There's only so much of posts saying things like "go use a different product" or "they're dumb lol" that I'm willing to take on the forum, and I also feel this thread has run its course. It's already going in circles with the same points being made. With Construct 3 we made some bold changes and yes, those changes may not be for everybody, but we are going to stick with the plan for the time being. That's not to say we'll stick with it forever, there's always scope to make changes in future, but we want to at least see how things work out with our current plans.
Different product discussion is healthy. Competition gives incentive to make a product (rental) better. I have already moved on to other alternatives for my game making hobbies. They cost much less, and are more feature rich. They do not include the event system -- but really the event system is just a GUI glorified scripting language. Technically it could easily be converted to a basic typed out scripting language and function the same. This isn't saying that it sucks, it certainly does not, but once users realize that languages like python or lua really are not a huge step forward in complexity with frameworks, it is not a big deal.
The construct brand is heavily regarded as a hobby tool because it lacks strongly perceived features that are vital. Whether these perceptions are correct or incorrect doesn't matter, in the end Scirra's income model will or will not verify this. People bringing up other tools is to help bring the spotlight on what construct needs to mature. This is literally what big companies pay for -- real solid feedback on what their product needs to sell more. Lashing out against these feature requests and ideas, is directly lowing your product's perception and potential income. Real and reliable exporters (native) are a great example of this. From the tone of your post, it is clear this frustrates you, but is it the fact that people are bringing up other products, or the fact that yours is lacking necessary functionality for their needs?
We are thinking about a way to allow previously subscribed users to more easily use Construct 3, so they don't have to pay a whole year subscription for some light maintenance. We don't want to make any firm announcements right now so we can keep our options open, but I am keen to provide something on this front. I must also emphasise that even with an expired subscription, you can still access your project and all its artwork, sounds, music and so on, so you can extract that and use it elsewhere if you want to.
You can no longer edit the project. Yes you can extract your resources to use on a different engine or framework. I fail to understand why you are not acknowledging that this is a lockout on the project. What if I am a huge lego hobbyist -- I rent an apartment, and start building a replica of my city. One day I forget to pay rent and am literally locked out of the apartment. Yes, I can still see in through the windows, but I can no longer interact with my creation -- without continuing to pay rent, forever. I am now locked out of continuing my work in this apartment. I would need to get a different apartment, or pay the rent (extortion fee)
I'd also add that as a subscription, I think Construct 3 is still great value. You can use it for years and years accessing all features and all exporters before it gets close to the price of the all-exporters price for other tools. It's also cheaper than the subscription for PhoneGap Build alone. So not only are we going to provide a build service similar to PhoneGap Build, but it's also cheaper, and comes with an entire game development IDE as well. The pricing isn't just for one feature, it covers everything, but I think that perspective does show - it's still not a particularly expensive product.
Other products offer a choice on exporters. Yes, they are expensive, unless you explore open source tools, frameworks, and engines. What we users have to go by is actual and factual history. We have paid a one time fee to purchase the product and knew what we were getting. Now you are asking that we just trust you, because you are going to bring all kinds of great new features. And this requires that we are locked in for an entire year subscription. After six months, if -- for example you do not deliver.. then what? I guess we have six months longer to use a product that did not deliver, but we dont have to re-subscribe right? This subscription thing is gross and is an awful business model. It is great for companies, and disgusting for the consumers. Renting software sucks, and the poll shows it.
Remember that if you're keen to see major new features like 3D, timelines, modularity or collaboration, we're very much limited by our resources, and it's difficult to make the jump to hiring new developers if we have a less stable income.
3D? I mean really? After how many years of the same rock hard cement answers about 3D, now we are exploring this option. Modularity and collaboration -- if you want these features you will succumb to our demands and use our subscription model. Again, once subscribed -- they will come, whenever we are ready. So please -- essentially, PRE-ORDER our product -- we will deliver - we promise.
It seems to me a more stable income would be expanding your customer base -- not extorting the current base for rent. I would personally love to pay an additonal 25-50 dollars for an official scirra 3D addon to Construct 2 as an example. Then again, there are plenty of people who dont care about 3D and would not be required to purchase it. This would be a great model -- official addons for things like: 3D, timelines, modularity, and collaboration. Being locked out of a product that you do not own is filthy -- while I understand your reasoning for it, I personally do not agree with it -- and I am not alone.
Finally I'm sure some people are going to point at this thread and accuse us for shutting out discussion of the topic. I'd like to point out that this thread has been open since February 1 - over three months - and has nearly two hundred replies, including several from myself. After this time of allowing all this discussion I believe there is little else to be gained from allowing this thread to continue. I have read nearly every post in this thread, and as many as I can from the Construct 3 forum, and often posts from other forums and websites. We have heard everyone's points, in some cases I've directly responded to them, and now it has simply come down to re-hashing the same things. Even if it doesn't make sense to anyone else, we have a clear plan and a vision for where we want to go. I'm confident in time our decisions will become clearer, much as the choice of HTML5 over Flash originally mystified many but ended up being the right way to go. I'd like to thank everyone for their energy and feedback, and please be assured we'll still be listening and posting here on the forum, as we continue to develop Construct 3 in future.
You started your post with the almighty I am tired of hearing something I dont like -- dont force my hand speech. Again, I appreciate you have a clear plan on the direction you want to go. Shutting down everyone else' conversation about the issue seems childish. If you do not like the discussion that people are having, why have a forums? Is it supposed to be all rainbows and sunshine with Scirra worship? When a significant portion of your community disagrees with you, they will find a way to have a conversation about it.
I find this new direction that Scirra is going in to be very disappointing. I came back to check in to see what was going on -- read through the previous discussions, and am saddened by the result. On a personal level -- the Scirra team are great people, and I wish them the best in their future endeavors. Unfortunately, I will not be a part of those.