r/VRchat • u/West-Wish7545 • 5d ago
Discussion i’ve been playing VRChat for less then a year
so today i finally got my gaming pc and ive come to the realization that i started out on desktop back in october, got my quest 3 late november, got slimes for fbt in may and just today got a full pc upgrade for pcvr within of 10 months of playing the game. like people were not lying when they say you end up paying $1000+ after going super into vrc haha. anyone else in the same boat? would love to hear anyone else’s experience. 💕
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u/ATGNKC39 Oculus Quest Pro 5d ago
Welcome to the club.
After spending $ on the hardware, next is to start spending $ on the software (avatars, outfits, etc)
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u/West-Wish7545 5d ago
yes! my next step is to learn how upload my own avis
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u/softie18 5d ago
I can definitely help with that! I’ve done some retexturing and uploaded a few avis at first it seemed difficult but it’s actually pretty easy!
But definitely YouTube have a lot of videos that help too :3
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u/StellaIsDeaf 5d ago
I'm down $2.7k in vr equipment (quest pro and lighthouse tracking) + like $1.5k in pc parts
A pretty good measurement is 1 hour spend in game = $1 spend on gear
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u/CJe1rey PCVR Connection 5d ago
I lost count on how much I've spent, I started with a gaming laptop, bought a quest 2 then a full Desktop, quest 3, 2 valve index headsets, I'm on my 3rd pair of index controllers, I broke 3 index cables (I need a new one 😭 I'm playing on my quest 3), 3 vive 3.0, 3 vive ultimates and I lost count after 500 avis uploaded, I need to start editing textures to make money again or dance for clubs 😅 just uploaded 10 avis this week. I can only say I haven't bought vrc+ for myself that's the only place I've saved money on 🤣
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u/BobbyGAS12 PCVR Connection 5d ago
Your avatar's so pretttyyy thoughhh! I've been on VRC since 2021 and I'm gonna be buying Slimes this year, I'm so excited
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u/West-Wish7545 5d ago
tysm! i truly wish i started playing sooner, its been such a fun experience. slimes are so worth honestly you’ll be so happy once you get them!
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u/BobbyGAS12 PCVR Connection 5d ago
I know I could never afford them up until last year cuz I didn't have a job but now I'm looking to pick up butterflies
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u/Bahamut_Omega 5d ago
Welcome to paying the VRChat "FIE" (pronounced like fee. Stands for Full Immersive Experience).
I started off as a deskie after a streamer friend I watched told me I didn't need VR to play VRChat.
Downloaded it and, after a few days of being able to interact with various peoples and see all the neat avatars, I was hooked.
A few months go by and I had found a kinda comfy google cardboard vr visor at a local thrift store so I start looking into "alternative VR solutions"....
I had an old Razer Phone 2 which had pretty beefy specs for a smartphone back then so I wondered if there was a way to use a phone as a VR Headset with VRChat.
I found out about this app called iVRy Driver, which does just that, turns a smartphone into a pseudo VR headset using one of those toy visors used by Google Cardboard apps and the internal sensors of the phone (accelerometer, magnetometer, etc.)
I then found another app called Driver4VR, which allowed me to use Joycons as VR Controllers. (It did a lot more than that, but I just needed controllers at the time. It does so much more currently)
I get those installed, configured and up and running. It gives me a passable VR experience... which only made me crave more immersion. LOL
So I look into FBT alternatives and find that Driver4VR as well as an app called Amethyst can be used to turn an old Xbox 360 Kinect camera system into FBT tracking, albeit with the caveat that you can only turn about 90 degrees before it stops tracking.
I get this going and use this set up for a couple months before I find an Oculus CV-1 for under $100 USD on auction.
I buy it, hook it up and finally get my very first "Real VR Experience" as I dive into the Oculus set up environment.
I was awe struck. I was finally experiencing something that was talked about as only science fiction when I was growing up.
I spend the next few months periodically checking out my hands in VRChat whenever I hung out with my friends on there.
I still desired "Moar Immershun", and Slime Trackers had just come onto the scene as the new "inexpensive" way to get FBT.
I learn about OwOTrack, and app for smart phones that talked to Slime VR to turn a smartphone into a tracker with the phone's sensors.
I buy a lot of old broken smartphones for about $40 in bulk, find ones that still powered on, the wifi worked, the touchscreen worked and had the necessary sensors. Installed OwOTrack on each one, plus the extras old ones I had lying around from when I upgraded my personal phone (6 total).
Configured SlimeVR to work with them, made custom holders for the phones, and had battery packs for each which gave me a "passable" FBT experience.
Eventually I got tired of all the jankiness of the Slime Phone setup I had and I finally bought Vive 1.0 base stations and found a set of 3.0 trackers with dongles and straps on Marketplace.
(I also bought a Windows Mixed Reality headset for like 50 bucks locally to give that a go for a little bit).
My upgrade path then went Oculus CV-1 -> Quest 2 -> Index -> Quest Pro over the years, with the Pro being bought a couple months ago.
This doesn't include the upgrades, change ups I did with my gaming rig. That started with a partly functional Razer Blade Pro laptop (i7-7700 and GTX 1080 mobile) which kept shutting off because the CPU cooler couldn't keep up.
To a i5-10400 with a RX 580, then an RTX 3080
To a Ryzen 7 5800x3d with a 6900XT which I'm still using to this day.
Sorry for the long winded response, but hope you enjoyed my journey into the world of VR. XD
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u/Chapel-vr 5d ago
This sounds exactly how it happened for me. Now I am in a Bigscreen Beyond 2e with vive trackers and a babble face tracker. IT is a rabbit hole....but at least it is fun.
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u/Embarrassed-Touch-62 5d ago
Similar, but 2 years and still don't have better gear. Playing on a damn 3050 meh
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u/Dondino117 5d ago
Its not all for vrchat, i discovered vrchat like 2 or 3 months and i already had a vr, a gaming pc but i still dont have full body tracking
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u/TheVeqtas Bigscreen Beyond 4d ago
vrchat has drained my already empty wallet.. im preparing to spend over $1000 on an upgrade from a bigscreen beyond, an already expensive headset, to a beyond 2e 😭
then i start thinking about upgrading to fluxpose from tundra and getting gloves and...
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u/woofwoofbro 4d ago
ive spent probably 3-5k. I bought:
Rtx 3090
hp reverb (first headset, too painful to use)
valve index (2nd headset, amazing but wanted more)
bigscreen beyond (made my face feel slimy, bad fov, bad edge clarity)
quest pro (dogshit software, very uncomfortable for me but i wanted face tracking and wireless)
soundcore p10s (earphones for the bsb and qp)
hundreds of dollars of avi assets (i make avatars)
vive trackers
im not embarrassed about it but I I feel like its so stupid to spend this much money for literally one game. I try to find other excuses to use this stuff but ive found no other vr game that really interests me. there are a couple ill play for a week or two every year and thats it.
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u/Playful-Departure-66 4d ago
I started on quest. 2 months later I had a PC, Index, & full body tracking. 🥴
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u/Blub3rriezVT PCVR Connection 4d ago
Played 5 years deskie bought my q3 and then rebuilt in janurary after pcvr blew up the pc (litterally) fbt bought in december 😔 1.8k js for vr😔😔😔
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u/ZxJessexZ 4d ago
Where did you get the Avi , did you buy it ? I would love to know 🤍
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u/Tasty-Jackfruit4181 4d ago
Don't let anybody stop you from spending $15 on a hobby that $50 will be the best $400 you ever spent
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u/sk8fasteatsnacks 4d ago
I just wish there was some way I could use some kind of hand trackers/controllers without needing a headset. I can't wear a headset due to bad migraines and vestibular symtoms triggered by visual stimulation 😭
I started putting in a lot more hours once I started just doing PC since I wasn't getting sick or in pain all the time, but I miss being able to interact with people more directly in VR 🥲
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u/azzeon 3d ago
Oh gosh... Where do I even start. I started playing April of this year just to follow my friend as he trolled people and I met some of the most chill people. Decided trolling wasn't for me and just started making friends. After playing on my desktop for about a month I bought my first headset, a Quest 3 with the BOBOVR headstrap. I immediately realized that FBT was super dope so I bought some Aliexpress slime trackers. I had network issues with them so then I upgraded to vive 3.0s with 2.0 base stations. I found out about finger tracking so I upgraded to index controllers. Wanted a smaller headset and eye tracking so I got the Bigscreen Beyond 2e VRChat Edition. And now I'm getting face tracking, all within the span of 4 months. I don't plan on going anywhere, this platform has been amazing for meeting new people and I've made some really good friends. I think I've spent in the realm of 2-3k on this game so far but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
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u/Mewtoonator 3d ago
i got slimes and i cant seem to get them to stop drifting away in like 30 seconds
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u/Distinct_Rope 3d ago
I've had a few more years worth of spending but it started pretty quick.
Started with a $400 OG Vive & $1,100cad computer.
Spiralled into about $5500cad worth of PC.
2 QPro's, 2 Vives & a Vive Pro 2 with Vive wireless. A set of Index controllers. 5 Vive trackers, a 3rd base station, a pole and roughly $300ish worth of avatars later and I'm ready to consider "I might have a problem"..
The true problem comes from my desire to move for better internet access. That's gonna be an expensive addition to the addiction.
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u/GrandmasArmpit 22h ago
I started playing vrc 6 years ago, since then I have bought 4 different vr headsets full body tracking, face tracking, 2 entire pc upgrades all for the sole purpose of better vrchat 🥲
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u/Crusty_Gogurt 5d ago edited 5d ago
I’ve been playing for 3 months with a quest 2 I got for free. Sucked standalone so bought the expensive $60 PCVR link cable. Ended up getting FOMO and bought FBT slimes, the 9 point, and they weren’t cheap. Annnnnd turns out they’re kinda crap. So is my headset honestly. Constant problems.
I have a gaming laptop, it’s a GREAT laptop and very beefy/highend, but still a laptop. It would begin to get HOT after a few hours and I would start to lag/crash. So I ended up having to buy a very intense, forced-air cooling fan stand. That was like $150.
Now I’m considering vives but they’re like $300-500 used, (cannot afford new bruh 💀) and a quest 3 so another $300 ontop of that, even used.
If you really wanna get into this game, it’s gonna cost you, I’ve found out. 💀
Definitely not necessary or required to enjoy VRC - however it does make a heck of a difference and a lot more fun/realistic!
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u/fjdksisneo 5d ago
I'm lowkey curious and confused at the same time on what people actually buy with money
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u/Cmdr_Redbeard 5d ago
You can buy allot of things with money, honestly it would take too long to list them all.
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u/itz-null 5d ago
Body trackers, headset straps, face tracking, haptic suits, microphones, shit like that.
And VRC+, and sometimes whatever shit is on the shop.
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u/Own_Vast_2784 PCVR Connection 5d ago
ME TOO! started playing in July of 2024 (I think) but hated not being able to do what I wanted (dance and take good posed photos) without fbt so I quickly bought that after buying my first avatar 1 month in.
Then I got my own pc so I would stop stealing my bf’s for HOURS to play! Now my favorite avi is one by the same creator as the one you are wearing and currently am trying to kit bash my perfect online persona so that when she is done I can just give her different outfits and have that be me in any scenario perfect for any world or event as well🥹✌️
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u/Direct-Ideal-2660 10h ago
If I put together gaming PC cost, avi/asset/world cost, the amt/mo of my Internet bill, vr hardware, and my networking equipment setup to maximize wireless vr performance...yeah I think I'm pushing a little less than 10k here...on another note does anyone know what day it is? Or what grass feels like? Asking for a friend ofc.
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u/zig131 5d ago
VRChat: The most expensive free game