A real shocker, I know, right? Moviestorm's new Subscription Plan has brought forth a lot of opinions - I believe someone even described it as a "furor," though being on holiday I remained blissfully ignorant of that. Opinions are mixed on the subject, and forming a confident opinion can be a bit of a challenge as speculation has given rise to some misunderstanding and even misinformation. Even my thoughts didn't solidify instantly on this, and I'm a self-proclaimed Moviestorm lover.
I had questions about the approach, and the thinking behind it. So you know what I did? I emailed one of the founders and asked him to help me understand.
What renewed my confidence wasn't his answer, though don't get me wrong, his answer addressed my questions 100%, it was candid and forthright and real. But that wasn't what tipped the scales for me. Rather, it was the fact that I knew I could email one of the founders and I knew I'd get a reply. It sounds deceivingly simplistic, but this fact was a reminder for me of one of the things that was special about Moviestorm from the very beginning - the level of engagement between the people making the program and the people using it.
Last night on the Wolf & Dulci Hour, Wolf was remarking at how enthused he was by all the evidence in iClone 4 that the users are being listened to. That the product isn't quite perfect in every regard, but that users can see direct evidence of their own feedback being held in high esteem. He's right. And that's exactly how most of the core Moviestorm users feel about Moviestorm and its developers, too.
And now - finally - the people who find themselves to be more than casual Moviestorm users have the opportunity to pay for the product. This isn't spin, honest. I realize that in the Era of Free it's easy to forget that paying for something can sometimes feel less like an obligation and more like a privilege. But that's how I feel about it. My subscription helps Johnnie Ingram and Andrew Kennedy and Chris Ollis and all the other many many hard working people at Moviestorm stay employed in the task of making Moviestorm a better product. And that's what I want them doing.
That being said, I recognize that subscription doesn't make sense for everyone. It doesn't make sense for Cathy; she has invested a lot of years and capital and energy in iClone and its great community. It doesn't make sense right now for Kate Fosk, who is taming the Wild West of OpenSim, not to mention Moviestorm isn't yet where she needs it to be useful and appealing to her.
But a subscription is a good move for me, as it's the platform where I've invested years and energy and, now, capital. It probably makes sense for Kate and Sherwin; Death in Venice is a superb demonstration of how they and Moviestorm "click." I imagine it makes sense for Iain Friar (IceAxe) and Jorge Campos (act3scene24), whose Moviestorm work recently took home the Machinima Expo and 48HFP grand prizes. And there are many others, on the movie-making and modding sides alike, for whom this is a good investment.
And the good news, made evident by the case Matt Kelland is making out there wherever he can, is that those who are only in need of Da Free Stuff and maybe the occasional content pack will still have plenty of things at their disposal.
Personally, I'd like to thank Moviestorm for recognizing the kind of transition needed to lift off smoothly from the land of Free, and not thrusting the entire price of the product on us all at once. I thank them because, I'd have paid that full price, with little hesitation. But I really can't afford to right now. I see their move as an expression of sensitivity not only to the significance of this change in business model, but also a sensitivity to these economic times we're in.
And if you sit down and do a comparison to the cost of other comparable software over a period of years, it's quite competitive pricing indeed.
So yeah, count me in as a subscriber. But count me out of treating this as some kind of divisive issue or one that puts products (or their communities) into the ring like Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. Let's save that kind of action and drama (and comedy) for our screenplays, where it's actually fun to see.
Comments
Hear, hear.
Absolutely great to read you saying that. I truly wish that more people took a step back and thought "I know nothing of running a company like MS", and shut the Hell up.
I sometimes wonder if Matt and the rest do the right thing by being so involved in forums, where the average IQ is the highest: divided by the number of responders.
They made a business decision that doesn't get implemented for two months. They gave certain people twelve months free! And still people, most of whom want everything for nothing, are up in arms.
Maybe you should post your comments over at MS Phil? I'd like to see another side to the debate there.
Actually, I had no business blogging my opinion about the subscription service, since I am not a customer - I was just feeling really snarky that day and would have picked a fight with ANYONE. LOL
@Norrie - Good idea. Done: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/forums/index.php?s=0&showtopic=7037
Hey, don't go gettin down on Rock em Sock em Robots. A lot of good clean fun comes from that great game.
As usual, your reasoned and intelligent response cuts through the emotional responses that make it hard to think about the new subscription service. No question Moviestorm has been committed to the machinima community for years and at some point they were going to have to start charging for their work in order to continue doing business. From the looks of it, this subscription service is a reasonable alternative to the sudden shift to paying for the whole program. Moviestorm is a for-profit business and is not open source software like Blender. Matt's post over at cathy's blog lays out a reasonable alternative for those who still want to use Moviestorm for free. And you are 100% to the point when you say how much you like a company where you can call up one of the founders and get an explanation. Can't do that with too many other companies.
However, I don't think it's a good idea for some to vilify those who protest the subscription idea (reasonably). I understand their arguments and they make sense. Your take that subscriptions work for some, but not for others (also Matt's take) is just the right approach to keep the survival of the fittest tendencies at bay.
But what am I going to to do now that the Torque engine has a sale for the month of December? (head in hands) Oh, no, my poor bank account.
PS just finished processing my subscription for Moviestorm. I'm gonna make the best mediocre film ever been made for that platform, baby.
Yes, you're right, it does make sense for me.
There is one little fly in the ointment, but I'm confident that the guys at Moviestorm are on the case.
God bless Moviestorm, and all who sail in her! :)
Now you see Ricky: that just sounded weird. (and a little homo-erotic, it has to be said)
...Personally? I dislike the idea of taking out user mods for non-suscribers.
Like, it's the only thing I'd like to save if anything were to be included.
Now, I know this is a company, and I am aware I'm sounding a tad like a cheap prick,... but, still.
It feels like something that shouldn't be touched.
'S all.
I'm under the impression that people can still use the program and download the content packs they need individually without the subscription? I thought that the subscription only applied a discount to the content packs people wanted to buy. Really, for a heavy user (sounds like a drug all of a sudden :-P), a subscription makes sense if that user is downloading the majority (if not all) of the content packs that are coming out.
I think it was a wise business decision to offer free subscriptions to some of its users too. I know for me personally, I was in a spot where I didn't really couldn't afford content packs. I know this subscription has made me much more eager to fire up MS (it'll be the first time in a long time) and play around with all of the new toys. Not only are they possibly reintroducing customers like myself to the program, but they are also banking on the free publicity those new customers will generate through their movies with the newer assets MS has to offer.
I don't know at this point if I'll renew my subscription once the freebie period is over, but you can bet I'm going to take advantage of it while I have it.
Very true about personable PR, as well. Matt occasionally comments on my status on facebook and I think of him less has a major cog in a company that I buy products from and more of a peer - someone who is as genuinely interested in what I'm doing (and what others are doing) with the program as I am.
[...] the Creative Director. Phil “Overman” Rice reacted strongly against detractors on his blog, saying “Let’s save that kind of action and drama (and comedy) for our screenplays, where [...]