Atomic Systems

Jings, I hope all companies who fall foul of pirates don't take this sort of action, no more windows for a start. While I can sympethise it smacks of throwing the toys out the pram.

Despite assurances on the Conbuilder private forum for paying customers that we will be supported I can't get a response from Joe from emails.

Having donated way before the paid regime came into place I am not a happy bunny right now. Conbuilder has not been working for me for over 6 months now.

CONbuilder says it all I think. Won't be donating to anything like this again and I would urge all members to steer well clear of Conbuilder since it seems no more paid versions are going to be issued so don't take a chance with your credit cards.

Whether the review from Matt should remain on the front page is a matter for discussion since the software is no longer working or available.

leveritt wrote:[quote="michaelhendle"I would hope that you respond to this.
http://forums.flightsim.com/vbts/showth ... 8#poststop

http://forums.flightsim.com/vbts/showth ... 1#poststop

Invalid URLs.

Invalid URLs.

They both worked last night as I followed them and read the lengthy posts.
Maybe someone has asked for the threads to be blocked or deleted.
They implied that the web sites Joe was complaining about were spoof's and you couldnt actually get Conbuilder from them. They were a device to get hold of your credit card details. True or false I dont know.

Hi,

The last time I put something on train sim dot com was to say that Joe had pulled Con builder due to some Idiots there pointing the direction to pirate sites.

I haven't a clue what this url is about. saying [quote="michaelhendle" I would hope you respond to this.

Michael Hendle

steam4me wrote:Invalid URLs.

Sorry, thread deleted. As it worked out, there was no pirated Conbuilder. It was a spoof/hoax by another web site.

At least one member here read the (now deleted) links I gave.

emrhd01 wrote:If what is being said in those links is actually true, that Conbuilder has not been 'Pirated' but has been caught up in some form of hoax, then I find this extremely sad indeed.

Discussion of this event is apparently finished there...

regards,
charlie

If it is in fact correct that Conbuilder is officialy dead and that there are those who have paid for it but have not been refunded, then it would not seem unethical to mail a copy of a working Conbuilder to them, so long as no payment ios involved..
I am fortunate that my copy of version 3.1.5 is still working.

Tonysmedley wrote:If it is in fact correct that Conbuilder is officialy dead and that there are those who have paid for it but have not been refunded, then it would not seem unethical to mail a copy of a working Conbuilder to them, so long as no payment ios involved..
I am fortunate that my copy of version 3.1.5 is still working.

It would still be breaking copyright and offering to do so is against forum guidelines...

9) Offering to send or requesting that others send you copies of software or commercial add-ons, or the discussion of any form of law breaking activities is not permitted.

[quote="dorlan

9) Offering to send or requesting that others send you copies of software or commercial add-ons, or the discussion of any form of law breaking activities is not permitted.

Well that needs amending then doesn't it?!

As it stands the rule says that discussing the fact that someone has taken your money and not provided what you paid for (an illegal act) cannot be discussed here .

BUT ....moving on to what really matters.

This isn't the first time that commercial add-on suppliers have taken peoples money and not provided the goods.

The Surfliner debacle is probably the worst case, although I always thought that paying for something before it was actually available was a foolhardy thing to do anyway? Then there was a US sound set that I paid for and that was password protected. When my machine died and I contacted them for a new one I got Zilch!!! It's STILL for sale. People STILL can't contact them. Luckily I was not alone and thanks to TS.com forums a solution was found. Then there was a utility that was supposed to create detailed maps from routes that I WAS stupid enough to pay up front for! THAT never came about and neither did a refund!!!

Now in THIS case things are different perhaps? Joe has had some nasty health issues and having got through those (as I understand from the posts here and on TS.com) had started to continue development work. But Joe you have a number of legitamate customers here that you seem to have "walked all over"?

If you're paranoid about piracy, I'm even more paranoid about file sharing sites. I'd rather pay for a legitamate programme, CD, DVD etc than chance picking up a free "BONUS" of a trojan or spyware or other malware. However when I pay for software I expect to be treated reasonably. I expect the license to cover more than one machine (some don't but hundreds do) and I don't expect to have to jump through hoops if I need to reinstall or move it to a new machine that's an upgrade. I certainly would not tolerate being accused of piracy for any of the above.

Maybe you need to step back and re-examine your position and take on board the points folk have raised. There are more decent people than thieves in the world and the Rail Sim community is one of the friendliest I've seen in the last eight years of it's existance. Don't give up, DO explore better ways of supporting your product and be more realistic about licenses and passwords. Others in the community have supported you after all?

Geoff

Geoff,
An excellent post, you've hit the nail on the head as it were, those are my feelings too.
Also, have you noticed that in 99.9% of times a program is purchased on the 'net the method and number of
activations are never mentioned untill you have paid your money. There are 4 that I know of that allow ONLY 1
and thats it.
This may be said to be to be off topic but I dont, I downloaded RollBack rx on a trial basis (it makes snapshots of your OS )
and when required in the event of a problem simply restore the last one made. Easy and simple.
So, I use a drive caddy to swap drives, I have 3 drives, each for a purpose.
1 for my existing Vista.
2 will be for W7 Pro for my normal computing and
3 W7 home Premium for my Rail Sims.
I wanted to use it on my Vista so I could get to know it in readiness for W7.
I contacted Horizon on the activation situation. After 6 days I was told I require 3 licenses, 1 for each hard drive.
That is 3 x £69.
No way, I'll stick with my Macrium Reflect image "maker".

I also paid for 3.1.5, yet when I wanted buy the newer version under his "new" scheme he told me I was a pirate, as I put it in my previous post,
I made a mistake. He forgets I had paid him once, I've NEVER pirated in my life and I'm still angry at Joe for that.
I want to pay for them and then I can go back for any
help I might need, and they put a lot of time in on the programming.

BTW, Joe changed his "activating" scheme because 1 - yes ONE - person gave the program to another person.
How do I know, because he told me so.

For goodness sake, what are you all ranting and raving about.
I have ConBuilder 2.3.035, and use only that version, it works perfectly in Vista or any other MS OS system
If anybody wants a copy they are more than welcome.
If that`s got the blood boiling in the Moderation Department or anybody elses for that matter.

READ THIS:

Copyright

The authors accept no responsibility for any loss or damage caused by using this software. All responsibility for its use and the consequences of using this software rest solely with the User. This software is free. That means it's not allowed to be included in any payware package. In other words, this program is to be freely shared by all Trainsimmers without having to pay any fee.
However it would be prudent if you put the program up on your site, to send an e-mail to Us saying where it is.



And a lot of co-operation by Charles Stagg and others. Thanks Guys.



Carlos Gomes

cg1960@clix.pt

Joe Smith

conb200@cox.net

rlmathers wrote:For goodness sake, what are you all ranting and raving about.
I have ConBuilder 2.3.035, and use only that version, it works perfectly in Vista or any other MS OS system
If anybody wants a copy they are more than welcome.

Well I think you may have missed the point?

Most Conbuilder users/supporters are WELL aware of that You seem to overlook though that all support for this version was discontinued at the time it became payware?

I had the last freeware version too but had a few operational issues with it. When it became payware, and there's nothing wrong with that, it was developed further as I understand it? Personally I chose not to support that, not least because of the issues I'd had with the others utilities and add-ons I mentioned in my earlier post. Others chose to support the development by investing in the payware version. Personally the lack of continued support for the freeware version made it a non starter for me

What people are upset about is having chosen TO support the programme and its development and then being "dropped" (in it?) by the developer.

Telling them they can revert to an earlier freeware version is hardly likely to appease them now is it?

This isn't complicated. I bought a SKODA recently. It developed a minor fault and I contacted them. No worries "bring it in and we'll sort that out for you" .....and they did, and quickly ...and under guarantee. If they'd suggested that they weren't supporting current models and offered me one of the old rear engined rear wheeled drive models instead...... I'd have started laughing and looking for the hidden camera!!!

Individuals selling software may not have the resources of Skoda or be backed by other large organisations (as Skoda is by VW) , but they do have the same responsibilities to their customers. If you take people’s money you enter into a contract, and with that a whole different set of rules from freeware.

Personally I hope that development will continue, and the developer will look at the bigger picture with licences and the realities of piracy.

Geoff

I've given up hope of having a response.

Sad to say I will never contribute to another donation style program again - I did not pay for Conbuilder - I donated way before it went payware and was given a login to the private forum. The first few upgrades were OK but 3.3 never worked and 3.3.1 doesn't either. I can't get Joe to give me a 4.x upgrade despite his assurances that we are going to be supported.

I have sent a couple of donations for Route-Riter since after I first sent one Mike made major updates so I sent again. Never had an issue with Route-Riter.

Hi All,
This is a link to an old thread but I think it illistrates Joe's thought process.

http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... f#p1032624

Read past the unrelated replies.

Good luck
Doug

douglee wrote:Hi All,
This is a link to an old thread but I think it illistrates Joe's thought process.

Good luck
Doug

.....Ohh! A charm offensive? If I'd seen that I wouldn't have wasted time posting...

I have to agree with one quote though.... "I'm not a salesman..."

TOO RIGHT

Geoff