tldr Version:- I do not mind leaving my existing perpetual license behind as “sunk cost” and switching to a flexible subscription model that only makes people pay for those features they actually need.
- Users already payed for Tensor Cores and NV Link when they purchased the hardware.
Asking users to pay extra to access those features is risking alienating them and make them look for alternative solutions.
- A survey sent to all registered customers could provide additional insight what different user groups expect.
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First, thank you for staying in touch with your community and interacting on the forum.
I read through the updated FAQ and all posts to get an idea what other users care about.
I am aware that there are different kind of groups of customers who have different needs.
I take the time to provide more detailed feedback because there may not yet be a lot of other users who have purchased 2x 2080Ti and preordered NV Link at this point.- - -
@ why I would prefer a flexible subscription model over rent to buy / maintenance solutions.Sunk CostsI am somewhat surprised that users still want to "buy" or "own" software when in fact older versions of software become unusable because the latest technology hardware is not backwards compatible.
Example: You cannot use OR V2 with Pascal cards. It can not be expected that Otoy upgrades older versions to support new technology.
The economic theory of "
Sunk Costs" proposes that for decisions you only should consider how much money alternative options cost you in the future.
Any money you spent in the past should not anymore be considered for such decisions.
compare:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_costBased on that reasoning I would not mind if with 2018.1 Otoy would stop offering perpetual licenses and just focus on a flexible subscription model that is compatible with future plans.
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Monthly subscriptions examplesI do not mind paying a fair amount of money for an Octane subscription.
What seems pointless to me is
- to pay for features I cannot use.
- to force users to still purchase or maintain a perpetual license to access some features
Therefore my suggestion is to provide a
flexible subscription model so users pay for what they need
Example:
Basic Subscription 10$ per month- Users can use the latest version of Octane with all (!) features with 2 rendering (!) GPU.
Meaning if 3 GPU are installed two can be selected to render.
For each extra GPU: + 0.5 $ per month
Use up to 20 GPU: + 10$ per month
Use up to 200 GPU: + 100$ per month
Additional Render slaves: + 5$ per month
Access to all other DCC plugins: + 10$ per month.
Access to ORC (cloud features): + 10$ per month
Prices are examples.
The subscription model could be even more simplified if only the used software features are considered.
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@ Tensor Cores and NV Link
Experimental Single GPU support with Vulkan-RT Core acceleration is planned for studio subscriptions in 2019 - further details will be finalized closer to the release.
Pay extra to use hardware features in software?
I am trying to understand based on what reasoning customers need to pay extra for using Tensor Cores and NV Link.
Customers paid a large amount of money for that technology to the hardware producers.
2600$ for 2x 2080Ti + 120$ for NV Link
Imagine the outrage if a game company would say:
- You can play our game with just the Cuda cores for 50$.
But if you want to use Tensor cores and NV Link you have to pay 50$ extra.
- No. If your game does not include support for Tensor cores and NV Link in the base version I will simply not purchase it and play that other game instead…
Agreed, Otoy did have to invest extra man hours to implement those features.
But it is just that: "a feature" like every other that should be covered by the regular (!) subscription.
Competition to cloud rendering plans?Otoy seems to have plans for cloud rendering and the Block Chain.
Short term of course Tensor core technology may shift back the threshold to when cloud rendering is used for animation projects. In the long run this may balance out again. 8k, higher resolution VR & AR etc.
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What are other companies doing?Other users may be able to provide additional insight.I have no clue what Nvidia is doing with Iray.
Some people say that it would be additional work to update Optix Prime for Tensor.
All I know is that some people are confused why there is no news if and when free Iray versions will include Tensor and NV Link support.
Because of that some Hobbyist users are looking at Octane.
An affordable Octane Studio for 20$ per month might convince some of them to give it a try when it includes Tensor and NV Link support.
Tensor Cores and NV Link Support as subscription update?My suggestion to cover the cost of implementation:
Tensor Cores and NV Link Support: + 10$ Month
Once the initial cost of implementing is covered or the competition offers free solutions those features could then be included in the basic subscription.
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To summarize:From my point of view Otoy could try to make users shift to a "rent" subscription model as soon as possible.
Those users who agree with a subscription model should be able to access all features.
When new users are forced to purchase perpetual enterprise licenses with a maintenance system just to access Tensor Cores and NV Link it will make it even more challenging to switch to a subscription model further down the line.
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It seems recommended not to rush decisions but indeed take the time until 2018.1 to carefully consider how to proceed.
A survey sent to all registered customers could provide additional insight.- - -
Please delete this post if it goes beyond the intended focus of this thread.