Hi guys, let me first start off by saying that what I'm about to say is to be taken in a positive way. Intent and tone can sometimes be lost in text. I tend to go on long rants....sorry.
We appreciate all the feature suggestions, arguments, complaining, and rants. We do listen. For example, the previous argument about pedal markings, beaming, etc... I know it's a bit of a disagreement between a few people...but you are all correct. These features are important. For ex. pedal captured in MIDI has a work-around for some. For some the notation-based work around is an option, but it is not the same and does not fully resolve the issues of the person who needs it to work the way they need it to work. So you are actually both right. The place where you will never be totally right or wrong is that this or most other wanted features are any more or less important than another, because it is strictly opinion.
When you say that we don't know, comprehend, or understand that a feature is needed, this is not true. Here is an interesting fact: Other than a few new technologies (which were added), there has never been a feature suggestion on this forum that was not placed in a future feature list by a small group of us prior to the very first version of Notion. Ever. Well...perhaps there was a few rants by Surfwhammy that...well, that's another story
However, the previous statement was written with all due respect to all of you, but also our small team. Just because you don't see it does not mean we don't know, have known...or actually understand.
Most of you who, let's say, who can write the loudest have at one point written something like the following statement: "I dislike or can't stand Finale, I dislike or can't stand Sibelius, but I love Notion, but I'm disappointed." I have seen that type of statement many times from many of you. I am sorry you are disappointed in something we have done, we never like disappointing anyone, but we know we are going to disappoint someone with every decision we make. However, with the previous quote, obviously you are disappointed in all the top notation products. I have used all these products professionally and taught them on the university level, I know them all VERY well...and this following statement is true...and you never hear this coming from competitive companies enough:
Finale does an incredible job, great product, but yes, they are weak in areas.
Sibelius does an incredible job, great product, but yes, they are weak in areas.
Notion does an incredible job, great product, but yes, they are weak in areas.
There is a trend there... From a distance these three products are the same, "notation". But to people who know, those that use these products, they are very different. What we all do great and what we are all weak at is different. So, logic tells me that if our strongest supporters consistently make the statement about disliking Finale and Sibelius but love Notion, then we did something that was different enough that felt right to some people. However, if we go on the same path or use the same recipe as other products, then by using basic logic, we will most likely end up in the same place. That path, leading to where they went is what brought you to Notion to begin with.
Trust me, there are some intense fights that sometimes occur within the Notion Music walls as we are talking about features. Following that previously used recipe seems so right sometimes, it's much easier to follow, it "could" be right. But in my opinion the world does not need another Sibelius or Finale, they have done a good job being who they are, they fit a need. But I do feel the world needs a Notion...and even more, what Notion will become. I wish there was a button to press that just added all the features I want, integrated the way I imagine...too bad that button does not exist. Well, it kind of does, but a sort of slow button...it's the staff here like me who is sitting here at 7am on a Saturday morning working to make it happen. But the work we are doing is not a path that has been taken. We are going to do it our way, and heck, we may take some very big right or left turns going forward that alienate some users and gain the love of others. But those turns are going to happen to achieve a goal. I recall when Sibelius released their 64-bit version and their users were really upset because there were not many additional features...well that's because that 64-bit update was hard to do and took a long time to do it. We know. Our upcoming version is our best release ever...but we still have a lot we want to do, and it makes everyone here disappointed that we can't deliver everything. It's tough to work as hard as we do and never have that feeling that something is finished. But if we all felt it was finished we would never continue to work hard to improve it. Just because you do not see new features that you want does not mean we did not hear you, or understand, or think about it. Many of you influenced many of our decisions. But, not getting to a feature was probably because something else mattered just a small amount more for the stability, usability, and the current and future path of our product....the same path that was different enough from other products that initially earned your respect.
So going forward, please let us know what you want, features you need, etc... we do listen, it does make a difference...so does letting us know what we do right (that's usually what companies lose sight of first). I just wanted to give you some perspective to what some of us here are thinking.
What could be a huge help and more quickly get the features you want in the product? ...More customers. Your recommendations to future users, your stories and opinons, can help add more customers, which is more revenue, which can add more staff, which will produce features faster, etc... We understand negative posts, but there are often undecided future users who only see those statements and never see what we do well, or understand that those critical posts are from people who really truly care about our products. We understand that, but it's not as obvious for those seeing it for the first time and deciding if they should try our products. Thank you all for your support and your opinions. Sorry for the long post...