Joe, I can absolutely understand & identify with anyone who, by choice or circumstance, finds Poser, gardening, their cat etc. an encompassing involvement. Not everyone is fortunate enough to enjoy the bliss of hearth & home, kith & kin, yada, yada. We all know that even those things are far from blissful for some. My only point is that some of the irrational (my characterization) stuff about company Z, figure X I just can’t understand. It’s like people rioting over a soccer game. If someone insults your wife, kicks your dog I can see it. If you’re talking about human trafficking, worker safety in Bangladesh or something else where peoples lives or welfare are in the balance then I can see it – may not always be appropriate but I can understand. Software – and I’ve been pretending to write code for longer than I care to think about – that I don’t get. But, I can’t walk in anyone else’s shoes, so I accept that it is what it is for them.

Pointless conflict, as opposed to creative tension, is the exact antitheses to the type of common vision you mention and the kind of collaborative atmosphere that would bring it about. Absolutely new ideas are needed, but frankly, sometimes creators aren’t the best salesmen (and yes ideas have to be sold, like it or not). They often have a tendency to believe that the obvious excellence of their creations speaks for itself and anyone who doesn’t recognize that is either a dullard or a villain. How many ‘’ultimate’ figures have we seen sink under the weight of that reality? As soon as one person comes out with a pronouncement that they have the truth and everything else is, at best, suspect, someone else is going to challenge them with equal certitude and suddenly you have more heat being generated than light.

You’re some handicapped in that (as far as I can see) you are presenting more of a concept and a technique, rather than a product. That and the fact that you’ve apparently hit on a fault line in terms of 3D philosophy. I have no freaking idea how many polygons are ‘optimum’ or what texture sizes or what kind of rigging. Common sense tells me there is probably no one answer, no matter how loudly the two or three sides argue in their own favor. It never seems to get beyond the point of back and forth, and the theological disputes seem disconnected from the average punter’s reality. It may be interesting and even informative in a general way, but after the 14th inning with the score tied at zip, maybe the fans in cheap seats start to throw a few beer cups and the boo birds come out. That’s baseball. I see you get a fair amount of praise for your work. If you feel abused or ignored, whether or not you subscribe to the theology, consider you’re in good company:

“And Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” Mark 6:4

“The most frustrating point for me is that I can't subjectively tell whether I am being smart or stupid, most of the time. It feels the same to me.”

The most thought provoking thing I've read in some time. Profound indeed sir, and words we can all live by. We only have other people’s subjective response to tell us whether we are excreted a jewel or a turd. Then we filter that according to whether we think the other fellow is a prince or a putz. Factor in the innertubes lack of visual, auditory and olfactory feedback (can we really ‘smell’ fear?) and the whole thing’s worse than a crap shoot from the get go. All the more reason to at least have a pleasant time and reserve the ball-sack kicking for matters that at least rise to the import of Jeanie Or Samantha? Sorry, but nothing in Poser reaches IMO.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken