It all comes down to preference. Personally I don't think anything comes close to zBrush's tools. There are something's I wish were better, but there's a lot of things in Zbrush I wouldn't be able to do else where. High poly meshes is a good point, but when a projects completed we can decimate it to nearly any level. Honestly we just aren't interested in 10k models. If I was doing professional work I'd import a completed model to Maya to clean up and optimize the edge flow, but just doing this in my spare time I'm more concerned about detail.
I have one model that's nearly done, actually just waiting on finalizing the texture map (we're working on a method of baking materials). Otherwise yes, I use Multi Map Exporter and the final model will have displacement, normal, and ambient Occlusion. Otherwise I have another that's detailed and just needs to be painted, and a few others ready for detailing. As of now there isn't a full scope for the project, it's more about just doing the models each of us wants and practicing with the zBrush UI. I have a few ideas but waiting to see how everything plans out first.