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Autodesk,
I made sure I was present for the recent 'Named User' Webinar that took place the other day. It was nicely presented and pretty much answered most general questions. However, it seemed like most everything was geared towards companies with individuals, and not really too much for us individual license holders. The new tools are great for data management, if that is what you need. Which is fine, as I am sure most of your larger companies switched to Subscription already and could benefit from the new tools. I am assuming from my talks with certain persons that the bulk of your left-over Perpetual Maintenance Licensees who are holding on, are an individual license holder, such as myself.
I have been with Autodesk for maybe about 13+ years, originally started with Avid (Softimage) and later transitioned here to Autodesk with "Maya with Softimage." Most know what Softimage Users have been through already, so let's skip that part. And full disclosure, I like Autodesk - you have some amazing employees, from Project Leaders (TJ) and Developers that I have spoken with in the past, to some of the best customer Support, hands-down. Especially, my experiences with Level-2 (David and Brad) and Product Tech (Jordan, Steven, and also Manny from Softimage days)...with being a massive company that Autodesk is, the one-on-one Support over the years has been top-notch. As you can see, it makes it difficult for a long-term User of your software, given the recent End-of-Life (EOL) of Maintenance for Perpetual License holders. As myself, and I am sure others, like to invest in the 'people' of the company that create and run the software I use for my career.
I'd like to share a couple of ideas that I came up with that I think would lessen the blow for us remaining Perpetual License Maintenance holders, that I think would be a fair balance with Autodesk retaining their User Base, while also making us, your Users, feel a little more at ease. As the best compromises are usually when both parties feel they gave up something in the end.
My License: "Maya with Softimage" (Perpetual Network License Holder w/Maintenance)
A.) 'Grandfather' Clause (Best Option)
There is usually an initial buy-in to a product, and in my case $3K-4K, plus the many years of Maintenance (which up until last year Maintenance was not going anywhere). If we were to Transition to Subscription, and have been a long time User with a Perpetual Maintenance Contract with years invested into the system, that at a later point want to stop, because of who knows - life reasons, we'd be "Grandfathered" in where the last installed version of the software remains in a Perpetual state and can be used as much as we want, to doodle around or whatever. This would happen with the 2020 version of the software, and newer, because I believe the newer licensing system is in place at that point across the board. That will keep the Perpetual aspect, which is the most important to me and most likely the crux of the issue with other individual licenses holders, as well. (I'd transition with no qualms if this were to take place. I'd still need access to Softimage for 2 long-term projects, but that's a special case.)
B.) Split Perpetual/Subscription (Second Best Option)
This would be the next best option and might work for me, as well, but not as nicely as the suggestion above. Since we have a hard EOL for Perpetual Maintenance (let's say "Maya with Softimage 2020" and "Maya with Softimage 2021.") that either of those two years only remain Perpetual upon transitioning to the new plans. Where, I'd go onto Subscription with the deal being offered, and either of those last version(s) (depending on when the User takes the offer) remains in a Perpetual state. Effectively, years down-the-road while I am on Subscription, if I have to stop Subscription for some reason, I would lose everything except either of those versions (2020 or 2021) that remained in a Perpetual state. I still get to keep something to doodle/dabble in, but I would not be able to use the latest version that I was during Subscription. (Not ideal, but I could probably live with it, as I get to keep what I paid for while also remaining an Autodesk User and moving onto their Subscription system.)
C.) Competition (Not preferred)
I have a hard time swallowing the initial buy-in with years of Maintenance, to give that all away for a discount on Subscription, where if I have to stop for some reason, I lose all of that investment. I guess I could stop and look into 'Maya Indie' but who knows if that is a permanent option or still just a test run. I'd probably, at that point, have to look into Houdini. It's super nice given the new Solaris architecture (a la close to ICE in Softimage, somewhat...) Another software to learn, plus a -1 in Autodesk User base to the competition. (Not necessarily the best outcome)
I wanted to suggest these options as I feel the major sticking point for us Individual Perpetual Maintenance holders, at least for me, is the Perpetuity of the license. Being a solo person, we know how it is to experience the good years and the bad, and having some sense of ownership after all these years - means a lot. The new sign in for me with a 'Named User' is no problem at all, even the 2-1 offer is nice, but I am by myself so its kind of moot. Perpetuity though, that is massively important to me. I don't know, call me old-school, but if suggestion 'A' would work - I'm in. 'B' not the best, but doable. 'C' well...yeah, not really...
Well, I hope I was able to give a few ideas that might ease things over for us last remaining, and thank you for reading this. As not being a "number," but a "name" is much nicer, but I don't want to be a "$" sign either...not after all these years. (A reply from an Autodesk employee would be greatly appreciated)
-Thank You
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