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Thread Support Policy Update
Wed, Jul 8 2015 12:50 PMPermanent Link

Tim Young [Elevate Software]

Elevate Software, Inc.

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Email timyoung@elevatesoft.com

Matthew,

<< That's a good idea, but some people like to be less direct. My suggestion
would be that someone evaluating can get a short term access to ask
questions here, once they've talked to you. Indeed, that might be a good
offer for them to be interested in contacting you - they gain access to
posting here for a short time. >>

Yes, that might be something that we can do.

Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com
Wed, Jul 8 2015 4:33 PMPermanent Link

Raul

Team Elevate Team Elevate

On 7/8/2015 11:20 AM, Tim Young [Elevate Software] wrote:
>
> We can easily set you up as a moderator (and would like to do so).
> Please contact me via email about this, if you're interested.

Will do.

> But, the point is that the support forums are back to being an official
> support channel, and not just peer support.

As a customer i think this is great news.

> It's never been about the content of the support forums.  It's about
> subscription revenue: no more, no less.

That combined with your answer to Roy and others clarifies this quite a
bit and the change does make lot of sense with this background info.

Raul
Thu, Jul 9 2015 5:43 AMPermanent Link

Roy Lambert

NLH Associates

Team Elevate Team Elevate

Tim

>Actually, you’re a forum moderator (Team Elevate) still, so you can post
>anywhere. Smile

Oh

>Yes, but that isn't cutting it. We tried to solve a major issue with the
>last support/subscription policy change, and it ended up creating another
>one. A lot of customers feel like they’re not getting enough value for
>their subscription, and it was showing in a major way in terms of our
>subscription revenue. I won't quote dollar figures, but it's substantial
>and essentially negated all of the EWB 2 upgrade revenue for the year so far
>Frown

I had a different take on it - I was delighted to have a nice stable product that did what I want without having to find the new bugs that had been introduced by last months bug fixes and with the odd new feature now and again. But yes your presence on the newsgroups was missed.

>Now that EWB 2 is done, this is an effort at providing more value and
>getting the subscription revenue back up.
>
>Of course, if anyone can post messages regardless of their subscription
>status, then there is no longer any additional value being provided. So, it
>naturally follows that there needs to be restrictions on who can post. The
>other alternative is to go back to the unlimited support model, which worked
>well for customers, but not so much for us with long-term development of
>major features for products like EWB and EDB that require a lot of
>development time.
>
>So, rock, meet hard place.
>
><< I appreciate the fact that you are still permitting lurkers which is
>something some other vendors may not allow but I do believe that this is not
>a good idea and request that you re-think it. >>
>
>Feel free to propose an alternative that solves the above issues, and I'm
>all ears.

I really wish I could, if I come up with something I'll sell it (you can have a free copy) - should make a fortune.

I think its a shame, but I understand. One of the positive drivers for me buying DBISAM was the newsgroup - open, no censorship and (unlike certain major corporations) up and running.

Roy
Thu, Jul 9 2015 6:13 AMPermanent Link

Roy Lambert

NLH Associates

Team Elevate Team Elevate

Tim

>For example, for some time we’ve had issues with people using the
>trial versions (or pirated versions) for long periods of time, and during
>that time asking for support (and getting it) on the support forums. Now,
>they'll have to contact us directly and we can then determine who is a
>legitimate evaluator vs. someone that is never going to pay us for anything.

I have wondered about some of the questions (obviously not on EWB) and wether the poster had bought the product or not. The "flavour" of the question often wasn't pre-sales.

Roy Lambert
Thu, Jul 9 2015 12:33 PMPermanent Link

Tim Young [Elevate Software]

Elevate Software, Inc.

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Email timyoung@elevatesoft.com

Roy,

<< I really wish I could, if I come up with something I'll sell it (you can
have a free copy) - should make a fortune. >>

Yeah, it’s a tough nut to crack.

<< I think its a shame, but I understand. One of the positive drivers for me
buying DBISAM was the newsgroup - open, no censorship and (unlike certain
major corporations) up and running. >>

I think, for the most part, that the same people will be here that have
always been here.  The people that post a lot also tend to be those that
keep current with their subscriptions, and they are who deserve the
corresponding value for their subscription costs.

Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com
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