[turgeman]

i regret that this has to be one of my first contributions to this community.

i represent a large architecture bureau, so i refreign from expressing my personal opinion of the unprofessional and unethical 2nd-class treatment of customers using sketchup (as well as other software packages and platforms who have not seen RC related releases).

it is obvious that the NL team are dedicated and passionate about their work, but that does not replace their responsibility to communnicate equally to their clients, especially regarding unfulfilled obligations.

this is unacceptable to the office i represent, as when money is paid, communication is a minimum requierment.

we will communicate directly to NL on our issues, but in the spirit of this forum which has kept us patient and silent in hope for more than a week, i feel obligated to state our position here for the benifit of others.

NL, our office is not a 2nd class customer, sketchup is not 2nd class software, and you are not striving to be a 2nd class renderer. improve your business practices and live up to your responsibilities.

our company fully expects equal treatment in the forum regarding the sketchup plugin, the OSX platform, as well as any other promised elements connected to maxwell.


Yaniv Turgeman

We have uploaded RC4 and a new set of plugins (only in the main download site). Only Mayall and Rhinoll are missing and will be updated in a few hours.

maybe this is an unfortunate mistake, as sketchup has not ever been updated for the RC's, and as such very representative. So i remind you that it is, and has been missing.


(a similar post can be found in the OSX forum)

[frankmeyers]

would any of you be interested in claiming money back or going for a law suit against NL? I have asked for a refund because I didn't receive what was promised, but NL simply ignores every question with regard to refunds. I also got their standard reply ...

I own a small software company (23 people) and I really think this company treats its customers like dirt.

[messire]

I suggest you work with beta and its limitations until RC and 1.0 is stable.... I installed RC at home only, and kept the beta working on office comp!
This way i can still produce slow but quality renders!
Yes it sucks not to be treated the same way as 3DS users, but as far as i can see, no one is able to produce anything with RC's... What is the most astonishing thing is the way NL decided to upgrade both the core and the interface... I would have improved the core and then maybe work on the studio... I want to be able to keep using MR in the sketchup interface!

N.

[RedRaven]

comon oskit, victor, tom - tell us what is happening with the sketchup plugin. we have waited patiently in the hope we would at least get some news. I think its now time you did at least that.

[stise]

I too am very dissapointed, I have been holding off inquries from my boss about the status of a usable RC, he acually asked the question "is this a scam" I told him no, Its just a matter of time, he said "yeah, untill I want my money back"

So here I am defending NL as best I can and NL cant even take time to answer a question yet alone give us a plugin. NL, you have got to do somthing or this is really going to deteriorate. I have already told my boss I would reinburse him for the software in the event we cant use it, with the holidays approaching I'm worried about the money, I'm not a fancy pants architect with a trust fund.

NL, is it asking to much to get a reply? I dont think anyone would be as upset if you just shedded some light on the situation.

[Sheik]

The SketchUp plugin is one of the plugins that NextLimit has outsourced. I think NL just didn’t have the capacity for developing all plugin simultaneously by them selves. The SU plugin is being developed by Dunako, not NextLimit. We haven’t heard from Pavol (Dunako) for some time now, but I am guessing he can not develop the plugin at this moment because NL is still working on the core, and for that reason I believe they have not updated the SDK. NL internally can develop plugins, like the Max plugin, as they know what changes they are making to the core. (This is all my speculation of course). If this is true we won’t have a new plugin for the RC in some time.
On the other hand I don’t see a need for updating the SketchUp plugin for the RC updates until NL has had time to get the core back to the quality level the beta has. The beta is simply better than RC4 is. You can still play with the RC using Studio and exporting from SU using 3ds or obj, but I also left the beta on my main computer. I don’t expect to use products still under construction for work.
I am also very disappointed with the communication policy of Next Limit. I don’t understand why there is no information on the SU plugin. Also the quality the RC produces now is frightening. I am however happy they postponed the release of Maxwell and decided to make substantial changes to the core so that it would crate less noise. The alternative would have been to keep the core as it was in the beta, and they could have released that as 1.0 in July. NL is really in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation” before they have 1.0 ready and working with all plugins. If they don’t release constant updates everyone will go mad, and if they do, everyone will complain about the bad quality. Everyone wants it today, but the developers need time to get things right. If they would have the possibility to start the process from the beginning I would guess they would not chose this approach of pre-sale.
I feel the main goal is to make Maxwell as good as possible, and I am willing to wait some more for that to happen. For now an updated plugin for the beta would be one step forward, and some knowledge of how things are proceeding will make the wait easier for all.
Sheik

[muttlieb]

Well said Sheik. At first I was upset with the lack of a SU plugin for the RC's. But with the current state of the RC's, it's just as well that we *don't* have a plugin. At this point I'd much rather have an updated plugin for the beta. But it is very disappointing that we don't have any info on the status of development of the SU plugin. All we can do is speculate.

[RedRaven]

i agree too. I would be happy if a simple clarification of what stage the plugin is at were to be issued. Even if they had to admit it's a complete restart.

maybe Pavol has resigned and told them to stuff it - who knows

[stise]

Sheik, thanks for taking time to explain the situation. I expected something like that was the case however it doesnt expain NL's complete disregard to our inquiries. If NL had just taken 20 min to speak as you have I would be very happy, unfortunately they have not. In the event you are right I feel NL could have at the very least explained or better yet recognised the problem relative to the out sourcing of the plugin and thus addressed how to develop it as they have the others. I certainly expected that Sketchup would be included in he development of the RCs as the others as there really wasnt any reason to expect otherwise. I am still enthusiastic about the potential of MR, but the support and comunication is terrible; this I dont undrstand becuase I see Toms ugly mug on the forum daily.

[turgeman]

Sheik, thank you for the information.

there are two main issues: the product development itself, and the communication of that to customers. the development has it's problems... we'll call it growing pains. i agree with your view of the situation am not so concrned with this.

the second is unethical, unprofessional, and illeagal. it has no excuse, as it is a matter of company policy.

this is not at the level of discussing weather NL has or has not delivered what is promised on there web site. it is a fact that what is advertised is false marketing. we are not interested in legally persuing a company trying to get off the ground with a potentially good product.

however, we are surprised to see NL openly alienating parts of their user base.

it is unprofessional and unreasonable that some platforms and software get preferential treatment, publically here on the forum, in the form of communication, involvement, and eventually product, while others are shut out and ignored. it is also self destructive.

equal communication is a minimal expectation for all paying customers.

this policy of alienation should not be tolerated by anyone in this community. it corrupts the fundamental trust involved, and can only lead to negative long term relationships for NL and its customers.

this community, if it cares about this product, should not allow it.

we do not need to speculate, or accept that NL will use silence as a tactic to avoid confronting responsibility. it's bad for both sides this way: negativity and mistrust are generated instead of excitment and support.

things can be different, regardless of the state of thier product. it is not about starting a revolution. NL must simply change this policy.


Yaniv Turgeman