I completely agree.  HOWEVER, complaining at Steve in this thread isn't going to get bupkis done.  HE is playing it safe with what he can and cannot tell us.  Most likely due to an NDA.  So, we can rail him, which isn't fair to him, or we can complain where it'll do ANY good.  Which isn't here in this forum thread.

Quote - > Quote - Well, the 3D business, regardless of what the program is used for, is a VERY competitive business.  Heck, even content creation is competitive.  

Business stays good when you do what you're best at, and don't market what you're doing before you can deliver.  I know a couple companies (no, not mentioning names) that constantly market what they're up to, and promise it months BEFORE they can deliver.  That's not good business sense, either. 

Jen, this is Poser we're talking about here. You know, the program which has been shuffled from one company to another and offloaded again as soon as the money or the love ran out...
Somehow I've never been able to equate Poser with Good Business Sense. Every company which has owned it has taken what could have been an AMAZING program and sold it short to keep it the hobbyist niche app it is.  And then just plain sold it.
The result has been that instead of it being on a par with 3ds max, XSI and maya (which it COULD HAVE BEEN), it is something of a laughing stock among the professional 3D artists in the industry.

What did Smith-Micro pay for it? Seven million, right? It should have been ten times that amount, and it might have been if it weren't for the fact that it seems to be barely hanging in there. Poser is the 3D world's dark little secret - some Pros use it, but will rarely admit to it; you can barely mention Poser at places like CG Talk without getting laughed out of the place.
Why is this? Like I said, because they have always played it safe and appealed to the hobbyists. Even their marketing positively SCREAMS "Hobbyist!". All that talk about all the ready-made content and all, and even a ridiculous tab within the program to get online to buy stuff - the entire core of Poser has been built around the idea of using other people's stuff, and very little attention has been paid towards using it as either a professional production tool or a content creation tool. Its animation tools, for example, though workable, are a joke. I could eventually chisel a hole in a concrete slab with a fork, but I'd rather use a jackhammer.

So, is playing it safe Good Business Sense?
The questions seem to indicate they're not really sure which direction they're heading in, but seem to lean towards keeping it more or less the same, maybe adding some halfway-functional stuff in along the way.

I can appreciate the suggestion for people to write to SM directly, and that's a good answer, but to try to quiet down people who are saying what SM needs to know just because you don't want someone's feelings to get hurt is kind off anti-productive. We know Steve Cooper is at least reading this - that's more than you can say for a thoughtful email just tossed out there into cyberspace... who knows who ever sees it?

Quote -
So, if they were, let's say, throwing around the idea of adding the ability to swap heads at the click of a mouse...but nowhere near even finishing the logistics of it...mentioning it here would be tantamount to promising it, and they'd never hear the end of it. 

That's more of a reflection on the immaturity of a large portion of the Poser user base. You are, of course, right. But... so what? If they outright promise something, they should be prepared to deliver. If they suggest or imply something and don't deliver, the more mature people will recognize it wasn't an actual promise. Sure, the kiddies will yell and scream bloody murder, but... who cares? They'll get over it.

This whole thing began with a survey some of us thought was poorly thought out and/or poorly implemented, filled with what we see as irrelevant questions. And while we had the opportunity to KNOW our opinions were being heard, we took it. Steve is well aware of the Poser community, and I doubt very much ANYTHING, no matter how ludicrous, insulting or bizarre someone might say, would surprise him or put him off.

Poser, as it stands, probably does more good for the creators of content than it ever has done for the actual owners of the company-of-the-year which happens to own it at any given time.
Not good.
Sure, maybe CP has profited some, but it's done DAZ and various websites and private individuals probably even more good than it's done for itself.

What I want to see is for SM to come out and say, Look, we're going to make Poser what it could be, and should be. Followed by offering a direct line into their thought process - an official thread for suggestions would be a good place to start. It would convince ME at least, and probably many others, more that they're sincere, as opposed to some half-baked survey which screams MARKETING! at the top of its lungs.

The impression I got from the survey is they're equally (or more) interested in helping Content Paradise as they are Poser, which, to me, is not a good sign much is going to be changing for the better for Poser anytime soon.

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