Spoiler Alert: NO SPOILERS ANYMORE

[Pooby]

It seems to me like the overall plan from high up (not from the dev team) seems to be, as a few have suggested, to gradually force users to move to Maya, by making Softimage so clearly stagnant, that users either make the move voluntarily, or become so disillusioned with the appaling 'updates' and not bother with them, so that Autodesk can skew it to look like interest in Softimage has waned. They can then justify stopping developing it and make it look like the natural evolution of the market.

I suggest that we wont get any response by whining on here. However, I DO think that if we got a decent cleverly worded petition together, that represented a large cross section of the userbase from around the globe, they would have the choice to either clearly show that they at least respect our opinion and respond, or demonstrate that they really do not care.
I am sure that we could get one going.. I have 1050 subscribers on Vimeo, and wouldnt mind kicking it off if we thought it was a good idea.

To me, it feels like its getting close to 'D day'

[Tekano]

@ pooby. ha yes SOS - Save our Softimage

[Nizar]

Pooby for (ADSK) presidet!

I think we all agree with your idea.

[azurecgi]

If you set it up Pooby I'll definitely sign it

I am so disappointed that the 'suits' at Autodesk are willing to let a clearly superior product disappear

[grendizer]

we have to wait 10 days for the official announcement right?

[Hirazi Blue]

@Pooby - The idea is not bad, but I still have some problems with it (I am, however, biased to this community, obviously). If Autodesk can't stand the "whining", they should either make better software or lower prices considerably. "Whining" by the user base is not something that should make the company shy away from communicating with it. And as the new product manager already registered here recently, I would obviously want some of the discussion to ensue on what now is the main English speaking community for Softimage (i.e. this place). A petition would allow them to keep on shunning the community at large.

I removed my previous post not to break "the flow" of this little subtopic...

[Lord Futzi Voldemort]

My subscription money this year will be going to Exocortex's Species and 3delight. Now, this will be a great year.

I also encourage anyone to head over to the blender site and donate at least a fraction of your annual subscription budget to the blender foundation. They got a budget of 3000 $ (€?) this year so far, they are distributing among devs for lets say 30 h per month for special projects.
And look what they do with it!
Imagine what they could do, if only every softimage subscription user would spent only 100 $ per year. That still leaves enough for all the other REAL contributors to softimage. And you will find your toolset evolving without autodesk.

[McNistor]

It seems to me like the overall plan from high up (not from the dev team) seems to be, as a few have suggested, to gradually force users to move to Maya, by making Softimage so clearly stagnant, that users either make the move voluntarily, or become so disillusioned with the appaling 'updates' and not bother with them, so that Autodesk can skew it to look like interest in Softimage has waned. They can then justify stopping developing it and make it look like the natural evolution of the market.

I suggest that we wont get any response by whining on here. However, I DO think that if we got a decent cleverly worded petition together, that represented a large cross section of the userbase from around the globe, they would have the choice to either clearly show that they at least respect our opinion and respond, or demonstrate that they really do not care.
I am sure that we could get one going.. I have 1050 subscribers on Vimeo, and wouldnt mind kicking it off if we thought it was a good idea.

To me, it feels like its getting close to 'D day'

I'm sorry, but I don't think a petition would solve anything. I'm not saying that you shouldn't start one (I would even sign it), but from my life experience the big corporations are not much different than governments.
In a country the real power of a citizen (in theory at least) is the vote while the customer it's their money.

We complain about what Ad. does but continue to vote with them (pay them subs and licenses).
If you want real change stop voting for them. It's the only way you can make them understand.

Threads and posts with complaints will keep popping up and I as many others will continue to participate, but that's to vent frustration. I think we'd be delusional to think we really can change something by complaining and keep voting the same way.

[Lord Futzi Voldemort]

It seems to me like the overall plan from high up (not from the dev team) seems to be, as a few have suggested, to gradually force users to move to Maya, by making Softimage so clearly stagnant, that users either make the move voluntarily, or become so disillusioned with the appaling 'updates' and not bother with them, so that Autodesk can skew it to look like interest in Softimage has waned. They can then justify stopping developing it and make it look like the natural evolution of the market.

I suggest that we wont get any response by whining on here. However, I DO think that if we got a decent cleverly worded petition together, that represented a large cross section of the userbase from around the globe, they would have the choice to either clearly show that they at least respect our opinion and respond, or demonstrate that they really do not care.
I am sure that we could get one going.. I have 1050 subscribers on Vimeo, and wouldnt mind kicking it off if we thought it was a good idea.

To me, it feels like its getting close to 'D day'

A petition? Sorry, idealism is what brought us to this point. It´s about money, money and money. As long as you guys don´t act, nothing will happen.

[Nizar]

A petition? Sorry, idealism is what brought us to this point. It´s about money, money and money. As long as you guys don´t act, nothing will happen.

Agree, but a petition don't hurt us, at all. So I'll participate to Pooby idea, in the meantime, do not renew my subscription

[Lord Futzi Voldemort]

A petition? Sorry, idealism is what brought us to this point. It´s about money, money and money. As long as you guys don´t act, nothing will happen.

Agree, but a petition don't hurt us, at all. So I'll participate to Pooby idea, in the meantime, do not renew my subscription

You're right, that´s even better ;)

Edit:
I want to correct: blender fund is 3230€ / month. Still not a big sum.
http://www.blender.org/blenderorg/blend ... ment-fund/

[McNistor]

And if you're thinking of asking what's the alternative if one decides to not pay sub/license to Autodesk, then you're pretty much saying that you're stuck with an Autodesk product and have no choice but to continue using it. Well then, that's what Autodesk is counting on.

Edit: I also think that the petition (if it's going to happen) should be in the form of a poll: how many XSI users would switch to an Autodesk product if it were to drop Softimage. I think that would be something Ad. would be interested in, because I for example (and I suspect many other XSI users) would definitely switch to a non Autodesk product and that should be a thing in which they'd pay attention to I think.

It should also be noted that many users wouldn't go for Max or Maya not because they belong to Autodesk (otherwise it would mean that it's a decision based on emotion/ego) but because they suck in comparison to XSI and there are less "sucky" alternatives on the market.
Blender is a very big dot on my radar and I'm not even kidding.

[azurecgi]

I forgot to mention in my previous post that my subscription will be stopping as well (Unfortunately I just paid it, but that is the last penny ADSK get from me until they buck their ideas up)

I wish I could run my business on the Autodesk Subscription model. Get clients to pay up front, with no idea if they will be getting value for money from me!

[Pooby]

I am not naive to think that a petition is going to solve everything. I fully imagine it will solve nothing directly. But it could be bad PR for them.

I am simply hoping that Autodesk will be put into a position where they have to comment. and be reminded that they are dealing with real people, not just numerical figures.
By not paying to upgrade Softimage, (which was my knee jerk reaction too) you will be playing into their hands. Ie, that you will be proving that Softimage's demand is waning. Their assumption will be that you switch to Maya. it would be a silent protest that ensures that Softimage is closer to its end than if you did nothing.

Even governments have to answer if there are enough people asking the questions.

[Lord Futzi Voldemort]

And if you're thinking of asking what's the alternative if one decides to not pay sub/license to Autodesk, then you're pretty much saying that you're stuck with an Autodesk product and have no choice but to continue using it. Well then, that's what Autodesk is counting on.

Right. You must never forget that autodesk is a shareholder company.
No member of the board will ever step in front of the shareholders and
say: "Hey what can we do to make softimage, maya or max a better product for all the users so thy come to like us?"
And the shareholders say "well let´s just give up a part of our profit so the devs can develop another killer feature."

That´s never gonna happen.
In fact what they already did is this:
"How can we spend the least amount of money, and deliver the least amount of stuff just that keeps the users pay their subs and make them hope for more?"
Well you see, if you are on subscription, you are in fact a shareholder to!
So you have to think like one and ask:
"How much return of investment will I get from the money I spend? Does the new release guarantee to raise my profit enough to justify this investment?"
If not, investing would be a stupid thing, wouldn't it?
And if in two years, if in deed a new shiny feature comes up, you will have saved enough money to invest again, provided the afore mentioned question can be answered with yes.

[Lord Futzi Voldemort]

I am not naive to think that a petition is going to solve everything. I fully imagine it will solve nothing directly. But it could be bad PR for them.

I am simply hoping that Autodesk will be put into a position where they have to comment. and be reminded that they are dealing with real people, not just numerical figures.
By not paying to upgrade Softimage, you will be playing into their hands. Ie, that you will be proving that Softimage's demand is waning. Their assumption will be that you switch to Maya.

Even governments have to answer if there are enough people asking the questions.

I think, as sad as it is, the times for dedication to your software are long over. If softimage, dies it dies. And so does maya and max. Do you think the max users don´t fear for their software to? And you can bet AD doesn´t even care if you are using soft, maya or max. All they care about is that you pay for something. You can as well use 123d and pay for whatever services they come up with in the future. You can as well pay for softimages dead. That´s what we do right now. Don´t depend on your software (with your heart I mean).

And: governments are elected (mostly) so they depend on the trust of their voters. I can´t trust AD, I didn´t even wanted to be an AD customer.