I think the death bell has already tolled.  Why would a new user want Bryce?  With some google research, anyone first entering the CG world would recognize the rendering gap has closed and yes Terragen would be a cost effective front runner.  It would take more than the easy to learn interface to sway me if I were a first time buyer.  

If making a product free, or nearly so, didn't flood the world with Brycers, what else is there that could attract a "wave of new users".  If a savy buyer were to investigate they would find the newest releases were buggy and for every new feature added an older feature was lost to bugs and crashes.   Just search this forum for that information.  

I love my Bryce but I also understand it has died a painful death and ressurection spells don't seem to work.  Sorry if that is not your opinion but I have shed my last tear over this.

The reason I think a new user would want Bryce is because of the ease of learning it compared to other software out there, with the ability to get some really great results (e.g. water, lighting). If I was new to 3D I would be intimidated by Poser, Blender and other apps which have interfaces it takes ages to work your way round finding things, and working out how to do stuff. In addition it can import props from DAZ Studio (very handy).

What I do think has not helped Bryce is that it is marketed as a landscaper generator, but it can be used for so much more. I will be really very very sad if Bryce in no longer developed - I use it for all my artwork and don't like other applications to use for this because of it's ease of use. I know how to use DAZ Studio, but I like the the 'look' I can get with Bryce much better.  

I don't think it needs that much to improve from where it is - stability of some features is the main thing I think. 

Beginners tutorials for Bryce

Bryce Arena