ORK Framework 2’s update policy changed in September 2018.
ORK 2’s previous update policy was to provide free updates to everyone with a valid license, without any time limitations. This changed with the release of ORK Framework 2.18.0 in September 2018 due to the costs of providing such a long-time service.
You might not like this (and neither do I), but it’s sadly a necessary step to be able to keep developing and supporting ORK Framework.
New Update Policy
From now on purchasing a license of ORK Framework grants you access to updates for at least 1 year – e.g. if you purchased ORK on 2018-05-01, you’ll get free updates at least until 2019-05-01. This doesn’t mean that you’ll stop getting updates after a year, as this only happens when a paid update is released, which happend only once so far (in 2018, after 4-5 years of free upates). There are currently no further paid updates planned for the remaining of ORK 2’s lifecycle.
There are 2 ways to get further ORK updates after you no longer receive them:
- Upgrade to the new ORK Framework asset in the Unity Asset Store.
- Pledge $25 or more on Patreon to gain access to the release versions.
You’re still allowed to use your purchased ORK license in any case, even without getting further updates. See details on the different update paths below.
Unity Asset Store
Until Unity provides the means to set up yearly subscriptions for asset providers, the update cycle in the Asset Store will be handled as follows:
- The current ORK Framework asset will be deprecated and replaced by a new asset every 12 to 18 months (i.e. every 1 to 1.5 years).
- A grace period of 180 days allows everyone who purchased within that time to freely upgrade to the new asset.
- Everyone who purchased before 180 days of the new asset’s release can contact me to get updates until their free update time runs out.
- If you’ve purchased your license over a year ago, you need to upgrade or purchase a new license to get access to the new asset/updates.
Upgrade options in the Asset Store should be available on the new ORK Framework asset page when you’re logged in and owned a previous version of ORK Framework.
Upgrading will only cost $50 (i.e. 50%) of a new license purchase.
Don’t forget to include your Asset Store order/invoice number when contacting me for your updates!
Patreon
As said, pledging $25 or more on Patreon will grant you access to release versions (i.e. the same versions that are available in the Asset Store). However, getting updates through Patreon still requires you to have a valid license, even if the purchase has been over a year ago.
Updating through Patreon is for people who want to show their extraordinary support or don’t want to upgrade or purchase another license each year and rather selectively get an update with things they need. It’s probably best if you just want to update to the latest version once every year.
Also, pledging on Patreon is a monthly subscription, so don’t forget to remove your pledge before it is automatically renewed!