Quote - It should be kept in mind though that a free program like Bryce will attract a lot more hobbiests and experimenters where as Vue, with it's higher price, would attract more professionals and semi-professionals.

....and serious artists or hobbyists who can afford or want the best available.

Quote - Working with the free versions and having tested the higher end versions, Vue seems easier to use to me. The interface and menu based access to settings works better for me.

You get what you pay or do not pay for. Bryce is many, many years behind.

Quote - I will say though, that I've also heard a lot of vitriol directed towards the developers, here and on other boards, based on their pricing and lack of customer support. That's problematic. I may need to continue with Bryce a while longer until I can afford to take the leap.

I would not say a lot. A handful of people and some I suspect cannot be satisfied no matter what. Some because they simply do not understand that Vue is designed to take full advantage of system capabilities and get wrongly upset when they cannot do with a low end system what can be done with a high end workstation. They just don't seem to get that.

Some think everything is overpriced and that other people don't deserve to earn a living from their work. They think the world owes them everything. No company can make them happy.

Some complaints are just frustration over what happened right then and if you asked them they would not complain about Vue in general. When things mess up humans get frustrated and overreact.

E-On has excellent customer support. They are very quick at responding to real bugs that are reported the right way to Support, instead of bitching on a forum and not reporting it. I don't blame them when they ignore a report from me that is not there fault and I'm being dumb. Everytime they don't get right back with me, I find out  that I'm wrong and Vue is not the problem.