VKB TECS: MODULARITY FULL AHEAD

[Coyote_One]

I refuse to buy the V word...

Especially now after owning the MCG Ultimate. If the throttle is anywhere near this quality, im sold. Then again i was sold well before I got this grip to begin with.

Seems the general consensus from the last few months of posts is theres still no rough date or timeline? Radio silence?

[David]

check.

Silence is golden? Sound of Silence? Geen nieuws is goed nieuws (No news is good news)?

Still don't have the money though. Would be nice if they could wait a couple of months.

[TrueWeevie]

My thoughts exactly

[Wildpat01]

That lack of communication does register so well with me. I'm mainly playing Elite Dangerous and MSFS 2020, with a little Star Wars Squadrons here and there. My HOTAS is the now ancient CH joystick and throttle and I've been really looking to upgrade. The GMK3 Space Combat is very probably something I'd go for as well as the throttle when it comes out. Now, is it a when or an if????

Long story short, is that a normal commercial behavior? If so, is that what I'm looking forward to if my $500 joystick fails or if I need some support? All this to say that VKB's persistent silence on this new product doesn't bode well IMHO. It makes me extremely shy on the trigger-pulling (Ahahaha, bad pun intended) and spending a nice chunk of hard-earned money. I can be patient but not uncomfortable, so people at VKB, please know that you are missing a sale here.

[Airtroops83]

I've been waiting 3 years for it. some people have been waiting over 4.

It was about 3.5ish years from the time of announcement till the first consequenctial update (the first post of this thread..)
it just seems to be the VKB way.

I'm really starting to lose my patience too but oh well. They said they were entering production back in january or february so who knows at this point. could come out tomorrow, could be well into next year.
and unfortunantly for me, I only want the one with slide rails and thats slated to be released LAST, with an undetermined amount of time in between releases...
I know its just the VKB way but man I would feel a whole lot better if they came out and said something like
"Hey this is certainly subject to change, and its not a promise, but if everything goes well these should be released sometime around august, with around a month in between the different models releases"

It might get some peoples hopes up too much, but for me and a lot of other people it would at least give us some more hope and an idea of at least some general timeframe so we could plan around it.. More transparency in business is a good thing. For example, when they said previously that sometime around the lunar new year was the goal, that was great! it let me know around where they were in the process and when I can start looking again. When they told us that it wasnt gunna happen because of worker visas and other pandemic related things, that was perfectly fine and understandable. If anything it humanized them more...

Might just be the american in me but I really just prefer more communication from businesses, even if its not all peaches and roses and what we want to hear. Just keep us in the loop, bad news or good news, and youll get a lot more understanding and patience from us (which will probably result in more sales and better PR too).

[Zyll]

They make very good products, that's what is keeping many of us hanging on to hope.

They are also promising a very good price, much better value for the cost compared to the competition.

However, the pessimist in me is thinking the delays are serious, and they don't want to give us an update because they don't know themselves. That does not bode well for us at all. I hope I'm wrong, but the explanation is either that, or they just don't believe open communication with their customer base is important. I would still buy from a company who has poor communication, because the product is good and the price is right, but I can't buy from a company who doesn't have a product to sell me, and my patience is not unlimited.

[Pr1mal]

Looking at this objectively, if they knew, they would say. Which means they don't know, if you read between the lines.
There are so many outside influences which aren't helping matters. A depressed global economy, massive international shipping delays, electronics component shortages, etc.
IF VKB had a Royal Flush, it would be on the table.

So where does that leave us? Well, that's a personal decision. Demand in the flight sim sector is at a record high, which means that global availability industry wide is sporadic at best. You either have patience and wait, if you want VKB bad enough, or you go with a competitor. Personally, I doubt you'll see the TECS until 2022. Maybe even mid to late 2022, depending on the release date and demand. So at this point, VKB is beginning to ask a lot from their customers. The most hardcore won't flinch, but patience is not a common virtue.

[TrueWeevie]

The base model is, in my reasonably informed but speculative opinion, a done deal.

It's an arcing throttle, nothing wildly new or innovative really; just very very, very well done (assuming VKB are being themselves and haven't all lost their collective minds! ).

This next bit however is utter speculation but it is based on my own experience in engineering (albeit software engineering) and my experience with VKB:

It's the inclusion of the electronic detent on the other two that might be the hold up. Now, I can't imagine VKB announcing something like the electronic detent the way they did without it being mostly there. They're not bullshit merchants and they won't say they can do a thing unless they can do it. However, there's also VKB's fanatical commitment to as near perfection as they can get to take into account. When you're innovating, getting a V1 perfect and avoiding the "using your customers as beta testers" scenario is a tough thing to do. It may be that VKB are trying to go through every possible use(abuse) case and trying to get ahead of any potential 'bugs' that pop up when a V1 version is released.

For a company like VKB with their high standards, the minor nuisance of the spring breakages and the even more minor incidences of 'rapid fire trigger' breakages on the initial release of the Gladiator NXT, might well have seemed way more arse-clenchingly embarrassing than it actually was and maybe that's why they're dotting the 'i's and crossing the 't's repeatedly and obsessively.

Eh...the delay suits me. I've just paid for my whole ground floor to be decorated and I've had all new radiators put in; no way I can afford the Rails throttle any time soon. Take your time, clever VKB fellas!

[rockdude14]

Basically echoing what everyone else said. Had a great first experience with the gladiator, was happy to wait a bit for the throttle. They one response was not this year, just prior to the Chinese new year. Then nothing since.

In return for having your customers wait so you get a nice big sale when this releases, you need to at least keep them informed. It's not like you're going to get sued if delays happen or something. We could be way more understanding if that happened and there were updates but this just feels like being taken for granted. You guys are burning the good faith you got from me with my experience with the gladiator. You went from me probably buying as much as possible from you, to me starting to look elsewhere.

[Outlaw24]

After reading the recent posts, I also feel that VKB can be more forthcoming with the current status of the TECS. I can understand VKB not posting any pictures to prevent competitors from obtaining some proprietary information before the offical release of the product, but some info on the current status should be manageable.

[rtrski]

Personally I was surprised they even UPDATED us right around CNY. I was sure they'd stick to their guns and not say anything at all until closer to release. I posted a gigantic and now rather comical post about why they probably wouldn't.

I'm not surprised it's been quiet again, at all. But will refrain from making another easily laughably wrong prediction at this point. I will confess to being a little surprised that the SEM and THQ modules for the Gladiator NXT haven't surfaced for sale yet. I think that global supply issues might be hurting them (and frankly everyone) worse than we realize.

[Zyll]

Well, VKB announced new stock of MCG Ultimate 2 months ago, so supply of electronic parts is not entirely at a stand-still.

Virpil put out a new Control Panel for pre-order this past March as well, with an expected delivery date of early April.

As a group of highly motivated buyers, we should try to hold VKB accountable to us with some clear communications. If we just say "they don't owe us any answers, they are doing a great job, stop complaining", then nothing changes. If our messages discourage VKB from ever sending out any more announcements... well are we really losing anything? But if they see that many of their most ardent customers are not happy, then it might drive AeroGator or someone else to put out a more current update of the situation.

I'm encouraged that more of us are now voicing our displeasure with the radio silence. I hope it results in a (favorable) response from VKB.

[WelshZeCorgi]

Might as well toss in my hat here. Can we get an update? The CNY was light on details for a projected release date, and it would be nice whether or not that's changed.

[Jac92071]

The only reason I keep checking for updates is so I can decide on wether to upgrade to the Gunfighter mk.III w/ MCG ultimate or wait for the throttle first. I'd like to try to have 1 paid off before I order the other. Don't need specific dates on release but just another update saying not to expect any release before Qx 202x would be enough for me.

[miksmax]

Personally I really need an update to my X52 throttle but I'm only willing to wait until end of summer, otherwise I'll have to go with a Warthog or Virpil unit.