I am writing this letter to you today regarding the awful decision to pull the plug on the VMK community (Virtual Magic Kingdom). The decision to close the game, which was announced on the VMK main page last week, was no doubt a shock to the thousands of players that log in each and every day to gather with friends to experience the magic of Disney.
If I may, I would like to tell you a bit about myself and my family. I am a 40 year old Disney super-fan. I have an 8 year old son who also loves Disney. I was a full-time lead
Disney Store cast member for 6 ½ years. Myself, and several members of my extended family are Disney shareholders, and Annual pass holders. Certainly this gives you a good idea of how much we all support the efforts of your wonderful corporation.
I discovered VMK back in 2005 when it was first announced. I signed up immediately, and was fortunate enough to have had my account throughout the entire life of the game. My little “dizpinfriend” avatar proudly wears her Here From Day 1 badge. I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly in the game – and I would not change a single moment – except, that is, for the awful announcement of the imminent closing.
Throughout the 3 years, my family and I have taken numerous trips to WDW from NY. Trips that allowed us to play the in-park quests, and purchase pictures and pins to obtain codes for virtual prizes. Trips that may not have been as frequent had it not been for the incentive to enhance our game playing in VMK.
I am asking that you please reconsider your decision to pull the plug on us. Without VMK, our cute little avatars will have no where to gather in a safe Disney park-like environment. For some players, this is the only Disney park experience they may ever have. There are thousands of fans out there, adults and children alike, who are simply devastated by this decision, who will be losing the wonderful friends that they have made over the last 3 years. Disney is known for its Magic – certainly there is some left to be shared with our community.
Throughout the 3 years I have been playing VMK – we have seen it evolve into something far and beyond a game. It has become a community of people who share the same love for Disney. As a result of playing in this wonderful community – friends and I were able to organize our efforts to build an in-game virtual replica of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom within the Virtual Magic Kingdom. We became fairly well known in the community for our award winning efforts. Emulating Walt the best way we knew how – our tag line became “Working Magic With Limited Resources”.
As an adult playing a game targeted mainly at kids 8-14 years of age, I of course developed friendships with younger players. These kids have become like family to me. They have often told me I am like their “virtual mummy”. I have been honored to play this role for them, guiding them in the game, providing virtual goodies and even sometimes providing advice for real life issues. These friendships deserve more than to have a plug pulled. Please look into your hearts and see the thousands of friendships that are being destroyed by this decision. Due to the safe environment on VMK, there is no way for these friendships to sustain themselves outside your virtual gates.
Attached to this letter, I am enclosing a copy of a picture that represents my real family. We are Mellcat, dizpinfriend, and Bucknear. VMK community members that have enjoyed this game to its fullest. All 3 of us would become paying customers should VMK offer a pay to play option.
I sincerely hope that you hear our pleas, and realize that the VMK community will not give up without a fight.
Most respectfully yours,
Joanne Davis aka dizpinfriend
