UPDATE [15 MARCH 2023 / 10:58 am ]: I My brain was mush when I typed this lol, I initially mentioned about CSP upgrade that cost 40 USD would come with access to features that’ll last a year but it’s not. You can buy EX 2.0 upgrade but it won’t come with that access so you willl have to subscribe to th EX Update Pass to get them tch.

I’m very disappointed.

…and annoyed.

This is old news as I knew of CSP’s crappy subscription plan months ago when they announced it but I was hoping that they’d backtrack on it in the last minute given how there was a huge uproar in the artist community when the announcement came but alas, they did not. >_>

Gods, I despise capitalism with all my heart.

So I bought CSP EX years ago, the one time purchase/perpetual license which cost like almost 200 USD so it’s quite insulting that they’re offering their upgrade at a high price of 40 USD. They call it a discount but …I dunno what world they live in where 40 USD is a low price for license owners. They’re supposed to be a free upgrade for us license owners in the first place.

And that’s not even the worst part. You will buy the upgrade with that high amount but future features won’t be accessible so you have to buy and subscribe to the EX Update Pass (separately) which is an annual ticket to get those. A yearly pass that fucking costs 29 USD a year! (plus tax)

THEN WHAT WAS THE FUCKING POINT OF A ONE TIME LICENSE?!

AND 30 USD a year basically! FUCKIN’ MADNESS!

And here are the features of v2 which ngl, are not even worth the price imho.

The friggin’ head 3d model, hand pose scanner. I’m going to be harsh and say that these are so fucking useless. 40 USD, my arse.

I don’t care if people are going to go “oh but this makes art so efficient and fast” like no, these are CRUTCHES. It’s a pain to learn how to draw heads from different angles but it is much more efficient to reference and use your skills for drawing heads rather than relying on a 3d head model.

Same with the hands.

And yes, hands are difficult and hard, but you have to learn how to draw them. They’re such major keys to body language that relying on a 3d model all the time is avoiding a weakness.

And if you need a reference from different angles and poses, just use the handy app, lol. (That’s what I use for referencing hands and heads.)

It costs like 2 USD and that’s a one time payment app. Much more reliable, and easily customisable compared to that CSP hand scanner which is going to even take more time because it relies on whatever angle you do on the computer’s camera.

It’s fine to use 3d models as an aid but they shouldn’t be a fucking crutch for artists to avoid tackling their weaknesses. And this version is just….adding more crutches.

hmm…Multiple layer Liquify tool…..I don’t even use the liquify tool tbh, lol.

There are some other features but…they’re not exactly worth it.

There was also one thing that left me fuming.

they reduced my gold coins to zero.

I have a gold membership so I pay 20 USD to get 2000 gold coins wherein 200 of those coins would be deducted monthly so I can get 1500 Clip points (CP) every month. I had 1070 gold coins left and now it’s zero. I hope it’s a bug but I doubt it. And if it’s not a bug, which I am definitely sure it isn’t, this is really fucking scummy of them to get rid of the stuff I paid for as a member.

(I’d probably get them back if I update it probably which is still scummy.)

ugh.

And despite all my complaints, FOMO has me thinking of buying the Update Pass because I might miss the “new features” or whatever CSP is shitting out and my insecure self fears about being left out, everybody be getting a V2 while I’m stuck with V1.

but at the same time, i just don’t think it’s worth paying 30 USD a year for it.

Also FOMO is a trap. a marketing tactic.

And after all, in art, it’s the results that matter.

I mean, V1 has everything I need. It has all the brushes I could have, decent 3d tools, convenient screentoning and speech bubbles, frames…

And it’s like…how many features will they add every year to make it worth 30 USD?

I’m from the global south so this is a high amount which is why even if I kinda want to update it, I can’t, especially atm. (I’m already paying for this blog )

I’ll probably be using v1 until it can no longer function.

sigh.

CSP is so goddamn greedy, ugh.

But that is to be expected with capitalism, sadly. Everything is getting turned into a subscription based service. Owning nothing under this extremely exploitative, profit driven system, tch.

Ahh Paint Tool SAI..You’re our only hope… illustration-wise.