(2020-05-26, 20:26)Merlijn Wissink Wrote: So, everything just goes along as it used to. And now it's getting passed by newer initiatives like stud.io or mecabricks. They're more modern, easier to work with, have a lower learning curve and have all kinds of fancy new features. Sure, it's certainly not as flexible as LDCad + LPub3D and that's the reason I still use that combination for everything I do, but it's not hard to imagine that with time there will be more feature-parity.
With Studio at least, there's a serious caveat to go along with this assessment. When I started using it, I also thought it was the panacea it's often said to be. But before long, I ran into a pretty firm wall where I just couldn't go further with the program, because I'd either reached the limits of its capability, or needed a feature that simply does not work (*ahem*flexible parts*cough*). Combining those things with Studio's essentially closed-source nature, I just wasn't able to do enough poking around under the hood the way you can with a true LDraw program.
There seems to be a good-sized community of people using Studio who are in a similar boat. Many of them are not computer experts or developers at all and are attracted by Studio's robust feature set and user-friendly interface. They're often vaguely aware of LDraw but understand it to be a rather arcane, inaccessible system. But the problems and questions with Studio that arise are almost invariably ones that LDraw has already solved, and solved powerfully. So a lot of these users begin, reluctantly at first, turning from Studio to LDCad or LPub, rather than the other way around. And I think a fair number start to see that LDraw actually can be accessible, perhaps much more so than Studio, especially if you need to solve a problem yourself rather than waiting for someone else to do it.
But, your point is well taken that, if Studio does get an influx of interest and effort in its development, with the intent of making it a really top-tier piece of software, it could be better positioned to "corner the market" than trusty ol' LDraw.