There are usually more people online than what meets the eye on AltspaceVR in particular but generally, including all smaller social VR networks. I have been on the platform for over a year and befriended about 500 users.

I also have more or less other contacts who I see regularly but may not be friends with them, but I still feel comfortable being in their company. This is common when a good friend of mine has a friendship with someone who isn’t a strong contact with myself as I may just be meeting them for the first time.

The reason why this matters is the eventual realisation that whether you like it or not, you should befriend and make genuine connections with as many people as you can in VR. More friends mean more people to talk to at any given hour of the day on Altspace.

It’s 3.30 AM (5PM UTC) and this is when Altspace is quiet

Being in Australia, I have the luxury of waking up to the ‘peak hours’ daily on AltspaceVR and although it has made it difficult while I worked last year to participate in the community, having made friends made it easy to find people to socialise with on any hour of the day.

During this period, I logged in and saw that 3 of my friends were in the commons campfire, and 3 were in a world that was available on the ‘Popular’ tab, which leads ten people out of my 16 online friends who are online in private instances.

Why do people create unlisted or private worlds

The main advantage is to stop random people from coming into rooms and being obnoxious, which is understandably acceptable for new users who are excited and are learning the unspoken social rules of Altspace; this can be tiring for regulars who have dealt with it for a day in and day out and now create unlisted worlds.

Unlisted worlds can still become popular worlds, and I have been in private rooms with 20+ people, with a bunch of us appearing offline and keeping a low profile. Generally, people like to keep to their smaller social groups, so it makes sense to connect with many groups of people.

Creating friendship groups

If you are new to AltspaceVR or haven’t been around for a few months connecting and making new friends can be difficult depending on your unique personality and how introverted you are. But being introverted myself, I still have been able to connect and make friends a year on. I can hop onto Altspace at any time and mostly not be bored.

The best place to start is the campfire. Although the campfire can be chaotic at times, everyone usually visits the campfire occasionally, even the people who claim they never go to the campfire. By making friends, you can connect with regulars who come through or the friends of those regulars who can link you to other groups.

Keep an eye on the popular events, particularly 7 PM EST onwards, where the key people on the platform will regularly attend those events. Although they may be busy hosting or moderating the events, it does allow for a quick hello and maybe an immediate exchange of adding each other.

Remember that making friendships that last long term on Altspace can take a few months to develop, so it is equally important to socialise with as many people as possible. The secondary benefit is that you don’t risk burning through a new friendship by being ‘overly attached’. I always recommend mixing it up and hanging out with different people on one particular day. This helps prevent other friends from being jealous of your friends and causing unnecessary drama.

This circles back to why people created unlisted or private worlds is so they can hang out with the people they want without being judged.