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  • How I’m choosing to think about the pricing of the new VI

    I’ve got to get my 2 cents in here concerning the pricing structure for the new VI. It is hard not to notice that owners of previous versions get no discount whatsoever in upgrading to the new standard library of Vienna Instruments. I must say that is something I’ve never seen before when upgrading with other software that I use. But then you do receive a huge price break when you take the next step and purchase the extended version. So I guess everything works out in the end.

    But I must admit I have a hard time getting past the no-break-whatsoever thing on the standard version. After all, I have already spent thousands of dollars to have the Complete Orchestral Package plus some of the Horizon Series at my fingertips. And to go to the Standard Library of Vienna Instruments seems like an “upgrade”. What can I say? I’m used to getting a break. Yes, I admit it. It feels much like a "slap" to me.

    So what am I to do? I’ll tell you what I am doing in my own mind to protect my little brain. I’m just crossing out the standard version and skipping directly to the extended version. And why not? After all, it only costs a small amount more than the standard version if you have some of the older stuff already.

    By doing this, I accomplish three things. First, I eliminate the bad feeling about the no-break-whatsoever thing. Second, I can look at the new VI honesty for what it is: a great new library and yes, quite an expensive one at that (it appears along the magnitude of roughly almost double the cost of the first one) and probably worth every penny. It’s obvious that tons of work and genius went into it’s development. Thirdly, since I’m not focused on the “slap” I can stop and appreciate the great discount I get on the new VI (roughly half in my case). I’ll have to consider what I have now as a down payment on the new VI. (Of course, never mind the fact that I’ve run out of money for now.)

    So, I say again, just cross out “standard library” and avoid the mental turmoil. Works for me. Of course, I might be missing something too so I welcome your further enlightenment.

  • mahag,

    I agree with your assessment of the situation and my initial plan was the same as yours. But I think I have an even better idea - which admittedly involves VSL rethinking their pricing strategy (one can still hope...): Give us Pro Edition users half the discount we would get on the VI Extended version when buying the VI Standard Library (discount = $4560; so Standard discount:$2280); give us the other half of the discount when we upgrade from that to the VI Extended Library.

    This way we could also try out the new VIs with a little less financial pain and see if we really want to spend the extra money for the VI Extended. I bet you, if the VIs are as good as you say they are, anybody who can remotely afford it will eventually want to go Extended after testing Standard.

    apologies if sy already posted this idea - too much stuff to read here ...

    wolf