This place had potential, but now they have chosen to leave people out in the cold.

VRChat was my first taste of what VR could mean, not as a gimmick but as a medium. To this day there are breathtaking environments made by talented artists all over the platform. I always disagreed with the policy of segmenting off the creative experience behind an arbitrary time sink, but it was there and the community was helpful.

VRchat was a good counterpoint to the narrative Meta wanted to spin, and while I always viewed it as trying to stick people into creator/consumer boxes I saw it as at least more enabling than the big name platforms. That was my relationship with the platform, I was in awe of it honestly up until about a year ago.

I saw the VRChat team go heavy handed on the modding community, and I jumped. Those were my people, curious and helpful. If they didn't have a place here than neither did I. Through the ongoing year, I still did pop back into the application to show my support for friends still doing their thing here. I attended Raindance to present my work in NeosVR, and a few other minor events. It was always a confusing feeling. I love the creative community here. I wanted to support it even though the company's community management made me feel uncomfy. I wanted to want to be here.

Then, earlier this week, the security update dropped. With one day's notice every mod was made obsolete. Years of work from people like me, curious and helpful dorks, was erased. Even though this is no longer my platform, I cried. I knew how they felt. And then I got angry: the hubris on display, the blatant disregard for the health of the community that relied on accessibility mods to interact with their friends. All of the wonder I first felt when I got in VR was taken away from them.

For what? Control. Control over what we are allowed to do in our virtual worlds. The worlds we are building, often for free. The worlds that enrich these platforms. The worlds our friends love. The worlds strangers fall in love in. The worlds that let some people feel a sense of freedom, alleviate body dysphoria and simply feel free to imagine a better future. They want to control those worlds. I won't let that happen.

For a long time, I have refrained from reviewing VRChat. My experience with it was complicated and I could not cleanly express it as positive or negative. But today, I feel it is needed. We need to be emboldened to push back in any way we can against these colonizers of the mind. These irresponsible stewards of our new public spaces. These shortsighted fools who harm first and promise to fix it 'eventually'.

And so: I enjoyed my time here. I can not recommend you do the same. What I can do is encourage you to support your community. Find a new home that will respect you all. Do what you can to make one if one doesn't exist. Don't ceed these spaces, they are too important. If you feel your efforts are better put to reclaiming this place I wish you luck. If you choose to build in my neighborhood I will help you best I can.

Just look out for your friends. Look out for yourself, and keep water nearby.

This place had potential, but now they have chosen to leave people out in the cold. VRChat was my first taste of what VR could mean, not as a gimmick but as a medium. To this day there are breathtaking environments made by talented artists all over the platform. I always disagreed with the policy of segmenting off the creative experience behind an arbitrary time sink, but it was there and the community was helpful. VRchat was a good counterpoint to the narrative Meta wanted to spin, and while I always viewed it as trying to stick people into creator/consumer boxes I saw it as at least more enabling than the big name platforms. That was my relationship with the platform, I was in awe of it honestly up until about a year ago. I saw the VRChat team go heavy handed on the modding community, and I jumped. Those were my people, curious and helpful. If they didn't have a place here than neither did I. Through the ongoing year, I still did pop back into the application to show my support for friends still doing their thing here. I attended Raindance to present my work in NeosVR, and a few other minor events. It was always a confusing feeling. I love the creative community here. I wanted to support it even though the company's community management made me feel uncomfy. I wanted to want to be here. Then, earlier this week, the security update dropped. With one day's notice every mod was made obsolete. Years of work from people like me, curious and helpful dorks, was erased. Even though this is no longer my platform, I cried. I knew how they felt. And then I got angry: the hubris on display, the blatant disregard for the health of the community that relied on accessibility mods to interact with their friends. All of the wonder I first felt when I got in VR was taken away from them. For what? Control. Control over what we are allowed to do in our virtual worlds. The worlds we are building, often for free. The worlds that enrich these platforms. The worlds our friends love. The worlds strangers fall in love in. The worlds that let some people feel a sense of freedom, alleviate body dysphoria and simply feel free to imagine a better future. They want to control those worlds. I won't let that happen. For a long time, I have refrained from reviewing VRChat. My experience with it was complicated and I could not cleanly express it as positive or negative. But today, I feel it is needed. We need to be emboldened to push back in any way we can against these colonizers of the mind. These irresponsible stewards of our new public spaces. These shortsighted fools who harm first and promise to fix it 'eventually'. And so: I enjoyed my time here. I can not recommend you do the same. What I can do is encourage you to support your community. Find a new home that will respect you all. Do what you can to make one if one doesn't exist. Don't ceed these spaces, they are too important. If you feel your efforts are better put to reclaiming this place I wish you luck. If you choose to build in my neighborhood I will help you best I can. Just look out for your friends. Look out for yourself, and keep water nearby.