Is my reseller using clickbait tactics?

[Pixelcon]

So I received an email from the company I purchased vray from with the subject line "Upgrade to V-Ray NEXT for 3ds Max before it's too late!". I replied and ask what I might be missing out on, and exactly when "soon" is...
The reply said that "As you may be aware - V-Ray gets updated yearly, and from what we've been advised is that if you do not have V-Ray NEXT, there won't be an upgrade path to the next version. We aren't exactly sure when that next release will be, but following their trend we speculate it would be around Feb-March."

Surely this is not true? Vray has not been a paid yearly upgrade, has it? Is this guy just being cheeky or is there any truth to this?

[Vizioen]

So Vray Next 2 is coming in Feb March. I call BS on this one. "Following their trend". It's not really their trend to release a new version number every 2 years. Takes them at least 4 . And V-ray doesn't get updated yearly but multiple times per year. You can take a yearly subscription though, which I did for next. I now have 3.6 perpetual (which I could upgrade to next) and 1 year of next subscription.

[dlparisi]

"Yow won't believe what Chaos Group does next! Click here to upgrade!"

I can't speak for Chaos Group but I've always felt their upgrade policies were more than fair in that they were not trying to screw you on upgrades. I supposed what your said is possible about "no upgrade path" but I personally have nothing to complain about. I purchased Vray many, many years ago, paid an upgrade to 3 (I think) and have been using it for about 15 years for what is essentially a very minimal investment. Is there any reason not to just buy it directly from Chaos Group anyway( https://store.chaosgroup.com/.) What is the point of a reseller?

[Vizioen]

"Yow won't believe what Chaos Group does next! Click here to upgrade!"

I can't speak for Chaos Group but I've always felt their upgrade policies were more than fair in that they were not trying to screw you on upgrades. I supposed what your said is possible about "no upgrade path" but I personally have nothing to complain about. I purchased Vray many, many years ago, paid an upgrade to 3 (I think) and have been using it for about 15 years for what is essentially a very minimal investment. Is there any reason not to just buy it directly from Chaos Group anyway( https://store.chaosgroup.com/.) What is the point of a reseller?

Well before that online shop was there (and we still worked with dongles) we needed to use a reseller, my 3.6 license was also through a reseller. Chaos didn't always have that online store.

[annatabakova]

Dear Pixelcon, the information you received from your reseller is incomplete and it might be misleading or not correct. We do not have yearly paid upgrades – version 3 was released in 2014 and there were no paid upgrades until the release of version Next in May 2018. All customers who own a V-Ray license in its latest (current) version get multiple updates including bug fixes, enhancements, new features and platform compatibility updates. We do not expect to have a new version in Feb-March 2020 and, in any case, we strive to inform all clients ahead of time about any upcoming changes in upgrade eligibility. Please drop us a line at sales@chaosgroup.com and let us know more details in a separate correspondence, we can sync with the partner and incorrect information does not spread. We will make sure it does not happen again. Thanks!

[Pixelcon]

Chaosgroup contacted me and cleared it all up (Thanks Anna!). Nevertheless I'm glad I wasn't fooled by this vendor's email. I think i'll just be using the chaosgroup online store from now on (as I recall there wasn't this option when I first purchased Vray as others have mentioned).