Ok something quite hilarious is taking place right now with Autodesk. As I said before, it is prohibitively expensive under normal circumstances to crossgrade to a suite, and then pay for the maintenance package. Unfortunately the rebate program for people wanting to purchase suites does not apply to those upgrading/crossgrading from already-purchased software, but I did notice something very interesting in their FAQ about the promotion.

I think it was about 2-3 months ago now that I submitted a petition on the Autodesk forums. It discussed the possibility of two more suites (Entertainment Creation Suite "Advanced" and "Ultimate", respectively including Sketchbook Designer) being made for people who own both Maya and 3ds Max, as well as a "Blanket Subscription" package who have multiple programs, but not an actual suite that includes them. In typical Autodesk fashion they haven't replied to the thread; while reading the FAQ, however, there is a mention of an Entertainment Suite Ultimate 2012 package. This is not listed on any of their sites as a product, but didn't appear in regards to network licenses before August 16th...

So it looks as though there might be an Ultimate product coming for studios and artists wanting to have 3ds Max and Maya, together, in a composite suite.