Kepp in mind this is just speculation, but a poser release without new content actually invigorates the content creation market, doesn't hamper it.

The desire for content using the new features will be there, and merchants can take advantage of that, with new products, and robust sales.

Besides, there's already a HUGE amount of content that comes with poser already anyway. I KNOW I've never gone through all the provided content to even see what's there, and many times over, we've seen people hunting for a freebie, that they already had sitting there from a base install.

Probably a better business model for SM, might be to put provided content into their store, much like daz does, and make it free for registered poser xx users.

That way the base poser download is MUCH smaller, and customers get in the habit "shopping" in the CP store for the free items. (And odds are, pick up a few purchased items at the same time.)

AS far as DS adding new features, there are a HUGE number of complaints about the current build.. with everything from content location issues, JCMs being totally broken, Scaling being partially broken, you name it.

We've heard about rigging enhancements now for 2 years now.. yet nothing has surfaced, and we're seeing even more bugs, and even more incompatibility surface as well. And many DS users are becoming frustrated by DS developement, and are using older versions, rather then using the most recent version.. NOT a good sign at ALL.

Daz has even said that when/if they add thier dynamic cloth plugin, it might NOT allow customers to create thier own clothing content, that creation might end up a daz kept advantage for marketing.. surely a step backwards compared to the flexibility of the poser cloth room. Heck, many people use it for morph target creation, or even just general soft similated content creation, like a tablecloth.

And while many might see "high end 3d apps" as being the elite "expensive" market, priced have actually dropped over time, to the point where IMHO they are actually consumer priced.

Example: Lightwave USED to cost over $4000.. now it's $900! (And keep in mind the dollar has also devalued more hen 50% during that same timeframe, making that pricepoint even cheaper.)

And PC power has also constant;ly been on the increase.. the $1080 I spent on my Atari 800 25 years ago, now buys a powerful quad core pc!

It could be, that while Daz tries to entice and drive prices down, that SM is trying to get poser situated higher up the food chain, where content creators can actually survive with a living wage selling thier items.

Poser content has dropped in perceived value and price steadily, while it's creation has become more complex and feature rich over time. Some people think less then 10% of poser content creators can actually make a living wage doing it.. and that's a BIG head's up that something is wrong.

Prices on poser content are at mass market levels, however the mass market doesn't really exist to support that marketing strategy.

Good example: Eggs in the US used to cost 98 cents a dozen. Now they cost $2.50-$3.00 a dozen.. yet Daz's Platinum prices have remained at 1.99. IF poser content was keeping up with the economic changes, plat club content would now cost $5.99! (And that just one small example, in JUST the last year.)

While everyone (myself included) loves a great deal, the fact of the matter is that poser content creators are NOT making what they should creating content. So they have two choices: reduce thier prices, hoping a few extra sales might keep them in the game, or they move n up to the professional  3d world, and we loose our best n brightest stars.

Another great comparison that comes to mind, as craftmen (and women). I live in area where hand made crafts are very popular, and handicrafts make a LOT more money per hour on their sales then poser content does.

Surely someone who creates digital content should be able to make the same living as a basket weaver, or a quiltmaker?

I just don't see giving away more free stuff, and maintaining lower and lower prices as being any way to keep the poserverse thriving at all. At one point in time, it brought new customers to the marketplace, but not enough actual buying customers to support the market.

Positioning poser back up to respectable 3d application levels might be the only thing that actually saves the poserverse, from loosing it's best content creation talent, and having that replace by all the "quick n dirty" "anything for a fast buck" products that infest the marketplace now.

And as a close, I don't see the "high end market" as being applications under $1000 at all. Where people used to buy a big tv for $400, now they buy a flatscreen for almost $2000! Yeah, this possible shift in the poserverse might hurt all those people that joined running windows 98, and a 8 year old pc, but odds are, they are also not the ones buying enough content to keep the gears of the poser marketplace well oiled as well.

And I myself have been guilty just like many others, or undervaluing poser content, and I also need to make a mental change to support good qualiy creators.

Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.