I like to refer to this knowledge base article when thinking of things like this:
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/faq/en393795
Reminds me that in the roughly 2 years since 12.4, there hasn't been anything new that I felt truly excited about. Two years, 4 dot revisions, and a whole lot of bug fixes... So I let my plan lapse in November.
I figure at this rate I can go 3 years without missing much, and at least have broken even if I do re-up.
Won't really change much, in the long run, as the $$$ I used to spend every few years is equivalent to what I am being asked to spend yearly now, but I guess it feels a little less like lighting money on fire.