Quote - I basically wanted to know if I would find the power of DSA compelling enough to use it as well. But I'm well aware that threads take on a life of their own.

I was also looking for more insight on the elements of DSA that would make it worth learning. The different interface still keeps me away. Without having a solid reason to learn it, I'm more likely to take the time to learn Hexagon modeling than a program that will only do things similar to Poser. That's not a knock against DSA--it's more the limits of my available free time. I'd rather spend it learning something completely new that I cannot do right now (modeling) than something that is only mildly different than what I already know.

As far as guessing at the future, my bet is that the two programs will remain reasonably compatible with figures and props--with DAZ having to make the most concessions since DS is the new kid on the block. DAZ has released very few figures and props that will only work in DS. As far as I can tell, DAZ releases more Bryce and Carrara-only props, that are unique to those programs, than similar DS-only content. Things can change, but it seems unlikely that the two products will become incompatible. DAZ Studio is picking up a lot of new users because it is free. Poser has the older user base and I'd guess still the larger one based on the percentages of free and paid content being made. I'm seeing more and more DS-only freebies, so it's clear that its user base is growing. Unless Poser is abandoned, or DS completely overtakes Poser in capabilities, it's not likely that new content will fully diverge in the future. At a minimum, both will still have some past version of compatibility.

Quote - "I enjoy kicking back and actually reading tech documents/manuals while NOT sitting in front of the computer.

It looks like I'll get more use out of my netbook if leaving out manuals is going to be the norm. Netbooks are portable enough, and have a battery life of up to 10 hours, to be used in more cozy settings than in front of a computer. The downside is that a hard copy manual is easier to flip back and forth to dig up info.

I guess you're looking more for a relatively high tech look like this:

versus this

The top would be a tactical center fairly far removed from the actual fighting while this one is closer to the battle.

I'm surprised that it happens at all because all the content creator has to do is load the items and will immediately see the same problem.

It seems as if most sites that go into maintenance never come back--especially when there is a many months duration involved. Hopefully that's not the case here. I knew I should have visited it this weekend.

It also comes with Poser 6 and 7.

I didn't click the dropdown list, so I might actually have been able to get it.

bummer...

I just thought the whole thing was a mistake, so didn't try to do much to get it at the time.

Oh rats!  If I wasn't adding other items to my shopping cart, I might have gotten it.

Quote - Once again, I'm not a lawyer, but the license binding you is the one valid at the moment you buy something. All later modifications don't affect you, much like new laws don't apply on things which happened before they were released.

That should be correct. That license is the contract that was purchased and is a legally binding agreement made at the time of purchase. The license owner cannot retroactively change that agreement without the consent of the other party.

The one problem area that does exist with digital content is the question of whether the content is legitimately owned by the person selling it. If someone is selling stolen goods, then the buyer may be unwittingly buying content that the seller cannot legally license. It would seem that the legal owner of the content ought to be willing to accept a new purchase of their product or may even graciously allow their content to be used in a cirucumstance where people purchased a product in good faith.  I'm not sure what kind of policies the different stores have in that situation. It's a relatively rare occurrence and, even if a model has to be purchased again, it's probably still cheaper than building it from scratch since a person has to be paid an hourly wage to produce it for a single user.

Dedicated Digital used to have one as part of their Animal Kingdom, but I don't know if it's around anymore.  It was over $100 nearly a decade ago.  Even it's still around, the texture maps would be considered low-res today.  They used to have a tiger and T-Rex freebie, but their website no longer even mentions them or any of their other 3D products.

I've found a number of arcade models around the net over the years (most in 3ds and obj formats). Turbosquid has one free Max model. ShareCG has one for Vue. There's some inexpensive models in the Marketplace here ($5-$6).

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=942661

Attached Link: http://www.wififreespot.com/

If download speed is the only hitch, go to the nearest library because it probably has free internet access (in the US at least).  Download to a memory stick. If you have a netbook (old refurbished 7' and 9' ones sell for $150 and  less) or laptop, there are many wireless locations that provide better than dialup download speeds.

Some morphs don't require the morph pack and are new morphs created for a character. Others are dial spins using the morph packs. Right now, the morph packs are on sale for $3 (part of their oldies sale) at DAZ, so it's probably worth getting. If only one can be afforded, the head pack is the one used most often.