I don't know, man, I'm just providing the tl;dr. Apparently they try to strongarm developers into only supporting TrackIR but I have no idea if that's true or if it was successful.
General / Off-Topic I urge everyone to sign this petition, with the aim of ending Frontier's dangerous relationship with NaturalPoint, or TrackIR.
- Thread starter ConcernedConsumer
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I don't know, man, I'm just providing the tl;dr. Apparently they try to strongarm developers into only supporting TrackIR but I have no idea if that's true or if it was successful.
No, and No.
Thats the main issue here. Natural point HAS no competitors.
VR isn't even mainstream yet, and there are already several names.
Head tracking has been around for more than a decade, and they are the only company.
What does that tell you?
Thats the main issue here. Natural point HAS no competitors.
VR isn't even mainstream yet, and there are already several names.
Head tracking has been around for more than a decade, and they are the only company.
What does that tell you?
If I understand this correct ... at this point the known relationship boils down to supporting the product? As long as no one is squeezed out I don't see a reason why this would affect customers. And even though TrackIR is overpriced it's the goto product on the market. So I'd consider it obvious to support it.
As I see it they don't even have a patent on that technology (would amaze me anyway but these days you can patent any crap). So no one is really stopped to develop something cheaper and/or better. The only special thing about TrackIR is the clip and that's nothing but a reflective placeholder to increase precision.
As I see it they don't even have a patent on that technology (would amaze me anyway but these days you can patent any crap). So no one is really stopped to develop something cheaper and/or better. The only special thing about TrackIR is the clip and that's nothing but a reflective placeholder to increase precision.
That there probably isn't that much money in developing a commercial alternative product. Possibly because of the existence of several open-source/self-build alternatives.
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TrackIR aggressively protect their virtual monopoly, allegedly use underhanded tricks and tactics as part of that defence and maintain artificially high prices for their devices. These are all bad things.
The product itself is good quality, reliable, compatible with just about every game out there and offers reasonable value for the enthusiast gamer. These are good things.
I'm not convinced I have any reason to take issue with their questionable business practices, as poor as they allegedly are. Lets be perfectly honest, if I did, I'd have to take exception to virtually everything I've ever bought. The fairtrade coffee I drink might be the only exception...
Sorry OP, I'm not going to stamp my feet and demand Frontier change their relationship with the supplier of the industry standard head tracking device. I have a list yards long of things I want them to change in this game and I'm not going to stamp my feet and demand they change those, either. I bought their product, it performs as advertised, I don't think I've got any right to start telling them how to run their business. I'll make a lot of noise about things that annoy me, that's called feedback and the reason FD put up with us all constantly moaning on this forum. But it's their product, their livelihood and I don't have any intention to do more than raise my concerns with them. If they think I've got a reasonable point they might change something. I'm not demanding anything more than their considering my opinion if they're ever in a position to do something about it.
Perhaps a better way to go about this would be to raise your concerns with FDs senior management? Find out what FD actually think, before attempting to shame them into dancing to your tune?
The product itself is good quality, reliable, compatible with just about every game out there and offers reasonable value for the enthusiast gamer. These are good things.
I'm not convinced I have any reason to take issue with their questionable business practices, as poor as they allegedly are. Lets be perfectly honest, if I did, I'd have to take exception to virtually everything I've ever bought. The fairtrade coffee I drink might be the only exception...
Sorry OP, I'm not going to stamp my feet and demand Frontier change their relationship with the supplier of the industry standard head tracking device. I have a list yards long of things I want them to change in this game and I'm not going to stamp my feet and demand they change those, either. I bought their product, it performs as advertised, I don't think I've got any right to start telling them how to run their business. I'll make a lot of noise about things that annoy me, that's called feedback and the reason FD put up with us all constantly moaning on this forum. But it's their product, their livelihood and I don't have any intention to do more than raise my concerns with them. If they think I've got a reasonable point they might change something. I'm not demanding anything more than their considering my opinion if they're ever in a position to do something about it.
Perhaps a better way to go about this would be to raise your concerns with FDs senior management? Find out what FD actually think, before attempting to shame them into dancing to your tune?
I've not read the link in the first post.
I don't have any head tracker or VR equipment, nor feel the urge to get any.
Yet even I know there are a number of companies in the head tracking market, as any VR headset has to have head tracking to be effective.
So that means Oculus Rift, HTC, Samsung and Sony are all in the head-tracking business and any one of them are a HELL of a lot bigger companies than the company behind TrackIR.
If you do a search for head tracking in Google, there are 3 links above NaturalPoint for products that already work.
You sound like someone with an axe to grind and I'm not having any part in it.
I don't have any head tracker or VR equipment, nor feel the urge to get any.
Yet even I know there are a number of companies in the head tracking market, as any VR headset has to have head tracking to be effective.
So that means Oculus Rift, HTC, Samsung and Sony are all in the head-tracking business and any one of them are a HELL of a lot bigger companies than the company behind TrackIR.
If you do a search for head tracking in Google, there are 3 links above NaturalPoint for products that already work.
You sound like someone with an axe to grind and I'm not having any part in it.
Frontier added in OpenTrack support in early Beta (2014), and made sure that ED worked well with EDTracker, which was a grass roots initiative from players.
You can write all the petitions you like asking customers not to buy a product because of something you don't like about the company selling it. But writing a petition to ask Company A not to support Company B? No, sorry. I don't think it's Frontier's place to play SJW in the head tracking space... and I don't think your petition is sensibly targeted.
You can write all the petitions you like asking customers not to buy a product because of something you don't like about the company selling it. But writing a petition to ask Company A not to support Company B? No, sorry. I don't think it's Frontier's place to play SJW in the head tracking space... and I don't think your petition is sensibly targeted.
Agreed. The article itself was interesting, but I also don't share in the OPs conclusion.
If it isn't important enough for you to explain here it isn't important enough for me to sign there.