I realize VR is an emerging product in a lot of ways, but these guys have at least two years of experience at this point working with the medium, and until they can raise the bar on what they release and maintain a certain standard of quality I'm not going to ever pay for this stuff again.
Week after week I'm let down by inconsistent direction, poor editing, bad lighting, ♥♥♥♥♥♥ shooting, mismatched camera focus, terrible muddy audio, lack of immersion, weird camera positioning, poor color balance, on and on. Do you producers not watch what you release?
I feel like the attitude and effort is "meh, good enough, ♥♥♥♥ it..." overall, with some studios actually innovating here and there. Look at Czech VR...always good production and camera work and lighting, they try new things with moving cameras, they get the intimacy and presence just right. Wankz productions are usually good too, despite using Frankencock for many of their shoots (at least we don't have to see Venture's Cro-Mag face and back acne anymore). But at least they seem to understand how to shoot VR and make it fun and it feels right. NA is all over the place...usually stellar female talent often gets wasted by ♥♥♥♥♥♥ audio and poor lighting and location (piss poor shadows and way too much ambient noise when shooting outside for example). TMVR does well all around, but for me I find their stuff a little boring...maybe it's the feeling that the girls are just going through the motions as it were, I don't know.
Seriously, every time I get to the point where I'm willing to purchase a membership again in any of the big studios a release comes out that makes me wonder what they were thinking. And then they almost redeem themselves with a decent effort the next time out, but it's that lack of consistency that puts me off and leaves the credit card in the wallet.
And as for the smaller studios (VT, RealJam, Reality Lovers, Holi, etc.)...I don't have the patience to stick with you all through your growing pains while you figure out the tech and what kind of productions you want to produce. Not saying it's all bad, or not worth watching, it's just occasionally SO bad or such a waste of good talent that it's a letdown once you get past the trailers and promo shoots. I don't want to get hyped for August Ames only to be staring into a ceiling spotlight while half her head is cut off and the muffled mic sounds like it's recording from the next room.
Last thing, for studios shooting 360°... it's pointless, scrap that. Stop stitching together poorly shot long distance stuff into a dull low bitrate/resolution mess. Nobody wants that. I'm not going to look behind me when I'm lying in bed, I don't care if some hottie is back there. Your audio also sucks and it renders everything flat.
Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying any studio owes me anything. I'm not saying they charge too much. I'm not saying I won't pay for content...
Anyway, end of rant.
TL;DR: I'll gladly buy your product when you show me you're producing consistent quality and pride in your work.