So much is in the individual and the interface that suits them. Max and Maya are just too much for most of us looking to get started, at the high mid-price range there is the limited Softimage (which has no upgrade path!) and Lightwave (which has had a good offer if you also want Vue) and if you want to spend a bit more, Modo, then there are Shade, Silo and Hexagon. These cheaper lower priced apps are where most Poser users can afford to look, each has a very different interface to the others

I think the first program I tried was Amapi 6 that came with a magazine disc. That was ineresting. Ecclectic, powerful, but not what I needed in the end. Shade was the next that I took seriously, there is a lot that I wouldn't attempt with it but I did some TD at school and Shade is just like sitting at a drawing board. Fun. Hexagon was next, by far the easiest to learn, with the most intuitive interface, if someone wants to start building for Poser, I suggest it first.