'so i went to look at the galleries of these vaunted artists that think addy's work is only passing ok, and i was kind of shocked to see pretty poor work. '

That's the real heart of the matter too and this is why I believe there is so much animosity from the other cg sites. Because Poser users don't have to spend much time creating each character and prop used they can spend their time on things like composition, lighting, expressioning, etc. This is not considered a strength by these others but a weakness in the quality of the images and I find it pretty ironic to say the least.

In the 3dbuzz thread I recall one of their members referring to Poser as a 'toy'. Yep, it is a toy - a very fun toy and it can be a damned creative toy too :)