Marauder II Brain files?
30 messages in this thread
Does anyone know how to get get the extra brain files for MarauderII I have
sent in my registration card but have not heard about any Program updates. Am I
even talking about the right thing? I read one message that said something
about a readme file on the original disk. but could not find the file described
on my disk.
Any help will be appreciated.
Donnie Dawson
(73655,1002)
Donnie,
Discovery has a BBS for registered users to get upgrades…the number is
(215) 242-2895. It will cost you $15 to get registered…
Ken
What! I payed the friggin' $49 bucks to buy Marauder 1, then I got charged
another $49 to get the upgrade to Marauder II, and now they want me to pay an
additional $15 + call their BBS to get the update?
Now that's a shrewd businessman. Rick Ross, I curse and applaud you at the
same time.
Bri
I only curse him. Just another example of gouging a captive audience for all
they can get.
Bri,
Even a bit worse. The day I bought my Maurader II, it was out of date
by several "Brain files"….but when I asked Discovery about this, they said
I'd still have to pay for the updates…that I had the latest production run as
far as "store bought". I suggested (politely) that they allow 1 upgrade for
free via the BBS or allow 30 or 60 days free upgrades via the BBS and the reply
was, "Gee, that's not a bad idea, we'll think about it."
Don
Don, why don't the users who have brain files upload them on here?
We'll just call them BRAINFONTS <for Larry and Steve 😉 >
Bri
I wish we could, but unfortunately, they are copyrighted and I doubt
that Discovery would allow us to have them here.
Don
Of course they wouldn't. At $15 a shot — would you?
Steve,
It's even worse than that. I called them via phone today…they take
long lunches there, I called at 1:30 their time, was told they just left for
lunch. Called at 2:30 their time–still at lunch, called at 3:30, they were
back…said that I could call the BBS and leave VISA # and would be able to DL
Brain6 file (their latest)…called the BBS and finally got thru using an
autodial that kept up for about 15 minutes.
When I finally got logged on, it not only showed Brain5 as the latest,
but you have to leave the VISA information and call back the NEXT day to get
access to the file for downloading! That's BULL! Assuming you can get thru
the next day (this will be my 5th LD call to them) and only Brain5 is
available, then they lied to me and they better not charge the VISA card unless
I really do download whatever file is there!
This really is a crappy way for them to do business…buy the program,
find it's out of date the day you buy it…and have to pay for the upgrade and
have to pay long distance charges on top of that at least twice to get the
file.
Unfortunately, they are the only ones out with a product as good as
theirs and I guess the old saying of "What the trade will bear" holds true in
their case.
Don
Don,
Don't sweat not being able to get Brain6…it only adds one program (Pro
Midi something or another) to the list of Brain5. Brain5 is worth the money
and the hassle…it will take your current version up to 1.0C.
The only other complaint (in addtion to the rest of yours), is that with all
those $15 fees the least that they could do is buy a &^%$$ 2400 Baud Modem
(cheapskates)!!!!
Ken
Ken,
Thanks for the info…BTW, they probably haven't gone to 2400 for a
couple of reasons…the main one being that their phone lines are rather
noisy….or so I have been told, the time I got thru, I personally didn't have
any trouble with line noise.
Don
Don;
Amazing! To think that I almost bought a Marauder yesterday. My experience with
the Mirror has been very different from what has been reported here about
Marauder. I started out with version 1.1 of the Mirror and have now been
updated three times for $1.00 and the cost of a few stamps. The Mirror doesn't
deprotect disks, at least the versions that I've received so far don't. Having
to send the disk back to Compumed for upgrades is a pain. BUT, you can't beat
the price and, the Mirror has been able to back up everything I own,
evertually. Compumed has been very friendly and responsive.
Drew,
Maurader is a good system, their customer service is a bit lacking for
the new customer. So i guess "youze pays your money and youze takes your
chances".
Don
Hey, I got a copy of Marauder II, called up their BBS, and downloaded a brai
file for free. I then backed up Bard's Tale. I know they say $15 for the
latest, but you CAN download at least one of the old ones without charge. I did
it. I don't really understand the complaints about having to pay for the brain
files, although I do think $15 is very high. You can't really expect them to
give the updates away. Do you get updates for Lattice C free? Or anything
else? A good policy for them would be one free update, then $5 subsequently.
That would seem fair to me, but they may not feel that $5 would make them
enough money. Maybe they're trying to get rich. Vote with your wallet. If
nobody buys the updates they'll lower the price.
The 'brain' files are copyrighted and have not been released for free public
distribution. /ex
Hmmmm…… considering that the list price of Marauder II is $39.95, I'd start
by cursing your dealer for charging you $49.95! As for charging for updates,
don't you think that Central Point does the same thing? Finally, is buying the
update cheaper than sending away for backup disks for each original disk that
you buy? It's not like those updates are trivial things that Rick whips
together in a few minutes. It takes him hours to put those things together, so
why not charge for his services? Unless you want to tackle the copy protection
on each new program as it comes out, and post free updates here…..
Sheldon,
I agree with the philosophy of paying for updates…my only problem
with Discovery is that when you buy the product…it is already out of date and
they ought to at least give you the first update for free. Example, I bought
it and it came with Brain3 on the disk. At that time, Brain4 was the current
version and a week later, Brain5 was the current version.
Either a limited time (say the first 30 days) free update policy or a 1
time free update policy would go a long way towards feeling friendlier towards
them.
I have no problems with charging for further updates…as you say, they
do put time and effort into the updates…and they aren't "bug fixes", they are
real updates.
Don
I've talked to Rick Ross about this, and according to him, the 1st one IS free
(in other words, Discovery WILL update you to the latest version as of the time
you bought the package). Those of you who have bought Marauder II recently,
only to find that you are behind the current version, I would suggest that you
go onto the Discovery BBS and leave a message to the Sysop to that effect. If
this doesn't work, let me know, and I'll ask Rick about it. But they should
validate you once, according to what he told me this week.
Sheldon,
I did exactly that, called up on the phone and asked and was told that
since I had the latest "production" disk…that I had to pay for any new brain
files. I called on Thursday the 19th of this month and spoke with whoever
answered the phone–but they seemed to know what they were talking about. I'll
call again and speak with Rick personally and see what he says.
That would certainly improve their image with me considerably.
Don
p.s. the disk I have came with brain3…at the time, brain4 was current and a
week after I bought the disk, brain5 became current. Now I understand from Joe
there that brain6 is current althou the BBS doesn't show it being available.
OK Sheldon, but I paid over $50 Canadian. But when I pay the same price for
the f&#X%# update as I paid for the Original, after being told it would only
cost $15, I get pi**ed off!
If it were up to me, I would not protect just to put Rick out of business after
treating customers like that.
And then he sells things like Grabbit and his Genie, things that are available
in the PD .
Bri
Grabbit is most certainly not available in the PD. If you mean that similar
programs are available, then you really should say so. To specifically mention
commercial products as being "in the public domain" to a wide audience can only
do damage.
I do agree that Discovery is doing their updates in a manner that makes great
economic sense to them, but certainly not to those that purchased the product.
Oh well, people will buy the updates, and they will end up paying a lot of
bucks for the product in the long run, and Rick will gladly rake it all in, and
that's the nature of the business. The answer of course is not to buy from
companies like that.
Regards, Larry.
Brian;
I can't really argue with what you have said, but keep in mind that
Grabbit when it was released, there were no other public domain programs like
it, should Rick then take it off the market? People who bought Grabbit, get
assistance from Discovery, how does one get that from Public Domain software?
As far as charging for upgrades, I agree with Rick Rae that the first upgrade
should be free then people should pay for future upgrades. There really isn't
any other program or system (BBS) like that currently available for the Amiga.
You say that you would like to him out of business by releasing your software
without copy protection, that is your choice and it certainly will not put
Discovery in chapter 11. Why don't you make a better copy program with
frequent free updates or equal service, that is what a free enterprise system
is all about, and competition is good!
Ken
I guess what I was trying to say above was, you got to decide who is the bigger
pig, the copy-protector, or the copy de-protector, and decide for yourself who
you are or aren't going to deal with. As for Grabbit being in the PD, it's
true that there are several programs that do the same thing, but none that I've
seen do it as slickly. Some people could reasonably decide that the hot keys,
and the screen buffering that lets you go off and do something else (or, more
importantly
STOP the picture in the middle), are worth paying for. As for Key Genie
(which isn't out yet), I don't know of ANY PD key macro programs. If you do,
please let me know, or better yet, upload them here.
Sheldon, I use key macro programs all the time, but they are not PD yet (Will
be released with History also – when we get time to get it finalized, but I
thought a commercial WP is more important than a PD program)
Bri
But are there any currently in the PD?
I'm looking forward to seeing it. I seem to recall somebody mentioning Harry
Evangelou from ASD doing one also.
Donnie; They are ( as of today) up to Brain file #6.
There are two ways: 1: Call their BBS (the number is in the help section). 2:
Call them by phone (The number is in the manual). As far as I know they won't
notify you. You just have to check with them. Best, Jason