I'll offer my two cents. My goal in Poser is not photorealism. It's believability.

However, I believe the goal of producing photorealistic images in Poser specifically is still an important goal because it challenges us and the software creators in a way that improves the software's (and our own) ability to produce that very "believability" that I (and most of us, from the looks of it) are after.

As an example, if people such as Bagginsbill were not constantly pushing the realism envelope, we'd still be using P4 materials. And, great as P4 was when it first appeared, our standards have changed to the benefit of everyone who uses the software, whether for toons, painterly illustration, or photorealism.

Edit: I find that the more photorealistic my test renders become, the easier it is for me to create illustration styled renders because my options have been widened.

Looking at drawings Picaso did as an adolescent, you can see that he was wholly capable of creating very realistic images, if he chose to. But in the age of color photography, he didn't see the point beyond honing his own skills. I agree. For users, it's a very good exercise to strive for photorealism. It sharpens your skills. But it doesn't have to be an overriding goal. However, I'm thankful that it is the main point for some people, as they are the driving force behind continued technological improvement.

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PoserPro 2014, PS CS5.5 Ext, Nikon D300. Win 8, i7-4770 @ 3.4 GHz, AMD Radeon 8570, 12 GB RAM.