WallyG

Teds_Studio
And....you also have the forums :) .

Indeed! 

You may have the forums "Indeed" where you will learn that there is a patch for your problem which you can't have access to unless you pay for another full year. You can start a subscription and get the fix but if you don't complete 12 months your software will roll back to a point at which the fix is not patched. I would not like to see something like this happen, but nobody from Cakewalk has contradicted what I am saying despite intimations that there may be some accommodation from tech support. They are just intimations, but absolutely nothing in the declaration of the subscription policy.
 
I did the 12 month lump sum subscription, but I might receive an update in the 11th month that creates a problem that is not fixed by my 12 month end date. Unless I continue my subscription, I would be stuck with a version of Platinum containing a bug of potential significance. My ability to revert might mean I can go back to a version before the bug inducing patch, but perhaps I would have to return to X3. There has been no statement about having the ability to step back a patch at a time if you have reached a 12 month marker, but are no longer subscribing.
 
Just raising some ideas which probably won't be addressed until someone encounters them. The subscription idea raises many more issues than can be addressed in the initial statements of CW's intent.
 

Actually, it has been stated that you can step back a patch at a time.  Its in the membership announcement thread and I think in the FAQ.
 
I *suspect* that if there is a feature nullifying bug that creeps up a hot fix will be made available by the Bakers to those people who aren't currently members (because their membership recently expired) but have paid for at least a year (either lump sum or payment plan), but that is just speculation on my part.

dwardzala
Actually, it has been stated that you can step back a patch at a time.  Its in the membership announcement thread and I think in the FAQ.
 
 

 
Yes, you can step back a patch at a time, but it is not clear if that feature will work for you if you are no longer a subscriber.  I would hope you can do so because being allowed to step back after your subscription has ended would reduce a serious drawback.

If you pay for 13 consecutive months (or any consecutive months 12 or greater), you get to keep everything, as seen here.

bvideo
If you pay for 13 consecutive months (or any consecutive months 12 or greater), you get to keep everything, as seen here.

Ah cool, I thought it was in 12 month segments. I did not know that once you did 12, you could keep each month thereafter as your fall back point until you stopped subscribing. Of course, if you lapse then you have to do a full 12 months from the time you rejoin, but that sounds ok to me.

lludwick@nyc.rr.com
Ah cool, I thought it was in 12 month segments. I did not know that once you did 12, you could keep each month thereafter as your fall back point until you stopped subscribing.

This'll only work if you pay by the month.  So I guess it's a plus for going with a monthly subscription after the first twelve months.  The difference in cost compared to lump sum for the second year would be compensated by the ability to bail at any point during the second year, keeping what has been released to that point.