Komplete 2 on Mac OS X 10.5.2

I'm Not alone in feeling ripped off and held hostage

Thank you for your reply. I just kept hearing all this B.S & excuses.
I am glad to hear that everyone else doesn't just follow along like sheep. Paying thru the nose again and again.

Funny how EW hasn't responded to the question still.
Because he can't mention a single software company still in business that doesn't allow an upgrade after only 3 years.

No one else alienates their customer base. So I guess that's why no response.

Only NI treats their customers this badly.

Any one else who feels ripped off and held hostage please post how this makes you feel.

Although no matter how many people post or have posted in the past.
NI is short sighted. I have a feeling NI seems to not give a F*%k. They take the money and run and then have these so called "specials" and hold you hostage limited time only "deals" but only for the most recent still naive customer base. So why we are disposable to them ?
I guess they just want fresh meat. Good luck with that as a business model.

So spread the word. Make great music.

Buy elsewhere. Where they actually care if you have purchased their software.

Thanks again for your post.

JB

 

well, you know I am not on a mission, but this is really annoying. I can understand that they need to charge, but this is really a slap in the face of their loyal customer base. I don't get their philosophy at all, because in times of growing competition between software companies they should have an eye on their user base and not just look for "fresh meat". This way its either 200 Euros per year or after just 3 years ridiculous uprgrade prices or buy new. A PITA, sorry to say...

 

Ahhhhhh.....I've written about this in a few threads already so I'm not going to elaborate anymore....the lack of a fair upgrading policy is simply part of NI's marketing strategy.....a very short term, narrow way of making quick bucks.....

I too, finally upgraded my mac recently, which instantly made all my NI plugs useless as well.....its sort of ironic that I started learning music production with a couple of cracks before I could afford to buy software and then when I finally could afford to buy the things I liked, I get royally screwed on K2 (the single biggest software purchase Ive ever made in my life)......thankfully, EVERYTHING else Ive bought works on my new cpu....even Traktor does at no extra expense.......

Im not rich and I like to support people who make things I like (hell, Im the only peron I know amongst my friends who still buys CDs) but NIs business model now, unfortunately, makes me very suspicious of software companies who like to sell bundles of their individual products....

Like shiiiiiiiiiit!.....the one program I'd REALLY like to have kept is Reaktor but there is no way I'm gonna pay full price for that considering the $1000 I paid to rent Komplete 2.....Id pay for the upgrade from 4 to 5 but there is no option for that......Id pay for a UB of Vokator too but some genius thought that it should be discontinued......

ew, i appreciate that you put in a lot of your own time and effort on this forum helping people with their questions but ffs you dont need to stick up for NI......they dont even pay you to take the crap we dish out......sure, we all know their stuff sounds great but its all about a bigger picture.....ie. they are treating some of their first Komplete customers like ***** and this is probably going to be the precedent that befalls all Komplete users, presently and continually into the future.......

as some might say.......its a bloody disgrace!

 

although this forum is relatively quiet, people ARE complaining lots , at least here in Hamburg, about NI upgrade policies. I really hope NI takes care of this tip of the iceberg and does not become a software Titanic

 

Hi Guys,
I have no particular desire to defend NI, I just wanted to post my experiences because I feel they are relevant as a counterpoint to your own experiences.
I am on Mac OSx 10.4.9, Dual 1.25Gb G4 and primarily use Pro Tools.
NI offered me a crossgrade to K2 from Kontakt Player that came free with Garritan Personal Orchestra. When coupled with their Sounds of Summer promotion I found the price very attractive (about $320 with the DVD - taking into account exchange rates to Australian dollars). I decided to buy it and was very happy. Within about a month or so K3 was released and I was contacted by email to say I was eligible for a free upgrade from K2 to K3. The DVD was mailed to me free of charge from Germany to Australia. I consider that the audio file editing functions and the increased size of the library in K3 made the new version worthy of a paid upgrade so I was now very happy.
I then bought an unregistered Mac OS9 version of Spektral Delay on ebay for $40.00 and upon registering it I was able to download their latest OSX version (Spektral Delay is now discontinued) for free - works great on the setup I mentioned above.
For less than $400.00 I have 2 great applications that work fine on my setup and would have cost me more than $AU1,000.00 to buy at full price.
Both applications are also UB so they will keep working for me when I finally move to Intel so actually NI are way ahead of me in this case.
I would love to have Reaktor so I am patiently waiting for an affordable solution, but if I don't find one, I would have to say that the experience I have had with NI might make me fork out the full price at sometime in the future!
I have to say that I do believe that Komplete 2 (or 5) are a bundle of applications rather than one and it doesn't surprise me that the upgrade price is quite high. May I gently ask if those of you who find the upgrade price steep use all the included applications? Maybe upgrading individual apps might be a suitable alternative?
I've had all sorts of problems with other applications and companies, but none with NI, so while I understand your pain I hope you will understand that NI treats some customers very well - I am the proof (and I have no connection with the company other than using their products from time to time).

Go peacefully amid the noise and haste.

 

Great to hear, that you had that good experience. But please keep in mind that yours is based on a summer sale promotion which was a special deal and not the usual price. Also, Komplete is ONE product, so upgrades should be reasonably priced. The idea of a bundle is to sell more at a lower price point for each app. Upgrading the individual apps would a very costly affair, even if I only did it with 3 or 4 plugs/apps, believe me.

 

Contact NI directly and beg and plead. They may hear your cries for help.

Best,

peter.

 

you know, it's hard to find a software bundle that isn't going to have its share of problems. I have Komplete 3 and a couple Macs. At least they offer, for a fee, the ability to get UB versions of the included software.
Not the case with Adobe, which is charging $600 for the UB versions of their Creative Suite(CS3) because they were mad at apple for jumping the gun on the macbook. very nice adobe. Corel Painter did something similar.

Komplete is a strange animal anyway. it's like "buy 2, get 9 free." it makes you feel like they overprice their software to begin with.

There's really not an inexpensive way to upgrade to 5, that's true. But the trick is is to grab a heavily discounted komplete 5 during the grace period of komplete 6...whenever that happens. there were full versions of komplete 4's around during the grace for 5 selling for $300. if you were quick enough during the launch of komplete 5 you could find the upgrade for komplete4 for $175 which got you a free upgrade to 5. It's a matter of keeping an eye out the day after a big NI sale ends. And its a better deal getting a cheap full version because you can try to offset that purchase by selling the old one. by upgrading everything is tied together in the liscense. keep an eye on ebay.

Also, you're rarely going to find a great deal from a software company directly. I laughed a bit when NI would bust out their big sales and it would still be more expensive than street price to go direct. That's just how it is.

I too got Komplete 2 in early 2005, and feel the "upgrade now or you're outa luck" a bit aggressive.I've been putting off getting into the new world of Macs. My g5 still runs plenty fine, and i make my living off of Adobe CS2. it'd be quite an investment to upgrade.

such is life.

 

I believe that NI needs its support, I am a komplete 1 owner, and I also found that the upgrade price between 1 and 2 and 3 to be exorbitant. But being that it is so many programs I am somewhat understanding, what i don't like is their practice of enticing upgraders to upgrade cheaply for kontakt 2, and then they upgrade to 3 right after and charge 1 and 2 owners the same price. What a cheap ass company! You should reward the ppl that have been with you guys from the beginning, the best example I can give is Ableton Live. 1-5 upgrade to 7 is the same price. I know its one program, but at least you give the people who started with you some credit for giving it a try and supporting the program.