Absynth is dead

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  • chk071
    chk071 Member Posts: 356 Pro
    edited September 2022

    Don't worry. Life's too short for that. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    I don't really see a reason why it would be removed in 2 years. Unless they switch to a new activation method. Which could happen. Or it could happen in 10 years. Or in 20 years. Or never.

    Software doesn't have an infinite lifespan. Naturally.

    What happens if computers all switched to a new CPU architecture in 10 years? There's nothing you can do about that. Software will just stop working. Just like that.

  • andalassamXX
    andalassamXX Member Posts: 53 Helper

    As I said, I bought the permanent use right instead of subscribing to it. If activation is not supported after 10 years, why not subscribe? Is this really fair?

    I don't care whether the hardware system supports it or not, but the license must be permanent.

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 2,772 Expert

    Will it be possible to activate Absynth for the foreseeable future, or will it eventually be impossible to do this?


    @Jeremy_NI has answerred:

    It is activated by Native Access 2, so as long as Native Access 2 is running you will be able to activate Absynth 5. Since it was just released, that should give us a few years.

    Few years.... And after that? I expect 20+ years at least for all plugins/content, after EOL. I understand, that SW has to be copy protected. But when it is EOL and company looses no money anymore, copy protection may be removed. If that is not possible (for legal or any other reasons...), than company has to provide means to authorise it.

    I am not the user of old NI legacy plugins that are not possible to authorize anymore, but their existence brings big warning..... If NI stops authorising any of SW I have bought, that is the end of my purchases of their SW and HW, as it is no go for me.

    But I would like to say also something positive. I am happy that NI will make Reaktor AS native. Not because I need it, but because it means it still has future... As a programmer I know that porting Reaktor to AS is really hard nut.

  • chk071
    chk071 Member Posts: 356 Pro
    edited September 2022

    Can you quote the terms of usage saying that you bought a permanent license which guarantees the software to always work, and is not subject to change? I'd be very interested in that, because, such a term would be completely insane.

    Small hint: Such a term doesn't exist. Software IS subject to change, always (and that included copy protections and activation mechanisms within the software). Nobody guarantees you that you can use the software for the rest of your life. Because nobody can.

    I'm not sure why we are arguing about the hypothetical case that the software cannot be activated anymore though. Again, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to activate it in the next years. Maybe decades. Maybe forever.

  • andalassamXX
    andalassamXX Member Posts: 53 Helper

    If you think so, I don't think it's necessary for me to reply, because it's meaningless discussion.

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 2,772 Expert
    edited September 2022

    @chk071

    Did you lose your Absynth license? I still have it in my account...

    Well, one may have licence of EOL SW at the account. One may even have the installers. One may install the SW using installers.... But to be able to use it.... One needs to authorise it somehow. The whole discussion is mainly about the last step...

    @ShelLuser

    Your examples of old NI SW that is possible to authorise using NA is nice... But none of it is EOL. At least is not listed as EOL.... It is just old... People mainly complain about plugins like B4, Pro-52, Pro-53.

    https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006053397-Service-Center-and-Legacy-Products-End-of-Life

  • andalassamXX
    andalassamXX Member Posts: 53 Helper

    If a company sells virtual goods and then cannot guarantee its sustainability,

    And suggests that it is likely to be invalid in one or two years,

    I don't think anyone wants to buy this product. Because it is unstable.

    Just like the mobile game I played, I invested thousands of dollars, and then the company suddenly told me that the server stopped running, and your money seemed to be thrown into the water and disappeared.


    This is the disadvantage of online verification, which can not guarantee long-term support.

    It is limited to whether the rent of the server is sufficient.

  • Matt_NI
    Matt_NI Administrator Posts: 1,105 admin

    @Kubrak Absynth is using the same activation mechanism as all our current products. We're not going to prevent folks from activating it via Native Access 2 (which we literally just released). Nobody can read 20 years into the future though but we can talk about this then. The situation you reference with the old plug-ins we had to EOL completely is pretty different from Absynth 5.

  • Sugarnutz1
    Sugarnutz1 Member Posts: 3 Member
    edited September 2022

    I have Steven Slate Drums EX 3.5 and an East/West Bosendorfer 290 from many moons ago that was originally installed via Service Center and both are currently installed and authorized via Native Access 2 as recently as two weeks ago, both run under Kontakt (fresh install of MacOS Monterey 12.5.1 on a a mid-2015 rMBP along with Pro Tools Ultimate 2022.7). Maybe Absynth will endure the same fate as long as the OS and PC architecture support it.

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 2,772 Expert
    edited September 2022

    @Matt_NI

    I do not see into NI internals, but the situation now with Absynth seems to be comparable to situation of Pro-53 13 years ago. It has been removed from Komplete and was not sold any more, but it was possible to authorise it for 11 years... But it has stopped two years ago. I do not say the same will happen to Absynth, but there is the precedents... So, it may happen one day, again.....

    2009: https://www.native-instruments.com/forum/threads/pro-53-has-been-discontinued-please-read-here-for-the-details.92748/

    2020: https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006053397-Service-Center-and-Legacy-Products-End-of-Life

    I am a computer programmer, so do not tell me that at least offline authentisation on old OSes is not technically possible for Pro-53 and likes. Users could run Service Center and send files. And PC system, or NI folk could send users the keys. But yes, it would cost something...

    Or NI coud provide users with legacy SW without antipiracy protection or some kind of universal unlock key... It would not cost anything. And unlocked legacy plugins might bring NI new users and generate income.

  • chk071
    chk071 Member Posts: 356 Pro
    edited September 2022

    "I am a computer programmer, so do not tell me that at least offline authentisation on old OSes is not technically possible for Pro-53 and likes. Users could run Service Center and send files. And PC system, or NI folk could send users the keys. But yes, it would cost something..."

    That last thing is the point. Will it be worth it in (maybe) 10 years time for the handful of people still using the plugin? Most probably not.

    It's a bit of a shame that so few see the economic bigger picture, and always argue and act from the customer perspective, totally neglecting that developers have to make money to continue developing. I don't know what you people do in your day job, but, I find it hard to believe that you like to work for free.

    Again, though, merely arguing on a speculative base of what could happen and what couldn't. Nobody knows. Not even NI.

  • herrpeterschupp
    herrpeterschupp Member Posts: 4 Member

    It is just strange to kill Absyynth and then trying to argue it is difficult to update the synth, when the developper says on the same day on Youtube that he was never asked to work on an update during the last 10 years. This is just ridiculous.

    I guess in one year it will be impossible to activate the synth like it is done with other old products.

    That is just not how a user wants to be treated.

    The only way to solve this problem would be to make Absynth freeware. So everybody who wants to use the synth can do it without activation issues in the future.

  • chk071
    chk071 Member Posts: 356 Pro
    edited September 2022

    "I guess in one year it will be impossible to activate the synth like it is done with other old products."

    Do you have any examples of NI synths which got discontinued, and then couldn't be activated anymore after a year?

    See, I really don't want to defend anything, but, I just don't get why you pull stuff like that out of your rear end. It's really childish, to say the least.

  • Gibson845
    Gibson845 Member Posts: 39 Member
    edited September 2022

    guys really, NI did this stuff before with service center, I CANNOT USE/ACTIVATE my previous vsts! NI NEVER helped me here, they just trashed my money. instead of giving offline licenses or whatever, i dont care i just wanna activate! i dont say they shall support Absynth 3 forever etc. i just dont accept the issue that you just cannot activate and they simply leave you like "we cannot do anything". yeah many people will forget or dont use some older software, it is always the same, you own nothing and they direct what you may use and not... cool. bright future


    i dont care that they say 1-2 years it wont get deactivated, what then? switch off services like before and say "we cannot do anything" again?

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 2,772 Expert
    edited September 2022

    @chk071

    Do you have any examples of NI synths which got discontinued, and then couldn't be activated anymore after a year?

    Not after a year, but after 11 years yes, For example Pro-53. And many others...

    https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006053397-Service-Center-and-Legacy-Products-End-of-Life

    And concerning keep on authorising forever. It would cost something, if NI wants to protect it and has to run the service for it... It would cost nothing, if NI has issued installers of EOL SW without copy protection. Or if they issued universal key for those. Or....

    Look at the forum, there is at least one, two users of EOL SW, who need to authorise it, ask how to do it, and cannot. And there will be more and more as old instalations fail, disks fail, SW is erased/uninstalled by accident and so on....

    Do not forget, that authorisation has ended only two years ago. There will be more and more desperate users of those plugins..... It is, IMHO, very bad decision. Beside the fact it is IMHO breaking the law. I do not know, who has decided that at NI, but it is very shortsighted and NI may face legal issues....

    Concerning Absynth I would like to hear from NI that it will be possible to use it and install it as long as users desire/need. Forever. ;-) If there are 26 000 years old statues that we admire and value, people might one day admire Absynth in 500th century. Time unlimited licence means time unlimited and not 11 years after EOL...

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