VMK Made The News!

cdog12

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
once of the biggest online game sites posted a article about vmk closing

from
massively . com
4/19/08
t's a sad day for for those who enjoy some digitalized Disney magic. It's been decided that Virtual Magic Kingdom, the virtual world developed and released in 2005 to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the real Disneyland's opening, will be closed for good on May 21. According to an FAQ posted on the official website, the reason VMK is closing is because it was originally intended simply as a promotion for the event in 2005, and has continued to run far longer than they originally intended.

Of course, all is not lost for those who subscribe to the cult of Disney. They've already announced a commitment to spend over $100 million in the virtual world space, and they recently consolidated all of their online efforts, including Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Toontown Online, into one division. Their execs already have a firm grasp on the role virtual worlds have to play in building up their brands, so it seems likely that they'll be actively chasing after the casual gaming dollar for the foreseeable futur


4/14/-08
We reported on the closing of Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom the other day, and at the time, it seemed like business as usual -- Disney had created the virtual world for an event, and the event was over, so it was time for the world to close. But the comments thread over on this Virtual Worlds news post about the closing has to be seen to be believed: fans of this place loved it completely and are painfully heartbroken over its closing. There are tons of eloquent, emotional comments lauding VMK for its sense of community, the friends made there, and the opportunity to connect on a virtual level with other people and Disney's attractions when, for various reasons, the same can't be done in real life.

What's most amazing here is that, from these comments, it seems VMK was one of the strongest virtual communities out there. This is why we play these MMO games -- to connect with others online, to experience things that can't be experienced any other way, and to create connections that otherwise wouldn't be there. It's an amazing story -- here's an MMO that worked perfectly in terms of building community and developing social connections between players, and yet Disney chooses to close it down.

There is a petition online, with 11,000 signatures as of this writing, to keep VMK open. Disney has responded to this emotion with a short statement only saying "we hear you," and the game itself is still set to close down as planned on May 21st. plz move mods if in wrong spot
site with11,000 save vmk . com
 
:cool1:

That is AWESOME!!!

Please, everyone, keep it coming. There is still A LOT more that we can be doing. There's no rule that says you can only send one letter...write another one from a different standpoint!

Don't let the momentum die!
 
So, anyone want to post a comment to this reporter who is clearly recognizing the players' side of this closure... even supporting us with a follow up article?
 
What's most amazing here is that, from these comments, it seems VMK was one of the strongest virtual communities out there. This is why we play these MMO games -- to connect with others online, to experience things that can't be experienced any other way, and to create connections that otherwise wouldn't be there. It's an amazing story -- here's an MMO that worked perfectly in terms of building community and developing social connections between players, and yet Disney chooses to close it down.

:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
 


I'd like to recommend against everyone simply copy-and-pasting their letters to Disney into the comments here. Any blog that talks about the fan response is linking to the existing Virtual Worlds News thread, and that was a perfect place for those letters; if you really want to post a long, general letter, those should probably keep going there. I would love to see some discussion happen about this among the VW community at large, and that's going to be more difficult if there are too many long drive-by comments. We can not afford to turn the industry blogs off on VMK.

Comment away, but write something specifically for that blog - or join in on any discussion that's going on in comments already - and keep them short and to the point! Type, don't paste!
 

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