The 3D cursor! That little dude is so insanely useful, I don’t know how I got around without it in Cinema4D. From using it as a mirror pivot, a rotation pivot, or a tool to reset transforms, it does it all.
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Right click select 
I’ve been using Blender so long that it’s not anything I think about. I don’t remember it being a hurdle either, but I came to Blender a 3D virgin with no prior experience. I chose Blender because it’s free, but I keep using it because it’s so versatile and does what I need (VFX creation for live action movies). We’re using it at my day job too as our only 3D software. It’s in a pipeline with Nuke and Resolve and has done all the CG for 4 feature length documentaries.
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For me, Blender is something i grew up with. I started playing around in 2.49 about ten years ago, when i was just ten years old. Right click select and all the shortcuts are burned into my mind.
I love the fact that Blender was able to accompany me for so long, keeping me
entertained, letting me witness two huge overhauls of the program itself…i remember being so freaking hyped up for 2.5, also trying cycles for the first time…and now its the same with 2.8 and eevee.
I’m extremely looking forward to another 10 years of blender, i wonder how Blender will look in a decade…
The Keymap which Is Killed in 2.80.
Texture painting has to be one of my favorite features. There’s something satisfying about painting onto the model or on the texture and seeing it instantly on the model. And the extra brushes just make it even better.
Also all the addons for it. Some can completely change how I use blender and even speed it up.
It was thanks to one addon that allowed me to import and export models to certain software I was using at the time that introduced me to blender.
Coming from various 3d apps, like Archicad, 3ds max, Rhino… my favourite thing about Blender is modeling. The ability to customize everything about modeling, even in a strictly personal style, without limitations is outstanding. I’ve made changes based on Sensei format (I use his shortcut keys and the tremendous snapping system, not the UI), I’ve integrated some workflows based on specific addons, like the f2 and Snap Utilities, and the outcome is an interface with which I can model things blazing fast and have a CAD-like ability to rotate and snap things, something very important for me, coming from a CAD-nurbs modeling environments.
I feel deeply sad (almost depressed) that this heavy customization of mine will be almost useless if I decide to switch to 2.8. I think I’ll stick to the latest 2.79 builds for some time to come. I’ll probably switch to 2.8 only for final renderings, at least for the first months.
Grease Pencil in 2.8 is huge. Cel animation is great fun and directly combining drawing with 3D opens up so many possibilities!
- The customizable UI without popups covering my scene, with neat tricks like calculations in input field, drag & select / enter multiple values; scaling (DPI); hiding menu-bars, so I can separate small section of UI I use the most and let it stay accessible all the time; the context menus always opening under the mouse cursor; theming … just a countless list of many other small details that make the work super fast and enjoyable
- portability = extremely small, no installation, simple updating, no bloat-ware, fast start (how is that even possible such powerful app is so lightweight?)
- Grease Pencil feature
- continuous mouse drag
- keyboard workflow (especially when modeling)
- snapping with Ctrl + automerge, vertex slide with UV auto-correction
- …
… because of these, I don’t consider the price as the key “feature” of Blender, I actually enjoy using this tool so much that I would prefer it even if I have a licence for Max or Maya with lifetime free updates.
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