CompuServe Messages

Hi Jonas, PMJI But ! The last time something like this happened ( with ani studio ) you chaps in the USA said something along the lines of " September … Autodesk anounces ani studio …. those people who purchase ani pro between now and shipping of ani studio will be able to upgrade for $150 everyone else who already has ani pro already will have to pay , I think it was $295 " Now I dont want to bitch but that comment was only valid for the US, nothing was mentioned in the original posting about that but when I called Autodesk UK I was told that that was the case and the cheapest I could upgrade would be equivalen to the $295…. So my question is will the rest of the world be able to cross grade at the $495 pre release price or are we gonna get persecuted again ? I like Autodesk products (on the whole) but I'm getting thorougly fed up with the HUGE markup that you guys put on you products when you ship them over here, according to my sources the current price or Acad R13 in the US is $3,750 on CD and $3,995 on disk Whilst 3D Studio R4 sells for $2,995. Over here Acad R13 costs the same on disk or CD at $4,725 whilst 3D Studio sells for $3,975, these are based on $1.5 to 1 pound sterling the ratees are closer to 1.55 to 1 but I'll be nice and allow for currency variations and fluctuations. I accept that there will be a small cost overhead for shipping, and in the case of Acad I believe the European and US versions still differ slightly, but why does 3DS cost nearly 33% more over here ? And why do we never seem to get the upgrade offers that the US gets ? Other software companies, Corel for example convert fairly accurately their US prices to UK prices according to a reasonable exchange rate so why dont Autodesk ? I appreciate that you probably dont have any say in how Autodesk markets its products worldwide, but you probably know someone who does and could pass the message on. Please forgive the ranting and raving but I've had a rough week and I'm just waiting to here you tell me that the UK will have to pay $1500 no other options when MAX eventually ships over here, probably 3 months after the US knowing the usuall waiting time ! David <In a Huf> Orf P.S. Can you find out if there will be any demos of MAX here in the UK and if so where in the next few months ?