Reason 1: So, this is the earth-shaking difference between V7 and V4? And I'm sure my 10 minutes of work pales by comparison to the time spent by the Daz Artist.

Great example, I'm not really sure it's showing what you want it to though. The figure on the lefts looks miles better in my opinion,  The difference in the face, the bends, the stomach area... At a guess i would say that scene would of only taken a few minutes to set up for v7 in DS.