I am so over the games!

[LisaInNc]

I am so totally annoyed. Here is the story.

VMK Annie has a room called falling chairs. I wait about 10 minutes to get in to find that the room is not falling chairs but she is setting up for a race game. She tells everyone to be quite while she is setting up with no talking.
People could not seem to keep quiet and they were booted. I sat there and did codes from the pirate game for about half an hour.

I crash.

I get in cue again and get in line for the game. She does one game and says she has bugs to work out. We all need to leave and come back when it says open. I do what she asks. I see the room and wait AGAIN.

I get in and wait until I am next to play. First at the gate but there is some confusion about one seat having and advantage and while they talked and talked about it I crashed.

I got in cue again, this time it was 17 people ahead of me to get into the room and I waited for 23 minutes. I was next into the room and guess what I crashed.

I wait again, why, the winners were getting a lion pin and the losers a submarine. Pretty good. I was guarnateed a submarine pin if I could get in the seat. It proved to be easier said than done.

Wait again. I get in the room and wait in line and I am again at the gate the next person she will let into the room and she says that she is out of pins an is leaving. Just like that. Gone.

Since I am patient and was cleaning while the cue was happening so I didn't feel like I wasted a lot of time I decided to give it another go.

VMK Phinney had a room. There was 15 people ahead of me. I finally got in and watched a game. I was next and one person from the gate. As people left the game new ones came in and those people rushed the gate when she opened it for the next game and I did not get a seat. Then she said that was the last game.

So I am just over the way they are doing this. I am used to a certian way or treating people and I do not see that with staff the way they run these games. Again, lets not forget this is THEIR JOB. It is not someone running a game and awarding prizes out of the goodness of their heart, this is their job.

They need to be held to a standard that their room description should describe what is going on. If is says open it darn well should be and they need a post a closing time. So people know when it is going to end. Not when they run out of pins or get tired of the game (Phinny said she game was taking too long).

I am disgusted. It is a game but when you add in two factors, first it is a Disney game and they have high standards for treating their customers and second the people that are acting like this are paid staff. They should not do it if they can not do it right.

The upside to all of this is a have two really cleaned bathrooms and a start on organizing my daughters room.

 

[Maleficent2]

I know what you mean I do not even try to get into those rooms anymore....just a big waste of time for me anyway.

Sorry you had such a terrible day.

Mal

 

[BrittnTylersMom]

Oh, how frustrating!! Sorry you had to deal with that.

I have not even tried to get into a VMK staff members room, the horror stories have kept me away!

 

[Goofy05]

HI!
I know EXACTLY how you feel! I was waiting to get into a room 2 weeks ago, got in after an hour's wait (after losing connection, of course) stood in line about the same amount of time, made it all the way to VMK staff to trade for a lion pin....only to be booted MID-TRADE because I type too slow! I was very unhappy and will no longer trade with her. If she felt I was too slow at trading, how does she feel when trading with the newbies? Is this not her job? To help new people? (I have problems with typing because all of my text seems to end up in the main window rather than the trade window.) I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

I DID, however, receive the lion pin from another VMK staff chair race game! I just decided that getting into the staff rooms is just another challenge in VMK. I try not to get upset when I don't get into the room or get a prize once inside the room. Don't give up on the staff games. The game did take quite a long time to play out. I think she was hoping to give out more pins in a shorter time span.

And yes, I was also in a staffer's room waiting for a game for at least half an hour before being informed there were to be no more games in that room. I agree. Put something in the room's description letting us know not to waste our time waiting to get in that room.

 

[HollyJoy]

So sorry you had that experience. I never seem to have enough patience to get into their rooms!

 

[BestOfMe]

Well I know how you feel. Although I dislike VMK_Phinny because she is kind of mean in way. But it's great you look to the good side of the situation.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

No flames here please

I have become frustrated as well when trying to get into VMK Staff rooms. Unforunately, they become mobbed by people asking for certain pins or "gifts." It really takes all of the fun out of those rooms and unnecessarily fills them up within a minute or two of them opening.

On the flipside, their job really is to keep VMK safe for all players, not to run games and give out prizes. While some staffers may choose to do this, it is not in their job descriptions or a requirement of any sorts. Keep this in mind.

 

[LisaInNc]

No flames here please

On the flipside, their job really is to keep VMK safe for all players, not to run games and give out prizes. While some staffers may choose to do this, it is not in their job descriptions or a requirement of any sorts. Keep this in mind.

How do you know what their job description is?

All I am saying is if they are going to do this they need to do it well.

 

[bevgray]

I was in VMK_Annie's room yesterday too. I never was able to get to a staff room during the last event due to "room boosting" for the contest. For the long weekend I thought I would make it the main focus since there was not an event where other guests needed a lot of help.

Saturday, I had trouble even getting into the rooms (what is it with the disconnect when you are three or four spots from the front of the queue?) When I finally got in VMK_Annie was done with her game and just talking. She told me and several other guests to come back Sunday as she would be running games again.

Well, Sunday I saw she was on and went to her room. She was setting up and there was a crowd. She asked the guests five times to please not talk. They continued so she asked everyone to leave.

Having suffered a similar problem, albeit at a much smaller scale, when I have tried to furnish a room, I really do think there needs to be a privacy button so a room owner can just not permit anyone to enter. That way, the Staff, Community Leaders, and other guests can be able to go into their rooms and not be bombarded with questions, trade requests, etc. while they are trying to fix a room.

In the race room, I was in the first six to arrive. There was no line control and other guests pushed ahead of me. Annie shut the room down again to make some adjustments and when I finally got back in, after 30 minutes and three more disconnects, she had used ropes to make a proper line so there was no more cutting.

I guess what I'm saying is that while the Staff do get paid to do what they do, they are constrained by the same rules as the rest of us and have to work within that scope. It really is maddening when you are trying to furnish a room, especially a game room, and you keep getting pestered by demands to trade, to be a friend, where did you get this, that, or the other thing and why won't you give it to me.

I know it is very frustrating but please try to give the Staff a little leeway and understanding. I have worked retail and customer service is the hardest thing to handle. The Staff are in a heavy customer service position and not given very good tools to use. Also, not knowing the background of any of them, how do we know how much experience they have in this kind of environment. They may be very young themselves, they may be programmers who are suddenly expected to provide the kind of oversight trained teachers provide, we don't know. This is a very new game still and most of the staff have not been at it for very long. I don't care what your background is, there is still a learning curve involved. Each event shows improvement. Each week the Staff is demonstrating the ability to fall back and regroup when they have to do so. Let's try to do what we can to keep the clamour down so they can run their games and help guests.

Sorry, did not mean to lecture and this was not aimed at anyone. Just trying to help show their side of things a bit.

 

[Goofy05]

No flames here please

I have become frustrated as well when trying to get into VMK Staff rooms. Unforunately, they become mobbed by people asking for certain pins or "gifts." It really takes all of the fun out of those rooms and unnecessarily fills them up within a minute or two of them opening.

On the flipside, their job really is to keep VMK safe for all players, not to run games and give out prizes. While some staffers may choose to do this, it is not in their job descriptions or a requirement of any sorts. Keep this in mind.

Not a flame, by any means, but isn't it their job to help the newbies? That is the point I was trying to make. Also, the room's description stated it was a game room. After waiting in line and in the room for quite a while, I finally found out it was not. The room's title and description should have been changed before people waited to get in. I'm sure it was an accident on staff member's part.

One more thing, the lion pins were scheduled to be distributed in staff room games, from what I was told by staff. And yes, I agree, they do get mobbed by some wanting free pins. I noticed that some of the staff have added "helpers" to try to maintain some level of decorum.

The upside to all of this is a have two really cleaned bathrooms and a start on organizing my daughters room.

Now you can come over here and clean mine!

 

[*NikkiBell*]

How do you know what their job description is?

All I am saying is if they are going to do this they need to do it well.

I have discussed it with staffers and their major responsibilities are listed on the home page.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I was in VMK_Annie's room yesterday too. I never was able to get to a staff room during the last event due to "room boosting" for the contest. For the long weekend I thought I would make it the main focus since there was not an event where other guests needed a lot of help.

Saturday, I had trouble even getting into the rooms (what is it with the disconnect when you are three or four spots from the front of the queue?) When I finally got in VMK_Annie was done with her game and just talking. She told me and several other guests to come back Sunday as she would be running games again.

Well, Sunday I saw she was on and went to her room. She was setting up and there was a crowd. She asked the guests five times to please not talk. They continued so she asked everyone to leave.

Having suffered a similar problem, albeit at a much smaller scale, when I have tried to furnish a room, I really do think there needs to be a privacy button so a room owner can just not permit anyone to enter. That way, the Staff, Community Leaders, and other guests can be able to go into their rooms and not be bombarded with questions, trade requests, etc. while they are trying to fix a room.

In the race room, I was in the first six to arrive. There was no line control and other guests pushed ahead of me. Annie shut the room down again to make some adjustments and when I finally got back in, after 30 minutes and three more disconnects, she had used ropes to make a proper line so there was no more cutting.

I guess what I'm saying is that while the Staff do get paid to do what they do, they are constrained by the same rules as the rest of us and have to work within that scope. It really is maddening when you are trying to furnish a room, especially a game room, and you keep getting pestered by demands to trade, to be a friend, where did you get this, that, or the other thing and why won't you give it to me.

I know it is very frustrating but please try to give the Staff a little leeway and understanding. I have worked retail and customer service is the hardest thing to handle. The Staff are in a heavy customer service position and not given very good tools to use. Also, not knowing the background of any of them, how do we know how much experience they have in this kind of environment. They may be very young themselves, they may be programmers who are suddenly expected to provide the kind of oversight trained teachers provide, we don't know. This is a very new game still and most of the staff have not been at it for very long. I don't care what your background is, there is still a learning curve involved. Each event shows improvement. Each week the Staff is demonstrating the ability to fall back and regroup when they have to do so. Let's try to do what we can to keep the clamour down so they can run their games and help guests.

Sorry, did not mean to lecture and this was not aimed at anyone. Just trying to help show their side of things a bit.

bevgray, I could not have put it better myself! Thank you! Besides, there are other game rooms other than VMK Staff's!

 

[Astryd]

Well I know how you feel. Although I dislike VMK_Phinny because she is kind of mean in way. But it's great you look to the good side of the situation.

I just wanted to mention that VMK staff may read these boards. It would be sad if they were flamed on here.

 

[FlyThenFall]

I'm so sorry you all have had such negative experiences with staffers. I've gotten into a grand total of one staff member game before...and while I had an excellent time in their room, I find it a bit disheartening that so many people are having trouble with the goings on in there.

I personally can see where the fustrations are on both sides. I think the biggest problem of this issue is the lack of ways VMK can get information out to players. There simply is no way to get information out to people waiting in queues outside of a room, and when you finally get in a room the descriptions and room titles take a long time to change. The same thing applies to the room title and desciption on the popular list. The worst part of an otherwise extremely well run event (the pin trading one) was that so many of us spent out weekends standing in line for a staffer's room...only to find out they weren't there. And then we waited there for hours with the hope that they would be right back.

I personally would love to find out what powers staffers have, other than them being able to see all the chat logs in the kingdom. Most of them look like they have barely enough credits to have enough furniture to control the crowd control of a high profile game room.

If Disney plans to distribute items though staffers through staff run game rooms...they seriously need to put some standards down and maybe conjure up some items for a standardized crowd control method for the different types of games. It sure seems like running a game room to distribute retired and exclusive items is at least an unofficial plan for the CMs. If people are having problems with the system...maybe it's something for the CMs to think about.

As I've said before...misunderstandings are caused by a lack of knowledge. It would be awesome if there was a way we could find out about the full list of responsibilities of the cast. Instead of speculation, we would have concrete knowledge.

EDIT: I've been in line for Annie's room for the past 16 minutes (it took the whole first movement of the Mozart 38th symphony). I'll see how this goes.

 

[FlyThenFall]

Update: Well...I just got the boot from the big computer in the sky (right when I was sitting in the chair to play too), and I must say I was very impressed with how Annie ran her game. Today she was running a "Guess the Place" game...and had the crowd control perfectly set up. Also she had the benefit of some very polite people in her room.

If I had a complaint, it was that there was nothing in the room description to tell us how the game was set up...or even that there were directions on how to play on the wall. It also wasn't posted that Annie wasn't in the room when I arrived. She did come back after a while to set up some more crowd control stuff. Then she had to "deal with something" and gave us all warning that she would be right back. When we finally started she told us right off the bat that she only had Small World and Fantasyland Castle Retro pins. And very specifically that she had no Lion pins.

In all I had a very positive experience. I would love to see how other staffers run their games. I've only played with falling chairs with Annie before...and I got there when there were very little people in her room, which probably doesn't accurately describe how things occured in those rooms.

So, this post is in kudos for a pretty good experience in VMK today.

 

[Meezers]

You guys all sound like such professionals....I tried to VMK....got so lost and stuck and couldn't walk.....think I sat on a bench and watched people go by....gee....kinda like I do at the real MK!

 

[GBShorts]

Not a flame, by any means, but isn't it their job to help the newbies?

Actually, it's not. That's the job of the CL's. The community leader position was created to allow the CM's to do their actual job...

the VMK_ staff's job is to moderate the game. Being that VMK is no more than a glorified chatrooom (let's be honest here!) with games, they have a variance of "positions" they hold when they are at work.

They can be the "eyes in the sky", where you don't see them walking around but rather they simply moderate what's going on in the rooms during the game (how do you think those popups get there? ).

Some may be circulating private rooms to find the next "best guest" room.

They can also be walking from public room to public room to just be on the look out for problems.

Last but not least, they can be "on duty" but allowed to play and create games both.

My information comes from a cast member I have spoken with at greath length on many occasions as well as another I spoke with at random one day about someone being the "eyes in the sky" (that was the Staffer's exact words) and what they do.


Hope this information helps! I'm sorry, LisainNC, that you were unhappy with how VMK_Annie handled her game. I've been in lines many a time where the CM has said they were done 2 before me and disappeared or said they were out of _____________ for trading or whatever else.

Everybody please try to keep in mind that they are only human and that sometimes things go wrong. They have only been playing this game as long as us and many spend nowhere near as many hours in game as some of us do. That would only stand to reason then, that they may not be perfect with games yet.