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Yet Another "Lifetime Access" Thread


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stuart macmillan

Sorry to say but you are complaining about something that hasn't happened yet... 

The offer available is to be part of the early access. Nowhere does it state that lifetime licenses will have to pay again. At least not on the mail I received.

"In November 2017, it will be $49 for new users who haven't purchased Synergy before."

Stuart

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There are actually multiple conflicting and vague statements.

First off, that email doesn't give much info. "In November 2017, it will be $49 for new users who haven't purchased Synergy before." could mean it's $59 for existing users. Will it? Not likely. However, it's worded like it will cost existing users more than $0. It could also mean "free after 1 year!" which goes against what I purchased.

Second, a quick search of the forums on the word "lifetime" yields more odd responses that beat around the bush and conflict with each other. "It will be free we appreciate you", "You will have to pay to upgrade", "it will cost full price", "it will be free but not immediately", "return it if you don't like it (the situation)".

Third, there are conflicting statements as to what it is that I am actually purchasing! If I have a lifetime "license", why am I being told to buy access again? And to be clear, it is made very clear in the stickies that this is a full license, not beta access. So I am being told "your lifetime license covers this maybe, or discounts it, but either way if you want access to what you were told you would have access to please feel free to purchase this full license that isn't beta access to get beta access when you may already own it!" Quite the mouthful, and also not very helpful.

 

What would be great is if we could get an official, full blown, proper and bottom line statement from someone. And I don't mean the mods, as the mods have made it clear the things they say are not official statements.

Edited by KairuByte
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That is part of the problem. They are sending out emails for access at discounted prices. If I want access would I be better off getting it at the discount, or will I already be receiving it?

Before selling access, or even before sending out emails promoting it, it should be clear what is intended. Otherwise you get confused users, and users like myself that get their feathers in a ruffle. I believe users like myself have been referred to as a "vocal minority" by mods? The difference between myself and the user that was directly said to is that instead of behaving like a child in a temper tantrum I am vocalizing and making clear and valid points. But the sentiment is the same, and I took it personally.

I was already on rocky terms with Synergy, I'll be completely honest. It was good for the niche I bought it for (network that never changed with devices that were always there) but the moment I was moving between environments, or adding/removing devices, the entire point of the app was broken. It sat for literally years in disrepair, and I learned to live without it because it no longer met my (not crazy demanding) needs. I came to terms with the fact that it was dead (literally a dead project) because nothing had happened with or to it in so many years. And then seemingly out of the blue I get a "HEY BUY THIS!" email... "But I did? I already paid for this whats going on?" Some site surfing and googling raise no answers, and the official forum is almost as unhelpful. That's the point of this post, what is the answer to the question that the people who have followed and supported for years are likely asking themselves? "Wait for an answer" isn't an answer. It's not helpful and is part of the problem.

On top of that, I see hostility from the mods whenever this topic comes up. The default always comes down to "What would you be willing to pay for this if it worked the way it should", or "If you don't like it and don't want to support development, here is the return email". I'm alarmed at the number of times I have seen the return email thrown around on the official forums as part of a response to a question, a phenomenon I have never seen before. And frankly, I'm pleasantly surprised I have yet to be banned, which I was half expecting after my first post.

This isn't how you get or keep a loyal user base, this is how you lose those same users you want.

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GranPaSmurf

Nope, we cannot speak as officials. Just enthusiastic users volunteering to guide some of the users that don't have the technical abilities you evidently have. Like you, we are awaiting the 'better developed' next beta. Like many of you, I have stepped back to the more stable version 1.8. 

Hang in there. I predict the end product will be one to your liking.

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Allan Jackson

I just wanted to chime in with my perspective.

I paid for Synergy years ago back when it was just a donation, but that later translated into a "forever" license. I've been expecting to get the full version of Synergy 2 for free, but the existing communications are definitely vague and don't actually specify this. When I got another "early access" email yesterday, I decided "you know what, I don't care -- I'll just buy it again". Synergy is indispensable for me, and I figured they've earned a bit more money (and I've still spent way less than the final price of S2 on the product).

Still, it would be great if there was a clearer explanation of what's going to happen with the various licenses upon release.

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I also paid for a 'lifetime account' many years ago.

I also recall I got Synergy 1 Pro for free because I had an "lifetime access" account or something similar, however it does appear Synergy 2 (if it really is or not is difficult to verify without source code access) is a different product with the same name but personally I don't care, I'm satisfied with what I got for the few bucks I paid years ago, regardless of the outcome this time around- I believe they made a bad decision calling it Synergy 2 if it's not an incremental update to the Synergy 1 source. 

And as long as Synergy 1 is provided free of charge (for all future updates there might or might not be; I guess we all can figure how much attention it will get) the original statement is still honored.

Realistically however the only way 'lifetime access' could work in any circumstance would be if there was a steady stream of new purchases all the time, but I think it's quite obvious synergy is not a product everyone use, perhaps the actual intention was (and apparently still is- at least for synergy 1.) to actually maintain that model (and as far as we know it has neither been confirmed or denied yet; besides personally I already paid for Synergy 2 anyway; which could also be argued being paying for beta testing etc etc... but who cares no company can live on nothing, and considering the price is by no means outrageous I don't think it's a big issue anyway)

However frankely I think this thread is quite silly to start with.

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19 hours ago, Naiw said:

I also paid for a 'lifetime account' many years ago.

I also recall I got Synergy 1 Pro for free because I had an "lifetime access" account or something similar, however it does appear Synergy 2 (if it really is or not is difficult to verify without source code access) is a different product with the same name but personally I don't care, I'm satisfied with what I got for the few bucks I paid years ago, regardless of the outcome this time around- I believe they made a bad decision calling it Synergy 2 if it's not an incremental update to the Synergy 1 source. 

And as long as Synergy 1 is provided free of charge (for all future updates there might or might not be; I guess we all can figure how much attention it will get) the original statement is still honored.

Realistically however the only way 'lifetime access' could work in any circumstance would be if there was a steady stream of new purchases all the time, but I think it's quite obvious synergy is not a product everyone use, perhaps the actual intention was (and apparently still is- at least for synergy 1.) to actually maintain that model (and as far as we know it has neither been confirmed or denied yet; besides personally I already paid for Synergy 2 anyway; which could also be argued being paying for beta testing etc etc... but who cares no company can live on nothing, and considering the price is by no means outrageous I don't think it's a big issue anyway)

However frankely I think this thread is quite silly to start with.

I understand their reasoning, but the problem is that there was no communication what so ever. I just got a "BUY NOW!!" email out of the blue. Hell, got another one literally titled "?   SYNERGIZEEEEE!!!! ?" telling me I'm 24 hours away from never being able to get it for $15 again. I have heard nothing about Synergy 1 for... so so long, and in a period of a week I'm being asked multiple times to purchase the new version.

The "original" Synergy has been pretty much sunset at this point. It doesn't get updates, it's still buggy, and from what I have read there is no intention to continue support. That means an update of Windows could break it tomorrow and it will never work again.

Look, I get your side, I get their side. I just don't agree. There are costs to run business, but there are also costs to trust and brand name tarnish. The fact that they have been vague and sketchy on this fact, giving conflicting information and then silence... It really doesn't make me want to buy in even if I wasn't miffed in the first place.

 

23 hours ago, Allan Jackson said:

I just wanted to chime in with my perspective.

I paid for Synergy years ago back when it was just a donation, but that later translated into a "forever" license. I've been expecting to get the full version of Synergy 2 for free, but the existing communications are definitely vague and don't actually specify this. When I got another "early access" email yesterday, I decided "you know what, I don't care -- I'll just buy it again". Synergy is indispensable for me, and I figured they've earned a bit more money (and I've still spent way less than the final price of S2 on the product).

Still, it would be great if there was a clearer explanation of what's going to happen with the various licenses upon release.

This was my line of thinking as well, but I'm not nearly as dependant on Synergy. It's a convenience thing for me so I don't have to swap to a different keyboard when I'm working on home hardware and thats about it. I haven't even used it in forever because it's just so clunky to swap server and client that it's just not worth the hassle.

If it was indispensable to me I might cave and buy. However I'm in the mindset of wanting it for its promised functionality and the fact that in my mind I am already owed it but not being so reliant that I'm not willing to drop it completely because of the shady way they are handling info transfer.

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Tavarvess Ware

I am interested in this as well as I just got the 24hr email and I was an early adopter as well.  I use it when I work from home and is handy I don't mind paying the $15 but I recall something similar on the lifetime access.  I hope this can be clarified before the $15 ends.

 

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invalid_reference_of_a_nul

I'll add my voice to this thread. I do not mind paying another $15 for what seems like a good feature set, but I am unclear on whether or not Symless even knows what the pricing model will be. I thought the initially that email was a phishing attempt and the site, once I was able to navigate to it organically, didn't help when the timer was counting into negative numbers. Example: -4:34:-2; -4:34:-3; so on... this does not bode well for software that, let's be honest, is not renowned for stability. 

I love you symless, but communication with your users and supporters could improve if you want to pry money from their wallets.

Thank you for this forum and the ability to voice my quibbles.

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On 2017-10-13 at 5:07 PM, KairuByte said:

 

Okay I see your point of view now and yes I agree that it’s pretty ridicilous to use the term ”lifetime” in a context where it means nothing practically.

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GranPaSmurf

Christof, you express my sentiments exactly. I once worked for a proprietary software company, a kind of CRM/inventory product that charged multiple thousands for the annual subscription and tacked on more thousands everytime a company person got under the UI. They folded, BTW. When I compare that to the years I've used Synergy for so little investment...suffice to say I'm still on the IOU side of the ledger. I won't quibble over semantics that were used 'back then' or last week.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Allan Jackson
4 hours ago, Nick Bolton said:

Seriously though, anyone who has lifetime access gets a free upgrade. All they need to do is email us: [email protected]

I don't get why people are so bent out of shape about this. I guess people like to get upset? Life's too short.

Thanks for the info! I think that people were mainly upset because they were uncertain/confused about what your policy is. ANY answer is better than no answer.

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6 hours ago, Nick Bolton said:

I think they want my head on a pike? :D

Seriously though, anyone who has lifetime access gets a free upgrade. All they need to do is email us: [email protected]

I don't get why people are so bent out of shape about this. I guess people like to get upset? Life's too short.

Sorry I came off that way! Honestly, Allan Jackson's post is exactly my sentiments. Synergy is a great piece of software, but you guys need to work just a tiny bit on that communication piece. :P

1 hour ago, Allan Jackson said:

Thanks for the info! I think that people were mainly upset because they were uncertain/confused about what your policy is. ANY answer is better than no answer.

Precisely!

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