GRAPHISOFT screwed us again. This licensing nonsense is an absolute train wreck.

[Space_Agency]

So today I go in to change the representation of an existing run of ductwork in a project we created in V28. But nope cannot edit it. And it dawns on me that we recently changed our license to Archicad "Studio". So now ALL of our previously created duct routes, any objects that are classified as MEP elements in our embedded libraries are now also completely un-editable. I can't move it to another layer. I can't link it to another design option. I can't change the 2d or 3d representation. Nothing. It is essentially frozen and completely uneditable. So I go to change our license. And of course Graphisoft has made it so that the license we just paid for a few days a go in no way is credited to an upgrade to a "Collaborate" option. So we have just wasted more money now by having to essentially pay for both license types. What a complete RIP OFF. The practices of this company have moved from making software 'for architects by architects', to just simple greed. It's one thing to degrade the license and take away the tools, It's another to basically freeze everything that you've already created with a tool that was paid for and then now have to pay for an additional license just to unfreeze it. Why? Money is more important than keeping your user base is the only thing I can surmise. 

[Lingwisyer]

It is more that they reverted to their previous position. You originally needed a seperate licence to use MEP, but for AC28 you did not, which was a nice direction. Come AC29 and they turned around and said nope...

Ling.

[mthd]

We all paid for the MEP modeler in the AC24 upgrade and it should not have been removed from the AC full future versions at all. That is because it was part of the AC24 upgrade, isn’t it ironic that we also now pay for downgrades too ??? 

Archicad Studio Subscription is a different agreement and doesn’t include MEP as we all should know by now. We should be aware that if we want and need MEP we need to take out a Collaborate Subscription. 

The buck stops for me when our perpetual licenses are no longer upgradable. I’ve have said all along that they should keep upgrading perpetual licenses that are active. If anyone new wants to use GS products then just get a subscription. Us old users do not want our perpetual licenses to be held back to later versions.

Hopefully something will change for the good in the future !

[Lingwisyer]

Oh, was it AC24 when it got integrated. I have not used it so only noticed in AC28. Was that when the botched overhaul happened?

[mthd]

@Lingwisyer, Please see here for a list of features introduced into Archicad versions. 

https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Getting-started/Archicad-versions/ta-p/304207

[Lingwisyer]

Ah, the botched overhaul was AC27. Probably why I only noticed it being integrated after that...

[mthd]

I personally haven’t used the MEP modeling feature myself but for those that did, we could understand why they would be annoyed by it being removed. Particularly if they used it to model visible MEP.

Like many I leave the complicated MEP engineering to those that specialize in it. To what I understand, DDS CAD would be a better solution for engineering water-flow velocities and the like. It really is not that big of deal for GS to actually leave it out of Archicad Full. It would have made more sense to keep it in and not to remove it all, even for studio.

Nothing better than keeping your longtime customers happy because they will keep paying the fees if they are content.

[Lingwisyer]

Maybe the reverting is related to the latest MEP overhaul.

[mthd]

I haven’t noticed if the overhaul version of MEP is suitable for engineering calculations ? 

[Jahon]

If we cancel our subscription, Graphisoft locks the software completely, holding our own project archives hostage. This is an unacceptable breach of professional independence. (see my post)

3-Year Studio Contract Downgraded: MEP Tool Blocked to Force Cloud Migration (EU Data Act Breach?)