New World Notes

VRChat More Active But Also More Insular During Pandemic Says Syrmor, VRChat's Embedded Reporter

We haven't checked in lately with Syrmor, VRChat's beloved embedded journalist and videographer -- the Errol Morris of VRChat, basically -- so here's a video he just uploaded, an in-depth interview with a slightly drunken hamster which smells like mayonnaise. (Actually Meowriza, a famous trans bodybuilder and cosplayer in real life.)

"I took a break for a while at the start of the year but I'm starting to upload again recently," Syrmor tells me. "There is an influx of new players on VRChat because of quarantine, so lots of cool new people to talk with! I'm now mixing my interviews with strangers and with different types of Internet personalities."

But has the culture of VRChat changed since the pandemic?

VRChat Concurrency Steadily Returning to Peak Levels of 2018

Via SteamDB

Remember in early 2018 when VRChat had a brief hype phase thanks to various YouTube and Twitch streamers and fairly juvenile/offensive memes and thanks to both, hit a peak concurrency of over 20,000 on Steam? After that, concurrency promptly dropped back down and many assumed its high point had long since gone.

Since then, however, VRChat's Steam concurrency has been steadily climbing back toward that 2018 level, with no signs of dropping. Over the last few weeks, its weekly peak has been in the 15,000s and 16,000s, and that's up from weekly peaks in the 12000s in February. If this steady growth continues, VRChat's Steam concurrency will once again be peaking around 20,000 -- but now, on a regular basis.

And those are just users coming in via Steam:

Watch: Furry Explores Incredibly Realistic Room in VRChat, Is Duly Impressed

I'm not sure why many insist on assuming VRChat's graphics options are low end or limited when I keep coming across walkthrough videos like this: A humanoid cat called Coopertom exploring a jaw-droppingly realistic Airbnb in VRChat. The least surprising part of that sentence is "humanoid cat", as furries seem to dominate the cutting edge of creativity in VRChat as they still do in Second Life. (See also: This furry aeronautics educator who recreated Mirror's Edge in VRChat.) What's more surprising is the vividness of the recreation, possibly followed by the fact that people are now creating and renting out Airbnb-style experiences in VRChat.

To be honest, I wasn't completely dazzled by Coopertom's walk-through until about 2:00 minutes in: When you see... dynamic shadows! Of his avatar! Cast on the floor!

As for finding a place as amazing as this in VRChat, he has some advice:

Watch: Mirror's Edge-Like Parkour Game Created in VRChat By a Furry Aerospace Educator

I got my @VRChat map onto Oculus Quest! :Dhttps://t.co/KS5xHvI3wv#VRChat #OculusQuest #MirrorsEdge pic.twitter.com/KonK0DZ7B2

— Hiyu 🚀 (@HiyuMarten) January 28, 2020

I told you about the guy who created in VRChat a heist game with bullet-time in VRChat, now here's another impressive use of VRChat's development tools: A parkour-style challenge map in VRChat inspired by the hit game Mirror's Edge, which is also playable in VRChat's Oculus Quest app. Click here to start parkouring.

It was created by Hiyu Marten, who tells me it was actually pretty simple to make the parkour leaping and vaulting gameplay action possible: "This is just stock VRChat where I set higher values for run speed, jump height, and player voice chat distance," as he puts it.

Possibly related: In his real life job, Hyu is an expert at Newtonian physics, in the sense that he's a furry aerospace educator. Yes, seriously:

Dolly Parton Challenge Meme: VRChat Edition

Bullet-Time Gameplay Cleverly Created in VRChat With In-World Features

Many people assume that VRChat's creation tools are rudimentary at best, and that the world is mostly for, you know, being in VR and chatting. But young game developer Lakuza first created this pretty impressive gameplay you're watching above, with a bullet-time movement feature, as far back as 2018. It's located in a hidden portal in his music hangout world, Lakuza Lounge. (You have to complete a series of puzzles, to unlock it.)

"So the goal with this world is to be able to say that everything in this trailer is made by people in VRChat," Lakuza tells me. "In this case, every single visual thing is modeled, textured, rigged and animated by me."

 

And yes. that includes the bullet-time effect, thanks to a clever workaround:

VRChat & Rec Room See Some Steam User Growth; Sansar, Not So Much

Nice to start the New Year with some good-ish news for social VR: We're seeing somewhat significant growth in usage among the leaders on Steam. Through most of 2019, peak daily concurrency for VRChat hovered between the 7000s and 8000s; in recent months, however, that's ticked up to the 9000s and 10,000s. 

Note that I said "leaders", because as you can see here, peak daily Steam concurrency for High Fidelity, Altspace VR,  Big Screen, and Sansar generously remain in the low three figures. (Or less generously, mostly in the one to two figures.)

However VRChat isn't the only one to see some growth on Steam:

VRChat Looking for New, Oculus Quest-Friendly Featured Avatars

Great chance for avatar creators to build their brand:

 We’ve got good news for you — we’re opening up submissions for new Featured Avatars! If you’re an avatar creator, this is the perfect opportunity to get your work seen and worn by the larger VRChat community!

... This time, we’re looking for unique and interesting styles that are different from what you usually see in VRChat and in our current Featured Avatars. If you want the best chance to get your avatar in, try breaking away from the usual styles you see in VRChat.

In other words (and maybe they should have just spelled this out): No. More. Goddamn. Anime girl. Avatars.

Also notable: Avatars must be fully Oculus Quest compatible, suggesting the company is pushing harder to emphasize Quest (versus other VR headsets).

Perhaps even more notable: No word of any kind of prize award. Which I might understand if VRChat's in-game marketplace was open, but because it isn't, seems sort of odd?

VRChat Attracts Community of Deaf Users & Supporters Who Communicate With Unique, VR-Based Signs

This new video from Syrmor, VRChat's best embedded reporter, is easily among his very greatest; it's also one of the most profound and impressive use cases of social VR I've ever seen: A community of Deaf people and their supporters who meet in VRChat to communicate with each other via VR-based sign language. I capitalize "Deaf" thanks to this Google Doc from Helping Hands, "a community to encourage anyone who wants to learn sign to be able to interact with various Deaf communities and cultures inside VRChat", which explains:

Deaf: Deaf (with a capital ‘D’) refers to embracing the cultural norms, beliefs, and values of the Deaf Community. The term ‘Deaf’ should be capitalized when it is used as a shortened reference to being a member of the Deaf Community.

As that suggests, the Helping Hands community is seriously dedicated to supporting its members online: 

VRChat Reporter Syrmor, Who Has More YouTube Subscribers Than VRChat Has Users, Steps In Front of the Camera

Here's the latest VRChat interview from Syrmor, the platform's best embedded reporter, another poignant slice of virtual life, this one of a woman whose real life relationship fell apart because of the virtual world, where she found someone new. It also comes with a surprise: The Canadian dude behind Syrmor's avatar cat avatar appears on camera to read fan mail -- yes, he gets actual fan mail on paper from the post office, that's how beloved he's become -- and introduce the VRChat segment:

"I wanted to test it out with this recent video and see how it went but I think it's something I'll do more consistently from now on," he tells me. "It just gives me an easy way to talk to the audience since I never really communicate with them I'm gonna try it with the next video too and see how it goes."

Makes sense. Now with nearly 700,000 subscribers on YouTube, Syrmor almost certainly has more followers than VRChat itself has actual users: