[Fixed in 4.4] Weird bug: latest "Spectral Suite" update not included in upgrade plan

[lunardigs]

Branding 101 tells us that a brand is about trust. It's not really about innovation, or value, or beating the competition, it's about trust ... Without it, there's no customer loyalty. It's about as essential as the product you're offering.

Unfortunately, this is yet another instance where I've lost trust.

[Benutzername]

Does anybody know what happens when Bitwig (or the liquidator) shuts down the activation server? Is there a paragraph in the license agreement that handles this case or did they say something in the past? I couldn't find anything at a first glance.

[Phil B]

Your question makes no sense.

Thanks for your hospitality

[HBIII]

This is crazy. I am literally looking at my choices for a new daw right now. Ugh.

[WasteLand]

when updating and NOT buying these new add-ons, do they just stay in your plugin list?

are they really visible in the plugin list? and the demo project works, even if you don't own them?

(i am on 4.0.8, while have a license for an upgrade plan.... that i don't want to use, yet...)

[E_Anderson]

There's a serious issue here: as far as I'm aware, bitwig users have never run into the terminology of "addons" or "devices" in any such way that would suggest there was ever a distinction between updates paid for by the update plan, and any other type of update not covered in the plan.

As a non-bitwig user, I could be wrong, and please say so if I am.

But if I'm not, the first wind anyone ever catches that the $170 they pay for a year's worth of updates doesn't actually cover the predetermined services covered by the plan, is on the day of a release that is not covered by the update plan.

It's true that maybe a good chunk of people were paying for updates a year in advance, every year, instead of waiting for a feature they wanted.

Well, be that as it may unnecessary or not, you can sure as shit expect to see a sharp uptick in the number of people paying for updates a year or two late, after this, and while that was always an option, I wonder what percentage of those update plans they planned on losing due to pissing people off? I wonder what percentage of their users are actually going to change how they do business with Bitwig? Are Bitwig confident that the sales of these spectral addons from users who don't care about this drama are going to cover the loss in update plan income from those who do? Maybe they're confident people are going to carry on as normal, or reluctantly buy it, even if pissed?

You know what, maybe they can. But how unfortunate that they've decided to trade the love of their customers, at least of every one of those customers so far who's spoken in any given public forum, for a hope at a buck. I hope it hurts and I also hope they make it better. Sigh... So far, I think I've seen 4 individuals on the entire internet who aren't actively pissed. Granted the forum users typically make up a minority, but it's every forum. Perhaps the people who don't participate in these wouldn't have the same social cues to get quite as mad, not being surrounded by other angry people.

Only time will tell. But from my perspective as a non user who's always had some fascination with the software, I too am pissed! I am surrounded by angry people and I feel wronged on their behalf! I hope they make this right. If not, f**k you, Waves!

[ChamomileShark]

I've not read all the replies, I'm also a bit miffed in that I thought this kind of thing would be covered in the update plan. I would have been quite happy if they had moved it onto 4.4. It's not like this isn't something more spectacular than the grid or Convolution or the Vocooder that were covered in the yearly plans.

Has anyone fed back to Bitwig this thread? Do they know how much they have upset people?

[Echoes in the Attic]

Your question makes no sense.

Thanks for your hospitality

I'm a user just like you. I have no hospitality to offer you. I literally couldn't really comprehend the logic behind your question. Didn't mean to offend or anything, just doesn't make sense to me, even though I agree that this was a bad move.

[SLiC]

Has anyone fed back to Bitwig this thread? Do they know how much they have upset people?

I'm sure they know- Have a look at twitter and YouTube (launch videos, Polarity etc) they make this thread look quite moderate...

[hyperdeath666]

There's a serious issue here: as far as I'm aware, bitwig users have never run into the terminology of "addons" or "devices" in any such way that would suggest there was ever a distinction between updates paid for by the update plan, and any other type of update not covered in the plan.

This is why I said earlier this is arguably fraud. They advertise an upgrade plan as including all "updates" and "upgrades" (they use both words). Maybe this isn't an "update", since they have (seemingly arbitrarily) withheld a numbered release for it. Is it an "upgrade"? That's not black-and-white, but there's definitely a case to be made that it is. A reasonable consumer, based on both language and historical precedent, would plausibly assume this kind of content would be included in what they've purchased.

[Lazarus451]

Is there a possibility for Paypal dispute? I mean, if I had bought 170€ "future proof upgrade plan" last week and this week they would tell me that I need to pay for the upgrade, I might ask what Paypal thinks

[ChamomileShark]

well I'll make sure they see it. I've just written to them.

" I'm bit surprised that Spectral Suite isn't included in a .x release update and therefore included in the update plans. It seems comparible to the vocoder or convolution plugin and less than the Grid. Why is it a seperate item? And why so expensive? I thought the implied contract was "you pay us upfront for development, we then give you the fruits of that development with no extra cost". You seem now to be going in a different direction - maybe you need to let your customers know what that is?

It's not like Cubase where you can see what you are buying before you upgrade.

It seems I am not alone in that opinion, several threads have appeared on KvR, including this one. viewtopic.php?t=587607"

[excuse my arrogance!]

I think the Bitwig team are using the same PR team as the UK Conservative Party...

I think the PR team of the UK conservative party is slightly better.....

[E_Anderson]

Reddit had 178 comments, 3-4 of which consisted of moderate-to-favorable, 174-175 of which consisted of attitudes ranging from pissed-off to knobcloud.

Is there a possibility for Paypal dispute? I mean, if I had bought 170€ "future proof upgrade plan" last week and this week they would tell me that I need to pay for the upgrade, I might ask what Paypal thinks

I have been wondering what that would look like as well. Truthfully, I think there is a very reasonable case to be made, and you would have the option then to withold update payments until an update you wanted came around. Clearly this is not that update, yet!

[HBIII]

Is there a possibility for Paypal dispute? I mean, if I had bought 170€ "future proof upgrade plan" last week and this week they would tell me that I need to pay for the upgrade, I might ask what Paypal thinks

If I was still under the PayPal dispute time I certainly would be filing a dispute.