I bought kick also because of the great key file activation and a simple installer that is easy to handle for the honest user.
I see that the activation system seems not as bad as others and it’s great to see that Sonic Academy is aware about his (e.g. You can remove inactive devices (2 per month) ), but it’s still a regression for me and makes the product worse. We’re completely dependent on that this system works. A ref file is so simple to handle. No need to manage account data.
I really don’t care about online updates and stuff like this. Can I be sure that you’re online updater is secure? Is all send account data encrypted? Are updates checked for integrity? That’s not so easy to do and I’m afraid of some half backed solutions.
Actually I hate auto updates in my DAW. I want a stable version and that’s it. When I need it I do an update.
I strongly dislike this direction and be aware that you lose future customers due to this new plugin license key management.
The updater takes you to the website - where you download from there - it wont upgrade from within the plugin
Data is encrypted / stored and sent via a secure connection
We only notify the user that an update exists - you can skip the update [quote=“rmai, post:1, topic:34465”]
We’re completely dependent on that this system works. A ref file is so simple to handle. No need to manage account data.
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We built this system to eliminate the need to work with key files entirely - you sign in / manage your accounts if needs be. If you have an offline device you can fully manage that as well with the use of a keyfile
Thanks a lot for the answer. Very much appreciated! Just be aware that there a people like me who are much happier with a simple installer and a reg file. I see mostly a more complex system that have a larger attack surface than needed and is more likely to have problems (what happens when you’re out of businesses for example, can I still activate kick2?). I’m just annoyed that so many programs tries to send/receive stuff over the internet today without a real benefit or a possibility to prevent that.
But sounds good what you wrote about offline activation. When it still works via keyfile and it’s also possible to disable any automatic connections to a sever via internet in the plugin this sounds much better (I guess just an option to disable automatic update checks and to receive news in the plugin is enough to prevent that?).
Related to the secure encrypted connection… make sure not do do the same errors as Senheiser just did with their software.
Anyhow, don’t take this offensive, I just give my honest feedback and share my concerns here. And I’m very thankful that you gave us users the possibility to do that here.
It is the first step to bring more connectivity and useful features to the user - we are doing it to make it easier to get started and to potentially manage your extra purchased preset packs / free preset updates, from within the plugin
I’m serious, I completely removed Synthmaster last year for this very reason: online presets missing waveforms, software crashes, memory leaks, temporary folders everywhere. One year later I visited the KVR thread just for my curiosity and guess what, the bugs list is growing.
VPS Avenger is an an eternal beta (all kind of crashes and memory leaks due to online manager) on the oficial versions and offers beta testing (which is basically alpha testing).
I am kindly suggesting to internally beta test properly (but not on us, the customers) the new “features” before pushing public beta tests out there. And please check the memory footprint of the plug-in before and after the “improvements”. We’re running hundreds of plugins inside our projects, if every manufacturer decides to go online, half of the project’s memory will be used only for background processes.
And after using… it’s not the worst implementation for an activation system. One can see than you try to make it friendly to use. It’s not that you did a bad job!
But it’s so much more unsatisfying than the key file.
Sorry, but this updates creates nothing but bad feeling here so far and when I see a replacement that just uses a serial or key file I will certainly ditch kick2 out of my collection. Believe it more not, the key file activation was a part why I bought kick2 in the first place.
Sorry to hear that,
We have a lot of users who struggle with keyfile activation, hense the change.
The product is still keyfile activation at its core - the only thing that is changed now is that you don’t have to go and download the keyfile yourself - you enter your log in details and we retreive it from your account (if it’s there)
… and if you prefer offline keyfile activation - that is still an option of course
We only plan to implement features if it benefits the users end experience.
We felt being able to tell users of new updates / and being able to register their license without any extra downloading and file handling made things much more simple.
We do of course do plenty of testing before releasing a BETA into the wild and this current BETA is completely optional.
Hey Bryan and I feel really sorry about moaning about your work. Please don’t take it offensive :). After all I’m only writing here because I think Kick2 is great. And it’s awesome that you take the time to reply here. I’m sure that there are also people out there who like it as you said.
But I was at a point after getting a new computer were it took almost a whole day of deactivate licenses before I could use them on this new computer. And every company has a different way to do it, it’s like doing a research. And when I sum up the the cash I have spend on plugins over the years I’m really not happy with systems that require that the company allows me to activate what I’ve brought. Or what will happen when they go out of business?
I don’t have these problems with a key file. That’s why I liking it so much and feel annoyed by online activation. But I guess everything is said now. I just to let you know this
