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feldon34 · 02-11-2003, 09:58 PM

1) When I purchased the full deluxe package, the web site promised free unlimited upgrades of ALL future versions.

The word used, I believe, was "updates". Updates are different from upgrades.

I know this sounds like symantics, but Jim NEVER intended to give away 4 years of development effort for $20. I am sorry, but that it just an unrealistic expectation.

As has been stated in the FAQ, on the SereneScreen website, and here on the forum for the past ~2 years, the Aquarium includes free updates to solve bugs and various improvements. The "special creature" was a Lionfish. And the 3D background, feeding the fish, and tapping on the glass have long been described as part of the free upgrades.

Since at least March of 2001, things like Coral Shrimp, Octopus, Jellyfish, etc. have been described as extras.

Now it seems you are laying the ground work for adding charges by saying things like: "In the future we plan on adding more fish, and some exotic creatures at a slight additional charge" on your FAQ's page

This is nothing new. It has been stated in the FAQ and on the fan site since March 2001 and I believe it was clarified on SereneScreen.com mid-2001.

I am sorry but...if this comes to pass, and you charge registered deluxe users for upgrades, you will join the ranks of many of the other fraudulent web products.

Fraud is a charge Jim and I take very seriously. If you could please provide some documentation that states that every addition to the Aquarium would be included, then we would need to look into that immediately.

The price of the Aquarium has always been $20 (increased to $21.95 1+ year ago) for all future updates (bug fixes) to the Aquarium plus a special creature (the Lionfish) plus the 3D background.

2) The release of versions with earlier promises seem to have all but vanished.

The development of the Aquarium has gone silent, which is completely different than development ending. Far from it. Development on Jim's end of things did slow down for several months over Summer 2002 but Prolific spent that time working on state-of-the-art development tools which we will start to see the first fruits of over the next few months. I know it is frustrating, it was frustrating for me too, but I have seen some behind-the-scenes material and I can say that what they are working on is well worth it!

Different backgrounds, feeding the fish, etc are no longer talked about.

People have always asked for different backgrounds, having judged by looking at other screen savers that dropping in several flat bitmap backgrounds is easy. However SereneScreen Aquarium is headed towards having a fully-realized 3D background. This will take many months to produce. I am sorry if you heard somewhere that there would be a variety of backgrounds.

These are some cool things hoped for when users purchased the original software, including me.

2002 has been all about internal development. It has been painful to see no discernable progress on the Aquarium for 1 year, but after hearing about what's going on behind the scenes, I understand the time delay and think it was totally worth it.

The results of that work will be revealed throughout 2003. I suggest reading the chat logs from December 17th which talk about the progress of the Aquarium.

https://www.feldoncentral.com/Sachs/...sLogDec7R.html

And I hope you will stick around to see the future of the Aquarium. You won't need your checkbook until late 2003 or early 2004.

02-11-2003, 09:58 PM	#3
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	1) When I purchased the full deluxe package, the web site promised free unlimited upgrades of ALL future versions. The word used, I believe, was "updates". Updates are different from upgrades. I know this sounds like symantics, but Jim NEVER intended to give away 4 years of development effort for $20. I am sorry, but that it just an unrealistic expectation. As has been stated in the FAQ, on the SereneScreen website, and here on the forum for the past ~2 years, the Aquarium includes free updates to solve bugs and various improvements. The "special creature" was a Lionfish. And the 3D background, feeding the fish, and tapping on the glass have long been described as part of the free upgrades. Since at least March of 2001, things like Coral Shrimp, Octopus, Jellyfish, etc. have been described as extras. Now it seems you are laying the ground work for adding charges by saying things like: "In the future we plan on adding more fish, and some exotic creatures at a slight additional charge" on your FAQ's page This is nothing new. It has been stated in the FAQ and on the fan site since March 2001 and I believe it was clarified on SereneScreen.com mid-2001. I am sorry but...if this comes to pass, and you charge registered deluxe users for upgrades, you will join the ranks of many of the other fraudulent web products. Fraud is a charge Jim and I take very seriously. If you could please provide some documentation that states that every addition to the Aquarium would be included, then we would need to look into that immediately. The price of the Aquarium has always been $20 (increased to $21.95 1+ year ago) for all future updates (bug fixes) to the Aquarium plus a special creature (the Lionfish) plus the 3D background. 2) The release of versions with earlier promises seem to have all but vanished. The development of the Aquarium has gone silent, which is completely different than development ending. Far from it. Development on Jim's end of things did slow down for several months over Summer 2002 but Prolific spent that time working on state-of-the-art development tools which we will start to see the first fruits of over the next few months. I know it is frustrating, it was frustrating for me too, but I have seen some behind-the-scenes material and I can say that what they are working on is well worth it! Different backgrounds, feeding the fish, etc are no longer talked about. People have always asked for different backgrounds, having judged by looking at other screen savers that dropping in several flat bitmap backgrounds is easy. However SereneScreen Aquarium is headed towards having a fully-realized 3D background. This will take many months to produce. I am sorry if you heard somewhere that there would be a variety of backgrounds. These are some cool things hoped for when users purchased the original software, including me. 2002 has been all about internal development. It has been painful to see no discernable progress on the Aquarium for 1 year, but after hearing about what's going on behind the scenes, I understand the time delay and think it was totally worth it. The results of that work will be revealed throughout 2003. I suggest reading the chat logs from December 17th which talk about the progress of the Aquarium. https://www.feldoncentral.com/Sachs/...sLogDec7R.html And I hope you will stick around to see the future of the Aquarium. You won't need your checkbook until late 2003 or early 2004. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman Last edited by feldon34; 02-11-2003 at 10:23 PM.