I think alpha planes are part of Vue, so they should be used. Maybe some people like to see special abilities of 3D software. If you are using just alpha planes in a picture, the outcome is almost independent of the renderer you are using. You can do almost the same picture in Vue, Poser, C4D and so on. It seems that some people do not see the artistic value in that. Well for me the result counts and not the 3D software.