Hi Kmetal,
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Besides the fact that your existing setup will keep on working just like it is, license management is much more convenient with iLok, which will also allow us a few options in the future (give it just a little time to see what we have in store).
Not HAVING to use a physical key is a huge game changer for many musicians out there! So the iLok cloud, while it is not the perfect solution for everybody, is quite a change there.
Learn more about your advantages with iLok right here.
I'd like to fact-check a few of your statements:
1) "So far I'm looking at $600 for 6x new iloks"
Last time I checked the price was around $50 for an iLok key.
2) "And to salt the wound, the Vi Pro Player I paid hundreds of dollars to buy and upgrade, is now free."
This move makes many users happy and it was high on time to catch up there. No intention to cause any pain. You paid around $115 for 3 licenses in 2017 (€108), I checked.
3) "And my MIR Pro and 6 Room packs won't work with iLok yet."
That must be a misunderstanding. The situation with MIR Pro is special, but MIR Pro and all RoomPacks work just fine in VE Pro 7. I'm explaining this special situation here.
4) "VEP 6 was out for about a year or so before 7 was released, that's really pushing the noting of "legacy"".
I'll have to correct that as well... VE Pro 6 was introduced in August 2016 and we have pushed development with VE Pro 7 immensely in the coming years until we were ready to introduce VE Pro 7 with a single license concept in May 2019.
Best,
Paul
Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL