Furality was super fun, ops and prod were on point, the worlds were so cool, and it was pawsome meeting so many old and new friends! It's the closest thing to a real con, BUT there's room for improvement, and it still comes off as weirdly centered around certain furries.
RANT: Before nitpicking Furality, I do want to say that the con was executed fantastically. The volunteers did such an amazing job, as always, and it feels like it's 90% of the way there. These are my opinions and not anyone else's pictured.
I don't think featuring specific sona's or creators is necessarily a bad thing (cons have Guests of Honor, and it's nice seeing a familiar face supporting the con), but it's kind of weird, in this space packed with talented content creators (many that could use the boost), to have a common core of creators making, being featured in, and weighing in on con media featuring themselves. The Furality showcase, for example, contained several videos and cameos from certain people on the Community Showcase team and their friends. That video for a documentary about mostly human avatars dancing in VRC - why? There are furry creators in the honorable mentions and those that didn't get picked that deserved that slot. Not a big fan of the straight up sewer slide hotline video, either... why pick that video? The Community Showcase process seems as dubious and biased as ever, not even considering how last year's drama was handled. It seems that the easiest way to get your video in the Showcase is to volunteer on the Community Showcase team - that's just my honest impression, years in as an observer.
We gotta work on our public speaking. If this is THE furry VRC event, we need it to succeed, and in order for that to happen, even in times of technical difficulty, someone has to step up to the mic and confidently take control. It's not for everyone, and that's okay to admit. You can still speak your piece and let an MC take over.
Random observations and opinions - looks like Furality hasn't filed their 990's since 2023, which isn't good. I don't like that last year's drama, in the form of a pedo ex-staff member, is still allowed at the con just because their SO is on staff - we legit worried about running into them in an instance. Same gripe as always - the ability to meet new and existing friends is limited by instance size and the party system - it's probably the best that can be done in VRC. I don't like donating to animal charities. Adult dealers den and panels when?