I have used Poser, Daz, 3ds Max, C4D, etc.  What I have noticed most about the rendering is that the higher end (ahem, $$$) programs have better render engines.  Firefly is ancient, and although I respect what SM has done to keep it somewhat current ( actually think it is quite a value if you compare render quality vs. dollar to the other programs), I don't think it calculates lighting as in-depth as the other engines.  It was born before global illumination and multi-core home PCs became commonplace.  For example look back through the gallery a couple years.  There are some renders that look so good I couldn't tell if they were CGI at first, and that was before VSS and GI, but they were done with fifteen lights in the scene.  Or play with LuxPose the uber-users have been creating.  Render the same scene in firefly then export it to LuxRender, it will be 10x better.  And take 10x longer.  That's just what I have noticed.  Laurie, you have seen it all.  Any thoughts?