Just for my understanding, does the size of keycaps then dictate what makes it a "gaming keyboard" for you? As for industry standard, CM is the only major manufacturer (volume-wise) that does standard but I don't know if I would say its THE standard in the industry. I do agree that enthusiasts, especially in this community, would love the ability to change to customized keycaps. The problem though is always whether this feature is something a majority of users would want as costs is always the variable we try to keep low.
It is the standard for keycap sizes. Ducky, Deck, Filco, Cooler Master, Das Keyboard, KBTalking, Keycool, WASD, Rosewill/Code, and Cherry (for their modern boards) all use a standard keycap size for their modifiers. There are some brands that use non-standard sizes, but they're flashy "gamer" boards for the most part and aren't necessarily known for quality.
And replaceable keycaps are something that is very marketable, especially in many Asian countries with KBC, Keycool, and others are more readily available. If you guys didn't recognize the potential for keycaps, you wouldn't have created
stuff like this.
And, honestly, getting a more standard modifier keycap size shouldn't be a huge price increase, if any at all.
There are always going to be small issues now and then with our products and I wouldn't be the first to admit we're infallible. However, you have to keep in mind too that because we're a much larger manufacturer than Ducky/Filco or other enthusiast brands that complaints are going to be much more visible. I've always even in our own forums that even if we have a 99% success rate, the 1% can mean hundreds to thousands depending on the product we're selling (for example, our hydro coolers easily sell tens of thousands a month). I won't toot our horn and say we're the cheapest, but when you do buy a Corsair product, you get someone like me to support you (straight from HQ here in California and not a third party service) and ensure that regardless of whatever problem you have, we will make it right for you anywhere in the world. That service comes in addition to the product in your hands.
I understand what you're saying, but I have to disagree. Even taking into account visibility, I have seen much higher rates of failures or issues with your keyboards than Ducky, Deck, Filco, and other brands known for quality. When the same people go through multiple boards to get a good one, that says something about the quality and says corners are being cut somewhere they shouldn't be.
Honestly, I like the look of the aluminum case. Not all the elements of the keyboard appeal to me, but the case is nice. The big issues keeping me away are the QC issues I see popping up frequently and the less common key cap sizes that make it so you can't use common replacement cap sets. Even on OCN some of the less keyboard nerdy people have expressed disappointment about your keyboards being pretty much impossible to easily get a new cap set for because of those modifiers.