Rage is a pretty simple font, shape-wise.  Your scene consists of a cube, for crying out loud.  Hardly a load test.  To me, it is far more meaningful to consider how Firefly reacts to a fully populated scene.  And in a loaded scene, modeling every sign (and other details) in mesh would add up pretty quick.  I really think that a cost-effective balance has to be sought between mesh detailing and displacement detailing.  Sometimes I make two versions of a model, a low-poly version and a "hero" prop for closeups.

     No, I didn't need IDL enabled for the trees, but I do prefer the effect when backlit with moonlight and a myriad of wee elvish lanterns. ^^     That's a matter of taste, and also a consideration of system resources needed versus resources available.  Pick yer poison and pay the price.

     I have struggled to balance taking advantage of new Poser features against making things that most Poserians can use.  I like to put the cookies on the lowest shelf, so that even the smallest children can reach them.  My position is that I will use the new features.  To the degree that I can, I will also make allowance for folks using older versions.  Similarly, I try to consider RAM usage, because there are many Poser users who don't have a late-model 64bit machine in their budget.  I don't want leave them out of the fun.

Poser 12, in feet.  

OSes:  Win7Prox64, Win7Ultx64

Silo Pro 2.5.6 64bit, Vue Infinite 2014.7, Genetica 4.0 Studio, UV Mapper Pro, UV Layout Pro, PhotoImpact X3, GIF Animator 5