My intention is to use Carrara to work from scratch, using it as a cheap alternative to Maya. I have a degree in digital media, and want a package I can make video game assets and cutscenes with. I will never touch Daz content with it. I have had my fill of that, having used Poser since version 4.

Carrara should work just fine for your stated purpose. And Antaran is right, those DCG plugins are an outstanding addition to Carrara. I have almost all of them, and I use them to some extent every time I open Carrara, which is daily. :)