Will future, bug-free Storyline updates be free?

Feb 10, 2014

Hi all.  We've made the decision to stick with Presenter 13 for now as Storyline appears to have too many time-consuming and annoying issues for us to be able to work with it.

My question is, once Articulate fixes the issues with the editor etc, will the update be free?  If we have to wait all this time to get a product we can work with and then get told that 'Version 2' has a $300 upgrade fee then that is not good enough.

As much as we would like to use the features Storyline has, the maintenance and re-work that it appears to require is not sustainable.  For example, the issues with text resizing (http://community.articulate.com/forums/p/23518/133623.aspx).  Having to work with the zoom at 100%, having to go back and resize text - this is not something that we can (or are prepared to) do daily.

So, can we get value out of our investment somewhere in the future or are we going to be expected to pay again?

Thanks

Paul

4 Replies
Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Paul,

Storyline is currently on Version 1 update 5, and all of those updates are free to anyone with a Storyline license. You can see all the fixes included in each update documented within this set of release notes. When there is a new version of Storyline (version 2) that would be a new purchase, unless you have an platinum membership plan which includes at least one free upgrade as detailed here.  If you have questions about your license and upgrade costs, you're welcome to connect with our Sales Support. 

Paul Barker

Hi Ashley.  Thanks, I appreciate you response, but that is just a restatement of the general terms and conditions.  I am asking if there is a special case that will be allowed when customers are buying the product and finding it to be too buggy and too unstable to use.  It's basically a useless purchase.

So, if the product can't be used because of bugs and omitted features, and if those are fixed in version 2, would you allow a free upgrade?

I am really surprised at the number of people who seem very forgiving of problems in Articulate products.  In the forum post I noted above, the very flakey editor was described as a 'nuance'.  If it causes the range of problems people are reporting and requires odd and restrictive workarounds to make it work then it's a bug that needs fixing.

Sorry to rant, but I feel very alone in criticising Articulate for bugs, omitted functionality, poor responses, lack of patches etc.  Anyone else reading this willing to come out in support?  Why do we put up with things like the PowerPoint import into Storyline requiring all your text to need fixing (stated 'not one-to-one conversion' by Articulate)?  What about the continued dominance of the Windows clipboard during publishing?  No other product does this and it is totally productivity limiting.  People who do instructional design and writing use the clipboard all the time so during publishing you pretty much have to leave the PC and do something else.  Doesn't anyone else feel there are fundamental things that really need attention and perhaps Articulate could be more generous with the distribution of a fixed version?

Paul

vineetha charles

Hi Paul,

Storyline does lack in some areas. We are not able to access many of the features in Powerpoint and it would be great if they could update some of the features. However, I believe that the freedom and creativity that the tool allows us more than makes up for this. I personally believe that Storyline is more stable than Articulate Studio. This is just my opinion.

Regarding the issues that one might face in Storyline, there is usually a workaround which sometimes ends up with me having something better than I originally envisioned. Also, regarding the publishing, I find that it is fast and rarely takes up more than a minute. I use that time to bug my co-workers

That being said, Articulate Studio is also a powerful tool and you can create some amazing courses with it.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Paul,

I am not aware of a particular policy that would cover what you're referring to, although I do know that if you're unsatisfied with a purchase you can connect with our Support within 30 days for a full refund, no questions asked. If you find particular problems or bugs within Articulate software you're always welcome to connect with us here or our Support team to share your files so that we can take a look and determine what's going on and report to our Quality Assurance team if necessary. As far as pricing for future updates and bug fixes included in them, I'd have to defer you to our Sales team and would encourage you to share your thoughts with them as well. 

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