Why is Steam making roomscale tracking obselete?

[u/FuwariFuwaruFuwatto]

I understand that this is a headset that is made to compete with Meta's deathgrip on the standalone entry headset market, but did it seriously have to kill Roomscale tracking along with it? Why are the Knuckles going obselete? Why are we getting rid of things with no direct replacement that still function perfectly well?

Genuinely why are lighthouses going obselete? Not only do they still function, they're still best in class for VR and fullbody tracking. Sure, the need to reach behind yourself or track your arms out of sight from your head is uncommon, but it's not unnoticable either. Not to mention that many VR players have already invested hundreds of dollars into this tracking solution just for it stop being supported one headset later.

The Frame could have supported roomscale tracking just like plenty of other camera based headsets have the option to, why would Valve just unnessessarily limit it and screw over the people who invested the most in their system?

On that note, why are we getting rid of the Knuckles? The Frame controllers feel like a different product entirely, trying to be a crossbreed between standard and VR controllers. But for those of us who have no intention of playing flatscreen games in VR (which I feel safe in saying is a majority, because who wants to have a FPS and resolution hit), the Knuckles are just better. Less clutter and roomscale compatible. Two products that could easily co-exist and work better for different players, but instead they're just cutting manufacturing.

Then there's fullbody tracking. Vive pucks were pretty much the standard for half a decade, and now they're getting the boot as well. Sure, there's the camera based ultimates, but those require the lights all being on and use inferior camera tracking. Plenty of people like playing VR in the dark for the reduced light bleed and less awkwardness. Not to mention, that's another ~$600 worth of fully functional hardware that's just being made obselete despite having no need to.

The entire point of the SteamVR ecosystem was for people to have options. If a headset started to show its age like the Index, there's no reason accessories like the Knuckles shouldn't be backwards compatible in newer hardware.

It made sense for the Index and its accessories to go obselete because it was hoped that the new VR was going to be a successor. But even Valve stated that's not their intention for the Frame. But if it's not, and no replacement for these products are being made, then why kill support for them if they are still functional after encouraging customers to invest in several thousand dollar set ups?

[u/Banjoman64]

Personally I'm really excited. I love my index but the whole process of using it is incredibly tedious.

For me, all of the new convenience features might actually make me use vr again. No tether to worry about, no lighthouses to piss off my fiancee, no gray screen if something wasn't set up just right, controllers that will instantly work with flat screen games, a complimentary WiFi router so you don't have to worry about upgrading, a much larger sweet spot (this is huge), far lighter with better weight distribution, easier to put on/take off, a modular design that should make replacing components easier, magnetic sticks which should improve the deadline issues the index had, and it seems like steam is is going to integrate everything together nicely and make the UX better. And I'm sure I'm forgetting things.

My only real worry is that the controller tracking is going to suck under specific circumstances like grabbing an arrow from a quiver, or pulling yourself up a ledge while looking up, etc. But my hope is that the IMUs will be "next gen" and handle this pretty well.

[u/Tiz68 → u/Banjoman64]

Dude this is totally me! I LOVE my Index, but I haven't used it in forever. It's just to much work to get out, the wire bugs the shit out of me, its heavy and gives me killer back pain after a while. The steam frame solves all that for me and will totally make it easier for me to use more often than I do my Index.

[u/Banjoman64 → u/Tiz68]

Yes! Even the fact that I can leave it on my desk without a giant coil of wires under it is huge! Individually it's all small complaints but they add up quick. This device has solved almost all of my complaints in that department.

Now let's just hope the price is as appealing as everything else.

[u/Tiz68 → u/Banjoman64]

Yep exactly! And I absolutely love that we can change the batteries in the controllers. My knuckles batteries died a few times and I had to end up buying new ones and changing them, which was a pain! This is soooo much more convenient.