Databases and Tiers

[EvanDC]

I've called this Databases and Tiers, but I might have also called it Databases and Tears! 

I understand there's been a recent change to the way in which the tiered pricing structure works at Invision. I've just started a brand new site which I'm confident is going to grow rapidly simply because it is serving a clearly focussed niche group (church ministers in the UK), for which there is nothing like this provision out there. ... and I have a very strong network of people to tap into and they're all excited about it. So here I am beavering away at building the site. I start on the free trial and check out the functionality etc etc. Confident it's the right platform for me I buy in at the lowest tier because I'm not making any money from this site yet - hopefully I will, but not yet and not for a while. 

So I'm busy customising it and buying in some apps from the marketplace when suddenly I realise that some of these customisations aren't working. It takes me a good while before I realise it's all down to one thing ... Database access. On the Creator package (lowest tier) full database access isn't available. So there's a bunch of applications in the marketplace which just don't work on that tier ... only that's about as transparent and obvious as a needle in a haystack. Sure, if you know what you're looking for you can see that maybe it's mentioned, but so vaguely and not in any kind of way that a beginner like me could be expected to understand that it feels like a con. 

So I look at the Creator Pro tier and think about upgrading. It's another $70 a month!!! $70 just so I get to customise the databases a bit. That's almost double what is already a brilliant, but expensive platform to commit to. 

Things I have absolutely no interest in ... EVERYTHING ELSE ON THE CREATOR PRO LIST! Don't care about coming soon Live Topics. Nope. Don't care about SSO. Don't care about API access or Live who's viewing. I just want to be able to customise some layouts a little bit to make it look nicer using the add-ons I foolishly bought on the marketplace thinking they'd work just fine ... because who knew "Full Page Builder Access" meant the same thing as vague mentions of "databases" on the app pages? 

So this is me asking the guys at invision to think again about their tiered structure. I know this is a costly and brilliant platform to build, run and maintain. I know that. I'm hugely grateful to you for it. BUT ... is there honestly such a significant impact on your servers and services that pushing "Full Page Builder Access" into the Creator tier isn't possible, or indeed sensible? No way I can afford to cough up an additional $70 a month, I can barely afford the $99 a month I'm already paying. 

When I was on the trial I understood that full page builder access was part of the deal. That's what I thought I was getting when I signed up. Not because I'd read the words anywhere, just because that's what I had in the trial I had. 

If you can't push page builder down into the bottom tier, can you at least give a justifiable reason why not? Again, not interested in all the other stuff in the Creator Pro tier, just databases. Would it really be problematic to you - given how this move has screwed up app compatibility in the marketplace - and given how your trial period version includes it and then you do a bait and switch when someone buys in ... to include it as standard on all packages? 

Thanks.