Yes, that is exactly right.
Wasoha, just out of curiosity when you ask about updates/patches/fixes do you mean feature updates or just bug/stability fixes?
@septinite Every software Iâve used with perpetual licenses includes both as part of their regular program updates for the version Iâve purchased. Itâs pretty normal practice to receive all updates (bug+feature) for the version youâve purchased and then have to buy an upgrade for the next yearâs new release. Like for example, practically no software on earth is going to charge you for going from 10.0 to 10.3 (random example numbers) but they will charge you to go from 10.3 to 11.0.
Thatâs what I took the prior response to mean. If Maxon decided to buck the norm to screw over paying customers like that I would lose interest in my purchase altogether, so I hope not. That would be ridiculous (plus it sounds annoying for their software team to maintain).
Maybe @aurick can clarify. If you purchase 2023 perpetual, do you receive all updates for 2023 version that year? Or only the bug fixes?
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Yeah, I had that same assumption which is why I was curious.
I have it from David McGavran (the CEO) via the #askmaxon channel in the official Discord server that future feature updates are not included in the perpetual upgrade as you would get in a maintenence style plan - only bug/stability fixes.
To elaborate on that, if you buy ZBrush 2023 perpetual upgrade you will not receive any further feature updates made during the rest of 2023.
So yeah, clarification from @aurick seem to be in order.
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Well, since weâve got radio silence from @aurick on the matter, here are the quotes from David:
we wonât offer feature updates to perpetual users, that is not what a perpetual product is. Pixologic used to offer a perpetual with a 1 year service agreement. (they never enforced the 1 year). We are not offering a service version.
By definition a perpetual product is complete when you buy it. We are not offering a service agreement. We offer either a perpetual product or a subscription. A subscription is always up to date with the latest features. A perpetual is complete and you can keep it and we provide critical fixes.
The perpetual version including the upgrade version is feature complete when you buy it so you have all you need to make a decision. We will provide critical bug fixes as well to the perpetual. Regular feature updates are included with the subscription
I am still hoping get direct communication from @aurick in this thread regarding official clarification, as opposed to casual conversation on discord.
If thatâs really their final decision that would be very concerning. If thatâs true, how could my 2023 be considered âcompleteâ if someone elseâs 2023 is more complete than mine is? If thereâs no update/feature parity between users on the same annual version then how is that âcomplete?â
Another comment the CEO has made in the Discord:
We havenât finished integrating Redshift. We could have waited another year before everything was done or we can release what we have now and users who are happy can use those and not have to wait.
So my version is claimed to be feature complete while the CEO is plainly telling people that advertised features for 2023 version literally arenât complete yet and will be added in the future?
Iâm not asking for free tech support for a year, Iâm not asking for a free upgrade to the next 2024 annual version, Iâm just asking for full access to the program updates that users typically expect when they buy an annual version of a program.
The cost of a perpetual license is 2.5x the cost of a yearly subscription, so I think perpetual purchasers have more than paid for the cost of development for the features they would receive during that year for their purchased version. Thus the only justification I can even think of for withholding feature updates would simply be to punish people for not subscribing.
I hope thatâs not true, and I await clarification.
Thereâs a lot of assumption going on that there will be updates coming to ZBrush 2023 that provide new features. I would like to point out that this did not happen with ZBrush 2022.
ZBrush 2022 was the final free upgrade. We were fully under Maxonâs rules throughout the entirety of 2022, yet there were updates that followed through much of the year that addressed various issues and those updates were free to everyone who had ZBrush 2022.
I do not know what the plans are regarding Redshift integration. What has been stated is that ZBrush 2023 is the first step toward that integration. Yes, it is clear that there will be more done on that front. What has not been stated is a schedule. It is fully possible that there will not be more done toward integration until the release of ZBrush 2024.
I donât understand why youâre acting like we are in the wrong for making assumptions about potential upgrades throughout the year that have been hinted at either by your CEO or during the 2023 presentation stream.
Even in those quotes Iâve provided, and other comments made by David in Discord, there are suggestions that there would be potential feature upgrades throughout the year.
But that is all beside the point. Given what you now know about Wisohaâs original question would you still respond âYes, that is exactly rightâ?
Washoa specifically asked about âpatches/fixes.â That is what I answered. Yes, perpetual licenses receive patches/fixes. Just like they did for ZBrush 2022.
Ok, letâs put it more simply based off of his clarification:
If there are feature upgrades in 2023, will userâs that have upgraded their perpetual license to the 2023 version receive those feature updates?
No. Upgrades to new features are not free for perpetual licenses.
If there is a point upgrade that provides new features without going to ZBrush 2024 then those features would not be a free upgrade.
But there has been nothing stating that there will be more features for ZBrush 2023. Just like there were no such upgrades to ZBrush 2022. If ZBrush 2023 proves to be different, then the release of that upgrade would be the time to discuss the matter. At that time, there would be actual information. Until there is such information, itâs nothing more than speculation and I cannot participate in that.
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Itâs so weird to call them âfree upgradesâ when we would have theoretically forked over nearly $700.
There is precedence in other software packages called âmaintenence plansâ in which you upgrade you perpetual license and get a yearâs worth of updates, Adobe of all companies even does it this way.
Itâs not like we are pulling this idea out of our collective ass.
Edit:
FYI, here is a fresh quote from David McGavran:
We plan to make continual feature additions to the subscription version of ZBrush. For perpetual users we will have potential bug fix releases but no feature releases.
link to the comment here
While it may just be coming out in casual conversation, this seems to me to be as official as itâs going to get given the source and Maxonâs reticence in being more clear in their official official comms.
Thanks for the update!
Love IT 
!!
WOW, Such a nice updates