Wrong year associated with my plan (2021)
RE: Mission Planner 2.0 Beta
FWIW - While the reasoning behind appending my hobbyist plan's version with a year isn't understood in the first place, the value that's being displayed in the beta version is incorrect. My purchase was in March 2022.
Comments
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Is it correct to start thinking that the previously purchased product has been rebranded to Elite (2021)?
I see it further renamed here:
https://dronelink-225116--beta-ii0ns8t9.web.app/pricing/features/compare/elite3/uHct6zgOHLTkqPvKFu89
The date indicates the date when the plan was released, not purchased (think buying Windows 98 in the year 2000).
We may just rename them to Elite (v1), Elite (v2), etc.
Does any of this concern about plan naming imply that the $100 spent in March 2022 was only for Elite v1, Elite (2021), and that when Elite v2 eventually goes out of beta and into the production release, that there will always be update fees? I can't recall reading anything other than one-time fee. If Hobbyist Basic/ Premium/ Elite one-time billing schema is truly one-time forever fee, why would it even be necessary to rebrand the product?
We change the features in each plan from time to time, and we version the plans so that anyone that bought a previous version of the plan continues to receive the features that they paid for (which can be confirmed per these instructions).
When Elite v2 eventually goes out of beta and into the production release, will there be an update fee for customers that bought Elite v1?
No, that is the whole point of versioning. They just keep using their Elite v1 plan.
Sorry, that's not exactly what I'm asking. When Elite v2 eventually goes out of beta and into the production release, will there be an update fee for customers that bought Elite v1 who would like to keep their set of tools up to date?
Over the past 30-something years, I've witnessed that each developer handles this situation in their own fashion, generally charging existing customers a fraction for an update and the whole version-fee cycling structure may play out over many months or years before; for example, v.1.00, v1.01, v.02, etc., updates not charged, eventually rolls over to v2.00 when existing loyal customers get some sort of price break. Another sub-scenario is timing, or put another way, how soon after I bought v23.1 will I be entitled to upgrade to v24.0 at no cost?
The other thing that's important to recognize is that customers that, for example, paid $100 for the Elite plan were told that it's a one-time fee. Now the nuances of v1 and v2 are emerging, and that they had paid a one-time fee for a product that may not be updated and maintained in perpetuity after the next version is released.
Just to be clear and for the 2¢ that it's worth, I think developers need to be compensated for the amazing work that they deliver, and that existing customers are likewise treated fairly.
When we release bug fixes or enhancements to existing features that are gated, then existing users get them from free essentially. When we release new features that aren't gated (they exist in Basic on up), then again, everyone gets them for free. Part of being on the Dronelink train - we like to reward our early adopters.
My understanding is that ELITE users will pay nothing whatever the new releases (V1, V2, ... , Vn).
Yes, that is our current policy (which has been in place for years).
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