So a month before FWA, on a whim after getting tired of my expensive VR headset being used just for Pavlov and sim racing, I wanted to give VR Chat a try again, especially since there was a prominent furry presence. (I had decided to publicly participate in the fandom and wanted to get my feet wet.) At this point, I had an ambivalent/somewhat negative view of VR Chat, which was mostly formed from my first experience on it eight years ago, and of course, the reels of content trolls would post of other players.
I decided to hop in, and go for the FWA hotel worlds. I ended up meeting some cool people, all of whom were shocked I was gone for eight years. I was surprised to find that there were folks that were so easy to talk with (and refreshingly, they complimented me like so).
Fast forward to just after FWA, one of the fursuiters I met reached out to me and we ended up connecting over gaming, and I had mentioned that I was trying VR Chat again, so I got adopted into their group. And WOW what a difference being in a group of friends vs public instances makes.
This crew took the time to show me all the changes to the game I had missed. I got to try some different avatars, see different worlds, and even learn to make my own demo one! Avatar wise, they gave me pointers on what bases to grab and what apps to customize. I'm amazed by how much expression the platform allows for.
I used to think that VR Chat was one of those games where if you went in, you weren't really "productive" towards a goal, so it wasn't worth the time. My opinion has changed now in that social games like this are more about exploration and connection than grinding your character stats. Once I had surrendered the idea that video games needed a goal or that I had to be productive all the time, I became more and more acclimated to the idea of a game where you just wander with friends.
And wandering has been quite fun! It's like theme park hopping, except it's free. We have been seeing everything from art worlds, photogrammetry worlds, interactive ones, and even PvP games to play with each other. Almost like an endless art gallery.
Furality was definitely a highlight. I'm not typically a party or rave person, but I did attend a bunch of meetups and got to meet new people there too. Waiting for the ceremonies to start, and then watching the fireworks felt strange, but familiar. Just "hanging out" waiting for a show to start felt just like a real life intermission. Watching fireworks in real life always had a notion of "cherish the moment" I felt, but somehow, I felt the same way watching virtual ones next to others. Amazingly, I even felt the "engineering wow factor" behind the technical bits of Furality's DevOps and fireworks once I saw how it all came together and playing in real time. The familiarity is the feeling- though the strangeness is the medium it's experienced with!
What a joy it's been too to connect with everyone. I've even had the chance to meet players from Japan who were patient enough with my very-limited Japanese as we tried to communicate. At Furality, I got to see how deaf and hard of hearing folks communicate and practice my ASL too. It's very interesting (and unexpected!) to see how these communities exist and interact in such a platform.
In any case, it's great to go through a broadening of life experiences. From the connections, opportunities to learn new skills, and experiences available, I understand now why so many people spend a lot of their time on this platform and with the furry community. I wish I did this sooner, but alas, you need certain experiences to be at the right time and right place that you can ideally enjoy things. 😅
I hated vrchat and the community for a long time.
The flaw was it was just me, my mind was warped into this perspective of hate.
I am now seeing the beauty once again, the people I choose to see in a new glowing light
It's time for Round 2!