I think it's kind of an interesting time.
I think the majority of freelobbyers have their systems pretty much up and running. New users haven't really been able to get their hands on a copy and dig in, as they probably don't want to invest their time and resources into a system that they don't even know how much it will end up costing money wise. I can't blame them. I mean, I've played around on the new Beta, but I had to revert when one expired on me bringing down the WAF. I'm looking forward to what the New XL will bring to us and installers, but there is much uncertainty for us, the casual users. There is no platform I know of that has the ease of customization. We've all embraced that. It would be interesting to know how many people actually run a stock XL skin, or even downloaded one without modifying it. For heavier developers it's a difficult time too. The French team developed some amazing plugins, and now they don't even know if they will work on the new platform.
I guess if it's stagnant around here, it because well, while Steven and Wes are hard at work implementing the next generation internally, there's not much going on.
I wonder if more people would have stuck around and helped to ride this out if it was said Hey, why don't you give us $100 now, and as we develop we'll give you a code to unlock your future versions. And for that upfront, people wouldn't have to worry all these months with the constant questions and threads of HOW MUCH IS THIS GOING TO COST? It's a great idea to offer these beta's for free, but I wouldn't be surprised if the uncertainty soured some.
It's very cool for Steven that he was able to find an outlet for his software that is took soo much time to develop, but it's turning into a different beast. I'm sure once this is released and installers get their hands on it, this forum will be brimming again with all sorts of buzz as to what they can do for their clients and how they can accomplish things. In the interim I'll keep coming back, especially with Cedia over, to see if we've finally got some indication as to what this might this might cost to keep going monetarily so I can then figure out if it's worth my time investment. I guess either way it's a time investment either way, but there are more factors. There were many innovators that passed through these forums, and it's been built up again from a few hackings. I guess we'll see that new guard roll in soon enough.
Ok. I'm done rambling.
Did that pass some time?