TGC2019 Upgrade for SkyTrak?

[IowaCat89]

New SkyTrak user here. I would like to buy the TGC Single Purchase (lifetime) plan and the receive the upgraded TGC2019 Single Purchase for free when it becomes available (as described in the link). That would allow me to fall back on the TGC if the TGC2019 is buggy. When I read though the info on this site, ProTee United claims that I can do this, but it is not clear to me that it is applicable to SkyTrak owners since you have to buy through SkyTrak directly. I called SkyTrak and talked to customer service and they could not tell me anything about TGC2019.

Does anyone understand the relationship between SkyTrak and TGC, ProTee United, and Rapsodo? It seems like they are all connected somehow, but it appears that SkyTrak has control of everything related to SkyTrak. For example, SkyTrak might decide that TGC2019 will never be offered on a SkyTrak system, and there would be nothing that anyone could do about it. Is that correct? If SkyTrak does offer TGC2019 in the near future, say in March, could a purchase of TGC now simply mean that I have to buy TGC2019 at the later date for the full price?

I absolutely am not willing to spend $795 for an old piece of software that will be replaced in the near future, forcing me to pay some unknown amount at that later date. I can't imagine that anyone thinks that is reasonable. I also can't imagine why the customer service folks at SkyTrak know nothing about TGC2019, but they claim they don't. Am I being unreasonable?

[bs531]

Check out this post, especially posts 12.4 and 14, from ProTee. It will be free for SkyTrak users who purchased in 2018/2019


https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum...o-free-upgrade

[IowaCat89]

Check out this post, especially posts 12.4 and 14, from ProTee. It will be free for SkyTrak users who purchased in 2018/2019


https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum...o-free-upgrade

Thanks for the response. I have read that info a number of times and am still uncertain what it says. Post 12.4 says the upgrade policy is for everyone, but it is my understanding that I can't purchase the SkyTrak version from ProTee in the first place. If I could simply go to ProTee and get the software I would be confident that the ProTee upgrade policy would be relevant. However, when SkyTrak is the exclusive vendor of the software that I need, why would they honor ProTee's upgrade policy?

Part of my confusion is that I simply don't understand the relationship between these different companies. I assume ProTee expected SkyTrak to offer TGC2, but it never happened. Couldn't TGC2019 be a similar situation? I don't want to seem obtuse, but wasting $795 would really ruin my day!.

[calebm1001]

I just (30minutes ago) spent the $795 after reading a shit load of comments here essentially referencing the same comments from Pro-Tee. I’m betting on them giving us the upgrade for free or heavily discounted. I hope I’m right or I’ll be sure to write my reviews and be sure to let the sim community know how I feel about skytrak and protee business practices.

[Spacecowboy60]

I bought TGC back in Late December banking on the free upgrade. hopefully it comes thru. Have issue with TGC too. keeps freezing up after 5 holes, then when I reconnect my guest players are gone.

[JacobM21]

I've had the same issue when playing with friends. Best advice so far is to connect the skytrak via USB. Network play seems to have some kind of issues. Drawback on that is when I've played connected via USB, I've noticed A LOT more misreads.

[IowaCat89]

I get the impression that the communications on TGC2019 is much more advanced, so I'm hoping that issues like that go away. That's why spending $795 without confidence in the upgrade is so hard for me to do, thus I started this thread. Any new piece of complicated software is likely to need a few revisions to get the bugs out, so having the original TGC to fall back on seems perfect. I hope someone from SkyTrak (I see lot's of references to someone named Seth?) weighs in on this and gives us a final answer so that we can make an informed decision. I've yet to find a thread where SkyTrak confirms that the upgrade path will be economical for recent purchasers. Maybe it's here and I just can't find it, I am kinda new to this sim stuff.

[petroche]

I sent request to protee at the weekend asking them to confirm whether or not SkyTrak users have to deal with SkyTrak or protee when upgrading from TGC to TGC2019. If I receive a reply I will post it. It might help if others send the same question to protee.

[Fhacker]

For what it's worth, I have skytrak and tgc1. I also was chosen for alpha testing 2019. That download came direct from Protee and skytrak/sky golf had no involvement whatsoever. So based on this, here are my thoughts. For new TGC buys skytrak obviously has to be involved, and I am sure they share in it from a revenue standpoint. But for those with the free upgrade, there is no new money, so there is nothing to share. And skytrak already gets $100 a year to play any simulator software. For them to charge anything for this upgrade, when the software developer is not, would be a bad PR move for them, IMO. It would be like your computer manufacturer charging u for a software upgrade from Microsoft.

[IowaCat89]

For what it's worth, I have skytrak and tgc1. I also was chosen for alpha testing 2019. That download came direct from Protee and skytrak/sky golf had no involvement whatsoever. So based on this, here are my thoughts. For new TGC buys skytrak obviously has to be involved, and I am sure they share in it from a revenue standpoint. But for those with the free upgrade, there is no new money, so there is nothing to share. And skytrak already gets $100 a year to play any simulator software. For them to charge anything for this upgrade, when the software developer is not, would be a bad PR move for them, IMO. It would be like your computer manufacturer charging u for a software upgrade from Microsoft.

That's an interesting perspective. If ProTee is the developer of the software (like Microsoft) and SkyTrak is the hardware vendor (like Dell), why would I need to buy the TGC from SkyTrak, and why would I need to pay them $100 a year for permission to use the software? The relationship must be a little different than that example. Maybe it's more like a Jailbroken iPhone? You pay $100 per year for SkyTrak to "Jailbreak" the unit for 3rd party software. However, in this case the 3rd party software is marketed exclusively by SkyTrak per an agreement. Now that a new software program is available, ProTee and SkyTrak must reach an agreement on how it will be sold (which is kind of what the other thread indicates). If an arrangement has been reached, it seems strange that customer service at SkyTrak claims they know nothing about it or even if the TGC2019 will be available.

[simmb]

That's an interesting perspective. If ProTee is the developer of the software (like Microsoft) and SkyTrak is the hardware vendor (like Dell), why would I need to buy the TGC from SkyTrak, and why would I need to pay them $100 a year for permission to use the software? The relationship must be a little different than that example. Maybe it's more like a Jailbroken iPhone? You pay $100 per year for SkyTrak to "Jailbreak" the unit for 3rd party software. However, in this case the 3rd party software is marketed exclusively by SkyTrak per an agreement. Now that a new software program is available, ProTee and SkyTrak must reach an agreement on how it will be sold (which is kind of what the other thread indicates). If an arrangement has been reached, it seems strange that customer service at SkyTrak claims they know nothing about it or even if the TGC2019 will be available.

You need to purchase via Skytrak because there is harware/software protection on the Skytrak, they need to enable TGC to run on the Skytrak. Once that is enabled provided you have a valid yearly GIP subscription and valid license from Protee any verision should work, as we have seen with tgc and tgc2019 running in parallel.
Buying from any other source will bypass the enabling stage by Skytrak and not work.

[Alphaseekr]

I would think of SkyTrak like Apple (SkyTrak device is say an iPhone) and its software store like iTunes (E6, TGC, Fitness, CG3D, etc.). Developers post their own IP/software (apps) to the SkyTrak site (iTunes) and users download it. Closed ecosystem. Any updates are added, vetted and integrated with SkyTrak. SkyTrak responsible for distribution, legal, some hardware integration support, etc. Developers responsible or their own software, posting updates and pricing. When TGC 2019 is released, ProTee will post it to the SkyTrak site for new purchase or give a unique link to those that qualify for the upgrade, with SkyTrak recording the license So the hardware works. That’s my take.

[Wizard of Coz]

I read it somewhere buy tgc in 2018 and get free upgrade. So you get both tgc and tgc2019. Don't worry just buy it. Im sure that's why I was chosen as an alpha tester. I purchased tgc in the fall of 2018 so I was already a candidate for the free upgrade.

[IowaCat89]

You need to purchase via Skytrak because there is harware/software protection on the Skytrak, they need to enable TGC to run on the Skytrak. Once that is enabled provided you have a valid yearly GIP subscription and valid license from Protee any verision should work, as we have seen with tgc and tgc2019 running in parallel.
Buying from any other source will bypass the enabling stage by Skytrak and not work.

Yes, paying the unlock fee is probably a much better description than jailbreaking, which would probably defeat the protection entirely. I'm anticipating that TGC2019 will only be available from SkyTrak when it is released. If that is not the case and you can download it from ProTee directly, I would expect it to cost the same amount and be revenue neutral for both parties. Just me guessing out loud, I certainly have no idea.

[IowaCat89]

I read it somewhere buy tgc in 2018 and get free upgrade. So you get both tgc and tgc2019. Don't worry just buy it. Im sure that's why I was chosen as an alpha tester. I purchased tgc in the fall of 2018 so I was already a candidate for the free upgrade.

"Don't worry, just buy it"......I like the way you think. My wife might take exception to that line of reasoning....

[IowaCat89]

I sent request to protee at the weekend asking them to confirm whether or not SkyTrak users have to deal with SkyTrak or protee when upgrading from TGC to TGC2019. If I receive a reply I will post it. It might help if others send the same question to protee.

Were you able to get any info on this? Thanks

[petroche]

Not yet, normally the protee people are very quick to answer. They are probably busy trying to get TGC 2019 out in the market.