Why People Complain About Registration Key Not Working

[rivey]

I for one am getting very tired of posts that pop up about the first of every month that the temp registration key has expired and they can't use the program for a few days unless they reset their system clock. When I first started to use this great program last year, it was clearly stated that the registration key only lasted for a short while and I would have to get the new one when it was available to continue to use the program. Well before the end of that month, I spent the $50.00 and purchased the key. For this reason, I never have to worry about getting a new key. That, however, is not why I purchased the key. After using the program for a short while and ripping my existing blu-ray discs, I knew that I would continue to use the program. For that reason I felt that the only ethical thing to do would be to purchase the key. When you consider that the key only costs the equivalent of two UHD discs, it is then not a hardship to buy the key. If you are only going to rent Redbox or other companies movies and then rent them, then you are committing a form of piracy. This is not right or ethical and you should change your ways.

Excuse my rant, but I am just tired of seeing people complaining about the reg key issue every month and not just stepping up the the plate and buying a key. If you are buying discs, then you should be able to buy the key. I apologize if I have offended anyone, but this needed to be said.

[Grauhaar]

+1 Well said!

[DracIsBack]

I can definitely understand where this frustration comes from. This product is very incredible at helping people back up DVD collections to play in a digital world and I use it all the time.

I also have a career in software and i've personally seen what happens when sales don't meet expectations and the developer or company simply can't continue on the product or people get laid off as a result. So i'm very anti-piracy.

Not to excuse the complaining, but to give another perspective. Numerous times, I myself have paid handsome fees to support beta software as well as purchase independent software also I can think of at least three incidents where the software had almost no "shelf life" once I paid for it. the app stopped working, became unstable, fixes never came, support was never provided and money was basically flushed down the toilet.

So you are taking a risk at times and this is why I personally am a bit resistant to paying for software when it's still in beta. Just me personally, your mileage may very and I'm absolutely not trying to say that MakeMKV is going to be like what happened to me in these previous instances. Just giving my perspective.

[rivey]

I can definitely understand where this frustration comes from. This product is very incredible at helping people back up DVD collections to play in a digital world and I use it all the time.

I also have a career in software and i've personally seen what happens when sales don't meet expectations and the developer or company simply can't continue on the product or people get laid off as a result. So i'm very anti-piracy.

Not to excuse the complaining, but to give another perspective. Numerous times, I myself have paid handsome fees to support beta software as well as purchase independent software also I can think of at least three incidents where the software had almost no "shelf life" once I paid for it. the app stopped working, became unstable, fixes never came, support was never provided and money was basically flushed down the toilet.

So you are taking a risk at times and this is why I personally am a bit resistant to paying for software when it's still in beta. Just me personally, your mileage may very and I'm absolutely not trying to say that MakeMKV is going to be like what happened to me in these previous instances. Just giving my perspective.

While I understand how you feel and why, if you are ripping your DVD and Blu-ray collection, and plan to buy more disc's as most of us do, then the value of the program should be clear. The other programs that are available, also cost money and are much more expensive. To add more perspective, whenever a new disc comes out, and the dump file is sent to Mike, within a few days to a week, a new hack file is released that includes that disc. To me, that shows a commitment to this product that deserves our support. As previously stated, if you can afford to buy UHD discs or even blu-ray discs, you should be able to afford the $50.00.

I also have been stung by software that was not supported properly. It does not feel very good but I don't let it stop me from doing the right thing. If I am going to use a software package that can be used for free and I find value in it, I will buy the supported license. It is my way of supporting a product that I like and use. If more people would do this, we would probably see fewer programs go unsupported. I personally consider it an ethical and moral responsibility.

Just something to think about.

Bob Ivey

[TheTerrorBeyond]

Well said!

Just buy the program and the problem is solved... and the developer is motivated to work on future development.

[Funkycow]

Well said!

Just buy the program and the problem is solved... and the developer is motivated to work on future development.

Spot on....
I used it for a while with the free key but as it's a great little piece of software I bought it. $50 is nothing to put all my BD and UHD on home server to keep the original discs safe and to keep Mike doing great work with it

[laserkid]

I've been using it with the free key for an embarrassingly long time, but I registered today just to say I bought it, this software has been, and continues to be supremely useful.

I don't think there's any shame in using the free key, it's there to be used, and I used it for more than a few years to rip a ridiculously huge library of discs.

I'm very late to the paid for it side, but it is totally worth paying for because I can now say I put support back into software that's been invaluable to me for years.

[timeshifter]

> I for one am getting very tired of posts that pop up about the first of every month that the temp registration key has expired and they can't use the program for a few days unless they reset their system clock.

Ignore it - you're not the writer of the software nor administrator of the forums.

Clearly the situation is by design and creates that little bit of irritation every 60 days like a grain of sand in an oyster, which generates the pearl of another license purchase. Along with that comes a little bit of noise. Spend your energy encouraging a new license user, not complaining about temp key posts.

It worked on me. Registered user here. I finally got over my reluctance of using an unfamiliar (to me) online payment processor and the lack of payment options (I prefer intermediaries like PayPal to shield my payment info online rather than giving it directly, but they won't support purchase of this software). I hope I won't regret it. Mike would do well to expand the payment options a bit to include more 'modern' solutions, like Apple Pay, Google Pay etc. In the long run that would probably result in more license purchases, rather than the reaction I had: "WTF is Avangate? Why is Paypal listed on the MakeMKV buy page, but is not an option on the checkout page?"

[d00zah]

Although the general air of entitlement in these cases kinda bugs me, it's really the unwillingness of anyone to use search to see if this has ever happened before that sticks in my craw. It's not like there aren't hundreds (understated, yes) of examples... and every 2 months there are MANY more such posts.

Buy a license if you value the tool, & in the name of all that's holy, please learn to search!!!

There, I feel better now.

We now return to our scheduled programming...

[Woodstock]

Hmmm.... /buy/ no longer mentions PayPal, so Mike must have cleaned that up. It's been a few years since PP did their "we won't support piracy software" war dance...

[phixx]

I totally get the point. It's a nice piece of software and developer(s) deserve their outcome. (Although 50 Bucks is quite pricey for a tool, but I do not want to start that discussion). In fact, I also write software for a living.

But, you can see it also from a different view: I have read the postings, and for me they didn't feel like complains, rather bug reports or help requests. It's stated in the forum, that "MakeMKV is free while in beta", so it is totally normal to assume something is not working as designed, which satisfies for a bug request. Seems that you expect from each user to understand that this isses are intentional to urge people buying a commercial license, and to develop some kind of remorse not having paid already.

If it's free, it should be free. Then you should not give users a bad feeling if they are not paying.

In fact I got to this project while looking for a *free* BD ripper. If MakeMKV would not have stated to be free, I would have ended up at some other software. This regular registration issues already were slightly irritating. In combination with discussions like this, the whole thing doesn't look honest for me. I really think mike should update his "free" statement and clarify that there will be key shortages to stimulate sells.

[spl147]

we it's quite easy to justify the price, if you Purchase 2 discs and they become scratched (no longer playable and must be replaced) the tool is paid for! the people whining about the keys and the tool being to expensive are the people renting discs to rip or downloading! either way, just buy the damn software!!!!!

how long do you need to trial it? 1 key is long enough for sure!!!

[d00zah]

Additionally, the ongoing support to keep up with new protection schemes, add new features, etc. ought be part of the calculus... but seldom seems to be. $50 really is short money.

[phixx]

the people whining about the keys and the tool being to expensive are the people renting discs to rip or downloading!

I don't like your style of making accusations about people you dont really know, you should really reconsider your attitude.

[d00zah]

the people whining about the keys and the tool being to expensive are the people renting discs to rip or downloading!

I don't like your style of making accusations about people you dont really know, you should really reconsider your attitude.

While they may have better served the discussion by prefacing the statement with 'Some of...', it's probably not a stretch & may strike a nerve with some.

I don't entirely agree with your rationale, but you are entitled to it & the forum is open to voice it.

Can we agree that 'a number of individuals', every ~2 months, seem to express some amount of frustration about the inconvenience of not having access to a tool they use for free, for a few days?

Or that they feel blind-sided by an event that has occurred every ~2 months, with 44 pages of hits searching 'expired key', dating back to 2009?

It's clear there is plenty of frustration to go around...