AD Maintenance plans look like being phased out.......

V-Ray V-Ray Common Off-topic
1

I’ve always been on an AD Maintenance Plan for my one copy of 3DS Max (since 1999)…

I currently pay around £600 a year (though God knows why really because a) I hardly always update as soon as a new release comes out and b) I sometimes even skip a release)…

But, Maintenance Plan is for me…

Today I receive the email that was bound to come at some point from those greedy f-ers at AD…

Here’s a copy;

"Important Update

Hello,

We want to take a moment to share the direction Autodesk is heading—some upcoming changes that will affect your maintenance plan—and a special offer to move to subscription that you may want to consider.

We believe that subscribing is the best way for you to get the greatest value from our tools and technologies—and will fundamentally change how we deliver extended capabilities and new functionalities through connected services. That’s why we’re on a path toward becoming a subscription-only company. We will continue to invest heavily in our subscription offerings, to provide you with greater value through the following benefits:

• Latest and greatest product capabilities – Get access to Autodesk’s ongoing stream of innovation, updates to core products, cloud services for desktop products, and additional capabilities as soon as they are available, at no additional cost.

• Access to new industry collections – Available only through subscription, you’ll realize significant savings when you need two or more Autodesk software products.

• New and improved support – Enjoy faster response times and the option to receive help by scheduling a call with Autodesk technical support specialists.

• Simplified administration – Access tools that streamline deployment and software management when you standardize all of your Autodesk products on subscription.

With our move to subscription, one thing has become clear to us—managing two business models (subscriptions and maintenance plans) is quite costly. To continue supporting maintenance, beginning May 7, 2017, renewal prices will increase by 5% in 2017, 10% in 2018, and 20% in 2019. Also, you should be aware that maintenance plans can now only be renewed for one year at a time.

Now that we’ve shared the direction we’re heading, we’d like to talk to you about a special offer to help you join us on the path toward subscription—one that recognizes your loyalty and the value of your previous investments. Beginning June 2017, you’ll be able to move your products on a maintenance plan to a subscription for up to 60% less than the cost of a new subscription.

This discount will decrease by 5% in 2018 and another 5% in 2019, so the earlier you switch to a subscription, the less it will cost—and the more you’ll save compared to those who wait to move, or choose to stay on maintenance. When you make the switch, you’ll also be able to lock in your discounted price for up to three years and continue to receive discounted pricing for as long as you renew.

We know you’ll probably have questions. These are big changes that we’re prepared to walk you through. Please see the FAQ for additional details and contact your Autodesk Sales Representative or Autodesk Reseller to discuss the options that best suit your technical and business needs.

Whether you choose to switch to a subscription or renew your maintenance plan, our promise is to continue to provide you best-in-class software, services, and support."

So, which do I do ?

a) Switch to Subscription ?

b) Stay with Maintenance ?

c) Don’t pay AD anymore money and stick with what I’ve got/will have 2016, 2017 & 2018 ?

d) Look at an alternative non-AD 3d packages ? If so, what ?

2

Have you calculated what the actual costs differences are?

That would make the decision easier. In as much that they actually give you a decision. Pretty much holding you to ransom.

I always just calculate how much time/money it would cost to switch to another package when taking your libraries and plugins into consideration and what the cost per year is just to stick. But depending on the alternative 3d package and how many years you look ahead that could change.

Edit:

What is the actual difference between a maintance plan and a subscription? I always thought a maintance plan is an yearly upgrade facility after you bought a license. So effectively the only difference is if you stop paying you have a license whilst with a subscription you have nothing.

Just googled it;

http://www.autodesk.com/maintenance-plan

Ironic header…

3

so all those years we kept maintenance subscription all for nothing
sleazy bastards

The line at the very end of the mail is just a joke right?
“Whether you choose to switch to a subscription or renew your maintenance plan, our promise is to continue to provide you best-in-class software, services, and support.”

4

I assume they are also doing this to Maya et al too, our is it just Max… and the writing on the wall!
AD the company that keeps on “giving”…

5

This is what I wrote in the Autodesk forum (and on my blog). It may help you make up your mind: To Rent or not To Rent

6

Great blog article Bertrand - I agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly (a CS6 & Affinity Photo user also !).

I definitely won’t be going the Subscription route - I will of course do the maths, but at some point I will either stop paying and use what I have and then move onto something else.

As felt when purchasing Affinity Photo, it’s actually quite refreshing going elsewhere for software solutions :slight_smile: (at often a fraction of the cost one has gotten used to).

7

good to hear. That’s the only way AD will hear reason…

8

User: Hello AD - I say you new subscription model rightly sucks ass!!
AD: la la la la la not listening…looking at all my money…la la la la not listening!
User: ???!!!

9

Bye Bye AD…
They don’t give us any real choice.. Totally stupid and totally rotten if you look at max 2017…
Hope they will lose a lot with this business plan… Anyway, there is a stronger & better concurrence now so I’m really happy with the idea to switch to another (and better) solution

10

ok so now everyone understands why 2017 is utter piece of crap right?
they will make shitty versions for another 3 years.
After they completely get rid of maintenance versions they might finally start doing somethign good.

Ill stick to exactly what Bertrand wrote.

All in all, this is a very sad day for the community.

Fucking shareholders and the corporate greed i totally hate this.

11

This has taken too long and Autodesk is loosing trust from its customers big time.
This really is an opportunity for Chaosgroup to step in and start thinking about developing a new app.
The modelling requirements for ArchViz aren’t extremely demanding. Basic spline and modelling tools with robust snapping capabilities would be a great start.
Also, the ability to import various CAD formats would be nice too. Okino’s Polytrans could help here.
I understand this would be a huge development effort. But with the industry recognition Chaosgroup has, I would bet this would take off.

12

Until now I have always (user since 3dStudio r1 (DOS !!!) renewed my maintenance without thinking about it. Pricing was fair, even if I only used 4 actual versions of MAX through all these years.
Now AD forces me to THINK!!! THINK about a forced subscription, losing my ownership, so not being able to use my product anymore in a time that I do not use it for business or not being able/willing to pay!!! With all the consequences for ex-clients, etc!!!

So what else is there to THINK then:
- NOT paying subscription
- NOT paying maintenance anymore (all the money that I saved will go to research/alternatives…and for this I will thank AD in the future…for sure;))
- just keep using what you have and if somewhere in the future the need arises for something new…just go on subscription while still being able to use what you HAVE/HAD!!!

In all these years MAX had VERY little more to offer with each version, compared to some extraordinary plugins :wink:
Support!! What support??? I have reports from MaxR1 which still are not resolved!

Almost weekend…gonna have a drink…or two:)

13

I agree with everyone above, I have been maintaining my maintenance plan since 3dsmax R1 and now with this subscription BS why would I want to dump the current maintenance plan for a subscription plan that (in Canada anyway) costs almost 100% to %115 MORE than I’m paying now!!?? For absolutely NOTHING extra than what Im getting now which is crap. When I’m forced from my maintenance plan they will get a strongly worded email and I will be spending my money elsewhere and looking for an alternative 3D package. More and more are coming out of the woodwork and looking at AD’s track record over the last few years they wont be able to buy up and kill the competition like they have been. I’m going to stop here as I have to run my son to school and if I continue on this there will be an obscene amount of asterisks littering the rest of the post about my thoughts on AD’s ***** subscription plan which in my mind considering the people managing the subscriptions and hardware and software infrastructure needed it costs MORE for them to goto the new subscription which also explains the double in price to use this substandard, ove rbloated and buggy program.

Cheers,
-dave

-dave

14

What the hell, AD?! :rage:

Moving from my maintenance plan to this subscription BS is never going to happen. The price hike is one thing, but giving up my perpetual license? Is this a joke? What fools run this company? You can get Houdini Indie for $199 a year, don’t they pay attention to what is going on in the market? They lost their marbles, and they lost me.

15

We need forrestpack and railclone for Blender, Autodesk is putting all our plugins behind a 2K paywall.

16

+1

Or better yet, we need a Chaosgroup 3D app with those plugins supported.

17

Come on guys you all know were pretty much screwed and stuck with AD. We have been in 3D industry for more than 10 years now as a company, our max assets have grown to several terabytes. There is no way how we can transfer withouspending greater cist on the transfer than on the higher prices of the AD shitware…and AD knows this very well.

18

Got that email too and I’m infuriated to say the least. :rage: To be honest, I wouldn’t have expected any different from Autodesk. After the sh*t release that 2017 was, this is the new blow we get as loyal customers. If you think it’s bad now, just wait and see how much innovation there will be once they get everyone by the b*lls with mandatory rental which WILL happen. I expect them to drop upgrades altogether in 2 years time, leaving you with the choice to either stay with the last version you own or going on rental plan as an only option to be able to use the new releases.

So which one is it going to be? C4D, Blender, Modo, Houdini? Maybe a combination of those? I’m open to suggestions. I’ve just about had it with Autodesk’s shenanigans. The only real reason I’m still on Max is the plugins and assets. But in the long run I think it’s worth the switch. I think of it as a long term investment. In the beginning you might not even have a great profit but in the long run it would pay off. If anything, I still own the latest Max version in the case I really need to do something in Max. It’s not like we’ve seen huge innovations between Max 2009 and 2017… I would probably still be able to do 99% of my work with Max 2016 after 5 years with the help of external plug-ins and scripts and it will save me literally thousands of euros from Max updates touted as “releases”.

Autodesk never fails to let down their customers, I’ll give them that. Always going above and beyond with new and inventive ways to scr*w us over.

PS: I though I would put that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39AV16MshrE

19

I pay quarterly for 3DS MAX and just the other day I saw Revit 2017 in my available software for download. Has this been added, or is there an internal screw up?

21

Subscription is one sided. It isn’t at all for the end user, and if your business isn’t centered on your client base, you will fail. Subscription services are clearly for the investors. For me, there was absolutely no reason to upgrade from R14, so they would have lost my thousands and multiple that by millions. Develop your software and if there is a good reason to upgrade, they will. Other than 2017 supporting 4K, I wouldn’t have upgraded, and 4K should have been supported a long time ago.

Any 2018 rumors, yet? April is next month.