🌶️ Forum licenses are a pyramid scheme

[joelr]

A Pyramid Scheme is business models that primarily profits from recruiting participants. You need more and more new recruits buying in to your product or service to sustain your existing clientbase.

Do forum licenses work like a pyramid scheme? In the early heydays of forums, there were lots of people buying more and more forum licenses. They subsidized the development and growth of the forum software, and more and more people bought in. Even if people traded or bought / sold licenses between themselves, there were always more people buying forum licenses.

That model probably isn't happening nowadays with forum licenses. If anything, there are les and less clients buying forum licenses, which means developers have tightened up. In the announcement for XF 2.4; part of the reason for 2.4 is that they didn't want clients to wait as long for XF 3.0. Was this really a reason for customers to renew sooner and faster?

https://xenforo.com/community/threads/coming-soon-xenforo-2-4.225302/

 

[Nomad]

I voted for Yes, and I truly believe that forum licenses work just like a pyramid scheme. Those who buy these licenses cannot earn from the forum but those who sell these licenses continue to make money. Once you buy the license you continue to renew every year, which is just like a loop

 

[Tracy]

part of the reason for 2.4 is that they didn't want clients to wait as long for XF 3.0. Was this really a reason for customers to renew sooner and faster?

It probably played a noticeable part in it. I know several admins that have not upgraded and are sticking with their older version and several that have not renewed because they don't see any big benefit in 2.3 so they are not encouraged to pony up more money for something they don't need. I'm sure that there are many others that are doing the same, and that ultimately impacts the XenForo bottom line.
I'm also pretty sure that's why with 2.4 getting the new editor they also commented that they are planning on bringing some end user improvements/features to 2.4. That is something that they have been roasted for the last few years and with the forum world getting the way it is it has gotten even louder.
My license is probably valid up to when 2.4 gets released - unless they go back to their old molasses speed. In that case, if my license expires, I'll simply wait for a few of the bug release updates that will be flowing after 2.4 gets released and then I'll probably pony up for a renewal.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Most SaaS is a pyramid scheme.

However, with most forum software, you can quit paying and still be able to keep your forum going. There might be security update concerns but if you're good in that area, you really don't need to keep paying for it.

But everything else is going SaaS or Software as a Service where you pay to keep it. If you quit paying, you lose it.

I pay $100 a month for a Circle community that I'm building up to be a paid community. If I quit paying, I lose it.