Lifetime upgrade - Your thoughts

Well, it's $65 a whack for a Pro upgrade with 50% discount, which always comes along regularly, 229 / 65 = ~3.5

So, you'll be up ~$33 when it gets to Filter Forge 7. so based on FF2 release to FF3 release, about a year n a half? a bit more... so 1.5 * 4 = 6, so you should be in profit in ~6 years time...

Step 1: Make cool and useful filter. Step 2: Put it on Library. Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2 at least 5 times. Step 4: ???? Step 5: profit!

Well, it gives you a timescale, you just have to ponder, in the next 6 years will:

A) Filter Forge Inc goes tits up.
B) You stop wanting to use Filter Forge.
C) Filter Forge acquires all the features you desire and thus you feel no need to upgrade any further.

options D and E were going to be you die, and the destruction of civilisation, but if either of those happened then it's not as if losing some cash will be an issue.

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Step 1: Make cool and useful filter. Step 2: Put it on Library. Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2 at least 5 times. Step 4: ???? Step 5: profit!

Is FF giving HU out anymore? I looked clear back through Oct of last year and the only HU filters I could find are resubmitted ones from a year ago or longer. I thought they had quit giving them out. You would think ONE filter from the last 5 months would have gone HU. Maybe I missed something.

SpaceRay if you read the comments on these filters you posted, you will find that most of them are resubmitted from as far back as 2008 and the latest one is June 2011. (They keep their count even after it is resubmitted.) There may only be one that is recent. So I ask again, is FF giving out HU anymore?

I know my filters are not good enough to make HU, but there have been several posted in the last 9 or 10 months that should have been big sellers. Just makes me wonder if they have upped their HU numbers? Maybe it is even harder to reach the magic number now.

I think the problem lies in the vastness of the library.
When FF was new, pretty much every other filter was "big hit" because:
A) That's what you had to work with
B) it was easier to create original new stuff

Now that the library has almost 8700 filters, it really takes something spectacular to get people to use it all the time.

If you have 1000 users and 100 filters, each filter would get around 10 hits (assuming they're all equaly good).
Now that you have 8700 filters, and let's say 3000 users, every filter (again assuming they're all as good) will get about 3 hits.
That's why you need something truely amazing and inspiring, that will keep people drawn to it for long enough, to get HU these days.

Hard to say when and how long before a filter goes HU...One filter could go through a month or year and be only used on an average scale or not used at all...Then all of a sudden it could be used like crazy for a month or two and get an HU...Then go back down in usage again....

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Skybase Wrote.. Step 1: Make cool and useful filter. Step 2: Put it on Library. Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2 at least 5 times. Step 4: ???? Step 5: profit!

Step 4 is make lots of Sock Puppets...Now pull their strings...

My thoughts on how good an idea a lifetime license is revolve around the development process rather than the math of how many upgrades are included.

And honestly, the degree to which FF doesn't pay attention to the very clear, cohesive and virtually universal requests of its users is what is keeping me from considering the offer.

After all, plunking down that kind of money is an up-front promise to be happy and satisfied with whatever the developer decides to give you for the better part of a decade.

That's a long, long time in software years and the recent past isn't anything to be particularly proud of. It's not something to be ashamed of either, but it really doesn't stand out in terms of value delivered.

Call it a solid "C" a my grade. A passing mark, but it doesn't get you a scholarship.

It's really too bad that there isn't any product which is a real substitutable competitor. I think FF as well as its users would benefit from a little outside pressure.

And anyone forking over 6 years worth of upgrade fees sight-unseen would be exactly opposite to that.

My personal opinion is that I think that FF INC. have realized that they can´t make their software better according to the competing companiers and trends and can´t convert to 64 bit, use more than 1,5 GB RAM and can´t use any GPU acceleration, so there are afraid of loosing FF users, AND more important probably more afraid of what the competing companies could bring and release and could damage the market of FF.

So if FF can get FF users to pay now in advance for the next 5 years, they will ensure the fidelity and will avoid the great problem of another competing company making a better offer and software than FF can that could be released in the future.

It´s better to get the money now than waiting years to get it even if the price gets up and could get more, and waht is worse that the company could be loosing because they can´t bring and get benefit of any of the new technologies that other companies CAN offer.

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Morgantao wrote: I don't know if you all got that mail too, but I've been offered to buy a lifetime upgrade for FF 3.0 and all it's future versions. Since I already payed for an upgrade to FF 3.0, I guess this leaves me with future versions.

If you have already bought the upgrade to FF 3.0, why would you want to pay for something that will happen and be given probably in one year time from now ?

From my point of view this ONLY could considered if you have NOT upgraded yet to FF 3.0, because In my own personal opinion I Think is pointless to pay now 229$ for something for the far future.

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Morgantao wrote: I was wondering what you guys think about this. For me, $229 is serious money, so I'm a little torn. On one hand, I sure would like to get all future version of FF "for free". On the other hand, it's a bit of a gamble, since who knows what's gonna happen untill next version comes out? What if (god forbid) FF inc will go out of business? What if the whole company took a company vacation and had a plane crash? What if FF will be bought by Corel and suck ass like everything else Corel bought? Also, considering : FF won't go 64bit won't use any hardware acceleration has it's own custom memory controller that doesn't take advantage of today's huge amounts of memory available, [B]maybe by next year the competition will be a better buy? [/B] So what are your thoughts?

Of course that unless you are rich, 229$ is really serious money, and paying for getting nothing now (unless is the FF 3.0 upgrade) and is like a large investmemt for the far future.

What are the real benefits of this ?

How much will you save ?

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On one hand, I sure would like to get all future version of FF "for free".

I think that everybody would agree with this and is true, but really this can be misleading and misunderstood, because is not "FREE" at all until you reach the FF 7.0 or 8.0 version, because you will be PAYING for the previous ones

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What if (god forbid) FF inc will go out of business?

I do not think that this could happen and is not something for me to fear, BUT there could a be a reason to this to to happen, if FF sells many lifetime upgrades, in the future will not have much less income from previous users, and will only depend on new users and the ones that still not have the lifetime upgrade, anf this could be perhaps dangerous.

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What if the whole company took a company vacation and had a plane crash?

Although is a good reason, it not something to take into account, FF and everyone, even yourself us exposed to many possible dangers and totally unexpected things that could happen or NOT.

If it is yourself who dies you will also loose the right to a future version of FF, unless FF offers a deathtime upgrade and they can send the upgrade to the other world, OR if you die the licence will be transfered to another person.

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What if FF will be bought by Corel and suck ass like everything else Corel bought?

Why would Corel be interested to buy FF ??? Perhaps any other company much more related to Photoshop could be, but not Corel.

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Also, considering : FF won't go 64bit won't use any hardware acceleration has it's own custom memory controller that doesn't take advantage of today's huge amounts of memory available, [B]maybe by next year the competition will be a better buy?

I think that THIS last thing is the essential and more important key, and the most important reason WHY is not a good idea to get a lifetime licence.