Ptilly

This is very disappointing.  I suspect it will affect developers too.  That was one of the best parts of IPS for me, the active developer community.  It's not likely I will switch as I am pretty invested in IPS, but as others have pointed out, forums are dying a slow death, this is not helping.

Yup, while I've done my best, I can't always afford the 6 months renewal on top of everything else. Sometimes, I leave my licence expired for a few months. I did this recently, until I had enough and wanted to help test 4.5 beta. But time will once again be upon me to renew and I know I'll have to wait awhile before I can.

Sometimes I can't see an obvious solution right in front of me.  I will use this option also.  Xenforo is the alternative, and while I like their software, the change would be huge for me.

Here's what I found earlier today: 
 

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.

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 OR purchase then, 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.

Here's what I found earlier today: 
 

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?

This is frustrating.  I like IPS and don't plan to move.  Now I will be more careful of the add-ons I buy and will likely try to move closer to a stock forum.  I have not updated my IPS license in a while since there have not been any updates in a while.  What would I have been paying for?  
Now I'll be trapped into paying for IPS just to be able to download an add-on.  Not going to happen.  This will likely hurt developers too.