I have a current Elements subscription due to expire at the end of this month. The renewal is US$699 but thanks to movements in the US:NZ $ exchange rate since I bought my initial purchase this renewal is going to cost me as much as, if not a little more than, that initial license purchase and it puts me in something of a quandry.
Although I have numerous projects in mind to which I wish to put Elements to use, I have so many other things on my plate that I am not certain that they will happen this year. Some of them have been on my TO DO list for 2 years already! (Yeah, procrastination is one of my top skills) Not to mention numerous other demands on the domestic budget (currently my Elements projects do not pay for themselves and are not related to my day job so must count as a hobby).
It is difficult to justify a NZ$1,000+ outlay in that context, at least at this point. Except that I will say that I am a big supporter of the Elements approach and technology and wish to continue supporting RemObjects. But it is a particularly difficult proposition this year thanks to that pesky FOREX movement (which I appreciate is well beyond RemObjects control).
So 3 questions:
Q1. Although my subscription is for Elements, I only ever actually use Oxygene. I signed up for Elements partly to give myself options but also and primarily to support RemObjects. But in current circumstances, is it possible to switch my Elements subscription to Oxygene only ? This isn’t an option for me on my renewals page in the customer portal.
I can see that if I simply let my Elements subscription lapse I can take up an Oxygene only subscription for the same price as an Oxygene only renewal (shurely shom mishtake?) but I still want to support RO when I can. So in the future I would like to be able to switch back to Elements once either FOREX movements made it viable and/or my projects actually getting done (!!) and actually pay for themselves, even if only partly.
Is that sort of flexibility going to be possible in either of the above scenarios ?
Q2. Am I right in thinking that I can continue to use my Elements products after my subscription has expired ? I simply lose access to the new releases. What about the forums etc ? Is my access to those tied to an active subscription (sorry, that’s more than one question I suppose).
Q3. If I do not renew (or switch to Oxygene only as per #1 above) but then wish to resume my Elements subscription at some future point, do I still enjoy the renewal price at that point or am I treated as a new user ? (Not that I would consider that unfair, just seeking clarification)
Admittedly at the moment the new user premium is actually not that great (only US$100) and could easily be wiped out by further exchange rate movements in the meantime. So even if the answer is “New user” then it could still work in my favour to not renew, not switch to Oxygene only, just simply wait for the FOREX to move.
Thanks in advance for any clarification on these points that may be offered.