I can second your experience, but you are also using some very "affordable" pens as far as nibs go. The Lamy entry level pens are great design, but their steel nibs are painful to write with. The VP is a wonderful engineering feat, but the nibs are smaller than their equivalently named European versions (I found writing much nicer with a Euro F and a Japanese M, for example).

Ink and paper do make a difference; coated papers make things glide but the ink may run. Some papers soak too much ink making globs. Some inks tend to dry out in the nib or flow poorly.

So, I've had bad experience with each of the above, but I also have now set my expectations to a better level. And sometimes you do get surprised (I got a Pelikan Stola III somewhere in Europe for around $40 and it was really nice; some info at this random site: https://www.penchalet.com/fine_pens/fountain_pens/pelikan_st...).

So, yeah, low end stuff varies. But worth experimenting because when you find a good one, it makes writing fun again.