A Messaging System

General Discussion
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there are people that sit in VRchat 24/7 at work the only type of messaging system we have is the invite system i made a concept image in Affinity Designer

VRC Messages concept
VRC Messages concept1172Ă—802 110 KB

6 Likes
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There will be no messaging system in VRChat, as it defeats the main purpose of VRChat, which is meeting other people.
The devs have talked about that several times in the past few years.

If you really need to message someone, you can do it with another tool, like discord, telegram, etc.

If you want to quickly say something to someone → go join them :wink:

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  • Everyone on Yellow/Red
  • No one accepts Invites
  • some people don’t get invite Notifications
  • No one wants to Be in vr and constantly Use there OVR
  • some people don’t meet the system requirements but yet still play and for them having discord running lose about 10 Frames with VRchat Poorly unoptimized Code/Unused Code still being read by the system
  • mostly Everyone mirror dwels and doesnt talk to each other
  • the new chat box Feature was poorly implemented with no Message history within the world or on hud/in any menu UI
  • Literally the devs had said a lot of things but yet go against said things or do Said Things anyway
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There is a lot of negativity in this post, and half isn’t really on topic. But I’ll be courteous and answer them anyways.

  • They usually have a reason for it.
  • They usually have a reason for it.
  • That’s very rare, and if you think they didn’t got it, just send another one.
  • That has nothing to do with VRChat, but with the people you meet, go meet other ones that actually care about you.
  • That has to be quite an old system. And I’m sorry, but usually you have to meet at least the minimum system requirements to enjoy something decently. There is the option to disable certain things to increase performance for those who suffer. And no, most of the time it’s the user generated content that causes the performance issues.
  • Go meet other people. I for myself don’t encounter that many which mirror dwell and don’t interact with others that often, and I play since years. That also has nothing to do with a messaging system.
  • The chatbox is a feature for people who are to afraid/uncomfortable to speak, or have disabilities that prevent them from speaking. It is not an Instan Messaging thing, it’s a replacement for speaking, as such it is as volatile as speaking.
  • That is partially true, but at the same time, they say something, and the community interprets it wrongly. The whole EAC thing for example. The Dev Team said that they listen to the community. And they did, and they did implement a lot of QoL features that were missing and very much needed. But some people believe that “listening to the community” means that they do what ever the community wants. That is just stupid entitlement. What they do is listen to the community and try to integrate their ideas in to their plans. Sometimes that’s a no brainer (think of the Menu spawning in front of your face, local mirror, gesture indicators, etc), and sometimes it needs more refinement (Avatar Scaling i.e.) and sometimes it’s not wanted (Messaging system, avatar search).
1 Like
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Hello sorry for my attitude previously i just really care about this game and i came off as rude with my strong passion for vrchat i just want the best for this game

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I guess running udon in like a virtual machine is a bit inefficient. But for the most part VRChat can rely on the game engine.

For the most part it’s usually the assets that are unoptimized. I actually saw a world yesterday that replaces a bouquet of flowers with a lower detail bouquet when the player is away from it. I guess that means it swapped too early as I saw it. But still cool.

The usual technique I see to not draw everything all the time is giving certain things and area that the player is in for it to be drawn. It’s based on the player position so maybe camera gets to see this happen. Or if you’re in VR peek your head through a wall. Some world are aggressively tuned, other worlds are not. I’ve even seen worlds with no optimization so when you look from one side of the map at a wall in the direction of the majority of the map you see a wall but your fps is really low because it’s drawing everything in that direction.

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Well when you say in game assets are unoptimized Poly count doesnt matter as much as you think the area of effect on GPU is Textures the size of them and the complexity of them the games code is the problem let me give an example

So i have 2 things on my git hub bothj just make a bunch of folders on your system incase the user wants a fast way of making folders and does not want to do it and its all written in python

This code will run slower when put into an EXE

from functools import partial
import os
import time

def pause():
    time.sleep(1)
pause()

this code will run faster within a EXE

import sys
sys.dont_write_bytecode = True
import ULMAPI as api
from time import sleep

print("WARNING PUT THIS IN A FOLDER CALLED UNITY YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS")
sleep(5)
print("YOU HAVE 5 SECONDS")
sleep(5)
print("Creating new folders!")

The reason is because when time is imported it will think im going to be using everything in time but im not im using the sleep function since this is a terminal based Program if you just run the python scripts by themselfs its fine its fast without a problem but the end user needs to install python but for it to be Universaal where the end user has to do nothing but run i have to compress it into a EXE IE then i have to optimize for windows

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If you want to request a new feature in VRChat, this is the appropriate link to do so.

Check to see if anyone else has made the same request before making your own. If someone has, then you can upvote it!

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I’m actually surprised about not wanting to implement a more user friendly messaging interface. Coming from a UX/UI perspective, I would think developers and UX/UI designers would be focused on a user centered design. * I actually really like the concept Koyoinu proposed*

The issues with the idea of using other messaging applications like discord for example is that users names in VRchat and users names on the those apps itself most of the time are different. So if a user changes their name on VRchat or on Discord, how would you make or maintain the connection? Better yet how would you properly get in contact with that person? If they change their discord, it creates a problem to find their name or who they are which corresponds to their VRchat and vice versa. Thank god, discord has a section to put your own notes on users. Thankfully VRchat had done the same thing for friends and users.

A lot of the times, people forget who their friends are or where they met. The notes helps with this. However, its not ideal especially if the user changes their name before you can add a note. The messaging feature would keep track of messages to a user and instantly recall where they met. Many people cannot recall where they met their friends or why they added them especially if you have 600+ friends. Even if you purge your friends list, I heard some users negatively effect their trust rank by doing so.

I understand the purpose of VRchat, but the messaging system would not take away from the meeting people or the social VR experience. Having to message someone on discord, telegram, or Instagram does. That breaks immersion. I think it would even help the meeting people because if you can message a friend even if they are offline, they will be able to see it when they get back online That will increase connections and keep users in the app. Maybe VRchat can improve conversions rates by making messaging a VRchat + exclusive feature only.

A lot of the time people come and go. I heard numerous stories where my friends have removed users from their friends list because they have no idea who they are. Most likely those users changed their names and/or there is no way to recall who someone is on someone’s friends list. The note feature helps to some degree, but I think there can be some improvements.

There’s some things that VRchat can improve on. If VRchat cannot implement a messaging system. Then how about integrating a third party app like discord within the UI. It’s a horrible example but some banks use zelle within their UI. So why can’t VRchat use discord, telegram, Instagram, etc integrated within the app itself?

I just hope VRchat focuses more on user centered design because it might hurt VRchat if there’s neglect. For example, I remember when I use to change into an avatar, I was not able to see where the avatar came from. I use to have to ask friends to click on me and tell me who the creator was and see where it came from. I made the suggestion on a VRchat youtube video years ago and luckily someone listened and adjusted the UI to be more user friendly. Now you can see where your avatars are from.

As a Jr UX/UI designer, I’m actually doing an online course capstone project on how I might improve the social VR experience. I’m implementing my own messaging system and looking at patterns on different social VR apps. My mentor has actually suggested I explore and ideate on my red routes on the messaging interface. I originally have email type of messaging system similar to VRchat’s invite system but I’m starting to explore the possibility of using more like a messenger type as its easier and practical. Much like Facebook’s messenger, Instagram dm’s or traditional texting. I’m still designing high fidelity screens and have to proto-type and test.

I hope VRchat is more open to the idea later on. As a social VR app, the interface should keep the user in mind. The messaging system would help meet people and keep connections. I suggest VRchat do some research and conduct semi-structured interviews with users. I feel VRchat has a lot of missed opportunities on valuable insights from users.

1 Like
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Now with the mobile app a messaging system would make even more sense. It adds so much potential for VRChat to become something more than “just” a social VR game. A platform you and your friends can use to connect on a daily basis, even if you can’t sit in VR 24/7.

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I’ve heard all sorts of comments against it:

  1. This is VRChat, not TextChat and not DesktopChat.
  2. Why don’t you just get VR?
  3. Why don’t you just use Discord?
  4. Isn’t the invitation system enough?
  5. If someone wants to get to you, they will.
    Many of these have so many fallacies and inconsideracies.

So, I’m gonna say why I LOVE this system of yours.

  1. Person not comfortable to add me on Discord or I’m uncomfortable adding them on Discord (cuz security and all)
  2. I cannot reach someone because they’re in an instance that I cannot join
  3. I want to know what game someone is playing if they’re on orange before joining
  4. I want to know more about the instance before I join (e.g. is it crowded, is it full of mature/adult/NSFW content, is anyone streaming in there, am I allowed to stream in there)
  5. I want to just talk to someone while I’m stuck up all cuddled watching a movie
  6. I am hosting an instance of a gameworld so complex that leaving it will break the game for everyone (e.g. Avi Wars)
  7. People together want to schedule a meetup (ok, there’s group announcements for that, but what about feedback? Who’s gonna arrive? Who’s busy? etc.)

You don’t have to agree with me, but my points are clearly on spot. These situations are so well known and I’ve heard from so many people (including myself) wanting features like these.

Adding people on Discord to do this is not viable for those in VR and streaming if their gear is not strong enough, and it’s not a valid argument to tell them to get a better computer. For crying out loud, back in 2011, I had a weak PC with just 700MHz of a single core CPU and 256MB of RAM that played Call of Duty 2 on Xfire with voicechat and Punkbuster and mods and custom maps at 1680x1050@30fps. So, if today you need like 64GB of RAM to do the same thing, then that’s an optimization problem, not a user problem.

How many times have I heard from people that they are uncomfortable adding others on Discord because of hacking incidents? How many security tutorials tell against adding someone as a “Friend” on Discord? Ok, this is debateable, but the issue is still here. I cannot reach someone! Or maybe they wanted to get to someone before like they wanna get to me, and they got hacked. Letting someone into DMs is a very intimidating decision for some. I have no problems, but many people do. Especially famous people and streamers who have to deal with trolls and hackers on a daily basis. A simple messaging system to just clear out some issues is so easy.

About adding people as “Friends” to talk to them, they’re not friends; they’re contacts. Nobody forgets about friends, but everyone forgets about contacts. This naming convention might be like “Oh it’s just a metaphor”, but it’s being perceived more than a metaphor because it’s literally in your face! So, that’s a little note for those who think that “Online people have so many friends but have none” are committing language ambiguity fallacy. Friends are friends, but “Friends” are just contacts.

Speaking of permission to message someone on VRChat, how about making it same like permission to DM on Discord? You could just make a first message and cannot send any further until the recepient allows for further conversation. This makes it fair because a troll could spam you and you could just ignore them, or how about just block them or even report them, depending on harmfulness of the spam. A ranking system would also need to be added there so that someone needs to first be trusted enough to unlock the ability to send non-“Friends” messages.

But regarding your design, this is just great. I’d like to however add a zoom button to allow for compactification of the messages, and a wing button to allow for compactification of the menu.

Would be cool to see calls and voice messages there. “Hey buddy I’m busy acting in Audience Anarchy. I’ll let you know when the play is over”, you could tell someone over the mic while you’re muted to the world.

VRChat might not be DesktopChat nor TextChat, but clearly there are people who want it and clearly there IS a desktop version AND a Desktop Stream Camera AND GoGoLoco AND LimbControl AND there used to be 3rd person cameras (both world-based and avatar-based) AND there’s even a mobile version with fully functional games like Super VR Ball and Go Kart Zombie Tag which can even be played on Bluetooth gamepads. Got VRChat on your phone? ;) hehehe. VRChat needs to grow like all other programs/games/websites/platforms, especially because it’s multiplayer AND social.