I think a big part of it is exactly that, that Figma's value proposition as a subscription was always clear from the beginning, that it's not just a design tool but a real-time, collaborative design environment. Sketch was always the better choice for solo, side-project work, because it was a one-off purchase with no need for a cloud component (its more recent direction to try to become a cloud-first service has unfortunately only served to highlight its shortcomings versus Figma).
Creative Suite never had a value proposition as a subscription apart from becoming a predictable cost center for businesses. Tacking on an inferior version of Dropbox, making the whole suite subscription-only, and calling it Creative Cloud did a pretty decent job of alienating those who didn't fall into that "predictable cost center" market.
Because that's not the same as a bait-and-switch, and because they provided value to subscribers in the form of continuous innovation.
I still use Lightroom 6, the last standalone version, so I haven’t found anything else with such good combination of library organisation & editing. But no way I’ll ever pay a monthly subscription for the current, slightly better version or the less capable cloud version.
And the cloud version of LR does offer cool features if you use them. I just need my iPad now when traveling. Can proof and start edits right there, then continue on the computer. I pull my images onto the iPad and let the cloud sync and back them up.
The only system that might be able to replace the workflow I currently use is Apple Photos, but it doesn't deal that well with RAWs and editing outside of the Photos.app.
I mostly did photography while travelling and Covid killed that the last two years, but I still had to pay Adobe.
Doesn't Figma have a free tier? That changes everything.
Does it? To me, that just says "Locking my data in a platform that can suddenly decide to charge me for functionality."
Note that Microsoft now has two controls on your digital identity. Login with Office365 and Login with Github.
If they pull a Google and disconnect you, you're in a world of hurt if you don't have otherwise.
Tech folks should have never allowed GitHub to become the monopoly it did.
I empathize, but isn't all this the reason they would fork out so much for figma?
I mean, people hated them for going subscription with the tools that used to be desktop, but they absolutely adore figma that has never been anything but subscription. It's confusing psychology at play here...