C'mon, 20 bucks is 4 meals in McD, don't say you're THAT poor.
Than, 100 bucks sounds reasonable because WME seems to be better than Sludge that costs 50 bucks but worse than 3DGS, that costs 200 bucks - NOT because you or I can or can not pay such sum right away. Besides, ANYBODY can afford that price if it's due only when you go commercial.
Now, about trust. Why should I trust a person that refuses to answer a simple question that is important to me? Even worse, he clearly said that he just don't have time to devise a licensing scheme, what means there WILL BE some pretty complex licensing scheme - you don't need time to just say: "N bucks" and nobody would call it a "licensing scheme". And I don't like it. When Mnemonic himself bought VC++ (or whatever he bought) nobody asked him what he's gonna write, how many programs, what is his potential customers base and how much he's planning to charge for his products. He bought a tool and now it's only HIS busines how to use that tool. If he became multibillionaire using that tool - good for him. Just the same, I'm also buying a tool, I want to pay for it and than it will be only MY business what I do with it, I don't want ANY stinky licensing schemes.
Sure, I know that all MAJOR engines do carry all kinds of licensing schemes but that's exactly why can't afford them. All that companies care about nothing but money, all that licensing schemes designed with one single purpose: to squeeze as much money as possible. If Mnemonic is the same, I'll wish him luck and go somewhere else. On the other hand he did say he's here not for money, so I give him a chance to prove it, but so far his deeds say otherwise than words.