@prixat
Naaah, I understood Male_M3dia perfectly.
In fact, he's one of the few here I agree with in this debate :-)

And I agree, Poser does need it's own ecosystem.  But when I say "own" I mean exactly that; it needs it's own ecosystem, not one they've brought in from DAZ.  To support the Genesis ecosysytem is to support the competition, and DAZ are the main competitor here.

Having their own Mascot Girl would effectively be Poser's ecosystem.  If I were Smith Micro, or Steve, or whoever makes these decisions, this is the way I'd structure it:

• Stick to the current release cycle for Poser.

• Continue to create new characters and hang on to legacy content.

• Develop a Mascot Girl seperately, they could even label her as part of "The Mascot Series"

• The Mascot Girl must always be free while she's available seperately.

• Give the Mascot Girl a life span of at least four releases.

• On the fith release, the Mascot Girl automatically joins the regular Poser Runtime figures and becomes part of Poser legacy.  She is removed from free availability and is replaced by the next generation Mascot Girl, who again, must be free.  Those that have invested in her will already have enjoyed a lengthy period of use, and for those who buy a Poser licence, she continues to be available well into the future.

• When the second generation Mascot Girl reaches four Poser releases old, she joins the previous Mascot Girl in legacy.  And so the ecosystem continues, the Poser ecosystem, that is, not the DAZ one!

Smith Micro would need to market their Mascot Girl individually from Poser, even to the point where people who buy a Poser licence will still be required to download the current Mascot Girl from the same resource as non-Poser users would.  No hidden nasties, she really must be free.

And vital in all of this is that Smith Micro MUST really hammer it home to people why supporting her is a good idea.  That she's free and will be updated every four releases.  That she'll always be available through legacy, and that creating content for a product that will reach legacy is as safe a bet as you can get.

If you'd invested a lot in Sydney, for example, the Poser ecosystem is still there for her, it hasn't gone anywhere. This train of thought needs amplifying to the point that everyone understands it.

That aspect of it is absolutely vital, and it's the biggest hurdle Smith Micro would face.  They need to create a marketing campaign that would define, without question, the benefits of investing or developing for their Mascot Girl.  The situation needs to be so that you could question any user and they would clearly understand the benefits, because if they don't, then all it means is that you failed to do the marketing correctly.

So yes, an ecosystem, a Poser ecosystem :-)