As usual you express some reasonable opinion in a disagreable manner
So , first of all, please, calm down, ok ?

If modern game engine such as C4, DXSTUDIO ,UNITY etc do not support simple file format
If the converters to FBX are buggy
Do you seriously think that MilkShape , fragmotion etc can have a future ?

People will be forced to move to MAX , MAYA etc, since most of them can not afford them, you have got the answer

I have been using Blitz3d and 3dgs as game engines and Milkshape \ Fragmotion as packages
No problem to upload animated files
When I tried to switch to DXSTUDIO \ Unity I came across a lot of problem, using the same file
As simple as that

Having said that you can ask following question


# 1

Why are the FBX \ COLLADA converter so buggy ?

I guess it is due to te fact that these file format are very complex
If you match milkshape and Collada specifications you know what I mean

# 2

Why are they so complex ?

Because they contain a lot of information ( I repeat once again) such as shadow , light etc which are not strictly necessary for games being the responsability of the engine
An FBX file can export a complete scene
A milkShape file is supposed to export a low poly animated file only, nothing else


# 3
Do Collada \ FBX file have real advantage over cheap file format for an indie game developer
Just in case you did not notice it I have alwayes being talking about " Indie " and " games"

Not in my opinion , at least it is not so evident
99.90 % of the Indie games could make use of a Milkshape file as far as animation are concerned

In any case I would never trade off minor benefits, if any, with reliability