Well, colour me naive... and here I really thought that Max and Maya users were so dedicated to their craft / art that forking over thousands of dollars for the software was considered a acceptable investment. That really burst my bubble.
But it does put a different spin on things. Too bad that Autodesk and them don't follow E-on's lead and produce lesser expensive versions, as in, truly affordable, like Vue Esprit is more affordable than Vue Infinite, and upgrading to Vue Studio is not an insurmountable ask.

In today's economy, asking four + grand for software of an individual hobbyist is completely unrealistic. Might as well make it 40 grand. So, it'll be either people who use it at work (the company buys it for them) or professionals who can write it off as a business expense but for most of us it's not an option, at least, not one we can approach and still stay married. Those elitist artistes who set standards of this type... can one assume that not only do they turn a blind eye to illegal acquisition of software but some actually encourage it? The end justifies the means?

Monterey/Mint21.x/Win10 - Blender3.x - PP11.3(cm) - Musescore3.6.2

Wir sind gewohnt, daß die Menschen verhöhnen was sie nicht verstehen
[it is clear that humans have contempt for that which they do not understand] 

Metaphor of Chooks