I’m late. I’ve been thinking about this issue during winter break and re-read what’s written here many times. However, I still don’t understand how VRChat Inc. views communication issues. And also, I feel VRChat doesn’t appreciate our creators’ problems.
What do you expect from the proposed “centralized discussion” and “centralized, creator-editable documentation”? We creators have no trouble communicating among ourselves. At least, that’s the case among the Japanese creators around me. There are places to go for advice when you need help understanding something, and there are also documents that teach techniques for creating worlds and avatars.
So, before discussing how to construct new things, please explain these:
- What is currently in operation?
- How is it in an undesirable state?
- How do you analyze why things are not going well?
- How is the new different from the old so that we can expect it to be in the desired state?
From my perspective, what needs to be improved in communication is the response from VRChat Inc.'s side.
When we give feedback, we often don’t get a response. As mentioned in this discussion, Canny “can feel a bit like a black hole” and “Pull Requests to UdonSharp have been abandoned for a long time”. I’m also involved in a localization project, and inquiries about the project’s policies are left unattended.
VRChat Inc. often provides a place for users to express their opinions openly, but that alone is not communication. That’s also happening here right now. For example, “What are the imagined benefits for a Creator Partnership program?” was unanswered. If I don’t know what it’s like, I can’t say anything appropriate, even if you ask for my opinion.
This lack of response is the most significant communication problem for us creators. We are not able to have a continuous exchange of opinions on specific topics. I understand this is the source of creator dissatisfaction and mistrust: pretending to listen, listening, and then ignoring it.
I think it’s a bad habit of VRChat Inc. to promote new things without talking about the past. That may have been good practice when you were a small startup, but that time has passed. Please tell us how you perceive the situation and the feedback you have received. Otherwise, mutual understanding will not be possible.
- How has Discord been so far?
- What state do you think the current document is in?
- How was YouTube’s VRChat Learning Channel?
- How has this forum (ask.vrchat.com) been so far?
etc. Please tell us how communication has been from VRChat Inc.'s perspective.
As I understand it, not being realized is not a problem. Understandably, circumstances may change from the original intention (for example, it was challenging to implement, or the business environment changed).
The problem is that you refrain from providing information out of fear of criticism and end up saying nothing.
- Why did the plan change?
- How can the original issue be repositioned in the current situation?
- So, what are you planning to do next?
I would like you to explain these things, including the negative aspects.
(Of course, there may be things that you cannot say due to business strategy, etc. In that case, please say that you can’t inform us in detail. It would be more acceptable.)
I want to answer the first question. The key feature of VRChat’s communication pipeline is that VRChat Inc. is responsive. The communication problem for creators is that they can’t understand what VRC plans to do.
Regarding In-App Articles, it’s a good idea, but I would also like you to post the text on the website. That way, it can be machine-translated, and everyone in non-English-speaking people can read it.
I previously requested this (Canny ). And it is ignored. This is an example of a black hole.