"you have no choice but to have fusion be free"
The source has to be free to download once it goes public not the game media its self.
"Shadow is THE pre-eminent master of throwing out misc totally unrelated tidbits of technical poo poo "
He gives out just enough info so that if you think about it for a year it makes sence. :/
"vertex animation (i.e. using Max's Snapshot tool for example on export) or skeletal (.bips)?"
I think the q3 models start off as .bips (many people used q3 model .bip files to animate there models therefor making it impossible to use them in a free to download game.) I think they are stored as vertex animations before they become game ready though I could be wrong.
I put the new in b.