As someone who has been on every side of where this discussion has gone, I can tell you it's hard.  I started out giving stuff away to the Rhino users - partially because I was a mod and didn't feel right selling it (foolish that) and partially because I like to share what I've made. Later, I needed "fun money" because my job at the time wasn't paying enough for me to really do more than make ends meet. So I made my first Poser figure. A toon.  Let me tell you right now, that was when I realized something : the Poser community is a paradox for the content creator. Simply put, you create something you think will be popular because it's what you love. You put blood sweat and tears into it. The act is akin to giving birth. Once done, you marvel at it for a moment and then you share it with everyone. That's when you realize what you thought was cool is NOT what everyone thinks is cool. Despite any evidence to the contrary (ie. forum posts, requests for models, or motion picture viewing habits).

Example: Pixar is by far the most successfull 3D cartoon animation house in America right now. Even their failures are making money. People eat their stuff up. Many of those people are Poser users. You would assume then, that these people must have some love for toons, yes? NO.  Far from it in fact.

Okay, so you made a mistake. Now what? Should you attempt to stick to your guns and make what you love or should you seek out what's popular and try to mimic it - remember now, you need the cash and you're spending nights and weekends working on this thing. A little recognition that it even exists would go a long way to making the experience worthwhile, right? Right.  Well, I'll tell you what I did. I stuck to my guns and made something I liked - a dragon. That did ok but again, did not have the impact I expected and was used by exactly two people (I can point you to the gallery pics).  So now you've failed (again) and you're wondering if you should continue or just give up. I decided to pull back and work on my craft, assuming my lack of skill to be the cause of my misfortune. Others in that situation continued on but instead of making what they loved, they looked around and made what sells.

So really, it boils down to this - People won't make for sale things that people aren't going to buy but people can't buy it if people don't make it. It's a vicious cycle and tends to explain why so many people who got into this with the best of intentions end up making cookie cutter copies of what's "popular" (which is only popular because there's little else available).

On the original topic:

Yes, models are getting better but as they get better, the Poser user expects more. What's worse - they expect more at the same price they paid for the stuff that wasn't so good.  I just got through making a character with 568 morphs - originally, I had offered to do the textures and rig also but by the end, after listening to the masses, I realized I didn't have it in me.  We content creators end up doing the work of a small production studio by ourselves and see little in the way of acknowledgement, grattitude or money.  Not to mention the knowledge that outside of our little community, our work wouldn't be taken seriously due to the stigmata of the program it's made for.  Meanwhile, we're selling for $15 to $40 a fully rigged and morphed character set that would, in other circles, cost a few hundred dollars. So there's not a lot of incentive to improve the quality of figures but I do believe people are doing it. I know I constantly try to find a better way to invent the wheel we call "Poser characters" and I think I may have finally stumbled onto something. We'll see in a few months.

The only way I stay sane though, is I do what's asked of me at work and on my own time, I sculpt or model what I would rather be making (often fantasizing of releasing them someday).