Wow - the similarity of those past complaints to current examples is startling...

So there was Daz-Bashing even before they became Daz...poor bastards!

I'm in a state of Keith-awe!

V4, the Upstart?
I wasn't sure about V4 when I first saw her but I've come around - I liken the effect to watching too much Star Trek then coming across a new show that takes a couple episodes to get into because you're so used to the Trek formula that it's effectively reprogrammed your brain (I like Trek but there is an undeniable "Trek Effect" on the mind - it is the Borg of TV! Particularly in the late 90's during the SF draught). 

I've found in life that things that take a little adjusting to "get into", a lot of the time turn out to be things of greater worth than things that come too easy or are pandering to the status quo.

V3 the All-rounder?
I think the dominant figure of the poser scene will always be the best "all-rounder" figure - I think V4 will take over from V3 in that respect (once most users are past the learning curve) - I think also that this probably comes at a cost to specialisation, but over the past year or so CP stepped up to the plate with some nice "specialist" figures like Miki and Koji (Rikishi also appeared out of nowhere) and proved that the marketplace can support them while being dominated by V3. 

Like others I'm a bit p*ssed that the generational "evolution" is a bit slow in some respects - I reckon we're still a ways off from Poser etc being in a "finished" state or evolutionary plateau...

Cheers