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Encrypted items can only be used in Studio, so Poser users can't use this either. And yes, with the right tools, you can load genesis 3 and .duf files directly in Poser without converting from Studio first. Unless it's encrypted of course. Basically, encrypted items force you to use Studio regardless.
List of problems with Encrypted only:
You have to use Connect to install them, which is a big problem for a variety of reasons. For one thing, it sets up it's own directory structure, which is a pain if you also use DIM. It's a huge problem if you manually install; not a few people do their Daz artwork on machines that don't have internet connections.
Doesn't work with Carrara.
Doesn't work with versions of Studio prior to 4.9.
If you have some custom directory structure, you have a huge amount of work ahead of you to recreate that in Connect (assuming it's possible, which I think I read it is). And then, you still have all your Connect stuff over HERE and all your prior stuff over THERE.
Encrypted content can't interact with scripts, since nothing can access the content except Daz Studio. (You might be able to jump through some hoops to get the content into a script, but that's often going to be hugely inconvenient)
Then there are some more emotional reactions, like:
The general attitude of 'you might be a filthy criminal so you're going to have to jump through these hoops to give us evidence you aren't.'
Piracy leading to lost sales is regarded by many as a harmful fantasy. See: all the usual commentary to this effect. Seeing an otherwise cool and intelligent company succumb to this hysteria, again, spoils things. 'You used to be cool, man! What happened?'
There are probably some other issues, but those are the biggies.
Ah, thanks for clearing that up. I haven't used any encrypted content basically since it showed up; I'm mostly using DS 4.8 which doesn't do encrypt. DS 4.9 (if used) is mostly used for rendering some of the new-features stuff that makes 4.8 crash. So I really only have one of the freebies that came out to see what it was all about, and then avoided the rest.
It is certainly a reason for Connect.
Oh wait, there was a way of finding new content, that stopped working in 4.9. In 4.8 and prior, new purchases were highlighted so the folders were easy to track.
I use 4.9, the IRAY stuff is nice, but uninstalled anything to do with SQL (the database). Without that, Connect wouldn't work even if I wanted it to.
Exactly this.
No thanks, DAZ.
No sale today as everything uses the connect garbage
One of the big issues with the DRM'd content was that the DUF file is encrypted. This means if there is an issue with the content, you can't simply go in and edit the DUF file to fix it. If it's encrypted, you have to wait for DAZ to fix the issue and release an update. A fix that would take minutes, turns into days of waiting. For those working on a time schedule and deadlines.....that's huge.
And there are numerous instances of Daz just... not fixing stuff, or pushing it onto vendors who are either unwilling or unable to change it.
I mean, heck... what if a product's owner dies? Who is going to fix it? A pool of interested users might, but can't if everything is sewn up.
(See: Some of AoA lights' functionality breaking in 4.5 or so)
so no good in Carrara and Poser, Carrara can see the geometry resaved as a support asset but the UV gets messed up as it cannot see the dsf and Poser cannot see it at all, scripts do not work etc as we said before, I dare say there are a few more issues, I do not own the connect content to test it now as the freebies I had are all unencrypted now, but I am certain more issues have or will emerge since, sadly nobody here is going to find them
I can't help get the feeling that the 'long time, more experienced (NOT to be confused with "better")' users, that have their program, content etc set to THEIR personal needs and workflow, are more and more left out and ignored. I do feel a bit that way, being a DS, Poser and Vue user. (But then, my budget is waaaay more limited now then it used to be, so it saves money for me as well...)
The 58% discount seems to be a pretty good warning sign, at the moment.
I'm going to take this as a salutary reminder to be alert with regards to new releases. We've only a month away from the March Madness feeding frenzy. And given that MM is the DAZ Original fest, and that DAZ Originals are the "products most likely" to be lumbered with this...
Just because they didn't pull this kind of a fast one with MM last year is no reason to assume they won't this year.
Yep... March could turn out to be a cheap month after all...
Very yes — just try to carry on a conversation with Support when they're "encouraging" you to "install stuff the proper way", even if the problem is nothing to do with how the item was installed. I've been using D|S since before the first full release version, I know my way around the various bells and whistles, and I've never felt the need to use DIM, Connect, or the content database. I do everything manually, just like I did way back then, and I've never had a problem because of that.
A pity about the totally-encrypted bundle; I wouldn't have bought the bundle itself (too much of it I wasn't interested in), but I was thinking about at least one of the characters. Not now, DAZ.
Being a long time user, I don't feel that way. Knowledge is power and knowing how file formats, paths, shaders, programs, etc work makes it easier to work around roadblocks or try other avenues. I use content from many various sources in DS and I also use DS content in other apps.
Here is an analogy, imagine a long tube where the people go thru to the big building at the end with the tube being the workflow and the building the final render. DAZ and connect are designed to keep the tube full and flowing with no deviation. those that have things set to their own personal workflow and needs are free to use/'find other ways (ie options!) to get the the big building at the end/final render.
I can see that tube in my minds eye, pulsating with villi and enzymes, I know where it goes ...
Each and every one it's own experience
I have almost all of Yura's stuff, so I was about to add that outfit to my cart when I saw it was DRM'd. And then checked, and saw everything today was. One of the hairs looked good too, but oh well. Oh well, nothing to purchase for me today. Agree with the theory that they are testing to see what happens now that one year has passed. Dang, I had really hoped they had given up on this. :(
I'm hoping for a major failure on the test, myself. Just not interested in the "need to connect at least once" - I've done it, played with the connect-only freebie by the off-line install, but the whole "system has changed, re-authentication required" is a killer for me. In my case, adding a new GPU kicked me into this - both times.
How great is March madness? And how has it worked in the past?
Is it REALLY worth saving up for?
I ahve 2 motifs/genres I need to build a library in...
Roman and Western...should I wait and go hog-wild in March? Is it really that deep dish?
Plus, I need some generic clothes....LOTS of them and I already tapped that "free from the various sites" thing.....
Oh well, CS on the ball as ever - refund revceived; but I'd much rather have the content
It's hard to tell. IIRC the first couple of weeks may be a little slow and not too much better than the routine sales; but it tends to pick up during the later half. Also, there will probably be a couple of times when all the PA's are on sale; so, it is good opportunity to get stuff that very rarely goes on sale.
I never had issues with DIM or manual installation that weren't directly related to the quality of the free content out there, and I've actually heard that Connect has some serious issues with certain types of content to the point that you should not install those items that way. I'm not so in a hurry to get my content that I need the installer built into DAZ Studio, and I actually know of a few disadvantages to using it, since I want to be able to remove DAZ from my other laptop now that I have something that will handle Iray properly, but I still want the option of being able to download content onto that laptop if I need to for some reason.
It wasn't too long ago that there was a massive outage on DAZ's part which prevented anyone from logging into Connect. It lasted several days and then a month later there was another outage that lasted over a day. If you were in the "system has changed, re-authentication required" state you would have been locked out of your legally purchased and already downloaded content.
I wasn't aware of that; this is my problem with DRM. That there has already been a potential problem is not really a surprise.
I suppose my surprise is how many people are, "walking quietly into the night." Yeh, I stole it.
Would have bought the hair and the hip hop outfit but they're DRM'ed. No sale. Maybe in a year, but probably not since they're not in my wishlist due to being DRM'ed, and something better/similar will have come along between now and then.
Here, or elsewhere...
That sounds like the problem with Generation 4 figures — V4, M4 and so on — their morph packs don't work if you install them with Connect, so they must be installed with DIM or manually. What's happening is that the morphs must be "activated" after installation, and to do that, they must be installed into the same location as the V4/M4/whatever base figure.
But that isn't how Connect works, it essentially installs each individual product into its own separate content location, so the script that does the morph activation can't find the morph files.
Since the Encrypted Connect Only demon has reared its head once more, I'll state my opinion once and then be quiet about it:
I don't really mind if content is encrypted in general, so long as it never gets in the way, but clearly it has for people. However since it enforces the use of Connect I won't touch any of it. If some people like using Connect then that's nice for them, but personally I'd rather have direct control over which files are on my computer and where they are. Not to mention it requires another library to be set up and organised and then when Daz or PAs mess up the files or organisation of the products we buy (which happens all the time, usually never being fixed) we can no longer do community or self fixes. No, yet more tabs for installing within studio and adding reference links does not make any of this simpler for me.
Beyond the terrors of the V4 era, with Genesis and especially 2 and 3 Daz did a lot to normalise folder organisation amongst different PA products, but there are still gaps where different PAs have different ideas about where to put things.
I just sent them another "How you lost a sale today" feedback ticket. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to do any more of those.