In general the models created by DAZ Studio are better suited for scene rendering or creating concept "art." They generally tend to be pretty dense on the poly count and don't work great in games.

And while Studio is free, to really get any descent use out of it, you really need to buy DLC for the program to give extra clothes, options, ect.

I was just giving a program that is okay for this purpose. I am currently using Hexagon and DAZ Studio in a game that I am making, which is both amazing and painful. It is amazing because of the free models (Genesis, Victoria 4, Michael 4), various free stuff (there is a whole forum section devoted to free clothes, models, etc.), and morphing models (Genesis is really flexible). Most everything else, though, is very...impossible to work with. Rigging, creating models yourself, and even creating stuff for DAZ Studio (which should be more easily done in Hexagon) is much better in another program, like Blender or Sculptris. DAZ is flexible enough to use on pre-built DAZ models and some imported stuff, but usually is better handled by Blender.

DAZ is just a faster, free way to get a better-than-decent person model which looks like you want. Just don't trust that animations will export in fbx.

I have to agree when it comes to this program set that it's great for the Indie/Beginner because it is quite simple and fairly easy to use as a modeler. Presently that is what I'm using because of the promotion that is going on with them where it is free. As to other programs if you are wanting to learn you could look at the professional software out there (Autodesk <3ds Max>, Cinema4D, and ZBrush) but keep in mind that they do have a Steep learning curve and do cost quite a bit (Autodesk does have a student edition which is free and for personal use).

My recommendation when starting out with the modeling aspect is to grab what you can that is free (daz products atm, blender, ect) and start working with them. There will be quite a bit of tutorials on youtube and other sites so you will have a lot of people with a lot of man hours into the different programs to help you out with any program that you do choose. Overall it really is what you can get and what you become comfortable with (stick with it, sometimes it can be very frustrating) and you will get there.

Exactly! DAZ does OK most of the time (you can easily get too many faces for Unity in Hexagon) and has an easy-to-use interface, but lacks the depth - and occasionally the functionality - of Blender. Blender is amazing at everything, but has an interface that is confusing and overwhelming at first. I would recommend getting the DAZ products first (while they stay free) and then switch to Blender (which is always free and amazing).

TDGuy mentioned ZBrush an I just wanted to throw my 2cents in about that. It's actually not that hard to learn how to use. What's difficult with it is learning how to use it efficiently in your pipeline. I have found that things made with it will have way to much detail to actually be used in game, however the models you can make with it are great for generating normal maps. The thing is, if you are doing this by yourself, you probably don't have the time to invest creating your normal maps that way.