I think industry standard apps are not neccesarily traps. The name is actually quite accurate! Industry standards are standards set by the industry. From an industrial point of view its just very economical to work on a system of generalization and standardization. At the same time this broad use stimulates further development of these applications to even higher levels of technological perfection.
Every application has its strenghts and weaknesses. Bryce is very good at certain things, but also very awkward at other things. Its easy to use, but not as technologically advanced as most of those expensive industry standard apps. Like you said its the artist that makes the magic, but even the best artist can only make things within the functionalities his/her tools allow. This is why at some point brycean users switch to using other applications too. Just because industry standard applications have become technological megalomaniacs with (sometimes) steep(ish) learning curves with a maze of features doesnt reduce the potential for artistry. Sometimes they make things possible that would be impossible otherwise. There's no reason why an artist cant push him or herself to the limit in much the same way as we're all used to or getting used to in bryce.

The thing that makes the difference is that bryce is easy to use due to its simple and less advanced approach to very specific problems. It provides a broad basis of simple and not technologically mindboggling functionality. Its an example of the art of keeping things small. Because bryce is small, its easier to learn it through and through, which allows us to start exploring creative usage much faster compared to larger more technical applications.

One can approach usage of industry standard applications in a bycian way, It just requires more effort and time and more technolgical understanding to learn more and more extensive tools untill you are as free in using them as we do in bryce.

Larger more expensive applications can do more, but it takes more time to master. Which means fewer people will master it.

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