I used to think that Poser was deliberately designed to foster a merchant-centered community.  Rigging was very difficult 10 years ago, and when I started using Poser I found it very hard to simply import a prop and to set up materials and groups.

I learned to do those things over time, and in that same time Poser has been significantly improved.  I wondered if things like the fitting room wouldn't give the false impression of a shrinking market, as users would start doing for themselves the things they used to rely on others to provide.

A healthy community is one that encourages people to share their work, discuss their techniques and help solve problems.  In that sense I feel the Poser community is doing well.  I still enjoy coming here, and I frequent other Poser related forums also.

When I see threads such as this one, my main concern is whether Poser will still be around in 2, 4, 6 or ten years from now.  The economic viablility of the core program is all that specifically affects me.  Merchants will come and go, and I wish them all the best of luck in the meantime.  But without continued support and development of the actual application the user base will definitely disappear.  So the only thing I worry about is too many users holding on to outdated versions, piracy, and increased competition from other programs.  And among those, the last one is technically a good thing.  (Would Poser have the features it has now if Daz and iClone weren't targeting the same niche market?)