[dwringer]

A lot of times, with Pilots especially, if they're sold for the Japanese domestic market the tines are extremely tight and the pens write very dry, to the point of needing adjustment for writing in roman-derived script. I have a few nice Pilots and of the high end ones bought from Japan, a little bit of skipping or dryness was common out of the box.

[nunuvit]

Most nib complaints can probably be resolved with proper adjustment and maintenance. If people were doing that, I'd expect the complaints to be more focused on how the nibs defy their efforts, as opposed to how the nibs write poorly.