*"ZBrush, Mudbox, Sculptris, 3DCoat and all the other voxel based tools demands retop as does Marvelous Designer. Unless you plan to copy other persons work you must learn how to retop.  For some reason experienced people like to exacerbate the difficulties for beginners."

???

do you plan to retopo a cube? a sphere?  or someone else's mesh?

because you need to know how to create a mesh before you can start to worry about 'optimizing' it.

You know the lingo, "before you can learn you must unlearn", "we must first tear down". I don't know the reason for this but it is bullshit."

more like you need to learn to walk before you run.

good luck with the 'shortcut tools', and retopo tools on the market. if you start 'retopoing' without understanding modeling fundamentals youre going to look like a moron the first time you encounter a complex surface.

and just to get it out there since theres so much discussion about/interest in retopo tools lately:
if you retopo someone elses mesh, they are going to bust you - no question about it.  its like kidnapping a kid and putting a wig on them thinking their parents arent going to recognize them.