted products. The possibility of Connect leading to subscription content was brought up then, but was moderated out, you may have forgotten since moderators like yourself were busy deleting any posts that mentioned the possibility. Also DAZ only agreed to the compromise after a lot of backlash, and they were practically forced into it because they had no intention of listening to customers till they spoke with their wallets. It wasn't swift or painless.
darken666 posted at 4:02 PM Sat, 19 October 2024 - #4490531
We probably removed speculative claims, yes, as we do - otherwise people just amplify them and build on them (see this thread for an example). And my recollection is that, while you are correct about the scale of the backlash, the change to time-limiting Connect-only status was pretty brief.You've clearly forgotten what happened when they released Connect and the encrypted products. The possibility of Connect leading to subscription content was brought up then, but was moderated out, you may have forgotten since moderators like yourself were busy deleting any posts that mentioned the possibility. Also DAZ only agreed to the compromise after a lot of backlash, and they were practically forced into it because they had no intention of listening to customers till they spoke with their wallets. It wasn't swift or painless.
It is clear, however, that any attempt I make to correct specific misapprehenions is simply feeding into the overall conspiracy theory so I will concede the field henceforward.
I can understand your stance.@DarkElegance
I'm not saying you shouldn't have frustrations, nor even complaints I'm only asking is this the appropriate forum to be airing your grievances? Is what's happening here in any way constructive?
Support can be a delicate balancing act with many factors involved, some issues can be solved easily while others tend to be much more involved. Anyway, doesn't Daz 3d offer a 30 money back guarantee on all items? You could also try the forums which tend to offer a lot of help when it comes to isolating issues, which could see a patch pushed through to correct a problem. I've noticed what does tend to be fixed is an item that many people have found issue with as oppose to a single issue reported by 1 user which is sometimes hard to pin down in support. Having sold here at renderosity I have experienced how 1 user with a product issue, that may not even relate to the specific product itself, can soak up a whole bundle of hours. The amount of hours I spent here explaining the installation process for DS products to users who picked up an item on sale for a few dollars and couldn't "Get it to work" is insane. So forgive me if I'm a little sympathetic to Daz 3D's position with support. I also have my share of frustrations with the industry from aspects of AI implementations to piracy, but that's an entirely different subject.
I'm not defending poor support, nor trying to admonish you at all. I am just tired of seeing this forum used as a vent when someone has a had a bad Daz 3D experience and feels this is their way at getting back, decrying the evil of the empire apparent. I used to enjoy coming here and offering support to users of Daz Studio. TBH not really anymore, I don't really have the time nor the patience to read vents and rants from a very vocal small amount of peeps, most of them just wanting a pot shot at Daz 3D to try to even some score. So the result is I just don't visit here much, and it's probably the same with many others. So all you end up with is less people to offer help or support.
Do you really think Daz 3D staff are poring over this forums saying "Good Point... Somebody take a note of this"?
But hey feel free to have it, Rottenham just blocked me and carried right on.😏
https://www.darkelegance.co.uk/
gohanf22 posted at 8:46 AM Sat, 19 October 2024 - #4490520
Saddly...that is it.Reason why they are going this route is the SANE DAZ users are sick of the direction they are going with DAZ so guess what they resort to, to getting their DAZ assets: PIRATES LIFE! This is why they are doing it cause people are sick and tired forking out money to companies that don't give two Fs about their customers. Pirating is becoming a norm and as long as these companies keep catering to the Weird ones, our wallets will remain closed. I hear some vendors are already leaving Daz and going to places like Renderhub to start selling in hoping to gain any sort of income. Get woke, go broke, and you can't change my mind Gen 9 was not woke. Gen was a disaster and gen 2, 3 and 8 were great. Why go back to the very thing that was a disaster? Answer: to cater to the weirdos. Screw daz.
I do know of artists that have either left daz for places like renderhub or started their own store. Which I am happy to support. It means more of my money is going directly to the artists.
https://www.darkelegance.co.uk/
As patronizing and condescending as you've been, I'd block you if there were a way to do so. I remember the way you responded anyone opposed to Daz's encrypted content as though we were somehow standing in the way of the greatest invention since the wheel.@DarkElegance
I'm not saying you shouldn't have frustrations, nor even complaints I'm only asking is this the appropriate forum to be airing your grievances? Is what's happening here in any way constructive?
Support can be a delicate balancing act with many factors involved, some issues can be solved easily while others tend to be much more involved. Anyway, doesn't Daz 3d offer a 30 money back guarantee on all items? You could also try the forums which tend to offer a lot of help when it comes to isolating issues, which could see a patch pushed through to correct a problem. I've noticed what does tend to be fixed is an item that many people have found issue with as oppose to a single issue reported by 1 user which is sometimes hard to pin down in support. Having sold here at renderosity I have experienced how 1 user with a product issue, that may not even relate to the specific product itself, can soak up a whole bundle of hours. The amount of hours I spent here explaining the installation process for DS products to users who picked up an item on sale for a few dollars and couldn't "Get it to work" is insane. So forgive me if I'm a little sympathetic to Daz 3D's position with support. I also have my share of frustrations with the industry from aspects of AI implementations to piracy, but that's an entirely different subject.
I'm not defending poor support, nor trying to admonish you at all. I am just tired of seeing this forum used as a vent when someone has a had a bad Daz 3D experience and feels this is their way at getting back, decrying the evil of the empire apparent. I used to enjoy coming here and offering support to users of Daz Studio. TBH not really anymore, I don't really have the time nor the patience to read vents and rants from a very vocal small amount of peeps, most of them just wanting a pot shot at Daz 3D to try to even some score. So the result is I just don't visit here much, and it's probably the same with many others. So all you end up with is less people to offer help or support.
Do you really think Daz 3D staff are poring over this forums saying "Good Point... Somebody take a note of this"?
But hey feel free to have it, Rottenham just blocked me and carried right on.😏
You do realise that Daz encrypted content was nearly ten years ago right? And if you are interested in some history here is the thread you are referring to. Encrypted content was primarily an attempt to protect content creators content from piracy...
https://www.renderosity.com/forums/threads/2895510
Seems that this is almost proof of Daz 3D's ability to pivot based on customer feedback and amazingly all of the doom and gloom of that thread amounted to not much with the passage of time, right?
But have no fear I have no intention of further engaging in this thread. Calls for boycotts and outright piracy are a step too far for me.
But as I have said, you do you okay.
All the best
I will weigh in on my own situation. I like Genesis 9,
already bought a lot of it's content
but
I just want to use the content I pay to use,
connect and encryption prevents that while doing utterly nothing to stop the pirates from stealing it.
smart content while lovely no longer works on my current PC, let alone any other new PostGreSQL dependent features maybe it will when I save money not buying DAZ stuff on my next PC (Ironically it works on my old Win7)
Connect will not work with Carrara my favourite software but Genisis 9 does with a few adaptions
so, it basically comes down to if I can buy useable content, if I could, I would consider Premier the occasional month, as it stands, I would be wasting my money
people will speak with their wallets, if it sells, good for DAZ, if not they may reconsider
gohanf22 posted at 8:46 AM Sat, 19 October 2024 - #4490520
Saddly...that is it.Reason why they are going this route is the SANE DAZ users are sick of the direction they are going with DAZ so guess what they resort to, to getting their DAZ assets: PIRATES LIFE! This is why they are doing it cause people are sick and tired forking out money to companies that don't give two Fs about their customers. Pirating is becoming a norm and as long as these companies keep catering to the Weird ones, our wallets will remain closed. I hear some vendors are already leaving Daz and going to places like Renderhub to start selling in hoping to gain any sort of income. Get woke, go broke, and you can't change my mind Gen 9 was not woke. Gen was a disaster and gen 2, 3 and 8 were great. Why go back to the very thing that was a disaster? Answer: to cater to the weirdos. Screw daz.
If customers keep feeling unheard, that they are not valued, they will stop spending money. Note, I am not saying they will stop the "hobby". They will seek other venues to get their items. And in the bigger scheme of it, it will tbe the artists working to make those products that will suffer.I do know of artists that have either left daz for places like renderhub or started their own store. Which I am happy to support. It means more of my money is going directly to the artists.
Not happening. No one accesses that machine but myself. DAZ is out of their minds if they think I would agree to that, let alone PAY for it.Yes, it doesn't need an always-on connection but it does require you to periodically log-in to use the plug-ins and the exclusive content (other content, including the free bundles, don't require that)
RHaseltine posted at 3:51 PM Thu, 17 October 2024 - #4490430I got that survey, and I told them that it was a stupid idea and that they should focus on fixing and improving the software rather than concentrate on new ways of squeezing their customers. It was obvious that it was something that they were already determined to do, and they were merely gauging the blow-back before they actually went and did it.So a loaded survey sent to a limited sample, designed to get the result that would let marketing do what they likely would have done anyway.There was a survey, the usual Survey Monkey thing sent out to a range of customers, and it did ask what people would like in an enhanced subscription service (I can't recall the wording, or how it was presented - possibly one of those arrange options in order of preference things). It was certainly discussed by the participants on the forums (and possibly here too).
Not happening. No one accesses that machine but myself. DAZ is out of their minds if they think I would agree to that, let alone PAY for it.
Remote servers were universally acknowledged as a security risk as early as the mid-80s, when the computer first appeared in the engineering workplace. IOW, nobody used one. Why? Because anyone can walk in with a blank drive, steal or corrupt your data, and no one can prevent it.
This held true until the early 2000s, when marketing took over "all customer-facing documents" (as in, all web sites). Naive users were reassured when marketing renamed the remote server "the cloud." Ironically, the biggest threat turned out to be the owner of the remote server. You are wise to limit external access to your machine.
"There's a sucker born every minute." -- P.T. Barnum
Katsuyaki posted at 2:30 AM Mon, 21 October 2024 - #4490595
RHaseltine posted at 5:30 PM Sun, 13 October 2024 - #4490294Not happening. No one accesses that machine but myself. DAZ is out of their minds if they think I would agree to that, let alone PAY for it.Yes, it doesn't need an always-on connection but it does require you to periodically log-in to use the plug-ins and the exclusive content (other content, including the free bundles, don't require that)
Don't have to get the plugins from DAZ as everyone sane knows this. PIRATES LIFE!!
Renderosity maintains a zero-tolerance policy on pirated software, so don't bring that stuff here.
Don't have to get the plugins from DAZ as everyone sane knows this. PIRATES LIFE!!
Jeff
Renderosity Senior Moderator
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gohanf22 posted at 6:54 AM Mon, 21 October 2024 - #4490605Renderosity maintains a zero-tolerance policy on pirated software, so don't bring that stuff here.
Don't have to get the plugins from DAZ as everyone sane knows this. PIRATES LIFE!!
My experience with DAZ software is extremely disappointing. It started when I decided to pay the price to buy DAZ Studio 3 advanced. Of course, eventually DAZ Studio became free. Add to the list Carrara, Bryce, Hexagon, and other titles I've forgotten.
The software was abandoned, and my money was wasted. Now DAZ is taking plugins people had already bought, then repackaging them and making them part of a subscription plan. And you can only use that stuff as long as you maintain your subscription?
I haven't used DAZ Studio since Genesis 9 arrived. Now I'll wait to see when DAZ Studio 5 arrives. Wonder if it will become subscription-ware?!
My experience with DAZ software is extremely disappointing. It started when I decided to pay the price to buy DAZ Studio 3 advanced. Of course, eventually DAZ Studio became free. Add to the list Carrara, Bryce, Hexagon, and other titles I've forgotten.
I used to use Hexagon as my modeler, it was decent, but had some serious and practically unavoidable bugs in the types of modeling I do, and no indication they'd ever do even maintenance development. I switched to Blender a few years ago, and I don't ever intend to pay for modeling software again.
I get some indication that, despite raising new content prices and rolling out new figures to encourage purchases (don't give me that "woke" garbage, G9 was meant to try to get wallets open by encouraging adoption by artists and hobbyists needing new content would have to move up anyway, and objectively certain cosmetic things are much worse on G9), that revenues are still faltering, hence testing the idea of rentware. Many software companies have seen much greater profits after their moves to rentware (Adobe makes more money these days as a result of Creative Cloud), and they hope to cash in on the idea. They might have enough lockin to manage to stabilize revenues; I'm not sure in the long term whether the rest of the lockin they would need is there.
ronaldknights posted at 9:46 PM Mon, 21 October 2024 - #4490635Very very very few software companies can get bigger by buying another company's software to make their own; Adobe is literally one of the few that's managed to make that work by being able to afford to pay what it takes to retain talent through an acquisition, and even they've faltered (Adobe Flash anyone?).My experience with DAZ software is extremely disappointing. It started when I decided to pay the price to buy DAZ Studio 3 advanced. Of course, eventually DAZ Studio became free. Add to the list Carrara, Bryce, Hexagon, and other titles I've forgotten.
You're right. I hadn't thought about that. DAZ has been alternately acquiring good things then discarding them for longer than I was remembering. Each time they finish, DAZ is smaller.
I don't think they're going to achieve the lock-in they want, and will instead lock-out their customers by making it too expensive for hobbyists to justify staying. They just aren't as big or as professionally used as Adobe and this push toward rent-ware will more likely end the way it did for E-on. The question is will DAZ survive the damage to their customer base and reputation? And will whoever buys the company after they fail even bother with their original market of hobbyists and new to 3d users?I used to use Hexagon as my modeler, it was decent, but had some serious and practically unavoidable bugs in the types of modeling I do, and no indication they'd ever do even maintenance development. I switched to Blender a few years ago, and I don't ever intend to pay for modeling software again.
I get some indication that, despite raising new content prices and rolling out new figures to encourage purchases (don't give me that "woke" garbage, G9 was meant to try to get wallets open by encouraging adoption by artists and hobbyists needing new content would have to move up anyway, and objectively certain cosmetic things are much worse on G9), that revenues are still faltering, hence testing the idea of rentware. Many software companies have seen much greater profits after their moves to rentware (Adobe makes more money these days as a result of Creative Cloud), and they hope to cash in on the idea. They might have enough lockin to manage to stabilize revenues; I'm not sure in the long term whether the rest of the lockin they would need is there.
gohanf22 posted at 7:44 AM Sun, 20 October 2024 - #4490566
DarkElegance posted at 7:08 PM Sat, 19 October 2024 - #4490540I stopped spending a while ago and nothing recently has encouraged me to start again.gohanf22 posted at 8:46 AM Sat, 19 October 2024 - #4490520
Saddly...that is it.Reason why they are going this route is the SANE DAZ users are sick of the direction they are going with DAZ so guess what they resort to, to getting their DAZ assets: PIRATES LIFE! This is why they are doing it cause people are sick and tired forking out money to companies that don't give two Fs about their customers. Pirating is becoming a norm and as long as these companies keep catering to the Weird ones, our wallets will remain closed. I hear some vendors are already leaving Daz and going to places like Renderhub to start selling in hoping to gain any sort of income. Get woke, go broke, and you can't change my mind Gen 9 was not woke. Gen was a disaster and gen 2, 3 and 8 were great. Why go back to the very thing that was a disaster? Answer: to cater to the weirdos. Screw daz.
If customers keep feeling unheard, that they are not valued, they will stop spending money. Note, I am not saying they will stop the "hobby". They will seek other venues to get their items. And in the bigger scheme of it, it will tbe the artists working to make those products that will suffer.I do know of artists that have either left daz for places like renderhub or started their own store. Which I am happy to support. It means more of my money is going directly to the artists.
Yep. Clearly DAZ needs their own BUDLIGHT treatment....
EDIT: And yeah I do the same with Renderhub as well. Anyone that I know are good PAs and Vendors that will move to Renderhub or Already ON Renderhub, I will support. Renderhub gives 100% of the revenue, unlike DAZ.
The moderators are biased and use a variety of excuses to remove posts. They cannot in any way face any critism even when proof of their bias is pointed out.
Wow! I missed the party. No matter. I'm going to comment broadly on some of what I've seen here.
I was unaware the Ignore button was actually a 2-way block button. I thought it was just as marked - I'm ignoring that person's posts, blah blah. Fascinating.
I don't really see how anyone outside of Daz can comment meaningfully on Daz's profitability or financial health.That's internal info, they're privately held. That said, no matter how much money they make, they want to make more - That's what businesses do. I'm sure the new subscriptions are part of that.
Like others, I'm no fan of the new subcriptions and especially not the rentware content.
Obviously, people come here to discuss things that would be quickly deleted from the Daz forum. People want to express themselves without being deliberately censored.
Piracy harms the artists as much or more than it harms Daz. No thank you.
IME, content from some of the alternative sites may not be not well-tested. The alternative sites may not have a good return policy, or any return policy. Caveat Emptor. Not saying content from alternative sites is bad - Some of it's great! And I've encountered some serious weirdness, too.
SydneyInPeril posted at 7:33 AM Tue, 22 October 2024 - #4490651
Very very very few software companies can get bigger by buying another company's software to make their own; Adobe is literally one of the few that's managed to make that work by being able to afford to pay what it takes to retain talent through an acquisition, and even they've faltered (Adobe Flash anyone?).Flash... That one's an interesting case. It's an exception. For years, it was perfectly fine under Adobe's banner. Apple killed it by banning it from the iphone. That's a simplification. This article explains better: https://www.howtogeek.com/805605/this-is-how-steve-jobs-killed-adobe-flash/
Ironically, there are still Flash emulators and there are places one can still find and play Flash games and such, though likely not on the iphone.
Indeed.gohanf22 posted at 7:44 AM Sun, 20 October 2024 - #4490566
DarkElegance posted at 7:08 PM Sat, 19 October 2024 - #4490540I stopped spending a while ago and nothing recently has encouraged me to start again.gohanf22 posted at 8:46 AM Sat, 19 October 2024 - #4490520
Saddly...that is it.Reason why they are going this route is the SANE DAZ users are sick of the direction they are going with DAZ so guess what they resort to, to getting their DAZ assets: PIRATES LIFE! This is why they are doing it cause people are sick and tired forking out money to companies that don't give two Fs about their customers. Pirating is becoming a norm and as long as these companies keep catering to the Weird ones, our wallets will remain closed. I hear some vendors are already leaving Daz and going to places like Renderhub to start selling in hoping to gain any sort of income. Get woke, go broke, and you can't change my mind Gen 9 was not woke. Gen was a disaster and gen 2, 3 and 8 were great. Why go back to the very thing that was a disaster? Answer: to cater to the weirdos. Screw daz.
If customers keep feeling unheard, that they are not valued, they will stop spending money. Note, I am not saying they will stop the "hobby". They will seek other venues to get their items. And in the bigger scheme of it, it will tbe the artists working to make those products that will suffer.I do know of artists that have either left daz for places like renderhub or started their own store. Which I am happy to support. It means more of my money is going directly to the artists.
Yep. Clearly DAZ needs their own BUDLIGHT treatment....
EDIT: And yeah I do the same with Renderhub as well. Anyone that I know are good PAs and Vendors that will move to Renderhub or Already ON Renderhub, I will support. Renderhub gives 100% of the revenue, unlike DAZ.The moderators are biased and use a variety of excuses to remove posts. They cannot in any way face any critism even when proof of their bias is pointed out.
Rottenham posted at 5:16 AM Tue, 22 October 2024 - #4490646
ronaldknights posted at 9:46 PM Mon, 21 October 2024 - #4490635this why I am so disappointed as a Carrara user who found DAZ through Carrara in 2009My experience with DAZ software is extremely disappointing. It started when I decided to pay the price to buy DAZ Studio 3 advanced. Of course, eventually DAZ Studio became free. Add to the list Carrara, Bryce, Hexagon, and other titles I've forgotten.
You're right. I hadn't thought about that. DAZ has been alternately acquiring good things then discarding them for longer than I was remembering. Each time they finish, DAZ is smaller.
I started off with iClone 3 then got Carrara 5 free on a Magazine disc, upgraded to Carrara 6 through DAZ and bought Poser 7
stopped at Poser 11 and obviously Carrara 8.5 as development sadly ended
I never really used DAZ studio much until I got a Desktop as it just crashed on my laptop, Carrara and Poser ran quite well
I finally started with D|S4 and Genesis basically
I do use D|S now of course but mostly because I want to use content that is difficult to use in Carrara, it never was my first choice
they keep adding roadblocks though, I cannot even use Premier if I wanted to due to the Connect PostgreSQL requirements
let alone the content in Carrara even though Genesis 9 can work in Carrara
The whole Premier thing is disappointing to me.
I took advantage of a sale and have Daz+ through June 2026. My offer for Premier? A free month.
I asked if I could pay for a month of Premier to try it. Nope, You can't have dual memberships. And if you 'upgrade', it's a one-way deal.
So the option is to trade 7 months of + coupons - $84 - to see if the Premier software features are worth paying the monthly fee. I'll be waiting until my + expires, that's a poor value transaction.
The content you get with Premier isn't a draw for me, Genesis 9 has a great face and eyes, but the chest geometry does not give me male body shape I find acceptable.
Please refrain from making unsubstantiated claims or accusations. Any more will cause this thread to be locked.
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Well, my visit here didn't tell me much about the action at DAZ, although I haven't seen anybody saying how swell rentware is. They must be on a different forum. (tic)
The barn cats here are an unfortunate sign of out times.
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