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For the price of this thing even at $70 you can get a much better quality keyboard, at $180 you deserve this keyboard if you spend that much on it.
It's definitely an easy assumption to make...but being in the business of making PC peripherals for over 30 years has taught us quite a few things. And being around for over 30 years as a PC peripheral manufacturer isn't an easy feat at all.
Design is obviously a subjective matter, but if you haven't touched or used the Vanguard dismissing it as "cheap build quality" goes against a lot of what other reviewers / users have posted about the product (the vast majority in fact). This product is quite durable and built to last.
We brought the Vanguard to market to NOT be a clone of the other keyboards out there on the market putting the same switches in different chassis and claiming we're somehow better. We are different. And we're cool with that.
If that's not your thing, that's fine. There are people that also don't like bacon as well.
If you guys want to really hit the market hard, you need to go hard on twitch advertising. Get well-known people actually using the product. Hit up some YouTube tech channels - I do see some videos there, but all the reviewers only have less than 20k views. Nothing that ever would have showed up in my feed.
It would be wonderful to see another true competitor in the gaming peripherals market. Especially one willing to go outside of the box like you did with your keycaps. I am obviously not a marketing specialist, but I just wanted to share my opinion. I really do wish you guys good luck.
1. There's a TON of competition and a lot of established brands and avid fans of those brands. They will have opinions.
2. Coming to market with a clone of those products made no sense. Why make a clone? Make something different that brings something new to the scene and give another choice. Never hurts to have variety.
3. We wanted it to live up to our rep we've built over 30 years as an innovator in the PC gaming space with our sound. We kept the name Sound Blaster in the name because that's where we're from..it's our heritage. We've learned tons of lessons over the 30 + years we've been at it. So we built it with quality components and a feature set that rivaled the best of the best. We've launched our own SDK for lighting and also are constantly updating and working on drivers / interface to make the experience better.
4. It would take time. The product needs to get into peoples hands so they can experience it for themselves. This is something we ABSOLUTELY know about because AUDIO is something that needs to be experienced to be appreciated...the same goes for how a keyboards switches are going to feel under your fingers..or how a mouse shapes and feels in your hand.
5. We'd take heat from some of the fans of other brands I mentioned in #1. Gamers love to game. They are passionate about their lifestyle. I know..I'm one of them. We're passionate about the products we make as well. So we get where people are coming from.
Thanks bigtime for the input. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. It's great to hear from the community.
"Coming to market with a clone of those products made no sense. Why make a clone?"
Innovation is always a good thing, but as far as mechanical switches go it's good to stick to the standardized Cherry stem. There are literally dozens of switches to choose from these days, from many different companies, with a plethora of unique weights, various actuation points, and other options. By creating or using a proprietary design you're limiting customization right out of the gate for the mech community.
This could be a good option for people that are just looking to buy a mech and never do anything else to it, but part of the appeal of a mechanical keyboard is the ability to customize it and make it your own. Over on the mechanical keyboards section here there are regularly drops for custom keycaps like Pulse SA or GMK Laser that literally sell thousands of sets to enthusiasts, none of which can be used on your board. By changing the shape of your switch stem to accommodate centered backlit legends you're greatly restricting what your customers can do with their board right out of the gate which in turn reduces interest from the enthusiast community, as well as more casual customers that just want to put their own spin on their board.
I hope your board sells well and you can continue to innovate and expand your product range, but I just thought I'd offer some feedback on that :)