I have commented before in the Tavern about how some developers seem to have no idea how to promote themselves. This, unfortunately, is a classic example. And the damage to Frankie's reputation won't be undone by an interview in the Tavern. (Tip to developers: you do your PR stuff before launching something new, not to defend yourself afterwards.)

As David Decker says, the plugin before the upgrade was a work of genius, with a lot of admiring users. Would many of us have paid for that? Absolutely! Were we asked? No.

What's the real reason for the switch? It isn't for enhanced security, obviously, because one centralized database is way more attractive a target to hack than any of the individual sites using it. (It could hardly be more ironic that they launch this just after the iThemes hack.)

This change can only be to monetize the product. Which is fine. But now it's a product many users don't want, can't have, or can't afford.

And, to cap it all, there was no explanation or information beforehand!

This is about as crazy a way to conduct a business as you could get.