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DT Interviews Autodesk About Phasing Out Perpetual Licenses

n4gix

n4gix

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During Autodesk’s Investor Day 2014 last week (Oct 1st), Andrew Anagnost, Senior VP of Industry Strategy & Marketing, announced to investors that the company is planning on phasing out the sale of new perpetual licenses over the next 12-24 months. Making the transition through an aggressive expansion of the desktop subscription-only service the company already has.
Click to expand...

http://blog.digitaltutors.com/autodesk-vp-marketing-hints-phasing-perpetual-licenses/

While this will have no immediate affect on most (if not all) developers, it does seem that Autodesk is positioning themselves to take advantage of the subscription model. It is of interest to me that they make no mention at all that such a model pretty much will put a stop to 'pirated software.' That this has been a problem endemic across all software programs, it appears that Autodesk is concerned enough to completely eliminate the lifetime "Perpetual" licensing soon.

I find myself agreeing with the views of the one reply made so far that this is "...scarcely any benefit to user or client. It is nearly entirely for company revenue."
 
Autodesk is 3DS Max?
I have a question about 3DS. If you have a registered version using their educational option and received it free. Which i did many years ago although i never used it.
Can it be used to sell products? I never liked 3DS when i tried it and now that i know it can use AO effects i am interested in using it. But do not want to use it unless i can. I was thinking it was just for learning purposes only and i would need to buy it.
 
see the site:

*Free Autodesk software and/or cloud-based services are subject to acceptance of and compliance with the terms and conditions of the software license agreement or terms of service that accompany such software or cloud-based services. Software and cloud-based services provided without charge to Education Community members may be used solely for purposes directly related to learning, teaching, training, research or development and shall not be used for commercial, professional or any other for-profit purposes.

http://www.autodesk.com/education/about-autodesk-education

Check what you "Agreed to" when you downloaded the software - You did read all of it right. :duck:

And the latest is only valid for three years.

As for 3DS never could afford it then. Maybe the price will come down with the subscription model? So for now it's blender. What's missing in blender that 3DS has? Looking to do some scripting in python.
 
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Thanks....I had a feeling it was something like that. Dang i will never be able to afford it and now they are not going to sell it for 24 months? I wish they had a payment program.
Glad i like Gmax, but sucks because i have to use blender for AO effects.
 
I think it is great that people will be able to afford it, (making payments, or renting it). For hard core users that will always have it, I think they should be able to buy it outright. Why take away the right to simply buy a copy? That doesnt make sense.

I saved up for several years to get my copy. I wish they had had payments back then. I am glad I was able to buy it outright though. Very thankful.

For those that do not know, you do not actually own FSX either. Same sort of agreement. :S Fine print contains scary things sometimes...

I buy Prepar3D monthly, $9.99, good for two computers. Seems fair to me. I am a developer, so I also get the SDK packs, etc, and I am also in the circle of beta testers so I help out with testing, etc.
 
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What the...! The subscription prices for 3DS Max right now are already disgustingly high. Over $200 a month! As expensive as it is, I'd pay $3,500 for something I don't have to renew, but such a high monthly price (which you have to pay EVERY month or you lose access) is too much for those of us who don't have steady income. Plus with a subscription, it would now cost $2,400 PER YEAR. So esstially it's like buying a completely new license every 18 months. All aboard Nope Airlines, service to Screwthatistan!
 
"He went on to explain that, year after year, the company consistently sees 2.9 million customers who are “one to five releases back” on Autodesk’s current versions."

The above is what it is all about. Forcing those people who are not upgrading to the latest version to be locked into a pay forever scheme.

A subscription service is the worst possible thing for customers. It takes away any incentive for Autodesk to update and improve their software. With the current system Autodesk need to add new features to their updates to entice their customers to upgrade but with a subscription service there is no need to spend money on software improvement as they will get their $200 a month whether the software is updated or not.
 
Having read the article now it's plain Autodesk are as concerned with small fry like us as they ever were. But I reserve the decision on which software version to use: hang it all, I'm still using Photoshop CS2 and Office 2003!

However, subscriptions to Max are nothing new: for years you've been able to pay a yearly subscription on top of the original purchase price and you got the latest version on download as it was released. You did however have the choice...
 
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The "pay once for a major version" system is clearly on its way out.
Then again, if I only need Max' current capabilities for 12 months, I'm going to be off better at $200/month than with $4000 one-time for an unlimited version that's going to be outdated after a year anyway. Provided that I can opt out of the subscription at any time, of course.
 
Choice is usually 'required' by us who are using this. They should know this. Of course we want the latest version, but we are working with TOOLS that are specifically made for 'a' version of 3DS Max. Because Max keep changing things, we have to go with 'a particular version' of Max due to constraints. Why cant Autodesk understand this simple thing? What skin is it off of their backs to simply supply 'buyers' with an older version which they NEED....


sigh...

What is the worst thing that could happen...? Make more money? Create 'happy' customers instead of 'troubled' customers?
 
Unfortunately the way they make more money is by doing exactly this. I certainly don't like subscription-only software, nor do I really even support it as a business model, but sadly they know it will bring them the highest profit, even though they are screwing a lot of us over in the process. To make matters worse, I'd expect the same reaction we saw when Adobe made all their software subscription-only: people hate the business model, but they'll have to pay it anyway because there are either no alternatives, or the alternatives don't do what they need them to.

I feel bad for the payware guys. Some of them can't afford $2,000 (or more. Mark my words, Autodesk will only raise the price after a while) every year. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if a few of them have to close their doors.
 
How many of us who have Max actually use all its features – or a substantial selection of them (the same can easily be said of Gmax...), so how many of us need the latest and greatest just to get the job done? Just as important, if a subscription-only Max updates itself and breaks the plug-in to export models do we think Autodesk will listen to a handful of FS developers? Yeah right.

If you're going to buy Max, don't put it off too long or you'll be stuck on the moving walkway with no stop button.
 
I can see it now. I have to take my FSX aircraft into the shop for it's annual inspection to the payware company hanger. It's now airworthy again after my inspection fee payment. Poor guys that like to fly the big birds.

FSX is now truly "As real as it gets ....." Think I will open an FSX insurance company, for all you newbie's out there, that crash your aircraft. :stirthepo :duck:
 
If I wasn't blessed with a school that provides free student licenses for Autodesk products, I would be using Blender right now, no questions asked. There isn't one thing (in my experience) that Blender cannot do while Max can. One of the only reasons I use Max primarily is because of its more desirable UI. Blender's functionality is all there, you just have to dig for it...However, the latest versions are working on fixing this, and as a result they have organized it greatly in recent releases.

It's surprising to me that companies have not begun to modify Blender's source code and release it like any other "distro" of open-source software. We saw this happen with Linux and its enterprise variants, so why not with Blender? A company could take the code, polish it up a bit, add some special functionality that sets it apart from the others, and voila. I could see this happening with game SDK's; the developer could provide their own "distro" of Blender with all of the tools needed to export to that specific game. They could even charge money for it packed with other SDK tools if need be.
 
I think the reason that hasn't happened is because Blender is distributed under a GNU license, which means it must be provided free of charge. Big companies (or any, for that matter) haven't given much attention to it for this reason.
 
Personally, I don't think anybody can keep their skills sufficiently by "renting" max for a short time. I suspect I'll hold onto my max license for good, once this system goes into effect.
 
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