VRChat didn’t respond to a request to comment.
Ms. Siggens was subject to abuse while playing the Population One virtual-reality game. She said she joined a virtual support group for female gamers, which includes many who also play the game. She stated that harassment was a common problem in the game. Meta bought BigBox VR, the developer and creator of Population One, in June.
Another member of the support group, Mari DeGrazia, 48, of Tucson, Ariz., said she saw harassment and assault happen in Population One “two to three times a week, if not more.”
“Sometimes, we see things happen two to three times day that violate the game’s rules,” she added.
BigBox VR didn’t respond to a request to comment.
Ms. DeGrazia stated that Population One had responded to her concerns and seemed interested in making the game more secure. She claimed that despite harassment she found a community of virtual friends with which she enjoys regular gaming and has been able to overcome it.
“I’m not going to stop playing, because I think it’s important to have diverse people, including women, playing this game,” she said. “We aren’t going to be pushed out of it, even though sometimes it’s hard.”
In July, Ms. DeGrazia wore a haptic vest — which relays sensations through buzzes and vibrations — to play Population One. When another player groped her avatar’s chest, “it felt just awful,” she said. She pointed out that Mr. Zuckerberg had described a metaverse in which people could be fitted with full-body suits, which would allow them to feel even more sensations. This she found troubling.
Ms. Siggens stated that she had reported the account of the person who groped and raped her in Population One via a form within the game. Later, she received an automated response stating that punitive actions had been taken against this user.
Source: NY Times