StealthPrint
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 5:35 pm

Re: OK, Time to Start Yet Another "Where is Version 5? " Thread

I check in about every 6 months now. Always gives me a good laugh.

Looks like S3D is still trying to pull a rabbit out of their mercury laden hat. Dev's quit, owner got a lucky head-start and thought the gravy train would last forever. Prusa still spending time on updates while S3D is spending times deleting posts. Priorities I guess. The jig is up, the ship has sailed. If S3D doesn't have an absolutely ground breaking banger of an update, it's game over. I really hope you guys secretly teamed up with Tesla/Space-X and they've given you access to unlimited AI computing power to try and come up with something worthwhile. I hope you guys have worked out some space-age mathematics to calculate micro-changes in stepper loads and developed an algorithm that can accurately predict print quality while simultaneously adjusting print parameters for a perfect print with no user input in real time....... cause at this point, as a long time S3D user, that is what it is going to take, can't say i'm holding my breath though.
stefi01
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2021 3:00 pm

Re: OK, Time to Start Yet Another "Where is Version 5? " Thread

my only questions is simply. why do they ignore us when we ask about updates or any question for that matter, is there no staff left, like someone must be paying for this site to be up and running, only want a simple answer to will there be a version 5, yes or no
teamcarlisle
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2014 11:14 pm

Re: OK, Time to Start Yet Another "Where is Version 5? " Thread

stefi01 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 7:54 pm my only questions is simply. why do they ignore us when we ask about updates or any question for that matter, is there no staff left, like someone must be paying for this site to be up and running, only want a simple answer to will there be a version 5, yes or no
They ignore us because they already got our money. If they actually were releasing a new paid version they would tell us all about it to get us to pay again. They are only interested in pulling in the last few customers that might buy a liscense before realising the product is dead.
TomOH
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2015 9:41 am

Re: OK, Time to Start Yet Another "Where is Version 5? " Thread

I don't think there is anything left of that "company". No updates in 2+ years, not even bug fixes, no announcements about what is going on, just a handful of people on Linkedin who claim Simplify3d as an employer, I bet their office in Blue Ash is abandoned too.
The only reason why they have to keep their servers running is to lure more buyers with the "brand new 4.xx version" in and to maintain the activation server, without that one, there would be plenty of ugly lawsuits the owner would have to fight...

Their profile here says it all:
Contact Simplify3D
PM:Send private message
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stefi01
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2021 3:00 pm

Re: OK, Time to Start Yet Another "Where is Version 5? " Thread

such a shame it has gone this way
martincho
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2019 12:45 am

Re: OK, Time to Start Yet Another "Where is Version 5? " Thread

I came here to check for updates on when the next version might be out. Sad to discover nothing changed since the last time I was here, which was in September of 2019. So, nearly two years and nothing.

This is sad and truly insulting to customers.

These guys need to sell the business to someone who might care and do the work necessary to move it forward.

I have been busy with CNC machining since the end of 2019 and didn't have much to do with 3D printing. This week I had to 3D print some stuff and used S3D. That's why I wondered about an update.

Frankly, if this is the state of affairs, it might be wise to go through the pain of setting up our custom 3D printers to work with the Prusa slicer or Cura and be done with S3D once and for all. This is BS.
jumbo
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2019 2:51 pm

Re: OK, Time to Start Yet Another "Where is Version 5? " Thread

Hi Simplify3D team, if you're out there - is your company for sale? I would like to buy it and make some improvements. People are waiting for 2 years now, that is too much. If you're interested send me a PM thanks
anlachlan
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Aug 10, 2021 12:23 am

Re: OK, Time to Start Yet Another "Where is Version 5? " Thread

I purchased S3D back in 2017 when I started out in 3D printing, at the time this was a worthwhile purchase for me as I wanted to start off with the best software as I knew it would play a crucial part in the quality of my prints.

Since then I've been using S3D happily without looking into other programs, and I hadn't been checking the forums at all really, just guides online for improving print quality.

After reading this forum post just now I realise how much S3D have dropped the ball in terms of customer support. I still see them giving tips and guiding other users to the right places when they're in need of 3D printing help, but when it comes to being told about updates to their application there is absolutely nothing? I don't really understand this, how could it be a problem to keep your paying customers up to date?

If someone is looking to drop this much money on a program I'm sure most of them will look through the forums or at least do some research before picking it up, and surely at this point they'll see how bad the support is in regards to updates. I'm an optimist in everything in life and I believe they won't be dropping support for this software, and that they will release an update in time. But there's no reason to not give any feedback on suggested features or letting people know how specific features are being implemented, in my opinion communication like that can only sell your software.

The quality of prints that S3D puts out seems perfectly fine to me so I'll continue using it. The software works for me and I'll only move elsewhere once I'm forced to if that time ever comes, or a great innovation is made in FDM 3D printing software that makes S3D look ancient.
tenaja
Posts: 157
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:16 pm

Re: OK, Time to Start Yet Another "Where is Version 5? " Thread

I bet the problem is that none of us who purchased S3D before 2020 are paying customers. We once were paying customers on the day we purchased it, but we no longer are paying customers. The model of "free software updates for life" is nice for marketing for a new software company, but--especially in a niche market--once you have reached most of your potential clients, your revenue declines and can never recover without changing your business model or coming up with new (different) products. It's not like there are millions and millions of new prosumer 3d printing people every day...

Heck, even Microsoft had to create new ways to generate ongoing revenue, and trick Office XP users into buying Office 365 so they could get monthly revenue. It's not like Office 7 was that much better than Office XP...You had to read the About box to be able to tell them apart! (if you disabled the ribbon menu).
martincho
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2019 12:45 am

Re: OK, Time to Start Yet Another "Where is Version 5? " Thread

I have no problem paying a reasonable annual fee for good software. In fact, prefer to pay for software precisely because this means the publisher will have funds to support, maintain and evolve the product. I want quality software. I just don't want to rent it (stop paying and it goes "poof"). Simple example, I pay Jetbrains $200 a year per license for their excellent software development tools. The way they do their license is that you get to keep a permanent license for the year prior to the one when you stopped your subscription. That's fair. I can work with that.

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