Please people, be nice to each other. Everybody has the right of their own opinions.
I am in several subscription models which is not a problem for me. I read that many people have negative feelings about the subscription model and from their point of view, they can be correct or not.
However, a subscription model can also have many positive effects :
The software company behind the subscription model gets more resources to add new features. They also have to listen more to their customer base, because when they neglect feature requests or bug fixes too often, they loose customers.
In a subscription model, companies have to deliver a quality product. Also at least one major upgrade a year is necessary for the subscription to stay succesfull.
I am using Kotobee Author (interactive ebook creation tool) in the basic subscription model (100 USD/year) which gives you 1 year free updates. Nobody there is complaining because it is a superb tool with regular updates within a year. In return for your subscription, Kotobee people are listening and specially interested in the requests and feedback from their userbase. For example, you can contact them and within hours you have your reply. We should expect the same excellent service from Scirra.
C3 working in a browser is a big plus for me, however I am using FireFox and be very reluctant for security reasons of my privacy, using Chrome.
Why not give C3 a chance? If you have a present licence, it is half price for the first year. Lets see during that first year how C3 performs and if Scirra can keep up with new features and user requests. If after one year, you are not satisfied, you can still choose another game development tool.
There is also a monthly subscription model, which fit the needs of a hobbyist with limited finances. You can let say pay for April, not using it in May (in this case no subscription is paid) and then take a new monthly subscription for June.
In my personal opinion, I find the yearly subscription model very affordable but again, I respect when you think different.
C2 despite it shortcomings, is a very good game development tool, both for beginners and experienced users. Even our daughter of 8 can enjoy it. We are creating a Mancala game which is the oldest board game in the world and coming from Africa (my home is in Gaborone Botswana Africa). I am surprised how easy she find her way in the C2 event sheets.
Regretfully for her, I am not always in Botswana because my work is in Belgium. With C3 which is browser based, she can also work with C3 when I am not there, using another licence. From an educational point of view, this will be a very interesting situation for her because now she will also learn how to work over the internet.
I am afraid positivity is somewhere getting lost in all the negativity. Many people are afraid of change, and sometimes with good reason. However, in this case I am sure we are looking into a very bright future for Construct. Scirra was groundbreaking by using HTML5 years ago, and I am sure they will be groundbreaking again.
Always keep an open mind for new developments.