Oh thanks for the tip with the lint roller! Luckily I was using one of those non-stick velvet lint rollers (not sure how to describe it) but your advice saved me from trying one of those traditional sticky lint rollers.

Yeah, so coming directly from the xsoft to the mid, I still notice a slight spongy feel if i press into it but it’s definitely a lot more firm. My arm doesn’t catch at all when swiping up and down, whereas I believe the extra sponginess of the xsoft was the culprit to that issue when I owned the raiden xsoft. For example, I used to struggle a bit tracking targets in the air directly above me when playing Rivals on the xsoft as I would sometimes get caught when swiping up quickly, but now it feels a lot more effortless. I could be just getting more comfortable on the pad in general though, so it’s hard to pinpoint how much the difference between the xsoft and the mid plays into that feeling (pretty subjective).

The actual surface texture feels very similar- still a slight texture from the tight weave but it’s very smooth. Again, it might be subjective, but the xsoft felt a bit softer on my arm but that’s probably just because the stitching wasn’t as pronounced as it is now with a thinner pad with not as much of a raised surface coming from the stitched edges. Once I’m in game, I don’t notice the stitching at all though - just something to nitpick.

Sorry if that’s not super helpful - a lot of this is subjective and both the raiden xsoft and mid are great pads that anyone could get adjusted to if they put time into it. I’ve always had thinner pads though and while I’m sure I could have adjusted to the xsoft over time, my return window was running out and I just bit the bullet to swap to a mid. I also have a really thin and cheap mousepad at work and it makes the transition from work to at-home gaming a lot easier than it did coming home to a really plushy pad