JakeL,
I have been a maya user for several years and I would actually recommend against maya unless you were interested in maya unlimited which has fur,cloth,live and tons of other features.

I also have modo and I really dont like it, the interface is clunky for me and the learning curve is sharp.

I like simplicity and power. Sort of a zen combination(if your into zen). For my money and ease of use I would highly recommend silo then animate in blender if your work is in gaming. I would also recommend zbrush for normal maps.