VRChat's recent move to add Easy Anti Cheat to their platform is an unfortunate one. Not because it prevents mods than a pretty decent chunk of their PC playerbase rely on for a comfortable experience, but because they don't have a suitable replacement for the functionality, including things like adjusting the menu position, culling avatars from a distance so they aren't uneccesarily rendered, and more.
The addition of client-side anti-cheat is also very unlikely to actually solve some of the biggest problems VRChat faces, and while it's an easy thing to point to as them taking things seriously, it won't really prevent things like avatar ripping or crashers, both of which can be done without neccesarily modifying the VRChat client itself (from my understanding).
I genuinely think that if they had released it after making a number of QOL mods redundant, the backlash would be far, far less.
I /know/ that game development isn't easy, and I sympathise with the small team (relative to playerbase and demands). Ideally, they walk back the EAC implementation and focus their time on addressing community needs (e.g look at popular mods and consider implementing them). Again, I am aware that they are a small company, and they aren't all game devs, so it'll take time. But the existing mods were literally a free improvement to their game, which let people forgive them for not adding stuff.
The really unfortunate thing is that there is actually some really good changes alongside the EAC addition, but that has been completely overshadowed. It's also really unfortunate that there is a ton of misinformation flying around about the change and EAC itself, and I'm really worried this is going to push people into shadier bits of the internet trying to bypass EAC without understanding what they're doing or the potential dangers (not neccesarily VRChat retaliation, but malware and whatnot).
I'm curious to see if they do stick to their timeline of rolling it out, or if they do walk it back before the deadline.
It's also worth noting I did, not too long ago, apply for a position at VRChat, to put my money where my mouth is! But heard nothing back. I know reviewing applications can take time but it's a little disheartening to not hear anything back when you're actively offering your skillset to improve a product or company.
Anyways, to TL;DR
I understand why they thought EAC would be a good idea. But it's not going to magically fix some core issues with their platform/product, as those issues aren't neccesarily things that an EAC will prevent, while the EAC actually prevents the community provided fixes and quality of life improvements that makes VRChat not only comfortable, but actually accessible for a number of people, and patches some of those very core issues VRChat has as a CGC based platform.