Aesthetics
Let me try to tactfully spell this out: Right now, VR videos are being made by all different studios, using all different tilts, heights, etc. for different POVs/scenes, not to mention actors/actresses frequently come off of their center marks and so viewers also regularly have to utilize horizontal shift(even multiple times throughout just one particular shot a vid). If this wasn't the case and there were standard angles, etc., then perhaps SLR devs could create preset viewing angle buttons(e.g. for doggie/missionary/etc.) and then this whole thing wouldn't be such a hot issue. Unfortunately, VR productions are still evolving and we're just not quite there yet, so we just accept the constantly needing to shift around for now as part of the package. But that's precisely what makes these UI changes such a problem for so many of us. (Tbh, I somehow accidentally avoided updating my client and was actually still using the old UI until just the other day when I ran the app launcher from my PC and got notified about it - and now I've updated & landed myself in this same boat with these other disgruntled folks, which is what led me to the forum here. )
As I'm sure you already understand, probably the two most important components to being a player that people will actually like and want to keep using are(probably in this order) 1. Compatibility(able to play most everything you throw at it) and 2. Ease of use(able to navigate functions without hassle). I'd argue that the range of functions the player has is pretty important, too...but let's be real - even having a ton of cool functions doesn't much matter if users can't readily utilize the most important/frequently used ones without having to fumble around and toggle back and forth thru submenus just to get to them.
Which brings me to the other part: You(and a couple others, I think) keep mentioning that the controllers can be mapped for those functions. Yes, we understand that(and many of us DO already do that for the most vital functions like zoom, etc.) - but the problem is that, while we have TWO controllers, well, most of us are, in practicality, only able to...uh...enjoy videos with ONE controller in hand. And there's NO WAY to map that many functions into one controller. (In fact, IIRC, the last time I tried, there were even additional complications with trying to map certain functions onto the same controller with other functions, due to both of the functions requiring overlapping trigger hold/stick move combinations or something).
Apologies for the novella, but I hope you can appreciate where we're coming from here. This isn't simply a case of, "we're used to what we're used to, and this is new and we don't want to adapt". It's a significant redesign of the entire playback overlay, which now requires several more motions/clicks to navigate. That's like adding 2FA to your car's accelerator and brake pedals. Sorry to sound a bit crass, but people's loads are often QUITE time sensitive, if you know what I mean. That said, making changes to a UI which add several seconds onto minor on-the-fly adjustments can literally fundamentally break the usability of the entire player. And I'm pretty sure that's why you're getting all of the backlash. Well...that, and because the responses to our feedback seem to have a general undertone of, "well, too bad, because we're not going to change it". Which....yeah.. fwiw, I just don't think that stance is gonna go over too well.
Look, SLR does some awesome work overall, and I think it's only going to get better as you continue to grow and evolve; I don't like seeing you guys getting piled onto any more than you do(unless it's a fur pile and you're into that and everyone's consenting, in which case more power to ya!). But I think you really might want to hear the community on this one. If the devs simply can't/won't roll the UI back, then there's got to be some kind of doable compromise here - perhaps either push a patch to add a new/old UI toggle in the main settings menu or offer the older version as a separate downloader/installer. At the very least, provide some kind of reassurance that another UI update will be implemented poste haste which will specifically address the issues which have repeatedly been raised in this thread.
