Disappointing expensive Moho 12 Update

[strider2000]

Once you start comparing what you could be doing, other than Moho as a hobby, it seems Moho is a pretty cheap hobby.

Not for me. I have two kids in college and a single income home. I'm not saying I couldn't possibly afford it. I'm just saying I choose not to have hobbies that expensive, because I have a budget for other things. No one needs to justify the pricing strategy to me. I'm not disagreeing that it's a good value. I'm simply sharing feedback from a customer. Most companies offer all kinds of incentives from sweepstakes opportunities to special deals, just to get feedback from their customers.

Clearly many professionals should not even think twice about the cost (I wouldn't). But I'm not in that camp and it appears from this thread that I'm not alone. If SM isn't interested in capturing the sales from people like me, and wants to adopt an attitude of "suck it up and stop complaining, you can afford it" that's their choice. I hope there is a sale some time, because I am a big fan of the software. I'm only saying that for people like me debut is too simplified and $200 is more than I'm willing to spend.

I doubt SM wants to maintain three tiers of Moho,

That's their prerogative, but as a principle software developer that works for the largest privately owned software company in the world, I'm quite confident that it can be done in a way that brings in profits. It may not align with their strategies and that's fine. Again it's their choice. As I said I'm just sharing the situation for me not trying to convince anyone that SM has to do what I'd like. Maybe I'm just foolishly assuming that ideas shared in the "official" forum have some kind of weight in helping to "Shape the Future of Anime Studio"

there's no reason to 'jump ship', there have always been huge sales

No way I'm ditching ASP 11. It really is nice software and I've invested way too much time and I will definitely invest if there's one of those huge sales. I'm more saying that for hobbyists there are things that are pretty nice without costing $200. Again that doesn't matter to anyone who's doing serious professional work (I can't imagine spending less that $1000 on my computer do do my work), but in my job I am actually creating professional software based on free open source libraries (Check out https://d3js.org/, https://angularjs.org/ and https://dojotoolkit.org/ if your interested).

Like I said, I'm not trying to tell SM what to do. I'm just saying what my budget and interests are and saying I do think I am part of a group in the same boat. For us debut won't cut it and if I have to spend $200 to get an upgrade, I might do it every two releases, but I'll also look more into other options.

[synthsin75]

Once you start comparing what you could be doing, other than Moho as a hobby, it seems Moho is a pretty cheap hobby.

Not for me. I have two kids in college and a single income home. I'm not saying I couldn't possibly afford it. I'm just saying I choose not to have hobbies that expensive, because I have a budget for other things. No one needs to justify the pricing strategy to me. I'm not disagreeing that it's a good value. I'm simply sharing feedback from a customer. Most companies offer all kinds of incentives from sweepstakes opportunities to special deals, just to get feedback from their customers.

Clearly many professionals should not even think twice about the cost (I wouldn't). But I'm not in that camp and it appears from this thread that I'm not alone. If SM isn't interested in capturing the sales from people like me, and wants to adopt an attitude of "suck it up and stop complaining, you can afford it" that's their choice. I hope there is a sale some time, because I am a big fan of the software. I'm only saying that for people like me debut is too simplified and $200 is more than I'm willing to spend.

SM has several really good sales a year. Release day purchasers are paying more to have it now. And it's everyone's own prerogative whether their eagerness wins out over their wallet. If I couldn't possibly afford it, I'd either wait for a sale or even skip a version or two. Most hobbyist have a perfectly usable version already. Newer versions may make the task easier/faster, but then hobbyists also don't have any deadlines.

I doubt SM wants to maintain three tiers of Moho,

That's their prerogative, but as a principle software developer that works for the largest privately owned software company in the world, I'm quite confident that it can be done in a way that brings in profits. It may not align with their strategies and that's fine. Again it's their choice. As I said I'm just sharing the situation for me not trying to convince anyone that SM has to do what I'd like. Maybe I'm just foolishly assuming that ideas shared in the "official" forum have some kind of weight in helping to "Shape the Future of Anime Studio"

Most of the new features came straight from user posts on this forum, so of course they have weight. Business decisions are probably beyond the control of the Moho dev team though.

[strider2000]

Well the upgrades definitely look nice. I'm looking forward to the webinar tomorrow. Even though everything looks cool, 11 is still a killer program Even though I want to, I can't always have what I want, when I want , so I guess it's a good opportunity to exercise patience.

[exile]

One nice thing about this forum: you don't get hounded out of it for mentioning other software. There's even a section in this forum dedicated to other programs.

So thanks to those who have given tips about alternatives here and in other threads. The situation has rekindled my interest in Synfig, which seems to have been developed further recently. Not as intuitive as AS, but they've had bezier curves from the beginning.

The price discussion has gotten tedious: the extra cost is within your budget or it isn't. Maybe there will be a better discount later, maybe there won't. AS 11 isn't a bad tool, so for the time being, I'll wait and take the time to experiment.

[strider2000]

The price discussion has gotten tedious: the extra cost is within your budget or it isn't. Maybe there will be a better discount later, maybe there won't. AS 11 isn't a bad tool, so for the time being, I'll wait and take the time to experiment.

Agreed. Just woke up and realized that the context of my comments might have been stated more easily.

I just thought that Smith Micro project management team monitored this forum closely and would like to know why I didn't upgrade as soon as I got the email and what they could have done to get $100 from me today. I thought that was Campaign Marketing 101. That's all.

If any of the marketing team is interested and listening, if I could even get just the upgrades in Debut, for my ASP 11, I'd give you the $34.99 today. If the Pro upgrade was $99 for me, because I've been buying all the upgrades since 9, I'd give it today. If I could get a mid-level upgrade (debut upgrades, plus bezier and smart warp) for $99, I'd give it today. If they have a sale of the Pro upgrade for $99, without tutorials etc, I'll buy as soon as I see it.

That's all I'm saying. In no way am I trying to bad mouth Moho or Smith Micro! (hope it didn't seem that way) I really care about the software and so I _want_ to upgrade, but I do have a more modest budget. If they want that kind of information and there's a better way to share it with them, and someone knows that, just let me know. That's all.

Looking forward to the webinar today. As always I'm sure it will be awesome

[drumlug13]

I think some of the comments that say Moho/SM is just trying to squeeze money out of our wallets are unfair. Some people have such short memories. It was only 6 or 7 months ago when they added about a half dozen great new features to the AS 11.2 update... for free. I don't remember anybody questioning their ethics then.

[slowtiger]

I really wonder how many films are not being made because people can't afford that upgrade right now. I also have to refrain from asking how many films those people finished with an older version.

[exile]

Maybe I should clarify my previous comment. I'm not putting down the people who are taken aback by the price hike, I'm one of them.

To some of the others: you have a right to defend the cost increase if you agree with it, but please stop characterizing the rest of us as hobbyists who are too lazy to finish projects (so the update would be wasted on us anyway) and too cheap to invest sufficiently in their hobby. Of course if we were more clever and talented, we would have enough money to pay any price, but please excuse us for not being quite that hip.

[mattchee]

I think some of the comments that say Moho/SM is just trying to squeeze money out of our wallets are unfair. Some people have such short memories. It was only 6 or 7 months ago when they added about a half dozen great new features to the AS 11.2 update... for free. I don't remember anybody questioning their ethics then.

This is true. I also recently got a major update to Clip Studio Paint for free. They don't have to do that.

[vidi]

This is true. I also recently got a major update to Clip Studio Paint for free. They don't have to do that.

Well Clip studio is from CELSYS,Inc. not from SM.

I was very exiting to hear a new version is on the way
I really like AnimeStudio/MOHO and I have have always updatet every new version, but for that Update Price no
I will stay with AS 11.

[mattchee]

This is true. I also recently got a major update to Clip Studio Paint for free. They don't have to do that.

Well Clip studio is from CELSYS,Inc. not from SM.

True. I don't know how much control they have over the update rollouts - but the roll out did come from them. The update was significant, and also switched me from MS to CSP (the same, I know, but with the last update I think it's all CSP going forward.. thankfully, I had the same gripes about the branding on that as I did with AS).

[mattchee]

I have to say, coming out of the webinar, I'm even MORE impressed with the updates, and I'm pretty close to sold on upgrading.

The increase in price is a bummer, but the more I look it from the perspective of where the software is at now, I don't think it's totally unjustified.

[JaMike]

The increase in price is a bummer, but the more I look it from the perspective of where the software is at now, I don't think it's totally unjustified.

The new version may be worth it, but it has been a 33% increase in price. Although a lot of us who aren't upgrading yet could afford it, it's important that we don't just roll over and take it without a little bit of whining, lest it happens next year too.

I think Smith Micro get the message now.

[vidi]

I don't know how much control they have over the update rollouts - but the roll out did come from them.

SM is not publisher only a seller.

[exile]

In any case I don't expect SM to be moved by the concerns of individual customers. They're going to look at their sales balance. If it turns out they miscalculated, they might adjust the price.