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I have definitely reached endgame for sound and feel, but I personally have no endgame for aesthetic design

I had to dive a bit deeper into the rabbit hole than you, but yes.

In the end, I realized nothing someone else designed would ever be MY endgame board.
That led me to design my own layouts, which I then put into existing cases.

I was lucky enough to come in during the era of a bunch of new keycap materials and ended up getting a qk65 with ceramic keycaps, they have a distinctive thock to them and a bit of a ceramic ping on the spacebar and for some reason that is my preference. I consider it my endgame currently just because of the wonderful bounce and sound of the board plus the look is amazing for me.

Black chroma qk65 Gat ink blacks L+F Cerakey indigo ceramic keycaps

Yes for and like many, I ended up doing a lot of my own design in order to get there like I am sure many here have as well.

Feel, look sound for me had to be Aluminum case, TKL, RGB (North facing because it’s the only way RGB can look good), Mac compatible, linear, backlit legends which would be readable both with and without backlighting, thocky, No wear (keycap shining/discoloring)… which meant all metal backlit keycaps... and fitting a PCB from one keyboard into a case it was not supposed to go into.

But I am done now… $1K later… mostly spent on keycaps.

I don't have an endgame keyboard where I'm like, "This checks all my boxes. It is perfect and I do not need or want anything else."

What I do have is an endgame keyboard where I'm like, "This was expensive and I like it. I cannot spend any more money on getting more of these. This is it for me."

I'm still very early in my custom keeb journey, I've only built one board so far and already ordered a second one that I would hope the board itself would be my endgame. Switches will probably be something that is going to take time to figure out, I currently have tactile switches but my next board I'm going to try linear and go from there until I figure out what feels best to me. I'm not exactly super concerned with sound as before I was using razer clicky switches and basically any tactile or linear switch sounds so much better to me.

Although I’m someone who always takes his hobbies to the extreme (my homelab rivals my employer’s server room, my bicycle is a tricked out carbon time trial etc.), I somehow managed to reach my endgame with only my second mechanical keeb (Idobao ID87 Crystal with Durock Shrimps). I just haven’t found the perfect keys yet, still have some MT3 sets in different colors I want to try.

This. There are some really cool looking boards coming out

I am about to achieve End Game status. Waiting for a Fossil full-size to arrive.

Here's how:

My friends told me that no one will ever make a quality full size board that it's simply too expensive and there would be no market for it.

I bought a NovelKeys NK87 and an external number pad (my home keeb).

Then I was alerted to the Canonkeys Rekt1800 and my friends said, "Wow this is as close as you'll ever get to a full size". This is my work keeb at the office.

Then I stumbled onto the Fossil Group buy and should have it by the end of the Summer.

Will likely give the Rekt180 to my Wife BUT really like the config I put on it with Laser R2 and matching a Shi-Shi and Watcher - I think I will move that to the Fossil.

End game for me is:

Fossil Full Size (Black)

Zeal Roselio switches (I like quiet)

Zeal Stabs

Laser R2 w/ the Shi-Shi & Watcher

​

BTW - not knocking my friends at all. They have been super helpful throughout my 2 years in this hobby!

You never reach the endgame. You just run out of money.

AHAHAAHHAHA, so you mean like a "For now"

The desire to want never ends, most people probably never reach their true endgame they just conceed once they realize how much they spent on shit they never needed in the first place

I have more of an idea of what I don't want more than what I do. I have a GMMK Pro and I'm in a love hate relationship with it. I hate that it doesn't have 10 keys - I'm an excel girlie and not having that is a nightmare. I have the separate number pad, but it's just not the same as them being connected.

I want a full size layout and then some. I want an aluminum case, preferably wireless, a knob. Same RGB layout as GMMK pro. (Basically the base GMMK full in aluminum with a knob (if you're listening Glorious!))

I've reached switch utopia with Kailh Box Whites.

Keycaps I don't think I'll ever hit utopia with, but that's mostly because I like changing the the look of my desk a lot color wise. My ice white keyboard and rgb aura white caps get me close with color changing, but I find myself drawn to keycaps. 😂

I did some minor mods to my Dygma Raise and put Bobagums in it. I've typed on a lot of keyboards and I just don't have any desire for anything different or more.

I won't ever reach trackball endgame, but that's a totally different story.

Yep. Kohaku + bcp + PC staebies + gmk yuru. I still want something like gmk burgundy or demon sword oath kit.

I had a group buy ruin all interest in this hobby to the point where I do not give a shit anymore. As long as the keyboard works, it’s fine… so technically yes I guess

PC Staebies are the clear ones for anyone wondering. The black ones are nylon

that's correct sir!

Yeah, more or less. I have a gamepad that I like, a couple 40%'s that I really enjoy, a macro/numpad, an 1800 layout, and then a high end 65% and high end Alice style. I have a little bit of everything except ortholinear and I'm happy. It would take something special to get me to want something else.

The rabbit hole always goes deeper, my friend. Join us over at r/ErgoMechKeyboards as well as LPK Discord, and dive into Ergogen, KiCAD, ZMK/KMK, APT, MJF/resin custom min-spaced caps, Cirque and SK8707, and on and on....

Depends on the game you’re playing I guess.

If your game is “perfect keeb”, you may reach it at some point.

If your game is curiosity, there is no endgame.

But curiosity mostly seeks something new and not a variation of the same. I don’t see much of a point in having several 65s, but having different sizes and styles is still something interesting to me. I can see myself dipping a toe in the 40s and 70s in favour of 65 for example.

I don’t think I ever reach something like an endgame, but as long I have fun being curious, I guess I’m doing fine.

I have reached my endgame in 2023, was trying to find it since 2018. Mode Sonnet and Mammoth75, both with Durock T1. After (too) many boards I have found that these are the two form factors which work for me the best, the switch tactility I prefer for long coding sessions, and the sound I like without driving me insane.

I am subbed here because I like looking at boards with interesting designs, but I won't be buying anything else in the foreseeable future because a. no space, b. no money, and c. I've found the boards which work best for me.

I just recently got my endgame keyboard. The weight, features, feel and sound are what I was looking for. However, in a design perspective, there's just so many new releases that just catch my eye and I pursue those for an even more distinct sound/feel/aesthetic to the ones I already have.

The one keyboard I regret selling was a completely acrylic see through Alice style build, with golden hardware, NK Creams when they were the hottest thing on the market, and GMK Minimal caps.

Man that thing was a work of art.

Oh, theres new keycaps? When I was very active in the community, all that really existed was GMK (obviously), e-PBT, and Signature Plastics SA caps. Everything else was from amazon or aliexpress.

As far as Ergo goes, an Alice layout is probably my max. Anything more than that and I just cant keep up! Lol

That sounds like a killer board!

Sorta. I have a Unikorn and an F1, I just use whichever one I'm in the mood to use. Both have perfect configs, so neither feels like it's lacking. Nothing I would want more out of either, and I don't really have any interest in any new boards because these fill all my needs (except some group buys that I joined a while ago, though I already plan to sell one and only keep the other out of sentiment, or maybe I will just love it too). I might mix some things up with them, but that would only be for a change of scene and a project if I so feel like it. Both I got at retail too, so don't feel like I was robbed out of my money to reach this point, just paid for the work that was put into making and designing the boards. Though I do also have a hhkb which I really love for work. I guess my version of endgame is not one singular board, but a few that I cherish which are very different and work with my different moods/tasks :)

Yeah, there's a lot actually, so abs is pretty common and so is pbt, but then you get stuff like pom, which is another plastic but often produces a poppy (ish) sound signature. Ceramic keycaps are heavy and have a deep thock to them. There are metal keycaps which are really pricey and sound imo a little pingy but still pretty cool. I'm sure there are others but those are the main ones I see accessable to the general public

ehhh. . . I think I've reached the point where the only way to advance any further would be to create my own design with a custom layout, and I'm sort of balking and waffling over that.

I got a Keychron Q10 that ticks off a lot of boxes: solidly built, VIA compatible, split spacebar, hot swap, presently loaded with Gateron Baby Kangaroo switches, and I got a set of custom G20 profile keycaps printed by PMK.

Despite years of semi-obsession over this subject, I don't know if it's worth while to have my personal dream keyboard produced when I have something this close already in hand.

Yep I bought a used hhkb as my intro board, went off and spent thousands on building boards trying to find an endgame... I did find it, it was the HHKB with Deskey V3 pink domes..

It sounds like you were searching for something specific, and you found it, but many of us carry on if we find that, because it's our hobby, and we enjoy it, so no, I've not found my end game. I've found boards that from a typing perspective, are perfect, but to just stop with the hobby because of that, is like a model maker, or a writer, or a musician stopping making models. writing or composing because he achieves perfection. It's the doing he enjoys, so he carries on.

I never understood that. It's like saying, I had a car ruin all my enjoyment of driving. I'd still enjoy driving... just not that car. I'd get another car. Sorry... your comment just made me consider why any of us are here.

even with a Unikorn 2.2 on hand I can safely say I did NOT

what gb was that?