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RE: [Virtools] Token System

Hi,

As a Virtools employee responsible for all things related to services and
support, I'd like to explain our view on that issue a little bit.

Support:
=========
Our goal is to provide the best possible support to our users. As we have
limited resource, we can only sustain a quality support by controlling how
we help users. That is, we must ensure that we sort questions before
answering (otherwise we just don't have enough time to answer them all). To
do that, we have several possibilities. First, try to redirect all the 'read
the manual' questions to FAQ. Then answer questions coming from customers
(before answering those coming from 'spectators', if you like). Then, find
ways to answer questions from people evaluating the technology (for that we
have forums).

I think you get the idea: it's a matter of efficiency. We are forced to sort
filter/sort the questions in order to provide appropriate answers. The token
idea is not really about generating revenue, it's about encouraging our
users to make a good use of e-mail support. Consider the tech support guys
here: if they have to browse through 200 questions like 'how do I know which
graphics card I have on my PC' to find your very technical question, there's
no chance that you'll have the right answer in a decent delay. I hope you
understand this perspective.

However, as this token system is newly installed, it might happen that a
token is withdrawn from your account for a question you feel should be part
of free support (for instance, an installation problem). In that case, we
recommend that you let us know, so that we can find a solution. Please trust
that we are trying our best, and when we fail, just let us know so we can
improve.

So, the token idea is not about the money, it's about ensuring quality.
Please not that we have support solutions for all users: from free support
through forums, faq and this mailing list, to dedicated training,
professional services, consulting and follow-up including in the GOLD
package.


Documentation:
==============
Virtools comes with 200-or-so pages user guide to help you get started. On
top of that, for more advanced users, there is a 700 pages online reference
guide, a set of sample compositions, tutorials with videos, media libraries,
SDK 'chm' files, source code for most behaviors, source code for a sample
executable, etc...

So, it might not be the ultimate documentation, but we can't let people say
that there is no documentation coming with Dev2. Again, this mailing list is
also a way to get feedback from you, and get a better idea of what we need
to improve (and "there's no doc" won't help much, whereas constructive
criticism will).

Last but not least:
===================
It seems that some of you have found better solutions than Dev 2, cheaper
and easier to use. Then why don't you just buy them?  :)

Ok, I just thought I had to write this to give our position on these topics.
I just felt I couldn't let comments I consider unfair unanswered. Consider
it an invitation to constructive discussion.

On behalf of the Virtools team members
(who are hard at work on making the best possible software, and I think some
readers could testify on it;-).

Best,

Francois Dujardin

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