By the way , I really donāt like this forum software lol
āAs with all new technology, the full potential will gradually unfoldā
IOW Subscription service with the likes of Absolute collection bundled in.
Steinberg specifically promised they were not going over to a subscription service - but as you say, they may decide to change their mindā¦I suspect at some point theyāll offer both perpertual/subscription. Then itās a simple matter to price it so that the perpetual licence becomes financially less advantageous.
I really like the e-licencer and ilok but in 2021 a dongle-less solution is a necessity for a newer, broad base of users - so Iām fully supportive of a move in that direction.
I think for the more ācasualā user with a single licence on a single dongle - who intends to keep upgradingā¦or for a new userā¦the ānewā licensing model is going to be much better. Thatās assuming they get the coding right (!)ā¦which isnāt a 100% guarantee 
My questions are related to those of us with multiple licences - multiple dongles - multiple vendors - multiple generations of software etcā¦that part of the new licensing structure needs much more clarification.
The ability to trial the software without paying for a dongle, or option for Steinberg to open up longer trial periods via a remote server is definitely an improvement. Itās far more dynamic in nature.
Also itās cutting out the middle man for licensing queries I presume? So many I read on here who get confused between the whole process. Just one login, done.
The FAQ suggests that offline activations arenāt going to be live at point of release, so that combined with the questions you have above are really going to be quite challenging.
But it should be straight forward in that all your licenses will be in a single account, and you can manage which machines (max of 2) are activated to use them at any one time. If you need to move one license to another, itāll just have to be done āvirtuallyā via account management page, rather than the process of USB dongle.
Following the ensuing riot, Iām sure once all has calmed down weāll all be in a better place. Hopefully the licensing mechanism is a separate process from the application itself to enable those who work under NDA and cannot connect their content to a live server are covered too.
Iām sure that SB donāt really have answers to all the questions as yet. They are creating a different kind of business/educational account too.
Note that they are still limiting authorisations to 2 computers only - so itās not nearly as flexible for some users.
As I say, the FAQ raises more questions that it actually answers
you replied as i was typing 
Iām not sure itās a simple as that - for ālegacyā licences you HAVE to use the dongle for example. What about multiple generations of the software in your account - does it pick the ālowest/oldestā licence to āgrabā ? or the latestā¦what does that leave in your account ??
oh and itā's not āmax of 2ā authorised - you can only use 1 computer at onceā¦and you are limited to 2 computers with a ālatentā authorisationā¦if you use more than that then you need an upcoming ābusinessā licenceā¦
yes - lotās that need clarificationā¦plus remember a v12 licence WILL not allow you to use version 11ā¦thatās the end of the backwards compatibilityā¦
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Oh thatās a good point, i was thinking from the perspective of the license itself, not what the software will be expecting.
As theyāre cutting off from the old system entirely I guess ultimately O/S updates and lack of updates to the elcc software will be biggest nail in the coffin that legacy users need to fight/protect?
Currently, Do you use legacy software with a modern build of the elcc? Or, do you retain a build of the elcc that accepts an older dongle and lacks reliance on online authorisation?
As reFX are doing with Nexus 2, I expect there will be some kind of final update to the elcc which will authorise based on the final dongle accepted in the system and the app will authorise on a local database basis to keep legacy users running?
This effectively means that licenses transferred from dongle to cloud wonāt actually need to be removed from the dongle, as theyāre no use on the cloud unless updated to v12 - and would explain why theyāre cutting that backwards compatibility too.
God it really is confusing the more you think about it lol. What happens if youāre running Cubase 12 and have older Absolute collection on a ālegacyā dongle for example?
Everything i have works with the latest elcc - the oldest thing I run is wavelab 9.5 so itās not ancient. .
There are still people using very old version of cubase/wavelab/nuendo thoughā¦are they going to be supported for upgrades ?
They also seem to be saying a major change to the licence transfer systemā¦may not be free anymoreā¦
The FAQs are very vague - deliberately so
All I really care about is
1 - is it STABLE
2 - is it as FLEXIBLE (it clear it isnāt!)
3 - will it protect my financial investment in the many licences I haveā¦or will I be forced to upgrade them all to continue to use them āsafelyā
is the cure worse than the disease ? ā¦well itās happening, so weāll find out in good time
OH and cubase 12 needs to be AMAZING because customers shouldnāt be paying for changes in copyright protection that are worse (for me!) than the existing oneā¦and Apple Silicon compatibility is worth approximately zero to me and most users (VST2 will NEVER be native)
@Dr.Strangelove, the eLicenser system is based on old technology and needs to be replaced. Sure, some are happy with the USB-eLicenser, some are with the Soft-eLicenser but especially the Soft-eLicenser turned out to be too vulnerable and fragile. The reactivation process isnāt exactly straight-forward, the Soft-eLicenser container can break (OS updates etc.) leaving customers with a non-functional license. Over time, we collected too many unhappy customers to continue with this system.
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As mentioned in the FAQs, we will have a solution for those of you who need to stay offline for longer periods than the 30 days.
Sorry I just finished my SPA session. 11.5 was released or no?
As long as the eLicenser Control/eLicenser Control Center is installed on the system and the licenses for the older applications are stored on the eLicenser, you can use a Cubase 12 together with any of those - Absolute Collection included.
Even after we shut down the eLicenser servers, you can continue using the older licenses and the local eLicenser Control Center as long as your system and the USB-eLicenser/Soft-eLicenser works.
that was my suspicion
or no. 
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yes but you canāt transfer those licences if you have a damaged e-licencer dongle ?
They are āset in stoneā - can you sell them ?
If the eLicenser is damaged, there is no way to transfer licenses anymore. āSet in stoneā is accurate here. However, as long as the USB-eLicenser is working, it can be sold and others can work with the products licensed on it.
ā¦and the ānew ownerā can use them to upgrade to latest versions ?
EDIT
Ed can you make a new thread to answer all of these New Licensing questions - the cubase 12 thread isnāt really specific as it will eventually apply to ALL new SB products.
Weāll collect questions that are not covered by the FAQ yet and add some of them.
where ? on the FAQ itself ?
Probably yes. Weāll see.