3DSMAX perpetual license -> softsking?

Gazu

Hey folkz!

Has somebody of you experience with softsking?

https://www.softsking.com/3ds-max-2016-p-211.html

They´re selling perpetual 3DSMAX licenses for only 350 Bugs.

I found some reviews on the internet about this reseller. People say that the licenses are working, but after updating the operating system, the license stopped working. Not sure why.

And i´m not sure if i´m to lazy to learn blender 2.8 because im so comfortable with max, so that i´m searching for a perpetual license of max -> 2014-2017.

Someone selling a used max license?

Thank you!

oglu

You allways need Autodesk to get a legal Max version. Even if its a used one. You need a reseller to get the license transferred. 

Mark Dygert

So a little backstory is probably needed. Back in 2007-08 when Autodesk still offered perpetual licenses, a guy was going around buying up used copies and reselling them. Autodesk took the guy to court, trying to shut him down. In a surprise decision, the guy won. As a result the guy could sell used copies of software just like reselling used copies of books. 

As a result of the court case, Autodesk got rid of perpetual licenses and switched to subscription only, blocking future resale of their software. So you can get older copies and it is possible that they are legit copies, but anything since the court case is going to be subscription only.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2008/05/court-smacks-autodesk-affirms-right-to-sell-used-software/

I think 2010 or 11 was the last legit perpetual license of 3dsmax? Anything newer is probably not legit...

Noren

Without further recent research: At least in the EU it is like oglu said, you'll need Autodesk to transfer the license (which they can't easily deny). If the license isn't transferred, you don't have one and you won't get it updated. Last newly sold perpetual version of 3ds max was 2016 afaik, and theoretically it should be possible to also sell a current perpetual licence that was/is on maintenance. That's a guess, though.

Be also careful of regions. You can't simply use a license from e. g. North America in Europe and vice versa. At least according to Autodesk. There are at the very least some hoops to jump through and some money to pay if that hasn't been overthrown by the courts in the meantime.

Lastly $350 seems to be way below the "street value" of a fairly recent version of Max to me, so I'd be careful. Seems priced right at the sweet spot where greed might cloud better judgement and careful research.

Joopson

Gazu said:

350 Bugs.

Andreicus

If you are in EU you can sell and buy used license of softwares as you please. It doesn't matter what the company say. It's the law.
That's why Pixologic on their site say that if you are in EU you can contact them to arrange the sale of your license but they don't support the reselling in countries outside EU.

For your question regarding that site...it seems quiete shady to me. 324 € for the 2016 version that used to cost around 10k € i think, it is very low.
Although i can't be sure because if you go to Amazon or Kinguin you can buy legit cd keys of Windows 10 for like 20 € instead of 200-300 €.

If you need a commercial version of your main software and you are on a budget your best options are: Blender, Maya LT ( what i use cause i don't need dynamics or offline rendering ), Houdini Indie and Cinema 4D Prime.

Gazu

10K € for Max? I think its round about  2,5 - 3K € ?

@Joopson

Do you mean that this price says everything?

rollin

I wouldn't be so quick to argue that this is legal in the EU. Or do you have some references to curt decisions backing this up?

Gazu

i also found some guys posting on the net, that its legal only in the EU.

rollin

"some guys" is really the equivalent to "bla bla bla". If I want to find an opinion to anything I'll find some guys who have posted just that. There are some other regulations in the EU but the company sued by autodesk back then now only sells used windows keys.. 

Andreicus

Gazu said:

10K € for Max? I think its round about  2,5 - 3K € ?

@Joopson

Do you mean that this price says everything?

I don't remember at what price Autodesk was selling their softwares when they had perpetual licenses but i think that it was more than 3k €, maybe i'm wrong.
I never paid too much attention to them because they were out of my "pocket" anyway.

rollin said:

I wouldn't be so quick to argue that this is legal in the EU. Or do you have some references to curt decisions backing this up?

Of course i have, it was a case of some years ago. There are numerous articles that will tell you more about it but here are some: https://brodies.com/binformed/legal-updates/european-court-confirms-the-right-to-resell-used-software-licences and https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d32ebea3-c25c-4ba4-9d75-f3bdc38008a9

Here is also the Pixologic site where they talk about license transfer: http://https//support.pixologic.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/60/19/license-transfers

"Effective 27 Aug 2015 it is no longer possible to transfer licenses from one user to another.
Pixologic will only transfer license ownership in the following cases:

1. A corporate acquisition where the licenses are acquired as part of the original company’s assets.  For such a transfer we will require written proof of this company acquisition.  
2. The current owner of the license resides in a country that legally requires that license transfers be allowed.  (e.g. the European Union)  Please note that for technical reasons it is not possible to transfer a subscription license, even for EU residents.  This is because the subscription is linked to your credit card and thus transferring the license to another individual would result in you still being charged every time it rebills."

That is the reason why i can sell my Zbrush license if i want.

Gazu

Alternatively, I have to learn blender....

Maybe it´s the better option.

CreativeSheep

Andreicus said:

Gazu said:

10K € for Max? I think its round about  2,5 - 3K € ?

@Joopson

Do you mean that this price says everything?

I don't remember at what price Autodesk was selling their softwares when they had perpetual licenses but i think that it was more than 3k €, maybe i'm wrong.
I never paid too much attention to them because they were out of my "pocket" anyway.

rollin said:

I wouldn't be so quick to argue that this is legal in the EU. Or do you have some references to curt decisions backing this up?

Of course i have, it was a case of some years ago. There are numerous articles that will tell you more about it but here are some: https://brodies.com/binformed/legal-updates/european-court-confirms-the-right-to-resell-used-software-licences and https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d32ebea3-c25c-4ba4-9d75-f3bdc38008a9

Here is also the Pixologic site where they talk about license transfer: http://https//support.pixologic.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/60/19/license-transfers

"Effective 27 Aug 2015 it is no longer possible to transfer licenses from one user to another.
Pixologic will only transfer license ownership in the following cases:

1. A corporate acquisition where the licenses are acquired as part of the original company’s assets.  For such a transfer we will require written proof of this company acquisition.  
2. The current owner of the license resides in a country that legally requires that license transfers be allowed.  (e.g. the European Union)  Please note that for technical reasons it is not possible to transfer a subscription license, even for EU residents.  This is because the subscription is linked to your credit card and thus transferring the license to another individual would result in you still being charged every time it rebills."

That is the reason why i can sell my Zbrush license if i want.

This is not true.

EarthQuake

CreativeSheep said:

Andreicus said:

Gazu said:

10K € for Max? I think its round about  2,5 - 3K € ?

@Joopson

Do you mean that this price says everything?

I don't remember at what price Autodesk was selling their softwares when they had perpetual licenses but i think that it was more than 3k €, maybe i'm wrong.
I never paid too much attention to them because they were out of my "pocket" anyway.

rollin said:

I wouldn't be so quick to argue that this is legal in the EU. Or do you have some references to curt decisions backing this up?

Of course i have, it was a case of some years ago. There are numerous articles that will tell you more about it but here are some: https://brodies.com/binformed/legal-updates/european-court-confirms-the-right-to-resell-used-software-licences and https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d32ebea3-c25c-4ba4-9d75-f3bdc38008a9

Here is also the Pixologic site where they talk about license transfer: http://https//support.pixologic.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/60/19/license-transfers

"Effective 27 Aug 2015 it is no longer possible to transfer licenses from one user to another.
Pixologic will only transfer license ownership in the following cases:

1. A corporate acquisition where the licenses are acquired as part of the original company’s assets.  For such a transfer we will require written proof of this company acquisition.  
2. The current owner of the license resides in a country that legally requires that license transfers be allowed.  (e.g. the European Union)  Please note that for technical reasons it is not possible to transfer a subscription license, even for EU residents.  This is because the subscription is linked to your credit card and thus transferring the license to another individual would result in you still being charged every time it rebills."

That is the reason why i can sell my Zbrush license if i want.

This is not true.

Which part of it is not true? Do you have references?

SonicBlue

I don't know if the website is legit, or not, but, when I see something like this (at the bottom of the page), makes me wonder that maybe, it's better to save that money for something else:

Gazu

Autodesk offers now 3DSMAX Indie which is fully functional, for 250 $ per year.

This would be a reason to stay with Max, the only problem is that they didnt offer it in Germany right now.... -_-" ....

It´s Autodesks answer to the Blender 2.8 hype.

rollin

The last perpetual was around 7k €
They should have come up with a MaxCore perpetual version (hello Pixologic) years ago.

spacefrog

rollin said:

The last perpetual was around 7k €
They should have come up with a MaxCore perpetual version (hello Pixologic) years ago.

Na ... the last perpetual was a bit less than €5k, and that included VAT as far i remember

rollin

spacefrog said:

rollin said:

The last perpetual was around 7k €
They should have come up with a MaxCore perpetual version (hello Pixologic) years ago.

Na ... the last perpetual was a bit less than €5k, and that included VAT as far i remember

Hm, I m probably remembering to the media package including mudbox 

Gazu

Yeah i think it was the M&E Version, which is a bit more expensive.

Max alone was round about 3-4K ?