Upgrading to Version 3?

Dreamster · 10-11-2008, 05:08 PM

I bought Marine Aquarium Ver 2.5 that came with a free upgrade to version 2.6 which I currently have running and which allows me to run Ver 3 Beta without entering a KeyCode. I was wondering what is involved for me to be able to move to Ver 3 without spending lots more money. Thanks for any info.

P.S. Beta 3 is running great on my system.

Jav400 · 10-11-2008, 05:12 PM

How do I purchase Marine Aquarium 3?
Marine Aquarium 3 Beta will accept Marine Aquarium 2.6 keycodes.
Marine Aquarium 3 Final is free to recent purchasers of Marine Aquarium 2.6.
Purchasers of Marine Aquarium 1, 2, or 2.6 before a certain date will be able to purchase an upgrade to Marine Aquarium 3 for a price which has yet to be determined.

Tiny Turtle · 10-11-2008, 05:59 PM

And the upgrade won't cost "lots more money".

pvernam · 10-13-2008, 10:02 AM

Originally posted by Jav400:

How do I purchase Marine Aquarium 3?
Marine Aquarium 3 Beta will accept Marine Aquarium 2.6 keycodes.
Marine Aquarium 3 Final is free to recent purchasers of Marine Aquarium 2.6.
Purchasers of Marine Aquarium 1, 2, or 2.6 before a certain date will be able to purchase an upgrade to Marine Aquarium 3 for a price which has yet to be determined.

I've been a fan of Marine Aquarium for many years (I still have the original Aquarium 1.0 CD), but I never upgraded to version 2.6 because I didn't think it offered aything that I really needed (two new fish and a clock I didn't care for). I did the upgrade yesterday so I wouldn't have to enter TESTFISH to run MA3, and because MA3 will be free "to recent purchasers of Marine Aquarium 2.6". But it doesn't seem fair that early adopters of MA2.6 will have to pay an additional upgrade fee, while laggards like myself will not.

Jim Sachs · 10-13-2008, 10:30 AM

I'll do everything I can to be fair, but if I give it away to everyone it makes me wonder why I spent 6 years working on it.

Dreamster · 10-13-2008, 12:19 PM

I am still not clear on the upgrade policy. Is the free upgrade to Ver 3 for those who buy Ver 2.6 or those who also upgrade to ver 2.6? I purchased the aquarium awhile back in the store and it came on a CD ( Version 2.5 and it came with a free upgrade to 2.6). If I pay and upgrade to ver 2.6 does this entitle me to free Ver 3 key or do I have to purchase Ver 2.6 (not the upgrade to 2.6). If the upgrade to 2.6 gets the Ver 3 key then I will head on over Serene Screen and upgrade to 2.6.

pvernam · 10-13-2008, 12:25 PM

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

I'll do everything I can to be fair, but if I give it away to everyone it makes me wonder why I spent 6 years working on it.

That's not what I was suggesting at all! The only fair thing would seem to be to remove that bit about making MA3 final free to recent purchasers of MA2.6. Otherwise you're penalizing the early upgraders, who are perhaps your best customers. You could allow the MA3 betas to work with an MA2.6 key (so we don't have to enter TESTFISH to run them), but require a new key for MA3 final, for which everyone pays. (It's not like you're charging huge sums for this (really fantastic) program, in any case.) I know I'm arguing that I should have to pay again, but I think I'd be a bit miffed if (as a loyal customer) I had upgraded to MA2.6 when it first came out and then had to pay again for MA3, while someone (like me) who upgraded to MA2.6 only yesterday did not.

But how you choose to deal with this is, of course, your call.

Jim Sachs · 10-13-2008, 01:00 PM

Dreamster - A permanent MA3 Key is free to anyone who currently pays full price for MA2.6. This is in a effort to get sales going. Realizing that someone who bought v2.6 just a couple of days ago might feel cheated, we've decided to make this deal retroactive for, say, the past 30 days. Owners of older v2.6 Keys would ahve to pay an upgrade charge of $9.95. Regarding truly old-time customers, we've always been pretty generous to them, on a case-by-case basis. The Beta test versions should recognize ALL v2.6 Keys, but will expire after 7 days.

pvernam - One way of looking at it is that if they had bought v2.6 5 years ago, they got 5 years of enjoyment, and now would need to pay to upgrade to the new version. If they just bought v2.6 yesterday, they might be upset that they could have gotten v3 for the same price if they just waited one more day.

It's amazing how upset people get over these issues. You wouldn't believe the names I get called in emails. Even at full price, this is a $20 item. Last night I spent twice that on pizza, which is only a distant memory now. (And the pizza place charged me full price, even though I already bought pizza from them last week. Shouldn't this week's upgrade have been free?)

In the world of software, MA is the all-time bang-for-the-buck champion. Never in history have as many people impressed their friends with any other $20 program. Just as a comparison, I spent $2500 on Lightwave (the program I use to create the 3D objects in the Aquarium). Then there were several upgrades to Lightwave, at about $600 each.

pvernam · 10-13-2008, 01:45 PM

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

One way of looking at it is that if they had bought v2.6 5 years ago, they got 5 years of enjoyment, and now would need to pay to upgrade to the new version. If they just bought v2.6 yesterday, they might be upset that they could have gotten v3 for the same price if they just waited one more day.

That's cool. (I hope you realize I was not complaining, only expecting that others might.)

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

Never in history have as many people impressed their friends with any other $20 program.

True enough! I've had guests not believe what they were seeing (on a 50" DLP HDTV) was not an actual aquarium, until I had them go look around the back. I'd willingly pay $20 for the upgrade (especially if my multi-monitor (or whatever) issue can be resolved -- see my entries in the (misnamed) "apparent conflict with Display Fusion" thread).

loub516 · 10-13-2008, 03:36 PM

I qualify for the upgrade when it comes out but I'm going to pay full price for it anyway. It's worth it!

10-11-2008, 05:08 PM	#1
Dreamster Banned Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 27	Upgrading to Version 3? I bought Marine Aquarium Ver 2.5 that came with a free upgrade to version 2.6 which I currently have running and which allows me to run Ver 3 Beta without entering a KeyCode. I was wondering what is involved for me to be able to move to Ver 3 without spending lots more money. Thanks for any info. P.S. Beta 3 is running great on my system.

10-11-2008, 05:12 PM	#2
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	How do I purchase Marine Aquarium 3? Marine Aquarium 3 Beta will accept Marine Aquarium 2.6 keycodes. Marine Aquarium 3 Final is free to recent purchasers of Marine Aquarium 2.6. Purchasers of Marine Aquarium 1, 2, or 2.6 before a certain date will be able to purchase an upgrade to Marine Aquarium 3 for a price which has yet to be determined. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

10-11-2008, 05:59 PM	#3
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	And the upgrade won't cost "lots more money". Thanks to Morgan, Tiny Snapshots is up and running again with "Tiny Järvafält" as the latest addition – Go have a look and tell me what you think. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." /Robert Oppenheimer on witnessing the first thermonuclear detonation in history.

10-13-2008, 10:30 AM	#5
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,788	I'll do everything I can to be fair, but if I give it away to everyone it makes me wonder why I spent 6 years working on it. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

10-13-2008, 01:00 PM	#8
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,788	Dreamster - A permanent MA3 Key is free to anyone who currently pays full price for MA2.6. This is in a effort to get sales going. Realizing that someone who bought v2.6 just a couple of days ago might feel cheated, we've decided to make this deal retroactive for, say, the past 30 days. Owners of older v2.6 Keys would ahve to pay an upgrade charge of $9.95. Regarding truly old-time customers, we've always been pretty generous to them, on a case-by-case basis. The Beta test versions should recognize ALL v2.6 Keys, but will expire after 7 days. pvernam - One way of looking at it is that if they had bought v2.6 5 years ago, they got 5 years of enjoyment, and now would need to pay to upgrade to the new version. If they just bought v2.6 yesterday, they might be upset that they could have gotten v3 for the same price if they just waited one more day. It's amazing how upset people get over these issues. You wouldn't believe the names I get called in emails. Even at full price, this is a $20 item. Last night I spent twice that on pizza, which is only a distant memory now. (And the pizza place charged me full price, even though I already bought pizza from them last week. Shouldn't this week's upgrade have been free?) In the world of software, MA is the all-time bang-for-the-buck champion. Never in history have as many people impressed their friends with any other $20 program. Just as a comparison, I spent $2500 on Lightwave (the program I use to create the 3D objects in the Aquarium). Then there were several upgrades to Lightwave, at about $600 each. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

10-13-2008, 10:02 AM	#4
pvernam wobbegong Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Nahant, MA Posts: 37	Originally posted by Jav400: How do I purchase Marine Aquarium 3? Marine Aquarium 3 Beta will accept Marine Aquarium 2.6 keycodes. Marine Aquarium 3 Final is free to recent purchasers of Marine Aquarium 2.6. Purchasers of Marine Aquarium 1, 2, or 2.6 before a certain date will be able to purchase an upgrade to Marine Aquarium 3 for a price which has yet to be determined. I've been a fan of Marine Aquarium for many years (I still have the original Aquarium 1.0 CD), but I never upgraded to version 2.6 because I didn't think it offered aything that I really needed (two new fish and a clock I didn't care for). I did the upgrade yesterday so I wouldn't have to enter TESTFISH to run MA3, and because MA3 will be free "to recent purchasers of Marine Aquarium 2.6". But it doesn't seem fair that early adopters of MA2.6 will have to pay an additional upgrade fee, while laggards like myself will not.

10-13-2008, 12:19 PM	#6
Dreamster Banned Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 27	I am still not clear on the upgrade policy. Is the free upgrade to Ver 3 for those who buy Ver 2.6 or those who also upgrade to ver 2.6? I purchased the aquarium awhile back in the store and it came on a CD ( Version 2.5 and it came with a free upgrade to 2.6). If I pay and upgrade to ver 2.6 does this entitle me to free Ver 3 key or do I have to purchase Ver 2.6 (not the upgrade to 2.6). If the upgrade to 2.6 gets the Ver 3 key then I will head on over Serene Screen and upgrade to 2.6.

10-13-2008, 12:25 PM	#7
pvernam wobbegong Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Nahant, MA Posts: 37	Originally posted by Jim Sachs: I'll do everything I can to be fair, but if I give it away to everyone it makes me wonder why I spent 6 years working on it. That's not what I was suggesting at all! The only fair thing would seem to be to remove that bit about making MA3 final free to recent purchasers of MA2.6. Otherwise you're penalizing the early upgraders, who are perhaps your best customers. You could allow the MA3 betas to work with an MA2.6 key (so we don't have to enter TESTFISH to run them), but require a new key for MA3 final, for which everyone pays. (It's not like you're charging huge sums for this (really fantastic) program, in any case.) I know I'm arguing that I should have to pay again, but I think I'd be a bit miffed if (as a loyal customer) I had upgraded to MA2.6 when it first came out and then had to pay again for MA3, while someone (like me) who upgraded to MA2.6 only yesterday did not. But how you choose to deal with this is, of course, your call.

10-13-2008, 01:45 PM	#9
pvernam wobbegong Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Nahant, MA Posts: 37	Originally posted by Jim Sachs: One way of looking at it is that if they had bought v2.6 5 years ago, they got 5 years of enjoyment, and now would need to pay to upgrade to the new version. If they just bought v2.6 yesterday, they might be upset that they could have gotten v3 for the same price if they just waited one more day. That's cool. (I hope you realize I was not complaining, only expecting that others might.) Originally posted by Jim Sachs: Never in history have as many people impressed their friends with any other $20 program. True enough! I've had guests not believe what they were seeing (on a 50" DLP HDTV) was not an actual aquarium, until I had them go look around the back. I'd willingly pay $20 for the upgrade (especially if my multi-monitor (or whatever) issue can be resolved -- see my entries in the (misnamed) "apparent conflict with Display Fusion" thread).

10-13-2008, 03:36 PM	#10
loub516 Registered Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Savannah, Ga. Posts: 421	I qualify for the upgrade when it comes out but I'm going to pay full price for it anyway. It's worth it! LB