Recent reviews by DASHMODE

People find this game in their own ways, through videos, friends, or sheer curiosity, but ultimately stay for things like approval and acceptance from people seeking the same. And in this way, it is very good at attracting those on the brink; to some, this game even saved them.

My friend put it best: “Everyone comes to VRChat for a reason.” I believe, however, that his statement isn’t complete; everyone comes to VRChat for a reason, and once that reason is fulfilled, VRChat has nothing to offer.

VRChat is not a particularly constructive social platform. On the one hand, meeting people from other countries is lovely and being able to represent yourself however you see fit is great. On the other hand, if you are oblivious to the rot of the internet, you may find yourself the witness or even victim of manipulation or abuse, both emotionally and sexually. You may find yourself with long-term friends that were secretly grooming your other friends, or friends that have attachment issues and want you to stay with them unconditionally, even after they get wasted and confess their obsessive love to you. You or the people you value on this game may end up in a 5-month long relationship with a person they’ve never even seen a picture of, and all anyone can do is watch as the foundations crumble between them.

I’m a simple man; I want to maximize the happiness of myself and the happiness of my friends. That’s why I play games, and you should agree that that’s what games should be about. But this game isn’t conducive to happiness. Through my years of playing, I’ve seen the people I cherish with all my heart descend into frustration and tears over those around them. I’ve introduced people to this game, only to see them get tricked and abused by friends of my friends. I’ve been sexually objectified and abused, too. It’s horrifying.

Is this the fault of the game? No. It’s the community surrounding it. But can I recommend this game to you in good faith, given the type of people lying within? Absolutely not.

It was fun while it lasted, now it's time to put it behind us.

Similar to Roblox in gameplay, Blockland was a very dear childhood game for me- for us, really. The community was on the small side and if you played long enough, names would become familiar. My BL_ID was 19224, my name was The Combat Philosopher. I was one of the first 20,000 to purchase this game. I got really into it right around the golden age, with ~50,000 concurrent players. New gamemodes and weapons every week by talented community developers who just wanted to show the world their creations. Staying up until 3 AM on a Friday night, dog-fighting, prison-breaking, and smiling ear-to-ear. You'd check the official forums, just to see people saying things like 'Blockland can't die, we'll always come back!'

Nowadays, you see long-time developers poke their heads in one final time to drop a brilliant gamemode, like Pecon and her Age of Dungeons, before moving on completely. You'd be lucky to see 50 players at most, and these new players aren't the social ones from the golden age, so good luck recreating that hilarious, offensive after-school banter.

Blockland may not literally be 'dead', but it might as well have stage 4 testicular cancer.

If you play this game now, it's either to bask in our nostalgia from the past century, or to see what your dear friend played 3 hours a day for 5 years.