...It seems that DAZ has shifted to an all-dungeons-and-dragons-all-of-the-time policy. I'm not certain that DAZ drives the market in this sense. Instead, I think they are simply responding to what the market appears to desire. At one time DAZ offered quite a few animal models. Unfortunately, sales were insufficient to make this a focus. It's really quite simple- outrageous Vicki clothing and fantasy characters sell. Take a look at the bulk of Renderosity's or DNA's inventory and you will see this effect is not limited to DAZ. ...I suppose that's a popular genre to work in, but enough is enough. Apparently it isn't. I'm not sure but you seem to think that Poser is about art. Certainly it can be but I sense that for most of us it is pure recreation. We put up with the daily grind of dull 9 to 5 work days. Most of us probably have at least moderately interesting lives but they are rarely the stuff of great adventure novels. Poser allows us to express individual creativity without dedicating a major portion of our time to learning purely mechanical artistic dexterity. More importantly gorgeous half naked women, manly hunks of muscle and fantasy creatures are not a part of our normal days. Is it any wonder that we retreat to such things in our imaginations? Movies like "Star Drek" and "Bored of the Rings" are not popular without reason. You may say "Enough is enough" but I suspect the crowd will continue to cry "Encore!" ...In order to really have the kind of features we need to bring Poser to the next level, what we really need is the next milestone in Personal Computing to unfold. Is it that our software has to rise to the next level or is it the user who must rise? Even with Poser 3 some people were doing remarkable work. The potential for great art is present in most tools. All that is really needed are great artists. Take a look at some of Tesign's wild life work. Then take a look at the surrealism of David Ho. I believe a great deal of these works were created with Poser 3. But both have gone beyond the standard Poser repertoire and incorporated external tools in their work. Neither worried about their softwares' current limitations. They just went ahead and did their thing- and very well at that. ...Is Poser dead? Is the community dying? Step away from Poser for a moment and consider such things as soap operas, sitcoms and action films that all mimic each other. All these things and more have survived for a very long time with very little change in formula. The Poser community is still young. The ever increasing size of the Renderosity Poser gallery and store suggests that the end still lies over a very distant hill. Poser 5 has proven a disappointment to many. But people are either struggling to come to grips with it or remaining with Poser 4. Few are suggesting they are about to abandon Poser completely. ...Then Poser 5 is released against a backdrop of controversy... I suggest that your very words contain your answer. Too many are too passionate about their Poser. At this stage of the game it seems that the reports of Poser's death are highly exaggerated. The only real question is will CL be able to continue to deliver? If not, the market is sufficently attractive that someone else is sure to fill the breech. Oddly, I find myself in agreement with you on a number of points regarding Poser art and character models. It is just that I do not equate my personal needs with those of the community at large. - Jack