The author of the thread said he is making characters for his own projects. He pretty much fits into the definition, not necessarily penniless but still indie.
But if your plan is to work for the big studios on the major titles
Then you can forget about working for AAA studios for at least 5-10 years. It’s not that you learn Maya for a year and then get a job at CDPR. Artists with breathtaking portfolios struggle to find any permanent or long term contract positions for years.
As he already said, the author needs a tool to make characters for his own projects, not for AAA studios. Blender meets the requirements.
Even if your plan would be to get a job at AAA studio in 10 years - start your first year with Blender. Maya is a subscription based service and you don’t want to spend money while you are just studying concepts of modeling. After you get confident with making models - moving to Maya will be easy, as all modelling programs work by same principles.