Lots of posts in here I'd like to "like" or "+1" or "thumbs-up". :)

On vendors:

Recently, I noticed that a vendor whose stuff I really like got a 1 star review because he provides his models in obj format so they can be easily used in any app that supports obj. The product review noted that the models were great, but it was too much of a pain to get them to "work" in Poser or DS.

I like this vendor because he makes extremely detailed models, (ie: a farm with ploughed land, houses, a barn, animals, buckets, barrels, food troughs, feedbags, etc) with great texture maps (even specular maps that AREN'T merely a greyscale version of the diffuse map). And he sells these models for $10. Yes, they are in obj format. Yes, all the materials have to be tweaked after import because the maps don't plug in correctly. Yes, he uses generic map names like roof.jpg, so you often have to rename them all to avoid texture crosstalk if you load more than one of his models in a scene). Yes, on one, out of 15 of his products I've purchased, there are a couple of missing polys after import. Yes, you have to scale the items after import. Yes, frequently the models are one welded prop, so if you want doors to open or separate props, you have spawn them yourself with the grouping tool. Yes, to all that -- BUT I would much rather spend the ten or twenty minutes fixing these things than paying an extra $20 to have him do it for me. $40 an hour isn't terrible pay for my time, so I feel I'm getting a good deal, especially considering the fact that it would take me a couple of YEARS to make any one of his products myself.

In any case, I (and another customer) followed the 1 star review with our own, making the point that the vendor DID NOT mislead anyone into thinking that the models came in a Poser ready format. And that it wasn't rocket science to get them to work very well. We also gave our opinions about the quality of his work. And the five stars he deserved. (I'd have given six if I could). He sent me a PM that was very gracious and thankful. Why? Because you don't make much money as a vendor. Very few people LIVE on the proceeds. You do it because you enjoy it, because you like sharing your work, and sell it because this is an expensive hobby and you need to make SOME of that money back if you can. To be told that your work is rotten because it doesn't conform to someone else's extremely restrictive workflow is simply cruel -- and it will destroy your desire to continue.

Poser vendors are individuals with feelings. They are not giant corporations with a publicity department. To take the sort of entitled mindset that you have as a customer of a corporation with an individual human being is to grant yourself far more importance than you really have. I'll explain:

I used to run a liquor store in Texas, and at some point, my mother bought it, so I worked, essentially for her. Previously, I had to put up with a whole lot of abuse from customers over issues ranging from prices to selling to them when they were drunk to asking them for an ID. As soon as the store was no longer under the control of a corporation (albeit a very small one), those customers no longer had any hold over me, and I took great pleasure in telling the worst of them that my self respect was worth more than their $10 a week, so they could go shove their money where the sun don't shine.

And frankly, were I a Poser vendor, and I heard some of the criticisms of work that I've heard on these forums, that's exactly what I'd say. Yes, you can expect anything you want for your measly $10. And, yes, I -- as an individual -- can tell you to shove your expectations... where the sun don't shine.

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PoserPro 2014, PS CS5.5 Ext, Nikon D300. Win 8, i7-4770 @ 3.4 GHz, AMD Radeon 8570, 12 GB RAM.