All this stuff psss me off as well and as a P5 customer I am less than happy with the whole Poser 5 saga to date but let's get a few things in perspective.

1. Poser 4 was not a great program. It was buggy as hell with lots of features that did not work properly. For over 2 years Metacreations did not properly support the program. It was only when they put it up for sale that Larry Weinberg (acting independently) started to release the patches to the community that got the program functioning fully and this culminated with 4.3 patch under CL. P4 still has lots of bugs or buggy moods!
   We put up with it because we loved P4 and what it could be forced to do and also because this community was a rock of support and innovation.

2. The problems with P5 boil down to premature release due to financial problems in CL. In fact Poser 5 is getting a bit of a battering in the latest reviews (Computer Arts Nov 2002, Digit Nov 2002, 3D World #31 -current-) mainly for the bugs, lack of speed and lack of integration with high-end 3D programs like Max, Maya etc.

This is going to seriously damage sales in these Pro markets, which were a key target for P5 and are heavily influenced by such reviews. So who is responsible for changing the situation from that of "the most eagerly awaited 3D character app in recent history" to that of the debacle we now see?

I for one do not believe that Kupa and the CL staff would have ever wanted the current situation, unless they secretly endorse commercial suicide.
On the other hand, I do not believe that the beta testers could have failed to see so many of the bugs and problems that we are all experiencing or that CL could have been unaware of many of them.

Therefore, lack of cash forced CL to release a buggy beta.
But what about EGISYS the parent company?
Did they not have the resources to support CL for a little longer while the bugs were ironed out?
Maybe they did but were not willing, or got too greedy for a financial return or simply thought, in old Metacreation style, they would get away with it. Whatever the reason the early release was a bad, bad call and they are now reaping a whirlwind of community/customer anger, bad reviews and poor sales.
Will we ever get the truth and answers about the CL/EGISYS relationship and decisions to release the program early?
As we say in Ireland "Two Chances" - "Fk All" and "Sweet Fk All" on that front, so we can only speculate.

I actually love this program, want to continue using it and see amazing potential in it if all the bugs get fixed. I really believe it could be the best character program and much, much more if CL can get their act together. However, the sand is draining fast from the glass in the real world where perception is everything.

As to Daz developing its own program: Competition is the heartblood of innovation. I think it would actually be good for CL as a company if this happened.
Do I believe that Daz is going to produce a bug-free and superior competitor to Poser 5 on their first attempt?
No! Much as we might all desire it, I don't think so! ;0) But I will buy it and support them as well.

Only time will tell.
In the meantime it might be wise to give all of them a little more breathing space and see what happens.

Regards
STORM