Oh f*ck thank god, so I'm not the only one and the first one to chime in happens to be someone who seems very rational from all I've gathered!
Thanks for taking the time writing them - I didn't know they'd changed the model re: frozen assets. I first wrote about it when the site was quite new and I had been a customer for.. 6 months? The response was just silly - basically they saw nothing wrong with the model because some stock photo sites used something like it as well. I'm not even sure if I wrote back, it was just so against common sense.
I agree the quality of the scans is subpar at times - I might be less picky, though. You have a more keen eye to detail than me. And, unless they've changed it too, the deal where if you pay to get 8k px resolution, they charge 2 credits for 8k surfaces? can't vouch for this since I haven't paid the the last month or two, but IIRC even if all they have is a 4k res surface they still charge 2 credits for it because, well, you've bought a subscription that allows 8k px surfaces which comes with the cost of 2 credits per surface :D
I like playing with Mixer but it stresses me out some day I might need it and it's not there for use unless I pay for it and/or the mud surfaces and palm leaves you mentioned. They've had about two years to think the subscription models through.. I wonder how much feedback they get, how things like these can still exist when they indeed claim to have processes that cast a long shadow against competition. Easy to use, sure, at times, but what on earth are you charging me for with the export-thingie. It still crashes half the time, ffs!
Also, I'd never have wasted my time or money getting the surface maps if I'd guessed they're gonna start charging for Mixer as well. I can understand there's reasoning behind it if you're only serving large studios but the small 0,34m "scans" of concrete are quite useless for a one man shop by themselves, and to pay a price just so I can mix a dozen of of them every now and then is a bit "meh."