Ptilly

Since it’s only been implemented for a few months already, I’ll give it a couple more months to settle in. When people start to realize the issue this causes, Invision Power Board will remove this requirement. You can mark my words :).

This type of business won’t last long.

36 minutes ago, DesignzShop said:

We've been down this road before a few times. The majority want IPB to take the reigns on applications for several reasons ranging from

bad development
Devs going awol
Devs taking to much time to release

and the list goes on and on and on. I'm sure @Lindy could mention the ones I didn't plus some.

Devs can list off their site but you need to ready for what could happen if things go wrong. As a dev I can tell you the process for us to get our applications and themes in the marketplace is a bonus for the purchaser. You get a working product right out of the box that's been tested and poured over by IPB to make sure you are getting a quality properly developed product. It's not easy for devs to get accepted due to the stringent requirements, but that benefits the buyer in the end imo greatly. losing 10% profit? try 20% in the real near future. Do I agree with that? I think it should be less like around 12-15% but that's not my choice. it is my choice however to go through the painstaking process to make sure IPB customers get a great product. 

I ran a popular drummers forum for 13 years. I went into it not expecting people to pay me anything, I left it that way too till the end. If you're developing something with dollar signs in mind I wonder how much of a passion that really is to you. If you can't afford a forum and what it takes to keep it and your members safe imo you should stick with free software. At least with free software you can keep security patches up with current releases on time. It's like buying a new car, Should I get a Cadillac and pay tons in maintenance costs or should I get something when something goes wrong I can fix affordably. You certainly want to keep maintenance up and your budget is obviously saying if you buy the Caddy it could be struggle which may end up leaving you without transportation. 

To each their own, that's for sure, but if you want to get into the big league with paid software you should expect there's recurring costs involved. getting something better means developers are being paid and there's a business to run. business's can't run on every Tom Dick or Harry wanting to skip renewals either. People have to eat. As you know with free software, those developers are making money in other ways to put food on their table, pay bills and whatever else it takes to feed themselves and their families possibly.

Realistically looking at this, the entire suite to renew is around 110.00 USD every 6 months. You have 6 months to save a hundred bucks. If you can't save a 100.0 USD in 6 months, you may want to consider a free option.

Bottom line, IPB is a business and must work as such to survive.

"Popular drummers forum". While I'm here running a forum for a small Garry's Mod gaming community. I spend $2500.00 on Garry's Mod Server Add-ons and $1000+ on XenForo add-ons and themes. Want to know what the cool thing about that is? I own every single bit of it and I can download it at any time I please.

So don't come 'Barneys Girlfriend'ing at me about what forums software I should and shouldn't use; I've ran my community model with the mindset of being able to survive without donations, but with Invision Power Board's team being greedy, and being laid off from work due to COVID, that possiblity has just now become alot slimmer. Unless you have the money to give me to spend on $200 a month for both the Garry's Mod Server, web server, and license divided up into the six month period on a month-per-month basis, I suggest you stick to your little drummers forum.

1 hour ago, DesignzShop said:

Second, I never understood why people want to let their license overlap. I don't think I ever let that happen for myself in all the years I've been here. I always wanted the latest version so I could keep my sites safe with current bug fixes and security updates. My members and my investment meant that much to me.

Because not everyone has hundreds to thousands of members that can donate at every given moment. Some people are still trying to grow their forum the right way by not using freeware forums or cheaper alternatives. This also helps in the long run so you don't need to worry about converting over to a paid platform in the future...

1 minute ago, Dean_ said:

Thanks, that what I was trying to find...

I was going to make a separate topic, but since we're all talking about it here. This isn't a good move if it's true? I thought it was a glitch on my side and I left it as was renewing anyway.

Not to be 'that person' but if you force us to have an active licence in order to keep 3rd party apps/plugins up to date. I won't be using the marketplace and will source the files outside like I do already with a couple that I own. This has its own inherent problems, but I only buy from long standing developers.

It's not just to keep them up to date, it's also to purchase them. Once they remove this requirement I'll be renewing my license, but until then I'm being forced to stick with XenForo.

11 minutes ago, Dean_ said:

I know we're going off topic a little but can someone please confirm if we need an active licence in order to keep our 3rd party plugins and apps up to date?

As it was previously said by Lindy is that you only need to own a licence:

Obviously this next quote is a few years older now:

If this has or does change, no one is going to buy from the marketplace anymore, and they will go straight to the developer. Due to the recent change and having the MP within ACP, how will it now work?

@Lindy Sorry to tag you, but would please confirm this?

Here's what I found earlier today: 

On 8/30/2020 at 4:33 PM, Dean_ said:

Sure you don't have to pay to renew, then you lose the ability to download plug-ins and certain forum features on your forum on top of that. This is one reason social media has taken over. Very low overhead costs. Very low long term costs. With forums costs seem to be going up just to keep using the same software you used 20 years ago except now with a new coat of paint and a few new features. 

That right there is the deal breaker. I was going to renew my IPS license to switch things up a bit from XenForo, but after I saw that I'm not able to purchase and download new add-ons for my forums after the license expires in six months, I decided to stick with my XenForo installation. The greed from the IPS team is real and I can't believe it's come to this.