FyreSpiryt > Poser doesn't have a direct competitor right now.

There are lots of competitors with the functions of Poser. If messiah:animate could read Poser files I would be gone in the space of a minute. The price tag is maybe too steep for normal hobby users but it is well worth the money.
What makes Poser so attractive is the price of the application and the amount of free or inexpensive third-party content.

wdupre > but any company would be crazy not to try to defend that user base from a direct competitor.

They can try, but I think their chances are slim. Poser files are not encoded, anyone with a text editor can read them (no DMCA protection) and the mesh and material data are based on a format of another company (Alias|Wavefront).

Well, if I get my P5 update I can see for myself if Poser is good enough. I'm very excited about the new features, but the real test is the day to day usability. All those small things which just have to work, no Crosstalk, working ERC and so on.

I think a content user base is the best protection for CuriousLabs.