Suggestion: Include AB2.0 data file support

[toddp]

I have witnessed several discussions regarding the cost of upgrading AB 2.0 to 3.1. Most of the discussions revolve around a single point purchase price and yearly fee. To me, this is a non-issue, the cost of Army Builder is less than I spend each year on beverages. This argument typifies several of my friends who will spend $400 on an army, 2 months painting it, and then balk at spending $6 on a box to carry them in. I find this truly ironic.

One discussion did have an interesting point, however. There are several rulesets out there, such as Blitzkreig Commander, many of the data files work fine and have a large following. These systms may not have data file authors willing to put in the time to convert to AB3.1 to re-implement a working datafile for AB2.0. New users to AB3.1 simply would not have access to these files. I am assuming that AB2.0 is no longer for sale as well.

My suggestion is to provide AB2.0 to AB3.1 customers. How you do this is up to you. An integrated solution would be great, but very difficult to achieve given the rewrite of the interface. Including AB2.0 to paid subscribers, could be a solution that would make sense. The licensing mechanism could be updated to use the same interface as AB3.1, or simply provide a gratis 2.0 license.

Financially, this could draw additional users to the AB3 fold. They would have access to all data files of both versions. This could result in more AB2.0 discussions and possibly additional support issues in the interm. I believe this would be offset by the additional revenue generated by new users.

Obviously, this is a financial and product planning decision on the behalf of Wolf Lair. I make the suggestion as a registered user of both AB2 and AB3.

Best regards,

Todd