3D Studio Max is a high end software package geared for the high end broadcast quality modeling and special effects professional in the film and animation industry. Unless you have money to burn, the people that use these high end packages, intend to make their money back, plus profit, by producing for this market. Thats why these 3D packages are so technical in nature, they are intended for professionals. There is a high learning curve usually associated with these tools that often take years to master. Indeed the software is so rich in features that the average user will still be learning the basics even as the new versions are being pumped out. So I would venture to say that most of these folks spouting at the mouth are not professionals but immature kids with either lots of money to spend or people with pirated software. Their non-professionalism shows through when they open their mouths. Bryce, not being a high end product, is not crammed packed with the features of its more expensive cousins and that being the case, it lends itself easily for more creativity in shorter time. This allows the artist more freedom to be creative, spontaneous and be more improvising. Certainly, Bryce is a more user-friendly end product but it was never meant to compete with the higher end packages. The beautiful Bryce images that abound throughout the Internet is a testament to a class of affordable software which is both easy enough to use and yet challenging for both artist and hobbyist alike.