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Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 4
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So, for an evaluation, what can you actually evaluate in Army Builder?
Can I create a whole army list? NO Can I save a work-in-progress list, so I can add bits and pieces as they occur to me? NO Can I print out the stub of an army I can make, so that I can at least evaluate the quality and usefulness of the printouts? NO Can I automatically update my files? Eventually, NO (You get 10 automatic updates, then you have to do it manually) Am I TOLD about these limitations? NO!!. The splash screen says (and I quote) Quote:
Limited number of units? Fine Not able to save? Extremely annoying, but fine. (Not being able to save means you must have all the units already figured out - on paper or otherwise - unless you want to spend a WHOLE lot of time mucking around in the program to get them right.... EVERY TIME you run the program. Not able to print out? NOT fine. Sure, you get print preview; how does that help me if I wanted to actually USE the program? Printouts are 50% of what this software is used for, nerfing this makes NO sense. I will NOT be buying this, as the "unlocked" product may or may not be what I'm after - the Demo version is SO nerfed that I CAN'T evaluate it properly. Just thought you might want to know why you have lost a potential sale, as most people who think as I do will install and try the demo, then uninstall it without further comment. Viperion |
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#1 |
Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 45
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It seems that you are asking for an almost complete version as a tryout version. They will not do that.
On the other hand they are able to give you a key that works for a year so they might be able to give you a tryout-key that enables you to use the tool for 2 weeks. That would be a better solution if you ask me. |
#2 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 4
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Quote:
Quote:
Thanks for the suggestion, Viperion |
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#3 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Florence, KY
Posts: 213
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#4 |
Senior Member
Lone Wolf Staff
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 8,232
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This claim that the license only works for a year is not accurate. The license will continue to work *forever*. The only two things that are tied to the license expiration are access to new product releases and the automatic updates mechanism. The reason for this is that we were *not* able to solve the time-limited license problem that would automatically disable itself on a user's computer after X amount of time. We spent a *lot* of time trying to figure out a way to achieve that. Unfortunately, there's just no practical way to do it. There are too many versions of Windows with wildly different ways to bypass any of the mechanisms that can be devised. So the demo mode is the only solution that would reliably work.
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#5 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 1
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I'm not like the original poster; the demo of 3.x has me sold already. My concern is with the licensing mechanics, because it reads a little weird to me, and what Rob just stated seems to vary from what is in the FAQ.
Rob said the license works *forever*, just not for new product releases and automatic updates. I can fork out $40 for the program, easily--it's a great product. I can even rationalize paying $12.50 per year after that to keep current with new releases and have the ease of the auto-updater. But from the way the FAQ reads, if I don't renew my license, then in two years I won't even be able to INSTALL the software I paid for! (As my license will be closed on the server, doesn't this mean I can't install the program to a new machine anymore?) That's different than my license working *forever* and so I'd like some clarification. I see myself paying the $12.50 anyway every year--it's a great program; but I'm not comfortable with the idea that if I stop paying for this that eventually I can't install it anymore. I bought Office 2000 a long time ago, and as long as I'm content with the features it has, I can keep installing it to my machine as long as I want. |
#6 |
Senior Member
Lone Wolf Staff
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 8,232
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Quote:
If Microsoft were to close up shop tomorrow, then anyone who relies on the internet activation of copies of Office or Windows would be unable to do so from that point forward. The same applies to smaller companies, such as us. We put the two-year guarantee in there to eliminate concerns that we could just disappear one day. Licenses are not automatically yanked on the server. The language includes the word "may" - it does not say anything absolute. In fact, to this day, no license has ever been closed on the server due to not being extended. To put it into perspective, we've kept the everything going for all the old V2.x licenses for five years now (i.e. since V3.0 was released). We obligated ourselves to keep them going for at least two years, but we never turned off support, even though we could have easily done so three years ago. At some point, it will become more difficult to keep that stuff going, but we won't pull the plug until we reach that point. In the meantime, all the old V2.x licenses can be managed smoothly by those who still use them. I hope this explanation proves helpful. If you still have questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer them. |
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#7 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
Posts: 158
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Army Builder is really a no brainier...seriously it is.
Ask yourself these questions.. 1) Do you play any miniature game that is point based? 2) Is there a Data file for that game(s)? 3) Would you like a rather cheep (monetary value only) piece of software & data files that takes the pain out of making your roster for you? 4) Do you enjoy writing out your list the manual way? If you answered yes to questions 1, 2, & 3 then Army Builder is for you. The demo gives you the perfect ability to test out the program and data files for the game(s) available. What it doesn't do is give you a fully functioning product that you can use forever and never have to buy the program. I sell Army Builder in my store and out of the many many many that I have sold nobody has ever come back and said anything negative about Army Builder. If you play a supported game this product absolutely rocks. It's worth not buying a DVD this week and buying Army Builder. You also have to remember that the folks that make Army Builder have absolutely nothing to do with making the data files for whatever game(s) you play. That is done by the community of players that make the data files FREE and on THEIR OWN TIME. Your just paying for the program that makes gameing so much easier. Toller |
#8 |
Member
Volunteer Data File Author
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 32
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To give you a little background Viperion, the previous release of Army Builder (2.x), was heavily pirated, and done so easily as there was few restrictions on the trial version, hence the greater restrictions on the current trial. Ex-maintainer for BFG |
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#9 |
Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 45
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Viperion, I take from the first post that you play Warhammer. 40K or Fantasy, dat does not matter. But AB 3.x is a great tool for making/building your armylists. There's almost no restriction on what you can do with it, rename units, characters and the like.
If you don't like the data-files that are made by the volunteers you can also try and change some stuff to your own liking with AB creator (included). I used to use version 2.x but now that i have 3.x i wouldn't go back to the older version. |
#10 |
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