Michael is right. Like I mentioned, if their pricing model is working, then hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But at the same time... this is the internet. If you have 90% of all major forums online using vb.. threads will always be just a niche market, because most people are accustomed to vb and how it looks/feels, so they will never change their opinion.
I would think the biggest thing IP could do to retain the pricing scheme while helping promote the further growth of threads would be to offer existing users some sort of incentive. For example:
I would LOVE to use threads on all of my sites. I could think of about a half-dozen right now to use it on. But honestly.. can I afford 230 x 6 to get these running? Granted, I can get a small discount, but that still isn't enough to justify it. SO, what I would love to see is if as a threads user, on future purchases of threads, receive a bit of a hefty discount. On top of that, say I am running 6 or 8 threads, what happens when my year of upgrades is up? I have to pump out a ton of money to renew EACH license to the download area. Wouldn't it be nice if you pay the 125 dollars per year or what have you, and you can upgrade ALL of your threads licenses?
If we own one, why compound the fees across all licenses? I'm no marketing analyst, nor do I know of the current figures or future plans of IP, but again, as a threads user and someone who would love to see the product grow... I can't afford or keep up with how it is structured at this time.
I have a few sites for my family I use... I would love to use threads with IIP, but instead, I have to use phpBB because I can't see dropping that much money into such a small site. If I could get an additional license for say 100 bucks, I would already have about 10 threads licenses to use on my various sites. But instead I've had to resort to phpBB and a few licenses of vbulletin.
I'm rambling again.. but I guess the point I was trying to get at, is existing license holders should get a bit more incentive to purchase more licenses. Because we are free advertising for the product. If we can impliment more threads forums on the internet, it is positive reinforcement. More people will have to use threads, it becomes more popular, and it sells more licenses. You can't lose
