Hate to say it, but I agree 100%.

This is coming specifically as long time NI / Maschine user. As soon as NI was acquired by Francisco Partners, I saw the writing on the wall. I've worked as a developer for over 25 years and have experienced corporate acquisitions during that time. IMO, they are almost always never a good thing.

Investments firms bottom line is making money and in an already saturated market, it is unsustainable without cutting corners and cash grabs. The end users always gets left holding the bag and it's a real shame considering NI's history of innovation. End of an era.

 

I think you should just stop giving your money to investor-run companies.
This is a redistribution from the hardworking to the rich, or a redistribution from the bottom to the top.

ALTERNATIVES

1.) The KICKSTARTER project has a different philosophy and a completely different business model.

Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform that allows creatives and entrepreneurs to raise financial support for their projects.
272,919 funded projects | $8,536,543,543 contributions for creative work | 100,269,097 funding contributions

www.kickstarter.com/?ref=nav
www.kickstarter.com/projects/superlative/sb01-analog-synthesizer-of-the-future

2.) TubeOhm Instruments ---> www.tubeohm.com

Is a one-man company from Germany that sells hardware and software!
Also has synthesizers, drum machines and DIY (do it yourself) on offer.

3. What is BlueARP DM --> https://omg-instruments.com/wp/?page_id=52

BlueARP DM (DM stands for Desktop Module) is an advanced 8-channel pattern arpeggiator with a core derived from BlueARP plugin (which has been around since 2012). This is a result of 6 years of development (since 2016) and 1 year of beta-testing and fine-tuning. It is a boutique device, hand-manufactured in small quantities. Currently available in two colors: semi-transparent blue and white with black engravings:

 

The last main purchase I made from NI was when upgraded to a Maschine MK3 in 2017. Since then I've bought a handful of expansion packs but I havent purchased anything from them post-pandemic and dont plan to moving forward. Ive been a die hard Maschine user for 13 years and have made peace with what it can and cant do. As much as there are features that I would love to see added to Maschine, I wont hold my breath and I certainly wont let that stop me from making music.

I still use Maschine everyday, even with all of its flaws... its just that good. I can live without any other updates to Maschine, I've been doing it long enough, so if any update happens it's simply icing on the cake for me at this point. But I wont continue to support a company that can not support its products or or its customers.

 

Future drum machine users, even those not yet born to you, will probably also read reviews and user opinions, as well as this forum, and buy a different drum machine from a different company because of the many negative reviews.

I would have done exactly as you did! I also have plugins from companies that no longer exist - there are no more updates. A good example is: The manufacturer of the Surge VSTi released its Surge at the time and the Surge team really did their best and did it for free.

Some software manufacturers have made their software available for free download because there is no longer any demand for their plugins. That's also a good move.

Unfortunately, you could do a lot more if you developed other business models, for example on a donation basis or by joining forces.

Today I see some plugins that sound good and look terrible and plugins that look great but sound bad. I really like the company U-HE and they are good value for money.

 

Although I applaud the sentiment to support independent boutique companies, you're also at the mercy of them folding and no longer supporting a product you may have sunk your heard earned euros/quids/dollars into.

Example:

From that very link:

Announcement

All sales will be discontinued from 01.01.2025.
I would like to thank my customers for their loyalty over the years and hope that you had a lot of fun with my instruments.
Maybe I will write a few more software synthesisers. Maybe Freeware or Demos.
This will then be published on KVR.
The site will remain online for the time being as the circuit diagrams and information may still be required.

 

cash grabs?

 

old story...they are dead to most of us
maschine was the last so so...
masterkeyboard may be ok for nowadays plastic standarts
softwarewise to me molekular was last thingy a bit living up the old NI vibe
i hate pseudo berliners eh eh...feckn pseudo hippsters shitting in their own bedroom for....
there plenty of rand threads for NI on asex...

 

Thank you @FrankPig for the update!

 

I agree with your opinion too.

I first got NI Kontakt Player in 2023, but my account couldn't be verified so I contacted the support center.
He then told me, "There's a problem with your account." I had no idea what to do, so I asked him, "Then what should I do?" and he said, "We'll check if the account that you claim belongs to is yours, so please send us your ID. "I was told.
I've been avoiding this kind of incomprehensible response so I've been avoiding it all the time.
(But I'm thinking of trying again this year.)

NI is a fishy company...