I think topic views can be very helpful, especially for the topic starter. We have sponsors that create topics and seeing that metric is very important to them while comparing that to replies. Someone can probably create a plugin for that.
Paul, the feedback truly is appreciated. With anything, there are inherent risks. You can buy anything and it can go unsupported, warranty denied, or any number of things you hadn't hoped for. The Marketplace is an inherent risk to IPS as well. Anytime there's a fraudulent purchase, a developer disappears and/or there are chargebacks, IPS bears the burden of such - financially and otherwise. When you are dealing with inexpensive resources at a 10% commission, one $15 chargeback it can take dozens of transactions to recoup the loss from that one previous transaction. The Marketplace, from a financial standpoint, is a loss leader for IPS, but it's something that adds value to the product and enhances the customer experience. So, yes, there are risks - for everyone. We've drastically improved the footprint and presence of the Marketplace for 4.5 and thus increased exposure - which ultimately, will be great for everyone. With that, however, necessitates the need to leverage tighter control of the Marketplace. If you buy an app in the App Store or Play, you don't get the source. If the developer disappears, that's the end of the app. That is the unfortunate reality that we all face virtually everywhere else. 99% of the time, the risk pays off.
I completely understand where you are coming from, Paul. Truly. You are fortunate to have the skills and desire to get your hands dirty. I do, however, have the advantage of knowing our customer base and very respectfully - you are indeed the exception, not the norm. Most want to point, click and go. I understand the argument that has been raised: "why not have both?" - we effectively do, even if it's not quite what you had in mind. You can manually install resources and if you wish to purchase something in the Marketplace, there is nothing stopping you from contacting the author and asking for files and likewise, nothing preventing the author from providing it to you. The only caveat is it's installed through the unofficial installation side of the framework and thus unsupported. Beyond that, if the author agrees with your assessment that you should have the ability to view and alter their resources, what we've done in 4.5 should have no bearing on you. If you're asking to have it like it was, I'm afraid we have no intention of doing so, to be completely candid. Whether that changes in the future is unknown, but at this juncture, we will continue to improve the infrastructure, processes and work with the authors to create the best experience we possibly can. There will be bumps. There always is - as we speak, there's an app I can't open on my iPhone since an update - it just crashes. I've been doing this long enough to know things happen and I don't expect the developer or Apple to catch everything. Likewise, we can't predict the perfect storm in every circumstance and when we find something, we will all learn from it, do our best to ensure it doesn't happen again and rather than mask issues that bubble up outside of the Marketplace, they will be dealt to ensure other customers don't encounter the same thing.
Invision is moving in the direction that the majority of the Internet has already moved towards. Point. Click. Done. Fewer and fewer people have any interest in the nuts and bolts of things anymore. We used to have our own datacenter space long ago. I remember personally, in our earlier years, getting late night calls because a power supply failed, or one of the Cisco 6509's didn't come back after an update, or a processor failed. I know nothing about latest server hardware and I haven't had to telnet into a power strip in years... do you know why? Because I don't have or want to. 🙂 Our infrastructure is housed entirely within AWS these days. They do what they do, so we can do what we do and while they aren't perfect either... it works. That is what the overwhelming majority of customers want. Of course, if I wanted to get my hands dirty and rack a server, there are still colo providers available. If we wanted to download, hack up and mess with a collaboration and communication tool - we could, but why? That's what Slack does and I don't care what their code looks like, or what the third party developer's code looks like. It's point. Click. Done. If there's no done, they will work until there is. Again, it may not be your ideal outcome and I really do understand the mistrust, but we just can't be something to everyone and in this case, we're focusing on the things you shouldn't -have- to focus on vs carving out space for you to rack your own server. Others do that well, but we are moving away from that model and I do realize it's a big change for some. We hate to alienate or turn away anyone, we really do.
In short: I would encourage you to contact authors moving forward if you want a copy of a resource and see if that's an option, either as a courtesy or by purchasing from their site instead of the Marketplace. We are standing firm on our position with regards to how the Marketplace will function moving forward. You have my word and commitment to making that the best possible experience it can be. We will also improve communication for these types of things in the future. I think we just assumed everyone would welcome the change - who doesn't like simplicity, right? There's obviously a few that do care and we'll be more mindful of that.
Thanks again for taking the time to provide concise and constructive feedback, Paul. It's appreciated.
Anyone has a right to be disappointed, of course. We are driven by feedback, but there are times when the feedback is not going to coincide with the majority interest or that of our overall vision. The same relative handful of people regurgitating the same thing over and over is not constructive and will not change the outcome in any way.
@Haku2 You have made your feedback on the changes very clear - over and over and over in multiple topics. You've frankly left the constructive feedback/criticism category and are approaching the noise station. I am personally, and we as a company, are aware of your concerns and feedback. We have heard you, even if there aren't immediate actions available and now, it's time to let it go and move on.
@craigf136 Thank you for the feedback on this. It's a valid concern and one I'll take note of internally to ensure it's addressed soon.
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