Quote - "subtle hints of DAZ Studio not being free in the future anymore" They have already said some of what will be in the next free version vs pay for version so those hints must be for Version 5 of studio.

...maybe they will change their mind :lol:.

I have read a few posts on other forums hinting at financial problems for DAZ; such ideas could not be further from reality. When a firm behaves as DAZ is behaving is because it is dead sure that it has a firm grip on the market and can act as it prefers towards the objective of maximizing profits which, remember, is the only objective of any firm on the world.

If you check the supply and demand model page on wikipedia you will find enough information to understand that the point that maximises profits is not low prices but prices not-too-high-to-turn-away-too-many-customers.

In addition, as Poser stuff demand is more like a "need" than a "hobby", it is an example of highly inelastic demand (another example is car fuel, you might get the bus but in the end you keep driving); with such characteristic, people grumble at price hikes and then keep buying (and firms know that!).

The give away technique is used to 1) create a market (with price hikes in the future) or 2) to price out of survival competion (aka dumping). It is never meant to be sustained in the long run.

GIMP 2.7.4, Inkscape 0.48, Genetica 3.6 Basic, FilterForge 3 Professional, Blender 2.61, SketchUp 8, PoserPro 2012, Vue 10 Infinite, World Machine 2.3, GeoControl 2