the vBulletin v4.0 leak -

[Peggy]

I'm sure alot of you have seen it all over other forums "The big leak" , so let me provide a bit of explanation -

At some point last night (Wednesday), while changing forum permissions at vb.com a goof was made for the private admin/mod forums and all that was private was made public - for at least 30 minutes that we know of. Long enough for screenshots to be taken, that's for sure.

Unfortunately, those screenshots made it to Photobucket and Imageshack, among other image hosting sites. I joined in a chat with many vB members and friends, and watched in amazement as people made posts and displayed the screen shots on vb.com, .org and a host of other sites, including IPB's support forum. Of course the posts/threads on vb.com and .org were promptly deleted.

If you're interested, you'll find the screenshot links as well as various Twitter posts, and a link to an "Inside info" article. http://forum.vbulletinsetup.com/f23/...ven-17392.html

I truly hope that whoever flubbed on the forum permissions doesn't find their head rolling. It was a mistake (I'm assuming?).

If anyone has anymore info, feel free to add to this thread.

It was a wild night, last night.

[Mike54]

I imagine it was a mistake, but it could have been a set-up to stick a toe in the water. If it was a mistake, somebody is really getting familiar with the top of her/his shows at the moment. Ah, well, mistakes happen.

It's no matter, it's going to be what it's going to be. Knowing about it now or knowing about it in July really makes no difference to me. I think IB is making some pretty serious mistakes with these new policies (as one person asked, what is next, PPV vB.org?), but they own the business and not me.

I imagine my sites will remain 3.X sites, unless the 4.0 upgrade price is ~extremely~ cheap. I suspect it won't be, which is why they have likely dropped the annual renewals.

[Peggy]

I don't know what it will cost us to upgrade to 4.0, as I didn't see that in the screenies. I believe the prices descussed were only for new purchases.

What is going to be a big problem for them is cutting off ticket support after 30 days. If you want ticket support after that time, it'll cost you. That's absurd. It won't make a difference to me, I'm sure, as I've rarely had to use the ticket system, did so only when I was instructed to by Steve or Wayne on the forum. They won't be doing that for much longer .

[Mike54]

If they see tech support dropping off after 30 days, then why bother charging for it?

Their tech support was once a selling point, now it is just going to be another way to gouge their customers.

I see the vB-related forums are all pretty quiet about the leak. With the exception of Brandon's site, of course. I thought the vBSEO board would light up with it, but it hasn't happened. I suspect most people are taking the same position as IPB - it could happen to them, just as easily.

[Peggy]

yep. I'm sure it's assumed over there that if vB goes belly-up or even has a significant decline in business, vbseo will too.

[Joeychgo]

Here is a part to really worry about...

THIS is what will kill them. If they are smart, they first offer a minimal upgrade fee for the suite. That will make current customers happy. Then, they can increase that fee on a version by version basis.

[Peggy]

Here is a part to really worry about...

THIS is what will kill them. If they are smart, they first offer a minimal upgrade fee for the suite. That will make current customers happy. Then, they can increase that fee on a version by version basis.

I kind of agree and disagree at the same time.

What's going to do them in, in large part, is another increase so soon after the last one. PLUS, raising prices when people are losing jobs, auto companies are going belly-up, houses are being foreclosed on, etc. The big problem is, they don't care.

[Joeychgo]

Not just that. $400 for a full site suite is too high. What you will have is someone making a $100 addon that does the same stuff, only better. And vB wont sell suites like they think.

We've already seen how good they are at creating addons. Look at the photo gallery. What a joke.

[Dave A]

I've just paid my annual renewal on an owned licence. So I take it I'm not getting a year of upgrades then?

I believe IB/Jelsoft will be in breach. But is it worth suing?

There are some huge sites that still run on vB 2.x - I suspect Jelsoft is going to lose a lot of repeat income going this way.

Peggy and Joey - I don't see why you should keep this thread in the moderators forum. The cat is out the bag and it's not likely to get stuffed back in. Let the vB-FAQ members get involved here. If you really don't want it in open view, could we please set up that insider members only forum I suggest from time to time and put it in there.

[Peggy]

Not just that. $400 for a full site suite is too high. What you will have is someone making a $100 addon that does the same stuff, only better. And vB wont sell suites like they think.

We've already seen how good they are at creating addons. Look at the photo gallery. What a joke.

$400?? I thought I read $285. Of course, it's all just speculation atm. Altho I'm quite sure that they're talking about something else right now... as in how to do some much-needed damage control.


Dave you're right. Every other vB support site is talking about it (except of course, vb.org), so why not. Joey if you want to move it out to the forums, I'm ok with it.

From what I got out of it, we'll have to pay a fee to upgrade to 4.0. After that point there will be no more upgrade fees, no renewal fees, etc, until a next major version (i.e. 5.0) is on the horizon. However, if you want ticket support, it will be $80 per year after your initial 30-day ticket support period.

That's one of the selling points of the big vB 4.0 "Suite". If one purchases the regular 4.0 license, that's what they get - the license and 30 days of free ticket support, unless they purchase ticket support for $80.

The "Suite" will include vB 4.0, 1 yr of free ticket support, the blog, cms, pt, and god only knows what else - for $285 (as of now).