Protecting your purchases

[Death]

Since 2020, creators from all corners of Azeroth the world have uploaded their content, which has been enjoyed by thousands of servers. It was always the expectation that creators would provide updates and support for their files as long as possible, and for the most part, there's not been much of an issue. With now over 700 creators, it's become more common to see creators go MIA or flat-out discontinue files for whatever reason.

While there are certainly valid reasons to discontinue a file, we want to ensure it's done so correctly and not in a manner to deceive or defraud customers. Because of this, we've implemented a 6-month minimum expectation to provide ongoing support and updates from the date of publishing on files uploaded to our platform. This gives Codefling the ability to refund on behalf of the creator in the event they become MIA and ensures that if a file needs to be discontinued, they must either find an active maintainer or issue refunds to customers.

We've also granted Codefling a non-exclusive, perpetual, transferable license on all files uploaded. This allows us to maintain or assign a maintainer for abandoned files to reduce the amount of abandonware and protect our customers' investment. This also allows us to step in for creators in the event of emergencies where they cannot maintain their files for a temporary amount of time.

This new policy change won't change much. It's more of a formality, so we have something solid into writing in the event it happens, though it's pretty rare. These new terms expand the scope of expectations for both customers and creators to ensure everything runs smoothly for years to come. You can find these new policies here: https://codefling.com/creator

 

2 Year Warranty

For those seeking no compromises and who want to ensure their investment is protected for years to come, we've added a 2-year warranty on all purchases made with an active Codefling+ subscription. Files purchased with this subscription will be guaranteed for 2 years for both support and updates. If you purchase a file from the author that's still within its 6-month SLA period, the warranty will begin after that period.

In the event a file becomes abandoned or discontinued, Codefling will attempt to maintain or find a maintainer for the file. If this is not possible, we will issue a refund for the original purchase price into account credit. No hoops or hassles. If your subscription expires, purchases made while active will still be under warranty until it expires. However, we've added a few additional perks to ensure you get value out of the subscription even when not purchasing files!

You'll see the option at checkout if you're interested in the subscription, or you can get it here: https://codefling.com/subscriptions. To view the fine print, have a look at https://codefling.com/warranty and if you have any questions or feedback for us, please comment below!

[IIIaKa]

Wouldn't it be better to let authors decide for themselves?
Add a tag(similar to Carbon and Oxide support) indicating that only the author is responsible for maintaining the plugin's functionality. If the author is unavailable, Codefling would not assume the right or obligation to provide support. And when attempting to purchase a product that does not grant Codefling the right to support this plugin, the buyer will receive a warning stating that if the author disappears, no one will refund the money or provide support for the plugin.
After all, the right to intellectual property has not been abolished by anyone.

Edited Sunday at 10:52 AM by IIIaKa

[Death]

1 hour ago, IIIaKa said:

Wouldn't it be better to let authors decide for themselves?
Add a tag(similar to Carbon and Oxide support) indicating that only the author is responsible for maintaining the plugin's functionality. If the author is unavailable, Codefling would not assume the right or obligation to provide support. And when attempting to purchase a product that does not grant Codefling the right to support this plugin, the buyer will receive a warning stating that if the author disappears, no one will refund the money or provide support for the plugin.
After all, the right to intellectual property has not been abolished by anyone.

First, let me clarify a few things to eliminate any confusion:

2-year warranty - This is not something you have to worry about. This is out of our pocket and is something we'll handle on our end.

6-month SLA - Unlike the warranty, this starts at the time the file was submitted, not when a customer purchases. This is just a formality to allow us to issue refunds on your behalf if your file becomes broken and you're MIA (inactive for several months, not responding to our communications). This doesn't mean that once you're gone for x amount of time, we'll refund or take over your file. In fact the SLA is not long enough to realistically qualify for SLA due to inactivity. I hope this puts it in perspective for you.

Invoking SLA- If the file becomes broken or support requests become ignored and you're unreachable, we may opt to issue that customer a refund. This is not something new. We've done this from day 1, it's just now in writing. This rarely happens, just so you know.

Conclusion - Despite the scary language in these terms, it's just there to eliminate legal liability. Everything mentioned is things we've always done to ensure a positive outcome for all parties. Your IP is safe, just as it always has been.

[Nazzer]

Thank you, I have arranged that now

[dustyhansen]

3 hours ago, IIIaKa said:

Add a tag(similar to Carbon and Oxide support)

Yea, cause that tag works so well. Creators choose "no" because they don't like Carbon or don't want to support issues on Carbon servers, but the plugin actually works fine on Carbon. 

3 hours ago, IIIaKa said:

the buyer will receive a warning stating that if the author disappears, no one will refund the money or provide support for the plugin.

This is basically how it has always been on every site and it sucks because, contrary to what is said above, it happens more often than you think, but people just don't complain when the refund policy is "no".

I am currently tracking around 60 open bugs and getting barely any traction because of creators not responding. It has been very frustrating as a buyer and not every creator is as responsive as you.

 

I welcome the 6 month guarantee on new purchases, but the refund policy hasn't been updated and I don't see any customer policy that states how this is actually exercised, so I am skeptical. What steps have to be taken in order to exercise this guarantee? How is abandonment defined? How much of my time am I going to have to spend before I qualify? For example, if I have to open support tickets for each issue with the plugin and then follow-up on them for 3 months with no reply and then get in a 3-way DM argument with the creator and a moderator in order for it to be considered abandoned, then this isn't really that appealing to me. 

Since all 3 parties' definition of abandonment is likely very different, it should probably be spelled out more clearly.

[AvG Лаймон]

I think it will be very useful and will not harm the creators who honestly support their work.
Perhaps such a warranty policy will even attract more customers to our favorite CF.
Respect!