38 replies to this topic

[ms_amos]

We have replaced our payment system provider due to an unacceptable level of problems. If you are one of those who encountered billing problems, please accept our apologies.

As a result of this change, some existing Moviestorm subscriptions will expire when they reach their next renewal point. This affects people who took out a recurring subscription prior to the end of January 2011 (and possibly some who started in early February). It includes everyone with an old-style monthly sub (i.e. if you get monthly points, you're definitely affected). If you don't have a recurring subscription, then you don't have to worry.

If you're one of those affected, you will need to set up a new subscription in order to continue using Moviestorm after this time.

To re-subscribe, go to http://www.moviestor.../hub/membership or go to the Moviestorm Web site, navigate to the Marketplace, and then Buy Moviestorm.

• No further money will be taken from you unless you choose to re-subscribe.
• Any packs that you have bought or rented will continue to be available.
• You will keep any Moviestorm points that you currently have.
• Points can still be used to buy additional content packs and are available from the Marketplace.

When you re-subscribe, if you were on an old-style sub, you'll see that our new deals offer better value and more choice. The main change is that subscriptions no longer include Moviestorm points, but instead include a selection of content at a huge discount over the normal price.

• You can subscribe to Moviestorm for 1, 3, or 12-month periods, and you can choose whether to have that subscription renew automatically.
• If you prefer, you can buy Moviestorm outright, with the option of a boxed product.
• All packages include Moviestorm, a selection of packs and the Modder's Workshop.
• If you currently own more than 10 Moviestorm content packs, you will be eligible for a discounted yearly subscription that doesn't include any packs, so you're not paying for content you don't need.

If you have any queries, problems with broken accounts, renewal problems, or any issues at all with the new system, please contact us on support.team@moviestorm.co.uk or via the support system on the Web site.

Sorry about the inconvenience. We're not entitled to use your current details to set up an arrangement with a new provider, so this is the only way we can resolve the situation.

Kind regards,

The Moviestorm Team.

[kkffoo]

Does this affect everyone?
my subscription page says

You currently have a monthly subscription

Your next payment will be taken on March 28, 2011.

[daleh]

I think thats just a bug/oversight with the webpage, mine says 2 different things, on the marketplace it just says I have an active subscription and when the next payment will be taken, but on the account page it says that as well but directly underneath it says your sub has been cancelled and will expire on XXX date.

Its probably that they had to leave the old subscription system in place too on the webpage as some people may have yearly subs that wont expire for a while yet, and thus still need to see they subscription info.

Confused me a bit too when i first saw it, though I am easily confused..!

[andy_price]

When the new bundle packs came out, we were told that we could carry on using the old system, if we preferred (subs and points etc). Is this no longer the case? I am/was on a reccuring 3 month subs, and the points I got was just right to rent the packs I needed. The system for me was perfect. Now it looks like I am going to be out of pocket, Non of the themed packs gives me the all the packs I need and use regularly, and all of the themed packs contain content that I would never use. So that means that the themed packs are of no use to me, so that means I have to by the complete pack for $75.... which I can not afford. But wait I here you say, you can get the full program, with no packs for $25.. that would be fantastic, but as I always rented the packs I needed I would have to buy the points to get the packs I need.

I can understand that in the long term I would be better off buying the full pack, but that dosent help, when I cant afford $75 at the moment

So It looks like I am going to lose out, I just hope I can get my couple of projects I am working on finished before my subscription runs out, because it looks like my option to continue my subscription has been taken away from me.

[Armanus]

That's kind of where I'm coming from too. We were told that we could continue under our existing subscription plan with the points. I understand changes is how billing is done creates the need for renewals, but not the need to change plans. I noticed last week while looking at subscription options that the old plans that were promised to remain were gone, so this "forcing" into the new model isn't to do with the billing system changes. It's been in the works for a while. Seems a bit like foul play.

I used the points to get content I knew I would get the most use out of, but mostly I rented packs that I wouldn't use often but were relevant to my needs. Now I would have to not only subscribe but also spend more to rent. The theme packs don't give me value since most of the packs in each theme bundle I already own. Each pack has content I don't have, but it's hard to judge which content I would use often enough to warrant the purchase.

The old system was great value for me. I don't have a lot of money to devote to this hobby, and the monthly plan plus points worked out fine. Now it looks like it's going to be more between sub and points, and I don't know if the affordability is there for me. Hopefully it is, but I would rather prefer that promises made were kept.

[Armanus]

I renewed my subscription with one of the bundles, but it's running my free month concurrent with my current subscription. The cancelled subscription ends April 1, and that's when it says I'm going to be billed for the new one. I know that is probably my error, but can it be corrected?

[radstorm]

I am a tad confused with all of this. Does this mean there is no longer a monthly subscription? Do I have to buy one of these new bundles to re-subscribe? What if I opt out? Does this mean all the money I spent on extras, etc over quite some time is just dust in the wind, mainly because of that annoying 14 day thing happening..thus again the core will refuse to function? That part to me has always been a bit unfair for something that in the beginning was claimed to be free. But later on I had to sign up and pay for it. MovieStorm is a nice program, and fun to play with, but if it gets overall more expensive than my high end 3D animation programs are.. welll. Decisions, decisions

[Armanus]

No, there are still monthly, 3-month, and yearly subscriptions. Instead of a plan with points, you can rent the theme packages or the Complete package. There are no points with the new plans though, so if you want to get new content you'll have to buy points.
All the content you already purchased with points or money is still yours to use.
As to the fairness of MS once being free and then having to pay for it, MS is a commercial product, and it never was a secret that it was. It was free when it was in beta. Once beta was done they went with a full commercial release, requiring rental or purchase. There's really nothing unfair about it...in fact, that's pretty standard for commercial software that has open beta development. Some games have open beta testing, but you still have to buy the game when it's released.

[andy_price]

I completely understand that MS is commercial, and I agree that they charge for it.

I am upset that this price rise, because that is what it is at the end of the day, has been flowered up, and made to look like you are getting more for your money, which you are not.

I would of been a lot happier if MS had turned round and said "sorry guys due to the present financile climate, we are forced to put our prices up" at least that would of been fairer to us their customers

[daleh]

Remember that you can buy Moviestorm outright now for £50.00, which is a pretty good price irrelevant of the bundles, and gets rid of the need to login every 14 days.

Also, there is now this new option they added for people who own more than 10 content packs,

• If you currently own more than 10 Moviestorm content packs, you will be eligible for a discounted yearly subscription that doesn't include any packs, so you're not paying for content you don't need.

and it is only £25.00 for a 1 year subscription

All that said though I dont think the new bundles options are as flexible as the points ones were, where you could pick the exact content you needed, and I dont really see why they needed to change that, they could simply have increased the prices a little if needed.

[andy_price]

Remember that you can buy Moviestorm outright now for £50.00

I cant see that anywhere, the outright purchase price that I can find is £150

[keithlawrence]

75 US$ = 46.0574797 British pounds
Here

[ms_amos]

Hi guys,
Please excuse the fragmented approach to this reply, but I wanted to get some responses to individuals as well as a general statement. Please feel free to comment, and (as always) contact us directly if you feel that there's anything that I've missed, of if you have a specific question.

Kkffoo
“Does this affect everyone? “
We have identified everyone that this applies to and have send them an email to tell them if they are affected. If you haven't received an email, then you are okay.

andy_price
The reason for the new bundles is because we had complaints about people accumulating points and had nothing to spend them on. With this in mind, we have provided “The Special Offer” that allows you to use Moviestorm for a year (with your existing content) for a little over $3 per month. By far the cheapest subscription ever.

Armanus
As just mentioned to Andy, we are trying very hard to give people what they want without having 20 different subscription types (with points, without points, with content, without content, Complete, Boxed, monthly, tri-monthly, yearly, buy outright, etc.). Please skip to the end of this post for what we are trying to achieve...

radstorm
I really do believe that the Special offer would be the cheapest option for you. We really are trying to give our users what we believe they want, but in a manageable system that is more reliable than the last. We want to have a rock solid subscription system, because we are aware that users have been locked out of the program at really inconvenient times – our main aim is to combat this.

To everyone:
Ultimately, you guys are our users and you are our main concern. We have had two very different subscription options, and some people prefer the new deals, and some prefer the old. We really have to decide on a set of options so that we can ensure that the billing is stable, and manageable enough for our small team to maintain. I am going to put a poll in this thread to try and get a general consensus for what is wanted and we will try to offer a solution for all of you. Please, keep the discussion alive and we will take on-board all of your opinions.

Thanks,
Amos

[andy_price]

“The Special Offer” that allows you to use Moviestorm for a year (with your existing content) for a little over $3 per month. By far the cheapest subscription ever.

I can see that this would be the best option, if I had bought the content packs that I use, but as I "rent" what I need when I need it, this now means that I will have to buy points, on top of my core software.

At the moment I am on silver plan (£12.99 every 3 months) I spend between 500 and 1000 points a month to rent what I need, this obviously changes depending on what I am working on. So the silver plan is Perfect for me.

As far as I can make out my best option on the new system would be to buy the special offer for $25 thats about £15 per year, then also buy 1000 points a month at £5.99

so the way I work that out, to get roughly the same as i get now for £12.99 every 3 months, It will cost me £21.75 over a 3 month period. that is an increase of almost 60%

Do you agree that this is what is best for me?

[daleh]

I am going to put a poll in this thread to try and get a general consensus for what is wanted and we will try to offer a solution for all of you. Please, keep the discussion alive and we will take on-board all of your opinions.
Thanks,
Amos

This is great Amos and shows again that MS do listen to us. However, it has now raised a small concern for me, I am currently on the Bronze subscription plan but I think it expires today and so I have been trying to decide which of the new opotions to take, it was probably gonna be a choice between Buying outright or the new special 1 year sub offer.

But I am now thinking that if at some point soon you reintroduce a points plan am I then going to be stuck with having made a purchase today/tomorrow that I cannot undo and the horror of seeing a more preferable opton re-introduced....its making think now that I might just go with the 3 month rental option and see how this latest discussion pans out.

As for points being wasted I never considered them so, as there is always gonna be new content packs to spend them on.

Also I never received any email notifying me about these changes, even though I am on the older bronze plan and so assume am affected by it.

[ms_amos]

Hi again guys.
Ok, I can see that the general consensus is that some of you were happier on the old deals. For this reason, I'm speaking to Dave to get the old deals put back on the subscription page (Bronze, Silver and Gold). As always, these will have to be tested before we deploy them so they won't be available immediately, but you should be able to see them in the list over the next few days.
For those of you whose subs are due to expire over the weekend, and need to continue using Moviestorm, please subscribe to one of the new deals, and I will change your subscription status, add points and refund any difference once we have the deals available again. Please note that the original subs will only be available to those eligible (if you previously has a Gold, Silver or Bronze at the beginning of November last year), new users will be better suited to the new subscriptions as they come with bundled content.
Thanks for your feedback, everyone. We'll start getting the old subs paired up with the new payment system.

[radstorm]

Well anyways normally as of yesterday MovieStorm would have renewed, but due to this new plan it is now dead (again). So I guess I will just leave it at that, and I will pull funds from that debit card for now while I think this over

[andy_price]

I'm speaking to Dave to get the old deals put back on the subscription page (Bronze, Silver and Gold)

That is fantastic news, thank you so much

[Armanus]

Thanks Amos

[radstorm]

I decided to stop MS for now, and I deleted all the files. MS is a nice little program to play around with, but overall the cost actually exceeds the other higher level programs I use. I wont go in to example, comparison charts or anything, but some may know the ones I mean

Maybe at another time I may try it again, but for now considering it has been disabled anyhow, I will pass on it.