Besides MXXXCore, I also own MPowerSynth & MCreativeFXBundle.
When I log in to my account to see my personal upgrade paths and their associated discounts, it is only MXXXCore that is considered when generating my personal upgrade path & discount for MXXX.
Why isn't the MCreativeFXBundle factoring into the discount calculation ? And MPowerSynth, for that matter ?
MXXXCore is sold as a version of MXXX where you can simply buy the 'modules' (i.e the standalone plugins) separately. It's weird then that those purchased modules hold zero value when wanting to upgrade from MXXXCore to MXXX.
In short, someone who owns MXXXCore and nothing else will pay the same price to upgrade to MXXX as someone like me who also owns MCreativeFXBundle & MPowersynth.
That seems quite unfair to me.
I can anticipate some rebuttals along the lines of someone in my circumstance still having access to the modules in their standalone plugin format, but this rebuttal would - at best - only serve to justify a reduction in the discount given, but not an outright absence of any discount at all.
I can anticipate also some reference to the multiband nature of some of those standalones (whereas multiband is patched manually in MXXX). But I think any such references would be a bit of a red herring since the functionality is present in both standalone version & module version, albeit after a bit of patching.
Ultimately though I think my biggest issue is that MXXXCore is explicitly marketed in a way that presents buying standalone plugins as the means of adding modules, but then the upgrade discount system totally ignores the fact you purchased a bunch of MXXXCore 'modules' when it comes to upgrading to the full MXXX.
Generally, I strongly dislike when a developer has some complicated or arcane system of bundles and upgrades which ends up leaving you with a bunch of junk standalone licenses if you upgrade to a bundle, as well as disregarding the purchase of those licenses in the first place when offering you a bundle price VS someone else who owns less plugins or virtually none at all.
This generally isn't the case with most developers nowadays though, since presumably they see the value in having a bundle / upgrade system that amounts to "all paths lead to Rome" (Rome, as in the complete bundle / suite etc) ... While Melda's current system, specifically in the context of MXXXCore and MXXX, has some dead-ends that you really need to do your homework to make sure you avoid. It basically seems like there's a 'having your cake and eat it too' approach to the way MXXX/Core is marketed. MXXX is expensive (which isn't to say it's not good value), presumably in large part because of the accumulated value of the modules DSP ... And yet those modules are given no value (in the context of upgrading to MXXX) when purchased individually for MXXXCore ?
I guess I could upgrade from MXXXCore to MXXX, and then sell the MCreativeFXBundle & MPowerSynth ... But that's a big nuisance and also no telling when someone would buy it from me and what they'd pay me.
What I think would be fair, considering a system is already in place for personalised discounts based on previous purchases, is providing two more options to upgrade to MXXX.
The first option could offer the steepest discount, but the caveat is that your standalone licenses would be stripped from your account ... So for example, in my case that would mean I would upgrade from MCreativeFXBundle + MPowerSynth + MXXXCore. All of those licenses would be deleted from my account, and all I would be left with is MXXX.
The second option could offer less discount, but would leave the licenses for the MCreativeFXBundle etc, for those who value having the standalones as well as their presence in MXXX.
I hope I've just really misunderstood things, but if not, I really hope this changes. I'm interested in upgrading to MXXX, but I'm not interested in going through the rigamarole of selling 2nd-hand licenses for (redundant) modules in such close proximity to the holiday and winter sales. Particularly after paying out the same amount of dough for MXXX as the individual who bought no MXXXCore modules at all.
Why don't MPowerSynth & MCreativeFXBundle count towards a MXXX discount ?
-
- KVRist
- 44 posts since 17 Dec, 2020
+1 for this suggestion:
Right now, it feels for me that having some bundle makes an upgrade to MXXX unattractive, even though I like MXXXCore more and more (and it is a teaser for MXXX).The first option could offer the steepest discount, but the caveat is that your standalone licenses would be stripped from your account ... So for example, in my case that would mean I would upgrade from MCreativeFXBundle + MPowerSynth + MXXXCore. All of those licenses would be deleted from my account, and all I would be left with is MXXX.
-
- KVRer
- 2 posts since 4 Dec, 2021
Will Melda allow you to trade in your plugins? That's interesting.