AetherDream posted at 8:19PM Tue, 01 August 2017 - #4311119

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With all due respect, Coleman, a new figure isn't going to fix anything for Poser. Not everyone needs a realistic figure that bends "naturally". I don't care if it walked and talked on it's own, not everyone would adopt it. Poser, unlike DS, can't just give out the software for free in order to get the figure in everyone's hands. There's no vendor support for the figure. Vendors follow the money so they're going to wait to see how well the figure catches on, which of course, is exactly what they did with Genesis and for that matter V4 when they first came out. I just don't share that vision.

And I think this is the main point that keeps Poser figures from catching on, vendor support and massive amounts of content by the software provider. SM needs to throw itself wholeheartedly into the content business for a Poser figure to gain a real market foothold.

A new figure is like Communism - it's a red herring.

Let's just say that Poser 12 comes with a male and female figure (Figure X & Y) that does everything everyone here thinks it should (ignore the fact that some of these things are either subjective and/or mutually exclusive).

How is this going to increase sales of Poser?

The DS community isn't going to embrace it. Most aren't going to have the knowledge of how to move their DS native content to Poser and won't be willing to flush their investment.

The Poser enduser isn't going to care - a new SM figure isn't going to make a difference to their buying matrix - we are concerned about what new tools are added or if long-standing issues are finally addressed (Like the Hair room - the new team seems to be on board with the fact that the tools and the interface need to be fixed. Yay!!!)

And there is the little matter of Project E....... I believe she is going to be the figure that finally gets the Poser community to say Vicky who?

For the sake of argument, lets say the Poser enduser community embraces Figure X - no one here has yet to explain how a vendor will know this.

Furthermore, let's say that the vendors makes a few items for Figure X (new, or conversions of their best selling items for V4).

That doesn't mean we endusers are going to rush to buy those items. I have the Poser Pro prefitter - it's free. Currently, it can move V4 content to Pauline, Dawn, Miki 4, & Roxie. Support for Project E and DAZ's g figures is in the works (which means I'll be able to move all of Willmap's normal clothing for the g figures to other figures - Score!).

It doesn't matter to current Poser users if Figure X is supported by vendors - most conversion actions are 1 or 2 clicks. That means that our bloated V4 runtimes can provide all of the necessary hair, clothing, and textures - If I am buying a new impractical armor outfit, it has to be better than what is already available in the store for all of the current figures. Rut-Roh.....

In 2017, Poser users don't need to replace their digital Barbie's wardrobe every time a new figure comes out. That is kinda important when I need everybody in the same uniform (V4 Courageous & M4 Valiant, for instance) or I need enough different clothing for a dozen or so characters.

I've been in the Poserverse since 2004 - I've been hearing the exact same thing over and over since then - We need a New Figure! Poser is dying! (with absolutely no evidence to back it up other than their howling.)

Depending on the vendors is waiting for Godot. Many simply aren't going to invest time & effort into a new figure (or a new version of Poser); that would mean work for them, and too many simply aren't going to do it. Their intransigence is simply making them less and less relevant (this is before we factor in their I'm a fragile little snowflake; I'm going to take my modeler and go home mental attitude .).

As a Poser user, it simply doesn't matter to me if a new figure is supported or not. Unlike most folks here, I still use every figure I have come across since 2004 (I just add subdivision & weightmapping - a few now have facial control surfaces); I have over 1,000 characters. I think I have every Pauline character (30+), I have most of the Dawn Characters (74 - the rest are on the purchase spiral); I bought all of the Scarlet characters, I have almost all of the characters made for the SM G2 figures (100+); the Miki series (100+); Michelle (11); Antonia (31); Apollo Maximus (31); Dusk (15); Mariko (2); Terai Yuki 2 (15); then there are the DAZ figures....

With every figure mentioned above, I would have bought more characters, IF vendors made more - they didn't. I'd have purchased more clothing content, IF vendors made it - they didn't. And now I have easy to use tools to move my content around, I converted my current content, meaning I am buying merchant resources, sets, & props, as opposed to characters, clothing, hair, poses, and expressions.