Capture One shutting down user forums

[doobs]

Wow,

 

[rayvonn]

Was it toxic?

 

[arkitect]

Good grief.
That's quite… major.

I cannot think of any major software — especially graphics — without a Forum of some sort.

I wanted what prompted this?

 

[doobs]

Good grief.
That's quite… major.

I cannot think of any major software — especially graphics — without a Forum of some sort.

I wanted what prompted this?

Well,

This is the second time they have done something like this.

About 5 years ago, when they spun off from the camera division, they deleted literally years of content on the old PhaseOne forum with no notice whatsoever.

And C1 never participated in the forums, which I never understood. To get any help from them, you have to file a support ticket. Even though you might be having the same issue as many other users, which could readily be addressed in a forum.

Not a huge surprise. C1 has very little respect for their non-professional customers.

cheers,

 

[doobs]

Was it toxic?

Not really.

Truth be told, usage had really dropped off as of late.

I genuinely wonder if their customer base is dwindling....

 

[griffljg]

I wonder whether their fiddling around with licencing models combined with their high prices might have something to do with it. I really like their software and have been using it for many years, but the expense of the subscription or the alternative perpetual licence has me looking for alternatives. Adobe isn't viable as I want the ability to hop off the subscription merry-go-round if I choose. I suspect that a lot of their users feel the same way.

 

[doobs]

I wonder whether their fiddling around with licencing models combined with their high prices might have something to do with it. I really like their software and have been using it for many years, but the expense of the subscription or the alternative perpetual licence has me looking for alternatives. Adobe isn't viable as I want the ability to hop off the subscription merry-go-round if I choose. I suspect that a lot of their users feel the same way.

I've got a license for C1 v15.4.

There isn't much chance I'll upgrade C1, unless they well and fully fix cataloging. It's been broken since the iView days. Microsoft wasn't interested in fixing it.

I would pay for that and have told them as much.

cheers.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I like Capture One pro for its work with Fuji recipes, and I have an older perpetual license. It is amazing how much they ask for their software considering alternatives are much cheaper. I guess the forums weren’t worth keeping going, which is surprising since that’s where you get your most passionate users carrying water for your product and giving up free support.

 

[Pauhana]

moved away from Capture One when my subscription ran out in Nov 24.. The last few years have been frustrating, to me anyway, in several areas.. Great software but feel they lost touch with customer base. Now just DXO photolab and NIK.

 

[Glevum Owl]

I sometimes wonder what goes through the heads of those in charge of some companies when it comes to support.

ACDSee push hard for using some weird software to access user forums and ON1 have theirs behind a paywall. Adobe all too often doesn't listen to users' comments anywhere.

Serif (Affinity software house) changed their original forums forcing everyone to more or less start again on a new platform. They left it unmoderated. Consequently it became, at times, a quite unfriendly place. It's certainly the only forum in which I've been stalked and my posts targeted by those attempting to get a reaction. So I left and was certainly less inclined to go with anything they released from that point on.

I, and I suspect a lot of others here, see the benefits of building a relationship with users in a managed area. It pays off in the long run by cultivating loyalty from the user base and instilling confidence in the product. Maybe the problem is that phrase "in the long run". Too much emphasis on short term profits? Social media does the job for less?

Alternatively, pressures of a tough, shrinking market maybe? Or simply costs: server, forum and person or two to run & respond to things?

 

[arkitect]

I think a Forum is incredibly useful for a software company.

As @Darmok N Jalad points out that is "where you get your most passionate users carrying water for your product and giving up free support."

They are doing themselves a disservice. A toxic environment is due to slack Moderation that allows it to fester.

I sometimes wonder what goes through the heads of those in charge of some companies when it comes to support.

I, and I suspect a lot of others here, see the benefits of building a relationship with users in a managed area. It pays off in the long run by cultivating loyalty from the user base and instilling confidence in the product. Maybe the problem is that phrase "in the long run". Too much emphasis on short term profits? Social media does the job for less?

100% agree.

 

[doobs]

Unfortunately, the abandonment/transition of user forums is getting commonplace.

I've been a SolidWorks (a 3D CAD system) user since literally day one back in '96.

About 5 years ago, the suits (as I like to call them) at Dassault (the parent company) decided to group all their software packages under something called the "3D Experience".

This meant, of course that all the various fori' were bundled together under a new package, that was, to be kind, a disaster.

Some 30 years of user input was tossed to the side likely yesterday's garbage.

The new forums are virtually unusable now.

 

[griffljg]

Capture One have just informed me that their already very expensive subscription will be increasing by 6% on April 3, 2025. This is an additional incentive to look at alternatives.

 

[doobs]

I'm convinced they are trying to rid themselves of their non-commercial customers.

 

[CatsAreGods]

Unfortunately, the abandonment/transition of user forums is getting commonplace.

I've been a SolidWorks (a 3D CAD system) user since literally day one back in '96.

About 5 years ago, the suits (as I like to call them) at Dassault (the parent company) decided to group all their software packages under something called the "3D Experience".

This meant, of course that all the various fori' were bundled together under a new package, that was, to be kind, a disaster.

Some 30 years of user input was tossed to the side likely yesterday's garbage.

The new forums are virtually unusable now.

Ensh*ttification is what this is called now. It's usually caused by private equity firms buying out and stripping a company, but it can also be from greedy management. At all times it's a fault of the Wall Street system and their nonsense about growth and short-term profit being the only measure of success.

 

[Glevum Owl]

Can’t disagree with anything posted thus far.

Too many times in the past, I’ve invested a lot of time, effort and money in products that disappeared, died through lack of development, fell foul of takeovers / greedy price rises / dumb management decisions or any combination of the above.

Here’s a list off the top of my head: SmartSuite, PTGui, DataEase, MindManager, MetaCreations stuff, Macromedia stuff, Vue D’Esprit, SketchUp, MS Expression suite, Apple Aperture and recently Serif Affinity.

I know things don’t last forever but between now and the apocalypse I need to sort and edit my family snaps. So the question is what do we mere customers do in terms of PP software?

I’m using ON1 (for now). I have some issues with my experiences so far but I’m warming to the company. They’re slightly quirky but seem to be trying hard to both serve the customer and obviously be profitable.

Yet there’s this nagging thought that two, three years down the line it will all suddenly change and I’m faced with the challenge of finding an alternative. Again.

 

[John King]

@Glevum Owl Mark, If you can stomach it (I can, easily), Adobe.
Industry standard.not particularly expensive, likely to be around well after I'm dead, or possibly, the apocalypse that mankind appears determined to bring down on ourselves, and everything else!

 

[Kevin]

@Glevum Owl Mark, If you can stomach it (I can, easily), Adobe.
Industry standard.not particularly expensive, likely to be around well after I'm dead, or possibly, the apocalypse that mankind appears determined to bring down on ourselves, and everything else!

The stability of Adobe is the sole reason why I still use their $9.99/mth Photography plan. Every couple of years or so I start looking around at alternatives and after spending a good amount of time with reviewing what titles are still being developed, and which come close to feature parity, and which offer the least painful migration path and.... I end up saying the heck with it. 🏳️

 

[Glevum Owl]

@Glevum Owl Mark, If you can stomach it (I can, easily), Adobe.
Industry standard.not particularly expensive, likely to be around well after I'm dead, or possibly, the apocalypse that mankind appears determined to bring down on ourselves, and everything else!

I’ve just moved from Adobe. 🤣 Too many unfixed bugs and changes to the core engine that rendered (sic) my PP ‘recipes’ invalid. The much discussed events last year were the final straw. That and the fact that ON1 and DxO generally do a better job than LR on my images.

 

[RichardC]

Unfortunately, the abandonment/transition of user forums is getting commonplace.

I've been a SolidWorks (a 3D CAD system) user since literally day one back in '96.

About 5 years ago, the suits (as I like to call them) at Dassault (the parent company) decided to group all their software packages under something called the "3D Experience".

This meant, of course that all the various fori' were bundled together under a new package, that was, to be kind, a disaster.

Some 30 years of user input was tossed to the side likely yesterday's garbage.

The new forums are virtually unusable now.

O/T - but I love SolidWorks!

Never used it, but I once purchased a CD containing their latest software at a 'parcel company lost property' auction for GBP 15.00. Listed it on ebay.co.uk - the advert was taken down within 3 hours.

Then I got a call from Solidworks, then the police, then Solidworks' lawyers. Solidworks in the USA wanted their software back in case it got hacked and distributed. The police were saying it was 'stolen' and were investigating.

Turned out that the guy who had shipped it and failed to insure his $10000 package with multi-seat dongle included, had reported it as pinched in a burglary instead. I always wondered whether or not he got done for fraud. Anyway, I had a receipt and lots of witnesses.

Unfortunately for me, someone had lifted the dongle at the auction viewing, probably thinking it was one of those 'new fangled' USB sticks. To cut a long story short, their lawyers paid me $5000 dollars for it. Not a bad day's work to be fair.