Quote:
Originally Posted by BaseballMan
well arent the patches and updates pretty much free anyway?
And as for new versions whats the difference between buying a new version and having a yearly subscription? The price might be a little lower but they usually offer a discount.
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Well, I am not sure I want to look at it that way. I wouldn't buy a car that purports to steer in both directions and stop effeciently and get acceptable gas mileage, and then find out the car did things at about 50-75% of what was marketed.
Not a direct correlation, I know.
But the gaming industry has accepted that it will run out new titles chock full of 'features', which really are the carrots that they dangle before buyer's faces. Of course, only a certain percentage of the features work adequately, but boy does it make me want to buy it. The developers recognize they will be putting out products that aren't as efficiently developed as they know they should be (bugs worked out), but also recognize they have 'grace' periods in which to address these issues via patches.
I put it to you that if developers did not issue patches, no one would buy their products. The industry would have to retool how it does business and produce much more effectively designed product. The objective is for the developers to always have something new to offer for sale, plain and simple, and this is why they are keen to 'move on' to the next version. Sales! Praise the Lord.
If the auto industry or any other industry such as computer, home appliance, etc put out stuff as riddled as the gaming industry does, those various companies would dry up over night. You KNOW you wouldn't buy something that worked so inefficiently, not when it costs THAT much money. But we let them skate by, so long as they spend some time grooming a few problems when they have some time (away from developing the next greatest version!!!).
So no, they aren't free. They are how this weird little bit of business works, very differently than most businesses of product.
All that said - and the above isn't directed at OOTPD specifically - I still love OOTP8.