@DustRider

Quote - Carrara is just one of the tools in my tool set, but Carrara is my favorite 3D tool. I do however understand that it can't do everything I would like it to do, and probably never will, so I have to use other tools in creative ways to do what I want. I would love for Carrara to have all of the features of C4D Studio, Vue infinite, and DAZ/Poser content compatibility, at the price DAZ currently asks for it! But, having been it the Technology/IT industry for almost 30 years now, I know that simply is not possible. I can’t afford $5,000+ for C4d Studio with InterposerPro, Vue Infinite, and the annual maintainance of it all (which is more than buying a full new license of Carrara Pro every year), so I'm quite happy that there is a great all round 3D app that uses DAZ/Poser content and is affordable for me.

Carrara is MY favourite 3D tool AND I have C4D! I love Carrara (I'm running C7Pro), I use it professionally and it's great.

Quote - At least the Dazzers over in the DAZ Carrara forum are actively trying to show/use the tools found in Carrara. They talk about the good and the bad of Carrara.

People over here do the same thing. It DOES help when the tools work correctly, though.

Quote - I realize that most of the people posting here seem to think all the b****ing and moaning will get DAZ to change their ways, that it won't hurt the sales of Carrara....
First, if I had never used Carrara, and read all the posts in this forum, I'd never give it a second look. If I read the posts in the DAZ Carrara forum, then I definitely would investigate further. Not everything is positive, but there is a lot of good information to be found, and some great examples of what Carrara, and the tools found in Carrara, can do.

I can't trust a damned thing in the Daz forums because I know they are so heavily moderated. And THAT hurts sales more than anything people "b*tching and moaning" will ever be able to do.

I have a few friends in the "real world" who, after hearing me rant about how GREAT C7Pro is, heard about C8.5 being released and decided to lurk in the forums over at Daz to see what the deal is. What scared them off from buying wasn't the "negativity." It was the fact that the software didn't work! It was the fact that they SAW negative posts removed or the few that remained being shouted down by Dazzers. They put their wallets back in their pockets.

I told them to lurk over here and one of them is actually giving the software a second look because this place is more balanced. Shocking.

Quote - Second, the idea of DAZ selling Carrara because it’s a losing endeavor? Highly, highly doubtful.

I am not personally an advocate for Daz selling Carrara. To Daz's credit they have kept the old boy alive and I'm afraid someone else may not even do as "good" a job as Daz has.

Quote - The negativity is so strong in this forum, that I actually started doing some serious research to see if there was an acceptable replacement for Carrara.

I don't see the negativity you're speaking of. I see a LOT of people stating the reality of the situation. THAT builds trust. When I see forums that have almost 100% support for everything, I KNOW to run the other way quickly.

It reminds me of Saddam Hussein. He had elections and the opposition only got ONE vote. So, that means the other guy's wife didn't even vote for him. So, does that mean the support for the "Butcher of Baghdad" was that strong OR that the election was rigged?

Further, I don't let other people sway me that much. If, as you say, Carrara 8.5 works well for you and you're getting the results you want, why look elsewhere?

Quote - Oh, I forgot to mention, I’m really glad we have people like Dart in our little community.

Damned right!

Quote - I've seen so many post in this forum lately about how horrible Carrara is, how DAZ has completely borked it, how expensive the upgrade is

Well, the LATEST version of Carrara IS horrible, because it doesn't work properly. If you had a car that you spend more time under the bonnet than you do behind the wheel, that lets you down when you need it most, that strands you periodically, would you smile and say nothing's wrong or would you at the very LEAST say something to try and get it fixed?

Daz HAS borked it. If the big "improvement" is Genesis compatibility and Genesis barely works (autofit, etc.) it IS borked. Pretending otherwise doesn't make it so.

The upgrade IS expensive. I'm a PC member. We were promised a nominal fee for the upgrade. No one was really happy about being charged for bug fixes and Genesis compatibility (considering it's free in DS4), but we pretty much "grinned and Beared" it. Nominal is $15 to $50. Not $85.

Quote - If you like Carrara, then maybe it would be good to start having a real dialoge about it's strengths and weaknesses. Show examples of both, and workarounds for the things that need them.

I LOVE Carrara. My favourite software.
People are having a real dialogue over here. Workarounds are about the LAST thing we need because most workarounds are only partially effective and extremely difficult to implement for many users. Further, if you create a workaround Daz won't take the time to fix the problem, because there is a workaround (no matter how convoluted).

Quote - Do I think DAZ is perfect? Not hardly, they have a history of shooting themselves in the foot more than any other company I know. But, the general negativity in this forum is not helping to move Carrara forward

There is no "general negativity" here. There are people stating there are problems. Frankly, if you stop seeing "negativity" here, that means one of 2 things. A). Daz has fixed many of the problems and C8.5 is a joy to work with OR B).The moderators here are deleting posts OR C).People no longer care enough to say anything.

Let's pray we option C never comes to pass.

Quote - "If you want features in Carrara that aren't there now, or certain bugs put on priority to be fixed, you need to present your argument in a professional manner building a case

Uh, I think that's what filing a bug report is supposed to do. Also, there is (or was) a place to send in product suggestions. Bugs going back several versions are still present.

Quote - Now back to your regularly scheduled DAZ3D and "Dazzer" bashing party.....

No one is bashing Daz. They are bashing some of Daz's bad behaviour. I think Daz does a lot of good things, when they aren't aiming that bazooka at their feet.

"Dazzers", on the other hand...
Nothing is worse than someone complaining about complainers. The general attitude is if no one says there is a problem, that means everything is okay. "Dazzers" attack anyone who doesn't say Daz can do no wrong. I remember it got so bad at one point before Daz just started deleting almost any negative post, the "Dazzers" would come in and post tons of smiley faces and cats after even the most mild complaint. THAT was disruptive AND not at all helpful.