Some of you may not know me very well, but I sit around and think a lot about various things. Things I see and notice make me muse on hypothetical situations that, based on current events, are a distinct possibility. On that note, allow me to throw something past the group and see what the rest of you think:

We're all familiar with the Daz version 4 figures. Of course we are. We're also aware that the functionality of those said figures pose some problems over the version 3's due to the existence of DazStudio and the need for said figures to play nice in that program. Being that DS is Daz owned software and that Daz figures are of course Daz owned, and being that (they're a business after all) future versions will probably drift even farther away from Poser compatibility, has anyone given any thought to the future of replacement figures for Poser? Yes, yes...I know Poser has it's own figures. And I applaud SM's efforts in making them. However, they fall far short of what most folks want in functionality and, well, appearance ;o). I'm being nice here.

What if, in the event that there were NO MORE Daz figures, would the Poser community do? After all, we depend on Daz for the figures we use and make products for. Let's say for the sake of argument that there were no more future versions of Daz figures. Without a plan B, there goes the vendor sales, the market in general. Things grind to a halt. Much as I hate to admit it, this community is driven by those figures. So what do we do? Do we all become traitors and drop Poser for DS? Some of us will, I'm sure, but what about those that love Poser and don't care to jump ship?

I guess what I'm saying is that this might be an opportunity for the right people. People that love Poser. People that are good modelers and scripters. People that have excellent ideas that have never come to fruition because, well, everyone uses Daz figures...lol. Where are the people who are working on Poser only figures, plugins and products that improve just Poser's functionality? Sure, there are some nice plugins for Poser, but nothing really innovative (I must however give a nod to people like bagginsbill, who with Matmatic and other scripts have made things more functional, but not really in an easy way...lol). Certainly no figures that have caught on like the Daz figures. With the gobs and gobs of talent in this community that astounds me.

What would we do if the Daz figures went away? Would we go away too? Or would we have something planned? A community plan B as it were? We may in the future, if things go like I foresee, need to save our own asses if we want to continue Poser as a hobby and have it shine and innovate and continue.

Sorry for being so verbose. I'm not normally...hehe.

What do you think? Have any of you thought about it as well? Inquiring minds wanna know ;o).

Laurie