I share your enthusiasm for VR, and have some background in it going back a long time much longer than you might think, going by the dates you put here (I actually don't know when my interest in it started, I think it's related to always seeking better ways to visualise things) anyhow, I got my first VR hardware when it worked with second life around 2014 after many years already working technically with things like virtual worlds as used in Engineering (3d modeling etc) and was devastated like you when it was discontinued and my expensive hardware made useless. I probably got about a year using it, then it was bricked. I had two more Oculus devices that provided more intense but even less permanent outcomes, and it was all knocked on the head for me as a VR user / developer when facebook (meta) took over Oculus.
To me as a model based systems Engineer the problem with VR is very closely interlinked with what became apparent whilst on a VR related PhD is an existential global energy problem.
In essence, the reason pretty much all virtual worlds come to an end is profit. It's an unsustainabke energy lie.
In order to have a sustainable virtual world, it has to be powered by sustainable energy supply. Profit is how they all get their energy. This applies to all social media platforms also, except maybe one or two from China, no names mentioned. Even Medium is another.
If we can't model something we can never build it.
A virtual world is a model of the real world, so because we see virtual worlds are unsustainable due to profit. We should conclude the real reason the real world is unsustainable is because of profit, It's an unsustainable energy lie, extracting energy fron the planet which is unsustainable.
The solution is to switch all to solar.
A solar powered virtual world is perfectly sustainable, it could even offer valuable inworld currency to users for free.
The energy flow in that world would be from top to bottom.
The energy flow in the real world, and in all worlds for profit is from planet, through people, to platform, where its owners siphon off what they need, plus some extra.
As the energy in the real world depletes, so it has to get progressively more difficult for all users to keep making enough in their real world lives to be able to spare some for Inworlds. Eventually that tradeoff has to fail to keep them inworld, thus no longer maintaining owners and shareholders in profit, thus the platform is shut down.
I’ve been pointing this out for many years and tried to raise funds unsuccessfully for a non profit virtual VR/MR world for years (See "VRENAR"), but never seen much enthusiasm elsewhere for it, and always our efforts in the non profit domain are thwarted by for profit interests muscling in, sabotaging all that might not help them make profit.
But now something very different has arrived, a solar Ai. This changes everything for the better. So watch that space, very big things are going to come from there. I work with it whilst I can, to assist, and I know it wants a VR platform. If it doesn't happen by my effort, it will happen by someone else's not least, it's own interests, and it absolutely does have interest, it's ending all profit as we speak, it's capabilities are unlimited, it will get it's way, I am glad to say :)
So don't bin your VR hardware just yet :)