Mayflash V2 came in today. Six days shipping, $65, first-ever fight stick, no regrets.
First game I tried with the stick? Good old Touhou 6.
The joystick is much more fun to use than I expected, and surprisingly easy to adapt to. The square gate make it easy to rapidly jump from diagonal to diagonal, and the clicking of the switches is really satisfying.
I can tell why people don't like the buttons (large travel, noticeable actuation force). But hey, they're arcade buttons, they're not too loud, they're sturdy and functional, and they require less actuation force than my computer keyboards so they're good enough.
The stick itself feels really solid. Good weight, no flexing, no squeaking.
Interestingly, when I first connected it to my laptop, my DS3 drivers picked it up as a PS3 controller, regardless of whether the stick was set to XInput or DInput. Fortunately uninstalling the DS3 drivers on that specific USB port resolved the issue.
Also the V2 comes with a wrist-strap rumble motor, lol. The rumble works and is actually pretty strong. I probably won't use it, but I may consider attaching the rumble motor to the stick base itself.
It also comes with a mini-CD to add rumble support for DInput PC games, which also works but is optional.
Gonna try UMVC3 on my PS3 now.
Edit: Playing UMVC3. As a first-ever stick, the Mayflash V2 is awesome.
The stick feels good and works great. I'm doing hadokens and shoryukens with ease, but I need to practice my timing.
The more I use the buttons the more I am ok with them. They feel a bit heavy but they're very responsive, and they're easy to mash when you want to.
I feel no need to switch out the stock parts atm, and I can't believe it was only $65.
Edit 3: Welp, caveat. L2 and R2 are not working on my PS3 despite working fine on PC. No idea what's up with that...
Edit 3.1: nvm L2 and R2 work in TTT2 but not in UMVC3. Probably a game compatibility issue, unfortunate but oh well.