There are many game modes that you can find on Vrchat. Some of these modes are very unique and creative, while others are staples ported over from other platforms. There has been a growth within the community lately about wanting to have more game modes added to vrchat, but I think the issue with this is not whether it’s possible, but that the addition of (some) game modes is counter-intuitive and goes against Vrchat’s vision. I want to note that this opinion does not represent all developers on the platform nor every developer has agreed with me on this issue. The purpose of this article is to raise discussion around what we as a community want from Vrchat.
Before I continue, game modes are not inherently bad. However they do conflict with Vrchat’s vision and impede upon the future(and present) development of the software. It also goes against the open-platform nature that is supposed to draw people in. The problems arise when people start imposing ruleset on others who don’t subscribe to it.
How to import a model to vrchat
The issues on Vrchat aren’t with people having fun, but how they are going about doing it. In the past there have been incidents of people purposefully putting up walls to block out other users from playing certain games while allowing others. This is not a new thing on vrchat and has gotten more attention recently with some recent events (and some not so recent events).
This isn’t to say that I don’t understand the feeling of wanting a “home” on Vrchat. There’s many people on here and finding good games with specific rulesets can be difficult, but we as vrchat users need to know what we want out of our platform first.
What are game modes on Vrchat?
Game modes are typically defined by the rules users have to follow when playing. The most popular game mode on vrchat is “Hypersphere” which is a round based battle royal where users fight with fists and hyperspheres. This article isn’t about what game modes are or aren’t allowed, but rather why they shouldn’t be allowed.
Game modes on Vrchat aren’t necessary and can impede upon the development of vrchat.
What is Vrchat’s vision?
This question deserves its own section for itself, but I’ll give a brief overview here. VRChat has always been meant to be an open platform where everything is possible, unchained by the rules of reality. It’s free roam VR sandbox where people can make whatever they want in VR to share with others, no matter how popular or well received it is.
There are some things that may not fit into this philosophy depending on your point of view, for example roleplays and replicas of copyrighted assets, but I think the majority of users can agree that those things are not inherently bad. They’re just different from what most people imagine when they think of VRChat.
Popular game modes on Vrchat
I want to make one thing clear, I’m not saying that game modes are bad in of themselves. I’m saying that they shouldn’t be allowed or encouraged on Vrchat because they go against the vision of the software and hinder upon its future development. Now there are some game modes that have been ported over from other platforms which seem to be more-or-less accepted, these are games like “Wave shooters” or “Hide and seek”. These game modes are more likely to be approved by the community because they aren’t imposing any rulesets on users. There’s no limitations of what you can do in these games which is why they compliment Vrchat so well.
Conclusion
This article isn’t meant to say that game modes are inherently bad, but rather their addition goes against Vrchat’s vision. Their addition doesn’t help or necessarily hurt Vrchat, but they should not be encouraged because of the potential problems they may create if allowed to run wild.
