MC cannot start if there is no internet

Questions about MultiCharts and user contributed studies.
ppan
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MC cannot start if there is no internet

Postby ppan » 16 Mar 2008

The MC cannot start when there is no internet connected. Is it a bug? There is no such problem in v2.1. How to solve this problem?

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Andrew Kirillov
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Postby Andrew Kirillov » 17 Mar 2008

It is not a bug. MultiCharts connects to our server for authorization. It always worked this way.

Nick
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Postby Nick » 17 Mar 2008

Might I suggest you give a couple of days grace (if MC can not authorise within that period then shut down). Sometimes people might want to look at some longer term charts while travelling or work on studies while disconnected.

Cheers.

sylfvdk
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Postby sylfvdk » 17 Mar 2008

Dear MC Support.

Sorry for asking this question, but what happens if TSSupport is out if business?!

Does it mean that all existing clients, who paid life time licence, will not be able to use MC any more?

Thanks
Victor

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ABC
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Postby ABC » 17 Mar 2008

Victor,

good question, but I am pretty sure that if this should ever happen, TSSupport will find a way for their customers in advance. You can be very sure of that, because they really care for their customers and this would even continue if they'd switch their business.

Best regards,
ABC

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TJ
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Postby TJ » 17 Mar 2008

or what happens if the MC server is down? then nobody can trade?


There used to be a 5 day grace period with the other version. Has that been changed?

aljafp
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Postby aljafp » 17 Mar 2008

This is ridiculous !!!!!

Please address the relevant issues that have been pointed out in this thread

1. What if MC goes out of business... how will our lifetime licenses work ?
2. What if MC server is down ?
3. What if connection to MC server is down ? while some of us by right should still be able to trade if our brokers and markets are not in the same geographic location ?
4. What if i run MC behind some corporate firewall that blocks your server ?

Come on MC !!! i expected you guys to do better than this !!

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Postby ppan » 18 Mar 2008

Why a registered MultiCharts need to have authorization to run EACH TIME?
It is not fair to the user because it will create more RISK in trading.

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Postby Fabrice Daniel » 18 Mar 2008

I asked that question before to buy MC (in the purpose of working during travel, on train for example, or from a place where internet isn't available), you replied me "Yes you can" ... And now you say "no you can't" ... TS allow to open the software in offline mode for 30 days before it's necessary to renew the authorization ...

Please introduce the same mechanism. And avoid the same bug than TS ... when the automatic clock sync (via internet) was enabled, TS doesn't allow you to open the software when you are offline (he detect a clock modification occurs, so he blocked until you authorise again opening in online mode).

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Andrew Kirillov
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Postby Andrew Kirillov » 18 Mar 2008

I'm sure that many of you do understand software piracy is huge problem. We have to have some protection measures. I do understand that it contradicts users freedom and interest.

We are not going to go out of business! At the same time you should understand that environment changes so rapidly that such products like MultiCharts will be worthless in several months without support since data feeds, brokers and other change their system and we must adopt it constantly.
Our servers have been up for many years so it is unlikely it will be down.
I agree that we must make several days time out for those who want to work offline. However in reality you are online 99% of time, because you need real-time.

P.S. i will elucidate a question and get back with more detailed information.

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Andrew Kirillov
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Postby Andrew Kirillov » 18 Mar 2008

Update!
I was wrong as well as comments of the first poster.
MultiCharts do work in offline time specific time period.
So all concerns are groundless!

aljafp
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Postby aljafp » 19 Mar 2008

I'm sure that many of you do understand software piracy is huge problem. We have to have some protection measures. I do understand that it contradicts users freedom and interest.

We are not going to go out of business! At the same time you should understand that environment changes so rapidly that such products like MultiCharts will be worthless in several months without support since data feeds, brokers and other change their system and we must adopt it constantly.
Our servers have been up for many years so it is unlikely it will be down.
I agree that we must make several days time out for those who want to work offline. However in reality you are online 99% of time, because you need real-time.

P.S. i will elucidate a question and get back with more detailed information.
What if i work with a feed like say patsystems or bloomberg and the corporate trading environment that i work in do not allow internet connections to other servers ?... i.e the firewall blocks other servers ?
And what if its the corporate security policy to disallow other servers ?

Don't say you will never go out of business... it is irresponsible to say that, Bear Stearns was trading at 60USD just 1 week ago !!!

Even if "MultiCharts do work in offline time specific time period".
This is still wrong !!!
Since there is no way you can address the 2 concerns i just pointed out !!!!

I really feel cheated.. my permanent license don't feel so permanent anymore,
if i had known this was the implementation earlier, i would have never bought this piece of software !!!!

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Andrew Kirillov
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Postby Andrew Kirillov » 19 Mar 2008

Aljafp,
If you feel cheated we can return your money and disable your MC account.
It looks like you bought MC license for $99 or $399. Right? If you didn't notice we serve our customers and I'm sure we do much more than you paid us. We analyze and answer ALL questions. Most of questions are out of our scope, but we do it anyway to help our customers.
If you think that you made "multi-million" investment and want to have 100% protection from any possible future event then try to find it in other place.

Again I'm sure MultiCharts and our team already made much more than what you paid.
I never head any complains about corporate firewalls, because we use standard 443 port (http) to authorize.

It feels all you are criticizing us without obvious reason. I got this feeling when looked thru your posts.
Please contact our helpdesk to refund and get your money back. We want you to feel happy.
BTW. There is the US law that allow to crack software if company goes of business to protect exist customers

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Andrew Kirillov
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Postby Andrew Kirillov » 19 Mar 2008

Aljafp,
If you feel cheated we can return your money and disable your MC account.
It looks like you bought MC license for $99 or $399. Right? If you didn't notice we serve our customers and I'm sure we do much more than you paid us. We analyze and answer ALL questions. Most of questions are out of our scope, but we do it anyway to help our customers.
If you think that you made "multi-million" investment and want to have 100% protection from any possible future event then try to find it in other place.

Again I'm sure MultiCharts and our team already made much more than what you paid.
I never head any complains about corporate firewalls, because we use standard 443 port (http) to authorize.

It feels ayou are criticizing us without obvious reason. I got this feeling when looked thru your posts.
Please contact our helpdesk to request refund and get your money back. We want you to feel happy.
BTW. There is the US law that allow to crack software if company goes of business to protect exist customers

aljafp
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Postby aljafp » 19 Mar 2008

Aljafp,
If you feel cheated we can return your money and disable your MC account.
It looks like you bought MC license for $99 or $399. Right?
How much i paid for the software doesn't matter, are you saying someone who paid $899 has more rights to ask questions than someone who paid $99 ?.... The customers who paid $99 or $399 provided payments to MC in its infancy. In return for paying less, we provided our time to help you guys test out the software and iron out issues. We also help promote your software to other users and help you guys built up a customer base.
If you didn't notice we serve our customers and I'm sure we do much more than you paid us. We analyze and answer ALL questions. Most of questions are out of our scope, but we do it anyway to help our customers.
Which i do appreciate
If you think that you made "multi-million" investment and want to have 100% protection from any possible future event then try to find it in other place.
I am not asking for 100% protection from any future events.. i never said that.. but i just want to be able to use the software i bought.
Again I'm sure MultiCharts and our team already made much more than what you paid.
I never head any complains about corporate firewalls, because we use standard 443 port (http) to authorize.
Corporate firewalls don't just block ports, what if the proxy server blocks your server ? And what if its the corporate policy to disable HTTP connections to other servers ?
It feels ayou are criticizing us without obvious reason. I got this feeling when looked thru your posts.
Please contact our helpdesk to request refund and get your money back. We want you to feel happy.
BTW. There is the US law that allow to crack software if company goes of business to protect exist customers
Getting refunds is not the solution.
It is not fair for you to ask customers to bugger off after they have spend time and effort learning and using your software. Especially first generation customers.
I have thousands of lines of easylanguage code are you asking me to switch softwares now ? But remember, you guys have made it impossible to export easylanguage codes into ELD or even Text formats.
No amount of money can compensate me for my efforts.

IF you think this is the best way to do things, why don't you put information of this implemenation on your website under "System Requirements" ?
I can assure you a lot of potential customers will ask the same questions raise in this thread, some may even be put off.

Your customers raise valid questions about this implementation.
And you should address them objectively.
Saying things like "Multicharts is not going to go out of business!" is not an answer... Bear sterns was trading at 60USD last week and look at where it is now ? As a trader, i never say never.

We raise concerns because we see flaws in the implementation, trust me, existing customers will not want MC to go out of business.

How does your competitors handle this issue ?
Piracy is a valid concern, but you should not do it at the uncomfort of geniune customers.

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gautama2
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Postby gautama2 » 20 Mar 2008

I know that software developers have really problems with people cracking software more sooner than later and if they do not protect themselves, they cannot run their business long enough to support their life time customers as long enough as they expect.

And if you run a business model with restricted licences, you have to make sure, that the software is protected. The only way to ensure it is an online check i think. Everything else can be cracked very fast as it must be coded inside the soft. Even hardware dongles are not safe.

So lifetime licences are to see over the lifetime of the developer and not the owner, as software depends too much on the developer :)

Nothing lasts forever and maybe its possible that life time customers get a version without restriction if TSSupport closes its doors for whatever reason.
Then its up to the customers how long they are able to run the soft in changing environment. At least one can backtest his database with his own formulas, as they represent also a lot of work over the years.

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MC_Prog
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Access to MC

Postby MC_Prog » 20 Mar 2008

... that environment changes so rapidly that such products like MultiCharts will be worthless in several months without support since data feeds, brokers and other change their system and we must adopt it constantly.
This is a valid point for realtime trading and "up to this moment" analysis, but not represented is the fact that users may have good reasons to run old software versions (against old cache data, or imported ASCII data) for their own testing and historical analysis purposes.

A truly lifetime license, from the customer POV, would mean that they will always be able to run the version(s) they are licensed for, even when offline, in perpetuity. (Even if the company folds, their gov't censors the internet, an undersea cable breaks, etc., etc.)

OTOH, if "lifetime license" means lifetime of the developer and his servers, so be it, but that should be made clear upfront.

For many people, there is a significant difference in value between software that definitely will run, always and forever, and software that may or may not run at some future point dependent upon various unforeseeable conditions of either a temporary or permanent nature.

If your "lifetime license" is really a "lifetime* license", then advertising and promotion should reflect that. It's a business decision to go one way or the other, but the true facts should always be crystal clear.

On a different point - I will say that not being able to run the program today, in historical analysis mode, against data I've already pulled, just because I don't have an internet connection right now (for any of many reasons) strikes me as a major impediment.

Please keep in mind that people use the software in different ways, incl. offline analysis as well as online streaming and trading.

I support the idea of 30 (or even 60 or 90 days) of enablement since the last successful server connection.

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Andrew Kirillov
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Postby Andrew Kirillov » 20 Mar 2008

I agree with most all have said.
Let me sum up.
1. MultiCharts supports offline mode for 30 days now. I’ve consulted to our development team.
2. If we go out of business we release a patch for all registered users to avoid any possible problems.
3. If somebody has problems with firewalls please contact our helpdesk.

brodnicki steven
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Postby brodnicki steven » 20 Mar 2008

I agree with most all have said.
Let me sum up.
1. MultiCharts supports offline mode for 30 days now. I’ve consulted to our development team.
2. If we go out of business we release a patch for all registered users to avoid any possible problems.
3. If somebody has problems with firewalls please contact our helpdesk.
Is there some kind of count down timer that tells the user how many offline days are left before a re-connect is necessary ?

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Andrew Kirillov
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Postby Andrew Kirillov » 21 Mar 2008

No, it just works for 30 days...

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Andrew Kirillov
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Postby Andrew Kirillov » 21 Mar 2008

No, it just works for 30 days...


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