Great article! I've been playing this co-op and it really sucks you in... 8 hours goes by in what feels like 30 mins! 

For me, the game would be perfect if there was a little more combat (like Factorio) where your base gets attacked and you have to setup defense perimeters. I understand that's not everyone's cup of tea, but personally I hope they add this as an option at some point. In the meantime, they've promised big updates at the end of every month so definitely one to keep going back to!

I'd like to reiterate that nothing about that quote was a judgement of who you are based on your interest or lack thereof in VR, I understand your disgust in people that dismiss debates based solely on another's income, my point was that many of the misconceptions of VR (in my personal experience), stem from those who have never given it a reasonable amount of their time.

While I agree with a few and disagree with a little more of your opinions, I think we've spoken enough about our own respectively to get our points across. I think we can both agree we'd like to see it develop in to something we can all be rewarded for "giving a damn about", instead of just a small minority of us.

One point I would like to pick up on is that AR stands for Augmented Reality, as in an augmentation to our existing world. Not Alternate Reality, which is essentially just what VR is right now. Sound close, mean very different things. However I too, look forward to see where AR takes us and how it adapts to the world around us.

Dear Daedalus007,

Before bursting in to a fit of rage at what was supposed to be a reasonable debate, please understand a few things concerning my response to your initial comments. Firstly I do not work for a VR company, I work for Opium Pulses and am and have been a great admirer and fan of virtual reality for a long time, I write articles like these in my own time for enjoyment, not for any other reason. Whether you subscribe to that truth or not is down to you, but it’s important to know before you judge my entire character.

The PSVR sales are reported by countless news outlets online, a quick google will give you some stats to wade through, remember this is a console-based VR headset that cannot connect to or be detected by Steam – then there’s Oculus based headsets (GearVR, Oculus Go, Oculus Rift) that have their own storefront and while the more expensive Rift can make use of a selection of games in the Steam store, the former two headsets, cannot. Steam VR titles are mostly aimed more at the HTC Vive, arguably the most expensive and free-space-hungry headset.

Neither my article nor comments were set to prove that VR is selling like hotcakes, far from, it was simply a response to your estimated 0.00001%. I can’t however respond to the points you make out of what seems like sheer anger as I can’t see that I’ll make any reasonable headway there, but you too, also make some good points so I’ll address those before anything else.

It’s true, VR is still a niche hobby and a lot of gamers have probably never touched the technology, let alone considered investing in it, however I don’t think it’s fair to say that because less than 1% of gamers are using VR on a particular platform that means that the few that are, are toying with something that couldn’t be worthwhile for many others. VR has a lot to offer and while it’s subjective and down to opinion, I do think its worth being stated more by people who have actually given it a fair chance.

I disagree with your statements about manufacturers not caring about the experiences of their users, just looking in to the history of Oculus and the people behind it (their ambitions etc) will give you a different angle on that perspective, but again, I imagine you feel pretty strongly about this already so I shan’t put too much more energy in to that.

To address the paragraph you quoted of me, I’ll admit upon re-reading I wasn’t quite comfortable with the wording myself (no one is perfect), this wasn’t supposed to be a summary of you or the type of personal you are, and more a statement on where I find the origin for most of these opinions are born. Personally I don’t believe they make fair debate and only serve to negatively prod those who have a positive belief in something.  I only debate from corners in which I have experience and I personally just think that makes the for a lot less needless arguments.

but it’s worth knowing that even I, cannot afford any full tethered VR experience, I’ve spent a lot of time with them however so feel I know enough to see both their potential and value and compare them to the mobile counterparts. I have however had a lot of experience with mobile VR headsets and have compared my own (GearVR) with competing headsets of my friends and family, hence this article.

I personally believe VR will be the spearhead in a new direction of social interaction online in the years to come and this is the element I’m most excited about, but this is another article for another day. For now, I experiment where I can with the little funds I have and share my experiences for fun.

In saying all of this, I do also apologise for any offense I caused – I assure you it wasn’t intentional.

To respond to your points in order...

I'm not sure if you're talking just about tethered VR here or all VR in general, but either way 0.00001% of enthusiasts is way beyond exaggerating and with PSVR selling just shy of 5 million units alone it's a completely redundant point. It might not be in every home but it's far from a niche little toy that no one see's the value in.

While FOV isn't great on a lot of headsets, it's certainly not a major issue, and doesn't cap out at 105 either. There's a few contenders on the market that reach 120 on their devices and that will only increase as the technology does. There's a lot more that can be done to combat motion sickness besides just FOV and I see this being explored in various games and apps that I have experimented with, some that reduce it to comfortable amounts, others that completely remove it from the experience.

The price IS a legitimate issue, and one that is slowly being addressed but not as quickly as I'd hope for myself. Dev support is limited but again "not there" is an exaggeration as there are hundreds of mind blowing and incredibly involved games produced for gamers to get lost it.

As for your last point, very few headsets need a living room worth of space to be enjoyable. The HTC Vive feels like the headset you're targeting here, but even with that there's thousands of games and apps that provide excellent experiences from your computer desk or couch. I've only played a few open space VR games but I much prefer the titles that allow me to sit down and experience things at my own pace, the last thing I want to do after a long days work is put a headset on and dance around the house.

These might have all be borderline valid points at one moment in time, but they're quickly becoming those VR myths you read about in forums made up be people who aren't interested in or do not have the funds for virtual reality.