Understanding subscription

As a long time user of c2, I'm really rooting for c3 and yet unsure about upgrading.

I understand c3 will have major improvements over c2, but every new version of software has those. Usually those don't need a subscription to get them, though... It seems like a lot of money each year, and I'm not clear on two things:

1. Why is the subscription required? I've only read in the blog post that it's because it's a web service,and web services need subscriptions, but I'm not sure what that means, or why I would subscribe year after year?

2. What benefits does the subscription itself add to the c3 experience? I see clearly how I benefit with Adobe CC versus CS, for example, but I can't see yet the subscription-specific benefits of c3 now or in the long term.

I'd love if @Ashley or @Tom could help me understand the need for and the upsides to this new model.

Thanks very much for c2, and good luck with c3

Does this answer your question?

Want I want to know is why won't @Tom or @Ashley explain the sudden shift in business ethics. Why won't they explain why it's necessary for users not to own what they pay for?

There's several reasons:
- we're hosting the software in the browser, with a cloud service behind it. I'm not aware of any software or service that runs in a browser and is a one-time payment - it's just not economical given the running costs.
- we also provide other on-going hosted services like the new app building service. I'd also point out you get this service *and* the entire Construct 3 editor for less than the cost of PhoneGap Build alone, so I think this is actually a pretty good deal. We actually already run some on-going services for free with C2, such as the Scirra Arcade (which is chewing up tons of bandwidth these days!) and the multiplayer signalling server.
- the one-time payment model is risky in the long-term, especially since we don't regularly do the whole "new major version everyone has to pay for again" process. Scirra is currently sustained almost exclusively by new users buying C2 for the first time. If the flow of new users dried up, we risk going out of business - even if we have tens of thousands of active users. There's also the aspect that we're still supporting people who bought C2 five years ago at no extra cost, and this existing audience is getting larger.
- this is the way the industry is generally going, and some competitors are already doing it. It's harder to compete with tools that have on-going income when you only have one-off income with on-going maintenance costs, especially when there are various on-going services we're running.

I guess at the end of the day, if you absolutely cannot stand subscriptions, you can either stick with C2 or look for a different tool.

Does this answer your question?

It does indeed, thanks very much. Logical answers - I wish this had been part of the original explanation!

It's too bad that users (like myself) who don't build apps and who already have an existing cloud service have to pay for those features.

I wish there was a basic version without these services, with a lower subscription cost.

I'll wait and see for now. Thanks for your help.

I agree, the subscription model seems to force you to pay for services you may not need at all.

We should have a version where you get desktop export for a one-time price, then web/html export for the lowest priced subscription, UWP/Console for the medium priced subscription, then mobile for the highest priced subscription since it uses all scirra cloud/web services/plugins.

They are not even going to provide these "services" they are going to use google drive and similar and charge you for this. https://www.scirra.com/blog/191/saving- ... onstruct-3

[Ashley]

The subscription covers all the features in Construct 3, not just a few services. We also have a cloud hosting network just to serve Construct 3 itself.

The cloud save feature will also work in the free edition, so that's not actually something we're charging for.

We also have a cloud hosting network just to serve Construct 3 itself.

Remind me, who asked for this "feature"?

Heres the common theme im hearing as a new guy. Construct needs to change to make profit, the communnity needs features to make profit. Both are valid points. What will construct 3 actually offer at this point? How will this increase the community usability to make profit?

We also have a cloud hosting network just to serve Construct 3 itself.

Remind me, who asked for this "feature"?

Some guy named Fred I think.

Of course it's not much different than cookies when you think about it.

Do you like cookies?

[Ashley]

We also have a cloud hosting network just to serve Construct 3 itself.

Remind me, who asked for this "feature"?

The people who asked almost daily for Mac and Linux ports, and even some who asked for Chrome OS and even one or two who dreamed about using Construct 3 on their phone or tablet. That's how we approached the problem, and that's how we support two whole OSs nobody else in the industry has even attempted to.