Expensive $100 + BETA -

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Reedswood

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Hi

I must say that I wish the devs well here on this new platform, but PLEASE don't make the same greedy messed-up mistake as vB/IB has done, as I've just seen that you're releasing your BETA release shortly, and the price is as expensive as vBulletin, and it's not even GOLD!

You must make it more affordable to the masses otherwise you too won't attract many clients! It's the price that get's considered first, then it's the product. I have every reason to believe that it will be a super platform in time, but don't go asking the earth until you really do get established!
 
DontFeedTheTroll.jpg
 
I got to this thread late so most of what I have to say is repitiion.
  • If it doesn't fit your needs don't buy it
  • Have someone custom build software like XenForo and see how much that would cost you :)
I honestly was expecting it to be more but when they released the price it was a PLEASANT surprise.
 
XF is priced at the sweet spot imo.
Saying that... its pretty sickening to watch people jump down a guys throat because he thinks its expensive. And ive only read the first page of this thread.

Not all of us come from first world countries.
For a lot of people buying XF = a weeks wages.
So lets remember that.
I understand putting yourself in the shoes of the developers and their issues, but it shouldnt come at the expense of your fellow consumers.
There is no need to attack the guy, showing him the differences between prices of competitors should be enough.
And maybe giving him examples of quality affordable or free options would be nice too.
Even some of us in "first world countries" are on fixed incomes. 
 
Some of us have been pointing him to free solutions. That is exactly where I started when I first started up, with phpbb. If I were starting out today and knew what was out there, I wouldn't start with it most likely but I would start with a free option.

But even now, I had to check with my finance officer before I could decide to purchase even ONE copy as as much as I would love more than one, it's just not gonna happen. I simply can not afford more than one copy at this point in time. Yes, I know that later on, it will cost me $40 more to get a second copy but that is the price I pay for waiting. But I am realistic as well. My budget can't handle a second copy.  

But I am smart enough to know I want to get in on the ground floor of this software. I haven't been this excited about a new forum software in 3 years.  
 
I have tried at four or five free forum packages. None were acceptable - all of them had a poor end user experience, were buggy, performed poorly and/or were too difficult to implement and administer. So I will pass on any of the free products myself.

XF looks to me like it will be a steal at $140 per copy + $40 per year maintenance. But not because of the price. It's because the product looks to be well thought out, stable and provide a great user experience. I'm also impressed by the level of involvement on this forum by the product's owners/developers - in my book that goes a long way in providing confidence that the product will be well supported down the road.

To the OP I would say this: Value depends on one's priorities. No one is holding a gun to your head. If you don't find the product to be worth the $$ to you then that's your business, and best of luck to you in finding a product that does.
 
...

And now there's XenForo. It's like a hybrid of everything I've ever needed and wanted, no more, no less. Not too overly feature rich, just right, with only the essentials. What a real forum software should be like and LOOK like. So now I'm done searching, and it ends with XF.

....
I bolded that part because i keep saying that this should be the XF theme song.
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The argument that vB/IPB have more features/more addons is way over used.

Yes, they might have a plethora of features and addons currently not supported by XF (Once they have forums stable, you sure as hell know they won't leave it that way), but can you honestly say they're done well?

Most of the vB features are bloated crap, who don't integrate well, and go massively underused unless you put effort into making members aware, and even then they must fit your niche.

For IPB, -many- people cannot stand the feel of using the system. It might not be all that bloated (It surely is however), but it sure as hell feels that way. Unless I am forced to, I usually will not browse a IPB 3.x forum, all because of the feel of browsing it.

And saying that XF isn't worth $140, when it is already ahead of other forum systems with the advanced approach it takes to many features (Spam management, reports, style system), when vBulletin charges $195 for -forum only-, and IPB charges slightly more for just the forum, with a few more features, but certainly not enough to make the cost justifiable.

Look at the sheer usage of features on XenForo, and as this forum is currently made up almost entirely of administrators (Who in my opinion will most often -not- utilize things like Profile Comments), shows you how well things have been thought out to keep people active. No other forum can claim that, as most of them have not thought out every little nuance of the system for the benefit of their customers.

Quite honestly, if you think the price is to much -currently-, then think of it as an investment for the future. Blogs, CMS, Gallery, and all the other things that other systems have are likely to make their way into XF, and at that time, chances are that they'll be done in way that completely eclipses other systems further. 
 
I haven't heard that song in a long time! Thanks for posting it, although the video is a bit creepy and weird.
^
And no offense, but the guy in the crown reminds me of Kier, and the other four guys are the other developers before they started working on XF. Don't ask why, it just does...lol.

Anyways, the people have spoken, and statistically speaking (33: 3), majority of them think the pricing is A-OK.
 
I've probably got more of a vested interest in this than most, since my company (Dragonbyte Tech) will be producing mods for XF, so it's strongly in our interest that it sells well etc.

Gotta say, I think the pricing is absolutely fine, don't have a single concern about it either.

Something to bear in mind, that i'm not sure has been mentioned yet, is the pricing not only has to be competitive, reflect quality of the product etc, but it also has to take into account support considerations.

While i'm sure it could be priced at 20 dollars and sell 5 times more copies, the issue you have then is that the time of the developers is taken up with the increased front line support issues, which means less updates etc.

It's something not many people pause to consider, but it's actually a huge issue when it comes to developing products - sometimes things have to be priced up because going for higher volume is actually a bad idea in the long run. It's important to have a sustainable product, which means pricing it at the sweet spot where it's not too expensive for the customers, but also that it's not so cheap that you end up flooded.

I've heard a number of people talk about this kind of thing and tend to hear things like "But if you made it 33% cheaper, you would sell twice as many!" - While that seems like a good thing from a purely financial standpoint, the truth is that it could actually be quite detrimental =P

Of course i don't know if this was a consideration for Kier and Mike when coming up with the pricing strategy, but it would surprise me if it wasn't.

Apologies for my somewhat haphazard writing style, hopefully the point still got across ^.^

Iain
 
If I were a level-headed, unbiased future forum owner, and I sat what is currently XF next to what is currently IPB, IPB wins, that's all I'm saying...

IPB's forum only package next to XenForo...... you say IPB wins yet you are unable to say what these 'looottt more features' as you put it are. I don't go in for 'just because I said so' ... elaborate so I can compare features please.
 
It's the price that get's considered first, then it's the product.
You shop the complete opposite as I do. The first think I do when considering a purchase is to see what is available and what meets my needs. Price is secondary. After I find a few that meets my criteria, the time comes for negotiation between features and price. Only then is the decision made.

If you are purchasing anything based on price before looking at the actual product, perhaps you don't need it that bad or care about the quality or longevity of the item you are purchasing.
 
IPB's forum only package next to XenForo...... you say IPB wins yet you are unable to say what these 'looottt more features' as you put it are. I don't go in for 'just because I said so' ... elaborate so I can compare features please.

I'm not unable to explain the difference, I just don't want to :) I'm not here to sell IPB (or XF) licenses, and frankly, it would take a very long time to sit down and create a list of differences between the two...so instead, I'm just stating the fact/opinion that IPB has more functionality than XF.

I've been in the forum industry for a very long time (10+ years). I've used IPB since the 1.3 days. I founded the second largest forum for forum owners. I now own one of the largest providers of vBulletin skins. I don't have any allegiances towards any particular software, but I'm just stating what I do know...and I don't say all of that to boast, but just to show that there is some merit behind my statement that IPB has more features than XF.

A lot of the people here, probably the majority, are past or present vB owners, and they are fed up with vB...rightfully so. A lot of those people are under the impression that vB is the only thing out there though and that XF is the only other option...That's just not the case, though, and I recommend that everybody here do their due diligence and research all alternatives (IPB included) before making quick decisions. Some will find XF the best option, some will find IPB the best option, and some will find vB the best option - although I'm not sure why, LOL
 
The price could have been much higher, when you think about the time put into and the effort made by the XenForo staff into creating this excellent modern forum software.
 
Will get 1 license on the $100 bucks day, if I like what I see I may get more in the future. Not even sure what the ACP looks like. And already paid my fair share of software that I don't use, driven by hype.
 
And some have been online since 82. :)

Man that reminds me of the "Tenner a month" area on CIX which was the precursor to Demon Internet in the UK (one of the first ISPs to be created). CIX and Compuserve were my passion back then.

As I have already mentioned earlier, price is irrelevant. If you want something of high quality you pay the price attached to it. I only ever buy high quality. Xenforum will be one of those purchases.
 
Will get 1 license on the $100 bucks day, if I like what I see I may get more in the future. Not even sure what the ACP looks like. And already paid my fair share of software that I don't use, driven by hype.
You can get an idea of the ACP from HYS threads, and from what I've seen, I'd switch just for that :p
 
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