The core of my reply to the email advising me of the impending end of SSA contracts:
Having been busy last year when it was time to renew my SSA subscription, I glossed over the impending transition to an enforced subscription model at much higher pricing.
What I have read & learnt today from the Graphisoft website and the ArchiCAD forum is most displeasing, and I perceive this enforced change - especially with certain conditions - as an ill considered insult to long-time ArchiCAD users.
I shudder to think how much I have spent with Graphisoft since my first purchase of ArchiCAD 4. To recap, after purchasing the perpetual license with subsequent releases and supporting and advocating for ArchiCAD for 20 years, my SSA subscription was at a fair & reasonable £605 in 2021. Only 4 years later it has climbed steeply to £930. If I understand correctly, the enforced change to subscription equates to me having to pay for the transition (£300) to an annual cost of £2,256 to retain equivalent functionality. Hence, I am being forced to pay for the privilege of an increase of 372% in only 5 years against an annual inflation rate in the EU of 2-3% (2-3% other than 2022 with Covid. Even with Covid the average annual rate of inflation is 4.5%).
And, this is on top of having to subscribe to various add-ons to compensate ArchiCAD’s weaknesses in key BIM areas (point cloud import & manipulation, terrain modelling, coverings, cabinets, energy performance analysis & regulatory compliance, etc.). I have looked at the ArchiCAD roadmap: To describe it as ‘uninspiring’ would be an understatement. There is absolutely nothing in the roadmap that would justify paying, for example, £6,768 over 3 years for a Collaborate subscription.
To add insult to injury, the terms of the transition impose surrendering our perpetual licenses, currently AC28 for me, for a perpetual AC25 license and the honour of having Graphisoft reserve the right to revoke the current license at their discretion. Presumably, one (inadvertently) missed monthly payment and my business is immediately crippled.
I also question the legality of the EULA giving Graphisoft or their agents the authority to invade our premises, search our equipment & records, and determine punitive financial sanctions without a search warrant. I would not be surprised, in the current context, to find further abuses in the EULA terms & conditions.
The accountants at Graphisoft / Nemetschek may be celebrating Victory Day, but it is not a glorious day for me and, I imagine, many veteran ArchiCAD users.
AC28. Twinmotion.
16" M1 Max MacBook Pro 32GB, Apple Studio Display, MacOS 15 Sequoia
