Upgrading to 4.0 discount & vb4 info?

[jtech77]

Is there a launch date?

[Bilderback]

Theres that Sig, lol
Thanks, I searched high and low for that earlier.

I admit its quite scary.
Not only asking for an extra amount of cash but a drastic change in the infrastructure itself, forcing coders and designers to wander into new territory.And all this on blind faith.
Like walking into a dark room with your eyes closed holding out your wallet.

I hope theres a trustworthy community in that room to guide me.
But I dont see paying more for a script than what my hosting will cost.

[feldon23]

6 months ago, Ray Morgan said that we should be "knocking on the door of vB5 in 18 months". Even if they really slip up on release dates, let's say 2 years from now. That's $195 x2 in 2 years. Just shy of $400. Yeah, I miss those $40 annual renewals already.

[Bilderback]

nevermind - I found this in someones signature

vBulletin 4 Pricing Structure
Active vB License: Try vB4 for free until expiry. Upgrade vB3/vB4 for $175.
Expired vB License: Upgrade vB3/vB4 for $195.
Active vB + Blog License: Upgrade now for $130. Upgrade in Nov for $250.
vB5 expected in 12-18 months Upgrade again for $195?

$390 for the next 4 years > $40/year

So vB5 in another year or so?
Looks like the life cycle is short.

[Abomination]

Has anyone heard an estimate on how long a series is expected to last?
I would hate to be buying into a series per year deal or something the way
Apple handles their ipod/iphone firmware upgrades.
It seems like every other week, I'm sending out more money for an update.
The present vBulletin software has progressed a series about every 3 to 4 years.
I'm sure with the new development team, thats surely to lessen dramatically.

No.

Welcome to vb.com, although you have probably been here for a while.

[Bilderback]

Series?

Has anyone heard an estimate on how long a series is expected to last?
I would hate to be buying into a series per year deal or something the way
Apple handles their ipod/iphone firmware upgrades.
It seems like every other week, I'm sending out more money for an update.
The present vBulletin software has progressed a series about every 3 to 4 years.
I'm sure with the new development team, thats surely to lessen dramatically.

[MikesSite]

If you have an active vB license and you do not see the option to Upgrade Existing, you must click the Customer Login link on the top right of the page.

[terabyte]

Yes, forums for free and suite for $130.

[steven s]

I don't know which of the several threads to post this in . . .

I just renewed one of my licenses a couple days ago.
So does this mean I would not be eligible for v4 at a discount?

[terabyte]

Hmm, very confusing stuff.

So if I'm understanding this correctly, as an expired owned user not only was I going to be punished for an extra $20 for not renewing on time (well, fair enough, it's an expensive fee for a few security updates but it's not *too* bad at $40-60/year) but they're asking $195 to get 4.0? Or does "Upgrade: Free" apply to expired owned licenses too?

If it's another $195 I'm out. I happily paid the investment for vB over 2 years ago, it being far more up-to-date than the well known free but seldom updated software (with php in the name) that I was using for my community of 10 or so people. But if I understood the marketing hype at the time (clearly not), investing in an owned license would be worthwhile for at least the years that the money would've bought as a leased license. Clearly not, especially with the annual charges dumped on top AND a huge upgrade fee!

I'd grudgingly pay something like $120 ($60 renewal, $60 upgrade), but starting again as if a new customer? No thanks. As the old cliché goes: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!

Looks like us small communities, who thought we could just about scrape together enough pennies to keep up to date, have now been priced out of the market.

Maybe I'm overreacting based on not understanding the pricing structure correctly. In which case, for goodness sake, please clarify it! Don't forget to let expired owners know where we stand.

You're completely right. You have understood the new terms. Owners with inactive owned licenses are treated like new customers.

[ENF]

All of you should buy IPB! vBulletin sucks & is a ripoff!

You sound like a broken record with each of your posts. If we wanted IPB, we'd go buy it...

If people are so truly butt-hurt over the change in the vBulletin licensing model, they'll surely just go elsewhere.

I will make a small note of interest here; It has been funny how the cost of hardware has gone down over the years in regards to building servers. While software tends to do the opposite and gets more expensive! I don't mind the cost of VB at all as we are very happy with the product as-is. The cost of the software is marginal compared to what it requires us to pay in bandwidth and rackspace for our servers. It would seem to me that a lot of people operate on a shoestring budget and don't factor in what could possibly happen in the future. All properly run boards should have an accounting/budgeting method that puts aside a certain percentage of funds for thing like this. Call it a rainy day fund or just simply a improvements/upgrade fund, whichever...

[Cloudane]

Also um vB5 is $195.
etc.

I wouldn't bet on that - it'll be at whatever figure and structure they pluck out of the air at the time.

[alpha]

Owned license are not eliminated; in fact going forward, all licenses will be owned. Leased licenses will no longer be sold, and annual renewals will no longer be required. When you buy 4.0, you will receive security patches, bug fixes and updates for the remainder of the 4.x series.

That is all and good for new vBulletin users purchasing a new license because they didn't have any money invested in vB 1.x - 3.x and they are purchasing a new software from scratch. However, how does it make sense that owners of the "legacy" owned licenses are required to purchase a new license to continue using vBulletin? It's like forcing existing customers with legacy owned licenses to go back out in the market and see what is available out there since we have to purchase a new license anyway. Except for this < 3 week pre-sale period, there's absolutely no benefit that existing owned licenses get.

Additionally, seeing as how several vBulletin staff members have posted the vB4 won't be a complete rewrite and therefore is essentially still related to vB3, I just can't understand how the decision was made to force the new licensing scheme. It's like Apple coming out with a new iTunes version and telling existing iPod users that they need to buy the new iPod if they want to sync up their music.

What kind of licensing scheme will you come up with for vBulletin 5.x?

Next thing somebody is going to announce is that vBulletin 3.x EOL is Friday, October 30th. Haha.

[Abomination]

As a current owned license holder, I get access to Forum 4.0. Once my license expires, can I continue to run the software?

Yes. However, you have to purchase a Forum 4.0 upgrade license in order to have access to any further maintenance, security or minor point releases on the 4 series.


How much is the upgrade licence?

GREAT question!!!

[feldon23]

If you do not have an Active license and you do not renew in the next 13 days, then vB4 is $195.
Also um vB5 is $195.
etc.