Software companies see things one way, the users see it another. I know there is overhead. I know they need to stay in business. I know it's in their best interest to develop their software to a level where large companies will want to pay large sums to use it. However, I'm not particularly fond of being used to help them, then thrown under the bus.

Case in point: Cinema4D. Less than a decade ago, they were a hungry company that not only made it possible for amateurs to use their product, they actively courted any and all comers with free copies to use and spread the word. (Back when they had a platform you couldn't crash with a sledge hammer.) They'd answer emails, pick up the phone, chat, and knew which sites needed mods. Fast forward a few years and a few bigger name customers, and all that went right out the window. Then the rewrote the core so all those people who were diehard supporters not only had to repurchase the whole package, nothing from that point forward was useable at all to those who couldn't afford to respend a few thousand dollars.  No, I never got a 'free copy', or thought I deserved one. The change in attitude was what put me off.

Then there was the Pixologic incident. I lost my copy of Zbrush's registry file in a computer crash. Call them up, and was, to make a long story short, told I was either too stupid to follow instructions, or trying to rip them off. At least that was just a few hundred dollars down the toilet, and it was my fault for storing whatever it was on the dead computer.

Actually, I guess the whole thing is the users' fault. If we were all rich, and we were all exceptional artists earning a living doing this, we could afford to pay what they seem to need. And if we can't we can all just go use Blender. Quite frankly, as William said, I'd much rather pay and use Max, but I have other bills.