I have an SO3 XXL with HDZ and it has worked flawlessly for 5+ years. The only problems have been operator ones and not machine ones. You mentioned you use Vetric Desktop and that limits you to 24" x 24" and the XXL is 32" x 32" so unless you want to use the full capability you will have to upgrade Vetric to Pro or just download the free Carbide Create and use both. Use your Vetric for smaller projects and CC for larger ones.
CC has come a long way in the last 5 years. If you have a BitSetter and BitZero on the Shapeoko then be sure to get the latest post processor from Vetric to take advantage of those features. I started out with a Shark and frankly I hated it. I got a Shapeoko and have never looked back. I think you find a big difference between the Shark forums and this one. I always felt that the Shark forums were dead as a door nail. The C3D forum is quite lively and very helpful. So ask for any help you need and you will get it here.
Be sure to update to the latest Carbide Create and Carbide Motion to take full advantage of your Shapeoko and the free software they provide. You can use both CC/CM and Vetric and any 3rd party gcode sender you may have been using. When I had the Shark I tried to use CC and used the generic post processor but sometimes the Shark would just sit there. That was a while ago but I did create a reference to help remove the gcode commands that the Shark could not understand and would just sit there. Here is a link to my post from 2020 about using CC and a Shark.