MAX , Maya and all that high level package have been designed for movies or generally speaking for virual reality
You can export an entire world ( light , shadows etc ) not to mention high polys models
Consequently relevant file are very complex

In case of game you should focus only on the low poly models themselves ( vertice position, bones, U.V. mapping ) the rest being the responsability of the engine

A simple file format is more than enough thus reducing the chance of bugs

Not only , some game oriented file format support feature which are unique for game programming, for example they make easier to attach objects to objects in real time

I never said that MilkShape or Fragmotion are as powerfull as Maya or MAX even for modelling and animation
I said that this does not depend on the file format

The comunity of the Indie developer lack a dedicated low poly modeler \ animator but the designer of MilkShape \ Fragmotion \ PaceMkaker will never afford to improve their package if even the hobbyest developer and the Indie game engine prefer to support high level and redundant packages rather than dedicated ones

In conclusion

you encourage the piracy
you kill the small software house
You suffer for the bugs