Feel VR-JUST RELEASED NEW PRICING 03-08-18

[silversleeper484]

Did you guys just get the e-mail update from FEEL VR? If you did not, here it is... We can throw out the $388.00 Early Bird Special. It will now be $549.00 USD FOR THE EB. Please find photo/screenshot of the original e-mail from feel vr about the EARLY BIRD SPECIAL OF $388.00 USD. I doubt the $161.00 USD price increase will be a deal breaker for everyone. It is still cheaper than a Fanatic, but this is a new unproven product. What are your thoughts?

"We also did some more in-depth cost calculations to make sure we're not one of those Kickstarter campaigns that don't deliver the product as promised. We're in this for the long run.

The new pricing is as follows:

Pedals:
Early Bird: $149
Regular: $199
(Retail will be $299)

Wheel:
Early Bird: $399
Regular: $449
(Retail will be $669)

Wheel + Pedals:
Early Bird: $549
Regular: $599
(Retail will be $899)

In other news, we've decided not to limit the quantity of Early Birds. What does that mean? You've got a full 48 hours to purchase Feel VR at Early Bird prices once the campaign launches!

 

[Kenny Paton]

My son's keeping an eye on this, I like that they are being upfront about the price hike and why. It will still be a good deal if it is as advertised.

 

[dud]

Wait, does that mean the priced used to be $388 for wheel + pedals, and you were not able to lock it in at that price? (aka nobody gets in at that price)

Also PSA: their emails are html-only with a strong attachment to spam filters, in case you are monitoring your inbox.

 

[MegamanAT]

yes. nobody. but since they have posted a picture of the motor on their website (removed in the meantime), I don't think that thing will be on par with Accuforce or OSW. And I am not even sure if they can compete with Fanatec CSW 2.5. I bought an OSW in the meantime, but I think I would not risk to buy one. The only thing we know so far is, that it's cheap. But most of the time, the cheap stuff is not the best...

 

[Terry Rock]

Quite frankly, I could never imagine how they'd be able to sell it at the original price listed.
It doesn't need to be at Accuforce or OSW torque levels to be a good wheel, so that by itself is not a 'non-starter'.
It does need to communicate the wide range of frequency and be build to a good standard.
If it has those two things, I'll get it.

 

[Jan Larsen]

I'm still missing info on hardware used, the software, resolution, input lag, reliability, more pictures, videos, reviews, detailed information.
Look people, I understand you're all anxious to get your paws on a cheap(ish) DD wheel, but do yourself a favor and stay critical, ask question and dont fork out the money until you know what you're actually buying instead of just jumping on the hype wagon.

 

[Paul Glover]

I'm still missing info on hardware used, the software, resolution, input lag, reliability, more pictures, videos, reviews, detailed information.
Look people, I understand you're all anxious to get your paws on a cheap(ish) DD wheel, but do yourself a favor and stay critical, ask question and dont fork out the money until you know what you're actually buying instead of just jumping on the hype wagon.

Wise words.

 

[dud]

My main concern, as always, is the software. This would be the right time to have a github project that hooks into games and manages feedback via physical devices. That way everybody knows what they are getting and if the original "owner" suddenly decides to develop the software in a way you don't like you split the project.

Given the physical forces and energy involved here that could also help with litigation issues. If you have peer review of the software you significantly lower your risk of getting sued for injuries that are claimed to be from malfunctioning software.

I would instantly get a OSW setup if it was open in that way. I just don't see the point of having open hardware when you don't have software under the narrow definition of Open Source.

 

[Jeremy Ford]

I'd confidently say we're not getting OSW/Bodnar/Accuforce standard of quality parts so isn't a real like-for-like alternative to any of those. Really the real question is how it's compares to the best belt driven wheels. Logic would suggest the Feel VR wheel should perform better right!

All we can tell from the Feel VR wheel is what we can see in the pictures. The rim is a cheap but functional rim you can get on eBay. The quick release is a bit dodgy, I've used 3 of these and they all have slop. The paddle shifters look like levers over buttons. In all, this budget price has many compromises in low cost parts which some are already in plain sight.

 

[dud]

yes. nobody. but since they have posted a picture of the motor on their website (removed in the meantime), I don't think that thing will be on par with Accuforce or OSW. And I am not even sure if they can compete with Fanatec CSW 2.5. I bought an OSW in the meantime, but I think I would not risk to buy one. The only thing we know so far is, that it's cheap. But most of the time, the cheap stuff is not the best...

My hope is that they design their thing in a usefully crude way. Slam together the cheapest way to get the job done. But do not optimize it out in a way that would prevent users from putting in better individual parts.

You see, for them it is impossible to figure out which specific parts of the whole thing are worth spending money on. They just don't have the lead time nor the testing time.

If they were to release the most basic thing that has a trashy set of parts then a number of things would happen:

• If it works at all you still get a cheap wheel
• It is up to a larger communicate to identify a ranking of parts where the cheapness hurts the most. Which part is the most bang for the buck to upgrade. This is impossible to identify for any vendor, much less a 2-people kickstarter
• The community can then help each other not only with identifying what parts are most bang for the buck to replace, they can also source the parts. A group buy. Good instructions. Etc.
• If a major screwup on part of the kickstarter vendor is identified they could offer refund, free help in the form of passive parts to fix the problem (e.g. braces to mount better parts, without being required to provide that expensive part, too)

There isn't enough information available to see whether they are aiming for that, though.

 

[Terry Rock]

I'm still missing info on hardware used, the software, resolution, input lag, reliability, more pictures, videos, reviews, detailed information.
Look people, I understand you're all anxious to get your paws on a cheap(ish) DD wheel, but do yourself a favor and stay critical, ask question and dont fork out the money until you know what you're actually buying instead of just jumping on the hype wagon.

Thats a 'given'.
Nobody in their right mind would fork out money for an unknown, untested product.

 

[Jan Larsen]

There're so many unknowns that everyone jumping at the early bird effectively qualifies for that.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

There're so many unknowns that everyone jumping at the early bird effectively qualifies for that.

^^ This!

 

[Stacy Newcomb]

This looks a lot like the motor on the workbench picture on
http://get.feelvr.game/
Obviously very different from anything the established Direct drive suppliers are using,
Anyone have any thoughts ?

 

[Jan Larsen]

To me its looks like a standard 3-pole industrial, brushless motor. The motor isnt the problem here, its the lack of info on controlling it. Its like RC cars, the motor is useless with advanced software to control it.

 

[Stacy Newcomb]

I didn't say it was a problem, I just know nothing about the technical side of motors and such, so I thought I'd ask.

So if this picture is just a standard brushless and it looks very similar to what is being shown on the
Feel vr site, what conclusions should we be drawing from this ?
A: Is this truly a DD system ?
B: I'm an idiot and the motor shown is not the same type (waiting for confirmation from someone with better knowledge base) ?
C: What's in the photo bears no relation to what they are going to sell ?

That's a better description of my question.

And the R/C reference is totally correct.

 

[dud]

I will not buy unless it has the crankshaft electric motor from the Ferrari Lalala.

 

[MegamanAT]

I didn't say it was a problem, I just know nothing about the technical side of motors and such, so I thought I'd ask.

So if this picture is just a standard brushless and it looks very similar to what is being shown on the
Feel vr site, what conclusions should we be drawing from this ?
A: Is this truly a DD system ?
B: I'm an idiot and the motor shown is not the same type (waiting for confirmation from someone with better knowledge base) ?
C: What's in the photo bears no relation to what they are going to sell ?

That's a better description of my question.

And the R/C reference is totally correct.

A: yes
B: the motor looks like the same. do you have some techincal data for the motor? link? it's just not what most people would have expected since a normal brushless dc motor does not provide the same level of torque as a servo motor does. that motor looks like one of these e-bike/scooter motors which provide about 5nm of torque (1500w) whereas a mige 1010 provides 15nm (also 1500w). but I am not surprised, a mige 1010 costs about the same as the early adopter set. some guys over at x-simulator already tried to use such an e-bike motor but with disappointing results. But let's see...
C: no, I think that is exactly what they will sell.

I am I am still skeptical...

 

[PsyaNyde]

A: yes
B: the motor looks like the same. do you have some techincal data for the motor? link? it's just not what most people would have expected since a normal brushless dc motor does not provide the same level of torque as a servo motor does. that motor looks like one of these e-bike/scooter motors which provide about 5nm of torque (1500w) whereas a mige 1010 provides 15nm (also 1500w). but I am not surprised, a mige 1010 costs about the same as the early adopter set. some guys over at x-simulator already tried to use such an e-bike motor but with disappointing results. But let's see...
C: no, I think that is exactly what they will sell.

I am I am still skeptical...

Well it won't be one of those ebike/ scooter motors, because they quote it as having 12nm of torque.

 

[MegamanAT]

Well it won't be one of those ebike/ scooter motors, because they quote it as having 12nm of torque.

but that motor looks like one of these. and they did not say if it's holding torque or peak torque. I bet it's a normla brushelss dc motor. like on the pictures and like in e-scooters.