...has a different target audience than other tools/engines
Not really. There are many other dx9 engines out there with similar capabilities. As mentioned above as well, competing graphically with the latest and greatest isn't something I believe most indies will be able to do. (not to take away from those who just want to use it for fun, of course).
You should also understand that Josh has been on this quest since the late 90's and each year he gets closer and closer to his goal...
After seeing how 3D World Studio's development went... well, seemingly to slow-mo (or a dead stop?) after Josh realised a few dev groups weren't going to go out of their way to adpot it, I don't know if I won't to be part of that quest.
I should say I assume 3DWS is going nowhere... Josh doesn't seem to answer questions about it. (hello Josh if you're reading this ;)