The following can be considered an "official" statement regarding how
things will work......
Both AB2 and AB3 will be able to co-exist quite nicely on a computer,
provided they are installed into separate locations. By default, AB3
installs into a different location from the AB2 default. So a user will
need to expressly install AB3 into the current AB2 location to cause
problems. If that happens, well, the user has only himself to blame.
The AB3 licensing is completely distinct from the AB2 licensing, and the
two are completely separate products. Nothing will be done to disable the
AB2 licenses on our end when a user upgrades to AB3. In fact, as Terry
pointed out, I'm guessing that there will be a lag between the release of
AB3 and all game systems running smoothly under AB3. So users will likely
need to run both versions of AB in some cases. We're working to minimize
the lag as much as possible with a conversion tool, but the changes from
AB2 to AB3 are fundamental, so it's unlikely everything can be converted
with 100% success. I'm working on the converter right now (i.e. it's not
finished), so I don't know any specifics yet (i.e. please don't ask for them).
The above does NOT mean that AB2 licenses will continue working forever. As
with any software product, at some point we'll need to stop supporting AB2
and completely shift our focus to the new version. However, we won't do
that for at least a year (it could be many years, but I'm only going to
guarantee one right now). AB2 licenses will be able to be reassigned
without change until we drop support for AB2. And it's probable that we'll
continue providing license transfer via the automated server after AB2
support stops, although we'll no longer be manually chasing down user
information for folks who lose it at that point. It's not that tough to
print out the information and save it somewhere.
Hopefully, this clarifies the various issues brought up on this thread. If
I didn't cover something, let me know and I'll do my best to get you answers.
Thanks, Rob
At 05:45 AM 10/20/2004 +0000, you wrote:
>--- In
armybuilder@yahoogroups.com, "terry_maltman"
><terrymaltman@h...> wrote:
> > --- In
armybuilder@yahoogroups.com, "Mathias Gehl" <mgehl@c...>
>wrote:
> > > The license isn't (as far as I can tell) an upgrade, and my beta
> > > copy of AB3 works with AB2
> > > By default they don't install into the same directory.
> >
> > There will be a need to run both alongside for some time as the
> > files are not compatible. Rob has promised a conversion tool from
> > AB2 to AB3 but as yet we don't know how effective that will be.
> > The two programs can be installed separately and the licensing
> > mechanisms are completely different. I can't see that AB3 will
> > interfere with AB2. It certainly doesn't with my installation
> > (AB2 with v1 CD key and V3 beta).
>
>While both of your statements are _currently_ correct in relation to
>the beta test, none of us except Rob and perhaps Colen have any idea
>how the "upgrade" licensing will finally work in the released version
>(The website offers a half price upgrade from v2)...
>
>As an example (ignoring cd key discs), if I choose to "upgrade" my
>v2 license to v3, will I still be able to go to the license update
>website and reassign my v2 license to another machine, or will my v2
>license be invalidated from that point on (at the wolflair.com end)?
>
>That was my point

>
>Cheers,
>Russell.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rob Bowes (rob@wolflair.com) (650) 588-8252
Lone Wolf Development
www.wolflair.com
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/IMSolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->