VPS Avenger new license system is a complete mystery

[Caine123]

Of course I will sell the Avenger License.

How much do you suppose an avenger license would go for?

I don't know and I'm still waiting for an answer how transfers can be done and how much these cost if not free. You have always to pull all info about copy protection, selling licenses etc. out of the nose from these guys.

i would check the marketplace prices. i guess around 100 bucks sellprice.

[original flipper]

Hi

I don't have VPS - I did demo it when it was at 50% discount, but didn't buy it as I came to my senses (that the other 50 paid synths I have were just fine!).

These situations never really end - you have an update to an OS causing problems, a new OS causing problems, a synth is buggy because the dev stopped selling/supporting it 8 years ago, the app is 32bit & the bridge doesn't work, you have to deal with Waves central, Native Access, Izotope product portal, XLN online installer, Sonic charge authenticator OR a whole bunch of other C/R setups.

For sure developers seem to come up with some very short sighted ideas on how to protect their software - even if you could prove to a developer that they would not loose a penny from having a simple watermark/keyfile/serial protection scheme many would still KEEP what they are using.

Overall though it's starting to get beyond a joke with almost every other developer creating another new C/R system - do these people believe that another 30 background tasks running is good idea?

VPS will probably not be around in 10 years time - with the system described here I wonder if users will be running it either - I am still running 'Exciton' in my DAW: it was released in 2003 ..... and uses a serial.

[OzoneJunkie]

I had thought about selling my license too. In particular because I have 20 (I think, somewhere around there) expansion packs, and would like to recoup some money there (the license for the synth itself is a wash in my mind). Figured I might get $250 or so, but also, I see people trying to sell their license/packs in the marketplace and not having much luck (I think).

I will say this: if the Codemeter protection was in use from day one, I would never have bought Avenger - I actively avoid these types of copy protection.

I will not, in the future, invest that kind of money with any synth. Spending over $1000 in presets, just to have the copy protection change, to one that I will not use. It's a lesson for me.

Lastly, and I haven't written this in the main Avenger thread, and likely won't, but:

There had been an indication that anyone who wanted to stay on version 1.4.x (pre the CM stuff), they could, and that we'd (still) be able to license that version on new machines.

Well, on the Vengeance Account/Support page/site, there's no way to do that. I suspect it must be done through emailing support. Worse yet, there doesn't seem to be a way to download the expansion packs that predate the Codemeter protection - the XPs on the site are the newer versions. So, if you don't have back up copies of the older (1.4.x version) XP installers, I'm not sure how you get those.

Point being, keep all of your installers. If you install on a new machine with version 1.4.x, you'll need that stuff. I see no way to get it through the account page.

[Googly Smythe]

...
Point being, keep all of your installers...

Even this is beginning to be hard to do, what with the slow creep of online installers and download managers.

[AveryW]

Of course I will sell the Avenger License.

How much do you suppose an avenger license would go for?

I don't know and I'm still waiting for an answer how transfers can be done and how much these cost if not free. You have always to pull all info about copy protection, selling licenses etc. out of the nose from these guys.

I emailed them asking for a license transfer and they gave me a link to buy it. The license transfer costs 30 USD, download protection is 5 USD, and the backup media is 20 USD. The last two are optional.

Backup media description:

We have made downloading software a secure and hassle-free process by providing you a backup option for your software purchase.

Since the unexpected can sometimes happen; we provide a service that makes it easy to have a backup copy at hand.

As you are ordering your software, simply add the backup media option to your order within the shopping cart and complete your purchase. Once your order is confirmed, download your new software, and your physical backup copy will be shipped to you directly.

Postal delivery can take 10-15 business days within the EU and the US, and 15-25 business days to other countries/regions.

Please note:
Goods exported to countries outside the EU and the US can be subject to customs fees. The recipients of these goods are responsible for any applicable customs fees and taxes. For more information, please contact the customs authorities in your country.

Download protection description:

If you purchase the "Download Protection" service (Extended Download Service), you can download the electronic product version up to 6 month(s) after receipt of your payment by going to "My Account" in the Customer Care Center. Please notice that this service is not an extension of your original product and does not give you access to any additional licenses for the original product. However, this does not entitle you to download updates.

I’m not really even sure why you would want these last two or what they really do. Does anyone know?

[ThomasHelzle]

Never got an answer to my request about how to do a license transfer from their support.
Uninstalled and unauthorised already, I'll probably just forget about them.
Don't like their attitude anyway.
No MPE ever either.
Silly.

[Rivanni]

This is what I was told:

If you want to sell your Avenger, please purchase the license transfer

In order to add the new customer to our database you just have to purchase the following item:
license transfer:

https://secure.shareit.com/shareit/cart ... &js=-1

and send us the new owners Name and Email

The new customer will then be in our database and he will receive technical support and updates from us.

IMPORTANT:
your old license will be terminated and the new customer will get a new key when he contacts keilwerth@vengeance-sound.com and sends

- the invoice of the license transfer
- your old license key
- original Avenger invoice.

All these 3 things, YOU have to send the new owner

[dreamvoid]

This is what I was told:

Thank you - expensive and over-bureaucratic, which fits into the image of this company ... It will be a relief to get this Avenger experience behind me.

[pinki]

Wow a shocking thread..thanks to the op.

[Hanz Meyzer]

@Rivanni thanks for posting this info here!

VPS will probably not be around in 10 years time - with the system described here I wonder if users will be running it either

Yup, once they stop continuing this product, nobody will be able to use it anymore. They already did this with Refx synthesizers, like Vanguard or Quadrasid. But at least those were still startable, only not available for 64 bit. It will be very likely like this again, only much worse.

That's another reason, why a copyprotection which requires constant revalidation is a very poor idea and design.

[mrtheo]

Usually I don't post here (I only made an acc for the free presets and giveaways haha) but I want to write something about this topic....

I really wanted to buy the Avenger, because it has really nice features and the official soundsets seem to be one of the most useful ones for dance music (but only on sale, otherwise too expensive, but they are often on sale, so no problem).

But I don't want any more dongles or big software protection on my pc (I must use elicenser because Cubase is my main daw... bad enough), and codemeter seems to be the worst of them. And everybody sees that it does make problems for many users, maybe only 5-10%, but it's still a very high rate.

And the 90 days revalidation is a very bad idea, it's not impossible that Vengeance is no more in 10 years (maybe even because the new copyprotection got cracked and they don't have passion about the business anymore, I wouldn't be surprised), or one of the main members or ceos or whatever get's corona and dies and they can't continue the business. And then, you can't use it anymore, and I think that most avenger users are not someone like Armin van Buuren, where it doesn't really hurt to loose the program and the expensive expansions. And vengeance is really close to refx and everybody knows how they treat discontinued programms...

That are the reasons why I will never buy something from Vengeance. They f**ked up really bad, I mean one of the first marketing phrases about Avenger that comes to my mind was 'Only a key is required', they made a gamble about it, I think. It feels like they just wanted to attract new customers with this easy protection, but they knew from the start that they switch to more heavier protection if it got's cracked.

And I think many people like myself who usually don't frequent forums like this are like me, so maybe it doesn't hurt to write my feelings about this, because maybe someone who is unsure about buying Avenger reads it. I don't think the developer reads this thread, but like I said, maybe people who want to buy Avenger who are like me, and don't want a programm that's just insecure. I think there are many people like me, and maybe the developer change this system if enough people are complaining, I still have hope.

And I decided to buy Rapid instead Avenger by the way. Sounds even better to my ears and they don't look so shady.

edit: I know that you can use a software version of Codemeter, but it seems to work just as bad as the dongle, or even worse.

[dirtysnow]

opened up a project and avenger 1. told me it wasn't authorized and 2. ate the patch i was using. never again.

[pinki]

I emailed them about this thread and got a really sarcastic and unpleasant reply from someone there. They really don't give a flying furrito about what anyone thinks of them. (....yet...)

[dreamvoid]

I emailed them about this thread and got a really sarcastic and unpleasant reply from someone there. They really don't give a flying furrito about what anyone thinks of them. (....yet...)

Of course, that was to be expected. Therefore it is good that many potential buyers know what they're up to. Arrogance is one thing, sales another one.
The attention is generally necessary, because legit users have to define a border for other companies to what they tolerate in general.
Personally I have a deep solidarity with software companies, because I make/made a good living from licensing my music and audio productions. But these guys shouldn't succeed with their business practices. Of course this all will feed their 'resistance' towards the users, but that will alienate them even more. For their egos it seems to late to admit any error at all. Usually that is a sign of being immature, as is their cynicism. I have seen a lot of these type of persons going under quickly - usually they don't see it coming.

[Skandiluz]

opened up a project and avenger 1. told me it wasn't authorized and 2. ate the patch i was using. never again.

Same here. I took so many months learning Avenger after I purchased it from another user here and now I can't even open it properly without it telling me that I don't have a license. Every project I've used it in will not open without crashing as soon as I open the plugin gui. As long as I don't open the gui, I can play the synth fine. So now I have the task of recreating a bunch of patches I made in Avenger with other synths, but now I have to do it by ear since I can't even open the damn thing to remember what I did. I just said forget it and exported my stems + midi into new project files. With that, I've gone back to Serum + Ana 2 and uninstalled Avenger along with code meter.