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Regrets of a midgame adopter

vicvicvic135
Explorer
Last night, I was surprised to see that the Oculus+ touch dropped from 600 USD to 400 USD. I got the Oculus from Best Buy less than 4 weeks ago and felt pretty happy about being an early adopter. At this moment, I feel regretful that I didn't wait just a while longer. Best Buy has a 15 day return policy and the Oculus support group said that they were unable to help me since I purchased from another retailer.

I do wish our community expands but this situation is making it hard for me to make a case to recommend this product to my friends. With underdeveloped games, a technology with potential for improvement, and constant price drops, I feel as if it would be wise for anybody to wait a couple years before buying an Oculus (or similar VR hardware).

Does anybody feel the same?

Edit July 12: After some discussion on this thread, it seems like I should be classified as a "midgame" adopter.
22 REPLIES 22

Zenbane
MVP
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I know there are a lot of games for the Oculus but they usually feels quite glitchy.


Such as...?? 😛 You still aren't giving examples of any first-hand experience you have.


vicvicvic135 said:
Most of them are Indie games as well.

So what?

I have nothing against Indie games, and I can list quite a few VR titles that are not glitchy (I've played many to completion). By contrast, there are literally thousands of games for standard PC and Console that have glitches and bugs.

https://www.google.com/#q=famous+video+game+glitches

Things will continue to improve, as you say. But I see nothing wrong with the current generation of VR HMD's. My experience over the past year has been fantastic; the fact that we will only get better over time is inspiring.

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

Also,




 the PS4 has way more quality and triple A games available.


The PS4 is the 4th generation in its class; and the Rift/Vive are 1st Gen. You aren't comparing apples to apples. This is also knowledge you have up front: CV1 vs PS4 (4 > 1)

If you want more Triple A games then it is important to note that Triple A titles have an average development time of 3-5 years.

So why would someone buy a First Year platform if they only want experiences that result from 3-5 years of effort? It doesn't really add up.

Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Resident Evil 7 fall in the 3-5 year category. VR is being added after-the-fact. Then there's Doom 3 which is getting VR support... but development for that game began as far back as 2000; that's a 17 year development time span.

Indie developers have done an amazing job to help give early adopters enjoyable experiences while we wait for the 3-5 year development time to pass. Games like Albino Lullaby were among my first VR experiences, and incredibly memorable. The lengthy free-fall was outstanding, and the developer was nice enough to send me a Save Game file so that I can load it up at that exact moment any time I choose.

Being an early adopter has felt quite grand imo.

vicvicvic135
Explorer
I agree with your points. I like indie games too but just not as the sole basis of my experience. My favorite game is Robo Recall but the campaign only lasted 1-2 hours. I wanted a game with swords so I tried Raw Data and Sairento. Raw data crashes and Sairento gameplay doesn't feel smooth. In each of these games, I'd get stuck every few missions. I know GTA V or Skyrim would have glitches too but not to the point where I'm having to restart the game every few missions.

I understand that these developers don't have the bandwidth to make them comparable to something like Fallout 4 but that makes it a reason that a casual gamer would rather get a PS4. I understand that a larger game would take years to make and that just makes it another good reason to wait until they come out before buying an Oculus.

And I know it's not fair to compare Oculus to PS4 because they are generations apart. But my point is that they both exist now and a casual gamer has more reason to lean towards the PS4 since it's cheaper and has way more games.

I did feel a sense of pride in being an "early" or "mid-game" adopter (classify me however you want) at first but I'm just feeling disappointed that I purchased it when it was set up for immediate price drops and improvements as compared to an entertainment system I could have purchased cheaper. Perhaps our sentiments are different just because I'm more of a "mid-game" adopter or a casual gamer as compared to the population that I am speaking with here.

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
@vicvicvic135 - I can definitely see the how a consumer/gamer would want to choose a more stable platform over a first gen VR Device. Especially if that person isn't that impressed with the immersion provided by this breakthrough VR technology.

For me, the first time I flew my ship through space in Eve Valkyrie... I just knew that my life was changed lol. The immersion is everything to me.

Yet I have also given Rift demo's to many family, friends, and co-workers over the past year. And I do notice that for every person who becomes "amazed," there is someone else who kinda shrugs and asks, "what is the practical application of this?"

The VR experience is fairly unique to each individual. So I suppose I can't expect everyone to share my outlook or perspective since the Rift clearly had a more powerful impression on me as an immersive device.

Although I also do not feel the need to "choose." I have multiple consoles and multiple PC's (including a Macbook and iPad). I have an Xbox, PlayStation, multiple Nintendo consoles, and sometimes I play mobile games. Point being: if someone wants to enjoy a quality Triple A title then they just have to get the hardware/software to do that. If they also want to enjoy VR, then get stuff to do that as well. I see no reason to sacrifice one over the other.

Price drops are a different matter. Some people feel disheartened when it impacts them negatively. While I can see the point, all I can think of are the overall benefits. Especially in the case of an emerging technology that is birthing a whole new industry.

vicvicvic135
Explorer
@Zenbane I am also personally amazed by the Oculus. The friends I have shown have been amazed as well. We're just now skeptical about whether it's worth the $400 (and recently $600) when it's destined for more rapid price drops/improvements and that there are more developed systems out there.
Of course I don't think there's anything wrong to a price drop now, since I wish for the community to be expanded as well. However, from the standpoint of someone who purchased this just a few weeks ago, I really wish I waited at least a few weeks (if not years) because I would have saved $200. This thought should extend to those that are about to purchase if a bit of patience would result in huge savings/better hardware in the near future.

However, that's just my opinion. I suppose that's just the viewpoint of a casual gamer.

Techy111
MVP
MVP
Absolutely right mate, so I want it now or shall I wait for the price to drop is a dilemma most of us face at times. Price drops and sales are a part of life. If it happens to me then i approach the company and say hey look? If I'm lucky and get a discount then bonus !!!! If not then I still have the bit of kit I wanted 😉
A PC with lots of gadgets inside and a thing to see in 3D that you put on your head.

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
Having experienced what the OP has gone through myself with several items I can certainly sympathize with him and anyone else who purchased recently and then a sale occurs. It's not a nice feeling. However, one shouldn't lose sight of why you made the purchase in the first place and that you were comfortable paying the listed price at the time. 

I purchased a Samsung TV earlier this year for just under £1000 (it was already in a sale), just over two weeks later the seller lowered the price even more by £100. So I called them to ask if they would kindly refund the difference on the off-chance they might play ball with the angle, it was already in a sale, and so another sale so soon was unexpected.  Sadly I was just outside of their 14 day policy and out of luck.  I moved on because my enjoyment of the TV has been off the scale. I  had no regrets buying it. A rebate would have been nice but ultimately I got what I paid for.  UK Samsung KS7000 49" in case anyone is interested.

Interestingly, I purchased a Nintendo 3DS when it first released and then 3 months later Nintendo lowered the price. They felt obliged to reward early adopters and offered  a select number of free games as a kind gesture. So it's at the discretion of the company how they respond to customers who might  feel a little disappointed when a sale occurs after a purchase.  However, as a consumer we agree to pay the price for a product when we cough up the cash. Anything that happens after the sale isn't within our control so we have to suck it up or try and get a rebate on the difference.  Amazon and several other major retailers have opened a can of worms where customers are able to return items with no quibbles for a full refund which has meant people abusing this to send back items and then buy them again at  new SALE prices.  It's because of this that some customers now feel a little entitled. However, not all sellers have this policy and most are under no obligation to do anything if the item isn't faulty and if they do refund or offer credit, it's a good will gesture at best.

TL:DR - Just get on and enjoy your Rift and don't look back.





System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.

bigmike20vt
Visionary
unless OP is suggesting that nothing ever gets heavy discounts then, sometimes getting stung is a fact of life.
win some, lose some!.
(i DO sympathise, i would feel a bit dissapointed if it happened to me (point of fact it did with touch discounts).

but as i said, win some, lose some.  i bought a moto G5 yesterday, £40 off due to amazon daily deal.

but what are oculus to do?  if they announced 2 weeks ago, in 2 weeks time we are having a summer discount, then NO ONE would buy a hmd for 2 weeks, and even then, those who bought the day before would be salty because "why did they not announce it 3 weeks in advance).

the only alternative is to NEVER have big sales and to have a set formula which means prices are set and only get reduced slowly by a few quid a week.

which over all i think we would lose on - i have 100s of games bought in humble bundles etc for essentially pennies, i bought my 70 inch gaming telly for a £2000 discount! :open_mouth:

imo take it on the chin, accept that next time you may be more lucky and enjoy your new hmd.  anyone who bought more recently, make use of distance selling regs or the amazon price promise

(but however you spin it, not telling other users about this discount sounds like sour grapes to me and you are just hurting the VR industry, and potentially yourself in the long run)
Fiat Coupe, gone. 350Z gone. Dirty nappies, no sleep & practical transport incoming. Thank goodness for VR 🙂

nalex66
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@Zenbane I am also personally amazed by the Oculus. The friends I have shown have been amazed as well. We're just now skeptical about whether it's worth the $400 (and recently $600) when it's destined for more rapid price drops/improvements and that there are more developed systems out there.


There is always the possibility of price drops in the future, with anything that you buy. The only question to ask yourself is: Do I want this at the price offered today? If you do, buy it. If it gets cheaper in the future (and it always will), you haven't lost anything, you got what you paid for at a price you agreed to.

You can wait forever for things to get cheaper, but you'll end up only ever buying old stuff that has been made obsolete by new stuff coming out at higher prices.

$400 is pretty damn cheap for what you're getting with the Rift+Touch bundle. It's not likely to get any cheaper (in 6 weeks it may go back up to $600), and I'd argue that there are NO "more developed systems" out there. Vive is playing catch-up on features that the Rift has, and costs over twice the price. If you want home VR, this is the best deal that has ever existed. At $600, it was the best deal that had ever existed, too.

DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3.


Try my game: Cyclops Island Demo

andysonofbob
Heroic Explorer
I bought my CV1 and Touch controllers a couple of months ago.  On the salty level I am about 4 out of 10 about this.  That's because I am human.

That said I am excited and have advertised the price drop on the forums I frequent because I want more VR gamers!  More VR units sold == better for me.

My only concern is that if the price was to drop even further, you might get issues with perceived value for money!  i.e. "What's wrong with the CV1 if it is less than half the price of the Vive?"

Would outsiders to VR's default opinion be that the Vive is the superiour product?