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Fences 1 never received the promised updates, 2.0 should be free

September 6, 2012 2:12:18 PM from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

 

Hi

When Fences Pro was first released it was advertised as having a number of features 'Coming soon'

I loved Fences from the start, I thought Stardock was great and the promise of the upcoming features was enough for me to decide this was something I wanted on my PC, this was 2009.

In Dec 2011 I was frustrated, Stardock had released lots of new software but Fences Pro had no not changed.  I created a post on this forum:

https://forums.stardock.com/414646

This morning I was on my way to work when I received an email from Stardocks advertising dept, Fences 2.0 was finally in beta - but I had to pay to upgrade!!

I feel this is wrong, people who purchased Fences Pro back in the early days did so because it was sold as something in development and something we could invest in, not forever but at least until we received these great new features promised to us. 

We have seen a number of free products appear like Start8 but nothing for the customers who actually contribute toward the companies income.

I think Fences Pro 2.0 should be free to those who purchased Fences Pro 1.0 and I hope others agree.

fences
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ZubaZ
Join Date 11/2001
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Reply #1 September 6, 2012 2:28:44 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

I understand your frustration.

We believe though that the features we put into Fences 2 warrants the price.

Your previous purchase can get the upgrade for $6.99

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DrJBHL
Join Date 04/2002
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Reply #2 September 6, 2012 2:38:35 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

I don't work for Stardock, but have been around long enough to have seen this explained as follows:

In every piece of software that Stardock has produced major changes (i.e. version 1 -> 2, or 6.4 -> 7.0) there has been a requisite pricing. This is because of the development time (man hours) to produce those major changes.

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Reply #3 September 6, 2012 2:39:07 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Firstly, thank you for your reply.

I understand that you have placed a number of new features into Fences 2 however you have also neglected to place a number of promised features into Fences 1, something that you advertised at the time as 'Coming soon'

Start8 has a number of features and it is for an OS which can not be purchased by the general public as yet, but it is free.Im sure a lot of work went into that and the people who put that work in needed payment

I paid for Fences 1.0 and didn't get the features advertised as coming soon.

Stardock must take responsibility for that.

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DrJBHL
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Reply #4 September 6, 2012 2:40:55 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Quoting BottleTop,
reply 3
Start8 has a number of features and it is for an OS which can not be purchased by the general public as yet, but it is free.Im sure a lot of work went into that and the people who put that work in needed payment

Start8 is a Beta, and it has not been announced whether the RTM will be free or not, Bottletop.

Fences might or might not have had a "coming soon" attached. It's pretty much up to Stardock and man power needs of that company to decide when, how many and whether to bundle with more changes.

I think the $6.99 is justifiable in that light.

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Reply #5 September 6, 2012 2:50:41 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting DrJBHL,
reply 5



Quoting BottleTop,
reply 3
Start8 has a number of features and it is for an OS which can not be purchased by the general public as yet, but it is free.Im sure a lot of work went into that and the people who put that work in needed payment


Start8 is a Beta, and it has not been announced whether the RTM will be free or not, Bottletop.

Fences might or might not have had a "coming soon" attached. It's pretty much up to Stardock and man power needs of that company to decide when, how many and whether to bundle with more changes.

I think the $6.99 is justifiable in that light.

Your comments would suggest your completly on Stardocks side, please understand that I am not try to create an argument here, only providing my feedback and asking others users for their opinion.

 

 

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ZubaZ
Join Date 11/2001
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Reply #6 September 6, 2012 3:00:58 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Thank you for your feedback.  I will pass it along.

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Reply #7 September 6, 2012 3:05:48 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting Zubaz,
reply 7
Thank you for your feedback.  I will pass it along.

Thank you Zubaz, I very much appreciate that.  Based on previous feedback you have provided, when do you believe we should receive a response from Stardock?

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DrJBHL
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Reply #8 September 6, 2012 3:15:55 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Not on anyone's "side", Bottletop. Was only trying to explain how it might have come about. I understand your frustration as well as Zubaz does.

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ZubaZ
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Reply #9 September 6, 2012 3:34:45 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

ZubaZ is Stardock of the clan Stardock but I don't know

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Reply #10 September 6, 2012 3:37:26 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting DrJBHL,
reply 9
DrJBHL

Thank you DrJBHL, both of you appreciating my frustration will hopefully mean Stardock does as well.  Fences is a great product but it customers, as you have both understood, haven't been treated that fairly after purchase. 

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RedneckDude
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Reply #11 September 6, 2012 3:45:11 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Quoting Zubaz,
reply 9
Zubaz is Stardock of the clan Stardock but I don't know
Zubaz is also nut, of the clan Nut Job and I like him....I think he's, well, a nut...lol!!

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ZubaZ
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Reply #12 September 6, 2012 3:51:41 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting BottleTop,
reply 11
Fences is a great product but it customers, as you have both understood, haven't been treated that fairly after purchase. 
I'm not sure I'd agree with this.  You bought a great app with existing functionality that worked.  You were not sold future features . . although you may have expected more.  (I think we at Stardock were hoping for more dev time and more features too.)

Still and all, I understand and am asking people things.

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Reply #13 September 6, 2012 4:20:52 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting Zubaz,
reply 13



Quoting BottleTop,
reply 11
Fences is a great product but it customers, as you have both understood, haven't been treated that fairly after purchase. I'm not sure I'd agree with this.  You bought a great app with existing functionality that worked.  You were not sold future features . . although you may have expected more.  (I think we at Stardock were hoping for more dev time and more features too.)


Still and all, I understand and am asking people things.

Thank you Zubaz, I appreciate that.

I have been reviewing previous forum posts since 2009 and have found other requests for the features 'coming soon' and you also participated in one conversation so should hopefully emphasise as other users have also complained

https://forums.stardock.com/414726

https://forums.stardock.com/397601

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Dr W - Fences Support
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Reply #14 September 6, 2012 11:35:34 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

BottleTop,

I'm sorry that we were unable to deliver the feature that had previously been marked as "coming soon".

Indeed we had advertised a feature on the website - a "skinned fences" feature - which was indeed in development. Unfortunately however that feature was scrapped for a few reasons. These reasons included:
-Noticeable performance issues vs simple shaded areas. (Concerns with both memory usage + drawing speed. Fences hooks into the desktop's drawing system vs just "getting its own" and this limits what we can efficiently do.)
-The necessary skinning format ended up being more pain than it was worth; getting good looking Fence skins was more complex than originally planned and did not meet our ease-of-use standards for our users.
-We found that demand for this feature was low.

So ultimately and regrettably we were unable to complete it. We do hope that you enjoy features that 2.0 has to offer however - which we consider to be much more substantial and meaningful of improvements than ones originally planned for 1.0 - and we appreciate your support of Fences.

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Jafo
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Reply #15 September 7, 2012 1:55:05 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Bottletop ...please consider #14 as the clear and precise explanation from Stardock, as to the non-appearance of features mentioned as 'coming soon'.

What is in development, however enticing doesn't always succeed on every level, and performance is always going to be of paramount concern.

Perhaps what may have been lacking was subsequent notification of proposed features that would need to be abandoned...

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Reply #16 September 7, 2012 1:26:06 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting Jafo,
reply 16
Bottletop ...please consider #14 as the clear and precise explanation from Stardock, as to the non-appearance of features mentioned as 'coming soon'.

What is in development, however enticing doesn't always succeed on every level, and performance is always going to be of paramount concern.

Perhaps what may have been lacking was subsequent notification of proposed features that would need to be abandoned...

I really do appreciate you taking the time to reply and I hope you consider my original question.  From a customer view point I would state the following:

Stardock has not provided its users with the development expected based on advertising that contributed toward the sale of the original product. 

Stardock has a number of desktop customisation apps which have skinning capabilities and therefore potential customers would expect advertised upcoming features to have been in development at the time.

On a personal note - Stardock is cool, you contribute toward Neowin which is where I first heard of you so many years ago - but your wrong in asking customers of 1.0 to pay again - you should be compensating them instead with a free upgrade to 2.0

I wouldn't expect a free upgrade to 3.0, as products develop you need to compensate the company however I and a number of other customers compensated you because we trusted your advertising.  Im hoping the management team take notice of that - I hope Brad does. 

 

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waxplayer
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Reply #17 September 7, 2012 2:20:40 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

@BottleTop: I don't quite agree with your perception that an 'upgrade' should come at no cost. I am a loyal customer of VMWare, I initially purchased Work station 7. I received an offer for version 8 [it was MY decision not to 'upgrade'] and low and behold version 9 is now available. I 'Do' qualify for the upgrade discount, which I will be taking advantage of. However, I do not feel I'm getting gipped by the company as I understand the production process and what it entails. I for one, do not feel YOU should get a free upgrade to version 2.0 from version 1.0. I also think you've made your point and in lieu of sounding redundant, your point has been taken...As a customer myself of various StarDock products, I don't expect them [StarDock] to accommodate what in my opinion IS my 'expectations'. I may be one or two beers in too deep but, that is just my opinion...  

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Wizard1956
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Reply #18 September 7, 2012 2:31:31 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Windows Vista Ultimate Extras were neither ultimate or extra. MS should have given me Windows 7. 

 

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Reply #19 September 7, 2012 2:48:06 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting waxplayer,
reply 18
@BottleTop: I don't quite agree with your perception that an 'upgrade' should come at no cost. I am a loyal customer of VMWare, I initially purchased Work station 7. I received an offer for version 8 [it was MY decision not to 'upgrade'] and low and behold version 9 is now available. I 'Do' qualify for the upgrade discount, which I will be taking advantage of. However, I do not feel I'm getting gipped by the company as I understand the production process and what it entails. I for one, do not feel YOU should get a free upgrade to version 2.0 from version 1.0. I also think you've made your point and in lieu of sounding redundant, your point has been taken...As a customer myself of various StarDock products, I don't expect them [StarDock] to accommodate what in my opinion IS my 'expectations'. I may be one or two beers in too deep but, that is just my opinion...  

From what I understand, VMWare never sold us any future updates as part of a version (I am also a customer of them and have been happy to upgrade at cost)

Your reference to me in capital letters makes it seem that I feel I am special, I am not special at all but probably feel what a lot of other users feel.

'Expectations' which you mention are something that as customer should manage based on information given by the seller - on this occasion Stardock have sold the idea that the product had upcoming features and through purchasing Fences 1.0 you would gain in the short term. 

I appreciate that my point has been taken, but I also think I have the right to respond to those who come out on Stardocks side especially when their argument is not valid and does not relate to my original question.

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Reply #20 September 7, 2012 2:51:52 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting Wizard1956,
reply 19
Windows Vista Ultimate Extras were neither ultimate or extra. MS should have given me Windows 7. 

 

I cant help but feel your either part of the team that recommended to the Stardock Management that they should charge all customer for 2.0 or that you like being hard done by and expect all companies to do it to you as standard.

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waxplayer
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Reply #21 September 7, 2012 3:23:01 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

I'm not coming out on anyone's 'side'. The only thing I was trying to explain was, in my perspective you are not entitled to a free upgrade. Regardless of what was mentioned by the seller. I think a fair explanation was given in post's #12, #14 & #15. You choose to continue to pursue what you feel is your right. All the power to you, take my comment with a grain of salt. In 'My' opinion, your question 'has' been answered and your comments have been taken into consideration. There is no need to continue. Listen, if you're that hard up about the cost [although I'm on Emergency Unemployment Benefits. Since being laid off in January. I'll gift you the upgrade cost. Just drop me a message with your email address and it will be taken care of next Wednesday, when I get my bi-weekly check.]...The ball is, in your court... 

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Reply #22 September 7, 2012 3:38:08 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting waxplayer,
reply 22
I'm not coming out on anyone's 'side'. The only thing I was trying to explain was, in my perspective you are not entitled to a free upgrade. Regardless of what was mentioned by the seller. I think a fair explanation was given in post's #12, #14 & #15. You choose to continue to pursue what you feel is your right. All the power to you, take my comment with a grain of salt. In 'My' opinion, your question 'has' been answered and your comments have been taken into consideration. There is no need to continue. Listen, if you're that hard up about the cost [although I'm on Emergency Unemployment Benefits. Since being laid off in January. I'll gift you the upgrade cost. Just drop me a message with your email address and it will be taken care of next Wednesday, when I get my bi-weekly check.]...The ball is, in your court... 

Really not looking to prove who has the most money here.  My question has not been answered, I have provided my feedback but nobody has finalised the decision on behalf of Stardock.  Why are you so opposed to me asking this?  What do you gain?

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waxplayer
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Reply #23 September 7, 2012 3:46:05 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Interesting, to say the least. If I could retract my 'opinion' I would. Although, I don't have that capacity. Maybe an Admin will see this and delete my post's. Sorry for being a nuisance. Enjoy your life...

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ZubaZ
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Reply #24 September 7, 2012 4:03:25 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Quoting BottleTop,
reply 22
My question has not been answered, I have provided my feedback but nobody has finalised the decision on behalf of Stardock. 
Post #14 and #15 are Stardock.  At this time we will not be offering Fences 2 for Fences 1 users for free.

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Wizard1956
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Reply #25 September 7, 2012 4:05:43 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Edit: Zubaz went there first.

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