McGrandpa,

I think there are lots of us out there. I also came to this via photography and an impulse buy of Bryce, one of the earliest versions, which then made me want to learn to model.

My arsenal has also gotten very large and pricey over the years. I look at it as cheap though compared to other things I could be doing as a hobby and I actually have made Adobe CS products pay for themselves by no longer having to go to my printer for desktop publishing projects.

On the topic-

Page is still up, downloads active and serials are still there. This is no accident, or if it was they no longer care in my opinion. I've gotten zero response to my querry of Adobe's staff.

Being in marketing myself, I'd not be surprised if this was a viral marketing ploy all along. If it is, it was a great idea.