Codex404 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 18, 2020 11:08 am
I want to explain my stance on the "whiners" some of you are talking about.
First of all, I have nothing against the developers of the product. I love the product. What I do see time after time after time is promises that are not delivered, empty marketing content and all other kinds of things I am just tired of.
I bought my copy in September 2018. I was I would get the update for free because the update would launch mid 2019. I understand that with software development there can be delays, but a company should notify their users about not being able to hold their promises. They should explain why they cannot hold those promises and what they will do to make it better.
When community members ask about these things no one of Simplify3D responds to it. I've also seen quite a few of these threads just being deleted. Which makes me thing the company is trying to hide these things. If I knew back then what kind of company it was I am not sure if I would have bought the software.
I love the software and like what the devs have done with it so far, but the lack of communication and empty promises is for me a sign of a product I don't want to support.
In my opinion they should hire a community manager or PR manager who will communicate to us what is going on. And in the contrary what Doug is saying I would be happy to tell them in their face what I think they are doing wrong, unfortunately contructive criticism is not something Simplify3D is open for and probably one of the reason you see so many hate on them.
I can't argue with that sentiment. All of those things bug me too. They kind of bug me with the entire 3D Printer commercial-hobby reality which over-promises and way under-delivers. If not outright lies. There are exceptions, of course. Maybe everyone is simply overly optimistic, except the users who are getting used to disappointment. It is rather like the old car "hop up" industry used to be for the hobbyist: You go through the catalogs, buy what you can afford and install it, or not, based upon your dedication, skill and fearlessness to hack.
S3D still works better than any other slicer I use (except for tree support, nudge, nudge), but it can use some improvements and some SERIOUS work on consistency of operation and layout. I'd never bother with multi-color printing without it. The S3D slicer is not a disappointment, for me. The rate of its improvement is disappointing. I'd still pay the $150, and recommend it. Just don't expect new stuff to come out anytime soon.
IMO,
DLC
D. Clark
Robotics and sensors engineer
And lots of other stuff for fun.