Maya Creative Subscription? Tokens WAY too expensive / impractical.

[bob.blunderton]

1st off, won't touch tokens with a 10 foot pole.  Tokens are 3$ a piece.  If it costs ~6 tokens A DAY (not a WEEK, not a MONTH!), that's 18$ A DAY.  WHAT!?

I use Maya LT, which is very heavily limited on what it'll export, forcing me to jump through hoops for software I had paid for, for years.  Having to use an additional application each time I need to import or export on DAE objects (collada).  OK, I dealt with that, and when they shut the application down, they gave some good free time for me to get my models out of it.  Alright, well, I go to continue to use Maya and it says my days on it are limited now, soon will expire, and that they no longer offer this software.

I need a subscription to Creative.  I can't/won't do tokens. 

We need a solution for 'game modders' and otherwise budding 3D artists, as that's where I'm at.  I am disabled physically but can manage to make 3D models.  I've started to transition over to more accessible competing products which natively import/export collada format as of late.  

There's a lot of us who aren't able to make ends meet if you charge 300$ or more a month for something, not for something that's a 3D world environment for a driving simulation.  I do it for fun.  There's a little bit of user support I receive but it's a mere fraction of what Maya costs per month.

There USED TO BE a nice 40~45$ a month option.  It's no longer there.  Result: For not wanting to 'risk losing users on the more expensive version' you will absolutely lose the users who would love to get their feet wet, who can't afford 50~60$ or more per month, and you will never lock them in to your ecosystem.

Long story short, about to throw in the towel here with Autodesk.  There used to be a nice option for 50$ a month a year or two ago where you could get some indie subscription or something to both Maya and 3DS Max.  I didn't see that anywhere.  Maybe it's hidden, maybe it's gone.  Alls I know is I enjoyed using Maya LT for the most part, aside of the SERIOUSLY hobbled import/export and the issues with it not aiming faces correctly on bending objects, it was usually pretty solid.  However, I'm moving over to competing software now since I must.

Sure, that 40~50$ a month isn't rich compared to the 250~300$ a month y'all want for professional products, BUT it sure is nice to keep the lights on when it's adopted in mass by the 'modding and indie' community.  Just like the condiment factories make the fancy label brands but then make 10x as much in the local or grocery-chain generic brands in bulk to keep the lights on, the machines moving, the conveyor belts consistently moving product after product.

Don't get me wrong, I liked Maya LT and was willing to put up with it's few faults for the right price.  However, this subscription thing with tokens puts it CLEARLY out of reach.

The support here that I've received when I had questions, or when Maya LT kept crashing on something for whatever reason (wasn't a hardware or driver issue on my end, I put this PC together) even when it made me crazy, was always good and positive.  It will be missed.  However, Autodesk will be missing customers without a more friendly option to very budget-conscious consumers.  Think: the Toyota Corolla of product subscriptions - not a high-profit situation for Autodesk, but certainly would be popular with indie / for-fun (game modders) artists if the word got out while not being fit for huge studios to abuse.

I just can't help but feel this is a missed opportunity.

If there still is INDIE stuff out here on the Autodesk site, let me know.  Maybe I can continue to be a customer after-all.  I'm definitely willing to part with some cash over it.

[pendean]

@bob.blunderton Autodesk Tokens are for very light very casual occasional users, no one else. Always have been even when they were called something else.

For other needs, Autodesk only offers a full subscription.

Autodesk, a public for-profit company, has shareholders that are very happy with the above earnings scheme, so Autodesk is not ever going to change that business model that other software companies are trying to figure out how to do like Autodesk. No one is interested in the Walmart sales model, this is not retail.

Sadly you alone, as a single user, or a small firm under 1000+ paid subscriptions like us, have little to no say in the matter, with no ability to influence Autodesk either. Either enjoy the ride or find another from a different vendor: support open-source vendors trying to make a difference for the single user if you dare.