Non-Disney Online Games Virtual Family Kingdom Thread

[GoofyWaterCoaster]

Look,
This game is similar to VMK. We will be getting some great new features that will further it to be closer to VMK. What did we all do when VMK was closing? Say "I would pay to play". Now when we get a site close to VMK, and we are offered to get new features by paying, we are screaming at them. They are not saying we must pay to play, in fact, it is close to the features VMK had without paying. We are getting some NICE features, after-hour playing time, trading rooms. We begged for that on VMK, and we never got that. Now if you like this game, then pay the extra to get a few nice features. If you don't, don't pay for it. Simple as that, the free version is alot nicer than the free versions of many other pay-to-play games.

Just my two cents,
Dude

We are yelling and screaming because people are flaming because we say that VFK is not handling info correctly and is not secure

 

[Mamacita]

Look,
This game is similar to VMK. We will be getting some great new features that will further it to be closer to VMK. What did we all do when VMK was closing? Say "I would pay to play". Now when we get a site close to VMK, and we are offered to get new features by paying, we are screaming at them. They are not saying we must pay to play, in fact, it is close to the features VMK had without paying. We are getting some NICE features, after-hour playing time, trading rooms. We begged for that on VMK, and we never got that. Now if you like this game, then pay the extra to get a few nice features. If you don't, don't pay for it. Simple as that, the free version is alot nicer than the free versions of many other pay-to-play games.

Just my two cents,
Dude

Nobody is saying that a good game shouldn't have pay features, most of us have said we would pay for a game from a reputable company that is actually a full functioning game. What people are "screaming" about is the lack of integrity this company has shown, and the extrememly fishy circumstances surrounding this new "offer". Also out of curiosity, care to make a list? I'd love to see a free version of a pay-to-play game that vfk is nicer than.

About the vmk staff who are now in vfk, I'm willing to bet that they were fed a huge shovel full of chocolate covered manure just like everybody else. They were in a bad spot, out of work, and I feel awful for them.

 

[WWEDUDE]

For those of you who are interested, I have taken on a new project. (it will be part of the Wiki, or rather the wiki will be part of it)

Click.

(yes I am aware there is a typing error in the heading )

 

[NedsTJ]

Wow...it really is a VFK lovefest over on VFKFF...LOL...oh well...every game has its supporters and detractors...but what surprised me is how quick the moderators over there are to close a discussion when it starts to go negative for VFK...

My personal opinion is that the VFK people are not running any sort of scam or the like, nor are they just trying to get emails, phone numbers or whatnot to sell them later, LOL...I think they are trying to launch a game, but are just not experienced in the right way to go about it. They are probably feeling the financial crunch, have run out of money from the investors (theres a term for this type of investor, but I forget what it is...), and need to raise cash to continue...or to at least show they have the ability to raise cash. But they certainly aren't ready to actually start charging people to pay for the "premium services" when they havn't even tested them yet, LOL. Oh well...I need to get off this infernal contraption and get outside...it's to nice to spend wasting it on disboards! (wait, did i actually say that??? Moderator! Lock this post!! j/k!!!)

 

[Disney Dreams]

I know nothing more than anyone else regarding VFK and their operations, but I thought maybe I could offer some light on a few things here as panic seems to be making people question if that big yellow thing in the sky is even really the sun.

...One thing I found of interest is that this is the clearinghouse they are using for their payments: http://www.esecpayments.com.au/index.jsp

So, uhm, does that mean on top of the exorbitant amount being charged for something that could have been done better by a DeVry first semester gaming student, are we going to get hit with fees from our VISA companies? ...

So we have a New Mexico company, doing business out of New Jersey with a Credit Card processing clearinghouse based in Australia.....

I run my own VERY small start-up company. I cannot afford to process credit card payments, yet my customers love using their credit cards. Therefore, I partner with a credit-processing company. They run all of my credit card orders, my customers see THAT company on their bill, not mine, and I pay a .05% fee / transaction.

In MY case, I tell my customers what company they will see on their statement, I know the company I use processes through a secure manner, and I eat the .05% fee because I know it brings me more business. Obviously, I know nothing about how VFK's processes are set up, but I am a company based in 1 state, shipping half my orders from another state, and processing payments through yet another. All it means is that I have outsourced services to allow me to run my small business efficiently.

I'm all for donating to charity, but how do we really know anything's been donated? Take them at their word? Sorry, but I simply can't do that. I will donate to the charities that I wish to donate to, not hope that some random game will do that for me.
Noble cause, but I remain skeptical.

Agreed. Would like to hear from anyone that has requested money be donated to find out how that is / was handled. Again, I have offered that to my clients and I make all donations at once on a given date - which, yes, is provided to my clients at time of ordering.

Wow....

I checked it with McAfee SiteAdvisor, and it's not even been tested. Obviously a new website.

Very sketchy

I'll check out WHOIS

Oh, and BTW, virtualfamilykingdom.com is rated yellow...

McAfee shows esecpayments.com.au as a green site on my system.

Whois lookup for http://www.esecpayments.com.au.....

Not valid
So, I looked up the homepage, com.au (it can't have two extentions, can it?)
so, com.au, data not present
EXTREMELY sketchy in my opinion

Yes, it can have 2 extensions. A ".com.au" can be registered to an Australian registered business. esecpayments.com.au has been registered to its current holder since July, 2003. Nothing sketchy about it.

The people in your family will receive the hat and spinning wheel.

Likewise, if 10 friends sign up and share a membership for $5 each, EVERYONE gets the hat and wheel, they could share the room, and divide the credits amongst them however they want.

They will not be doing away with founding members. You can still become a Founding member and pay the fee you just will not receive the special horse and the bonus 20,000 credits. So i find it interesting that they are pressuring the heck out of us and no where does it state that you can still become a founding member after the 48 hours.

I heard this today as well and went back to look at how it is presented in writing. There are 2 items specifically set aside by bullets under the "next 48 hours and receive these special gifts" which are: 20K credits and beta platinum stallion and stable. Furthermore, under the "founders" tab on the subscribe info page it DOES very clearly say:

Founder's Members only
First 48 hours only!
Special Beta Founder Free Gifts:
* 20,000 Extra Credits
* Platinum Mane and Tail Palomino Horse with Stable Room!
Limited time and never to be released in game.
* 50,000 credits given one time when account is opened
* Founder's Pin
* .... rest of list.

I just took a little stroll in the "kingdom" and you'd be surprised at the number of people walking around with the platinum hat.

Well, the way this works out - 1 $50 membership could give 20 people a hat if friends work with each other to share the goodies.

As far as I know, there was never any proof that the staff members in VFK were the staff members in VMK. They probably just passed themselves off as the old staff members to create a sense of trust within the community.

I was VERY skeptical of this and I have no proof at all, but through discussion with 1 staff person I believe that at least she is "the real deal." There are some things that can be asked in a way that only someone alone (or someone who REALLY knows them) can answer.

I don't WANT anyone getting scammed but people are flaming me for telling them to be careful and to not buy the family vip thing. Now I can't wait until they do get scammed, see who gets the last laugh. This whole situation makes me miss VMK more does anyone feel the same

We don't know that anything is a scam. Approach with your eyes wide open and ask questions, but to say straight out that this is a scam I have to say I think it not fair. Are they asking for money for something that is still not ready? Yes. Is that a scam? No.

GRRRRR I hate that entire board VFKFF they flamed me aengus ans shark and i'm not ok.....

I'm sorry they flamed you 3. You ARE ok. If they feel comfortable with paying for a half cooked omelet, that is their choice. If they feel comfortable handing over their credit card and you don't - don't. I have clients that give me their credit card. Who am I? Just a small business owner trying to make her dreams come true. Are the VFK people treating your information properly? Idk. Are they scamming anyone? idk Those are answers each person has to decide.

I think the staff possibly don't know it's a scam. Maybe the company is feeding them wrong info? I'd feel really bad for the staff then, they will feel so bad.

Do you KNOW it's a scam?

Maybe it is time for me to dust off my ol' atari 2600.

hehe, I've got 1 of those somewhere! Maybe it's in the garage near my Mac Classic.

I don't understand how any community moderation professional could have ever stepped foot in that game. The early days when they had no powers at all?

Because they were offered employment to help pay to support their family through a company that they decided would provide them with a paycheck and a respectable job. Perhaps?

I've lost a lot of respect for them [former vmk staff now in vfk]. They basically gave this game their seal of approval by joining up and announcing that they were the same people, and it's awful- safety isn't a priority for the developers. I thought these moderators took pride in their work. I must have been mistaken.

Wow. I feel that you are attacking the wrong people. Those VMK staff that took work within VFK did not give the game their seal of approval did they? I never received a notice of such. They took a job. They found someone to give them a paycheck through what they believe to be respectable work. When Ben & Jerry's started, they got a deep freezer by promising free ice cream for life of the company to someone who had the freezer they needed since they had no cash to pay for it. They believed in their hearts that they would be offering free ice cream for a few months. Today, that person who agreed to the deal STILL gets free ice cream. He believed in 2 guys who were trying to get a business going - and got an amazing deal! I REALLY think it is wrong to judge anyone who takes a job with a start-up company.

- Are they asking for money too soon? Imo, ABSOLUTELY!
- Are they outsourcing some services? Seems so.
- Are they running a scam? I don't know, you don't know.
- If you don't like it - run from it. If you're ok with it, ask questions, make sure you are 100% comfortable with everything, and enjoy.

- Dreams

 

[IliketheTitanic]

Outraged.

This was a quote from delldude on VFKFF



"I was in a room with a staff member,
everyone but 3 people and staff had a hat,
totaling about 8 with 3 without

Someone started harassing a player because he did not have a hat on
telling him he had to leave

Staff said nothing and left the room,
i was shocked.
i said one thing, "lets just drop this topic and enjoy the game."
then the comments furthered
one being "You should not have started playing if you did not want to pay"
and ending with
"Your not good enough for this room"
and i wound up being boot.

I already see this happening
thats great "

 

[disvaclub92]

We allow the opinions of others, but we don't need to get into what the behaviors on other forums allow. I have removed the posts and or comments. All we are doing here is sharing information and opinions. Take it or leave it.

We are allowed to have our opinions both neutral negative and or positive. Gosh it is a discussion board, right!

 

[Bugdozer]

Hi,

I think this is kinda interesting news. I was in the crossroads and some one asked someone if they were trading their hat. I said hats are mot tradeable yet. VFK_Wolf said:

So the silver hat will NEVER be tradeable. That makes no reason for people to add mules to their accounts in hopes of getting lots of hats. so very interesting-pay for a special "gift" and you can't do what you may want with it. Gift to friends, trade...

 

[Disney Dreams]

So the silver hat will NEVER be tradeable.

Which is FANTASTIC Can you image what ppl would ask for it?

This way, you can give 1 to a friend by adding them to your membership, but no room for demanding WAY too much trade-wise.

 

[IliketheTitanic]

Which is FANTASTIC Can you image what ppl would ask for it?

This way, you can give 1 to a friend by adding them to your membership, but no room for demanding WAY too much trade-wise.

Well really they paid for squat more or less, if the items aren't tradeable. I still believe we are getting the shirts and a Here from Day 1 badge. Which I really dont see the difference between the Day 1 Badge and Founding member badge except one paid for a badge that is exactly the same as a beta badge, and they got 70000 credits which can be earned in a game. The membership items aren't worth jack in the trading world on VFK. And I hope they know they could add anyone on to their 20 people list and those people get those items (I wonder how it would work out if they took them off their list, would the items go away too?). People who are gloating over their items are just wasting their time and making themselves look like idiots.

Oh also, those who probably paid to be a member today are probably going to end up paying alot more then just that.

 

[Mnementh]

So the silver hat will NEVER be tradeable. That makes no reason for people to add mules to their accounts in hopes of getting lots of hats. so very interesting-pay for a special "gift" and you can't do what you may want with it. Gift to friends, trade...

Knowing how misinformed staff are on the game, to say "never" is still an assumption. When other hats become tradable, who's to say that won't be one of them? VFK_Wolf said he doesn't believe the hat will ever be tradable. He doesn't say it won't be tradable.

 

[bevgray]

I found this by just searching for esec - ( Article from "The Age" dated 03 Oct 2002)

So, it seems a Paypal type outfit just located in Australia. Again, due to date, this may also have changed hands many times so just be cautious.

"Australian information security specialist eSec Ltd said today it had entered into an agreement to sell its internet payment gateway business to electronic commerce company SecurePay Pty Ltd.
SecurePay will pay $255,000 cash for eSec's merchant customer base, technology and business name.
SecurePay has made major investments in building the widest range of electronic payment solutions in Australia," SecurePay chief executive Laurence Webb said.
ESec said the sale will allow it to concentrate on its core information security business.
The divestment of our payments business in an important milestone in the process of focusing and consolidating the operations of the company," eSec chief executive Saxon Hill said."

Esec is also listed as a payment gateway. PayPal is on the list also. http://www.x-cart.com/xcart_payment_gateways.html

 

[Bugdozer]

Well everyone you better trust who ever family you are entered into. To be added to a family you have to give the head person your login and password.

Ok I know they expect it to be all "family" but lets be realistic here. I think this is insane. We are told to guard our info and never give it out. To me this also means that VFK assumes you are communicating with people outside the game. I do not think this is good at all.....

 

[Goofy05]

Well everyone you better trust who ever family you are entered into. To be added to a family you have to give the head person your login and password.

Ok I know they expect it to be all "family" but lets be realistic here. I think this is insane. We are told to guard our info and never give it out. To me this also means that VFK assumes you are communicating with people outside the game. I do not think this is good at all.....

WOW! I get the whole "family" thing, but let's face it. How many of us have 20 people in our families? If you do, how many of them will be playing vfk? SO...leads me to believe a lot of 'families' on vfk will be comprised of friends. DO NOT give your passwords to anyone! (Except Mom or Dad) Look at how many kids' accounts were banned from vmk because their brother or sister ran some scams on the game? At least that is what was claimed... Giving out your password is asking for trouble at minimum, scammed of your things is also a possibility and let's not forget all of your personal information linked to your account (name, date of birth, email address, etc.).
Good find, Bug! Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention. Scary, as kids are far too trusting, as was shown time and time again on vmk.

 

[bevgray]

My concern is the amount of mixed messages we keep getting (and good to see you Bugs). From the original "free to play" to the "48-hour deadline pay-to-play for extra goodies". From the "careful implementation where we control the beta numbers" to the chaos of the first day when all five beta groups dived in at the same time". Now this "kid friendly but give out the information" stuff.

As an aside to the poster who remarked that "we were willing to pay for VMK" - true. But VMK was 3 years old and a proven game. Very different from expecting payment for a game where the original beta members who registered on the first day, still don't have their titles. I just logged on and I was not the only player I saw who had a very low guest number. Apparently, if you want your title you have to track down a host to "remind" them or "use contact us". If their game system was robust, this should happen automatically just as it does on every other beta game I've tried this past month and a half.

For those who are playing and enjoying VFK, I really hope it works out for you. For myself, I've had it with a game that has only added a few static rooms since the last time I was on it. Back to Pirates, Toontown and Ravenwood where at least the graphics and game play are 21st century instead of early 1990s. It's also really nice not to have hosts around that some players somehow always are able to find and the rest of us can't locate in a hay pile. I know many liked the hosts in VMK and I agree they did a good job within the limits of the game. However, I don't think their presence adds a thing to a game but actually fuels a great deal of unnecessary jealousy. VFK seems to have adapted a lot of VMK's negatives but very few of the positives.

For those missing our lost community, I miss you too. Unfortunately, it will be a long time before we find a game that captured so many qualities as VMK. I'd rather do without and find solace in totally different games than try to make do with a pale, sad imitation.

 

[aliceblue]

I don't understand how any community moderation professional could have ever stepped foot in that game.....
For the most part, VMK mods were amazing at what they do. If it's the same people from VMK (which i still doubt, even with everyone's confirmed sources), I've lost a lot of respect for them. They basically gave this game their seal of approval by joining up and announcing that they were the same people, and it's awful- safety isn't a priority for the developers. I thought these moderators took pride in their work. I must have been mistaken.

sorry- /rant.

You have nothing to apologize for; I'm sure there are many others who agree but just would rather not say anything.

While former VMK moderators are not to blame for the quality of VFK, I also can't help wondering why they're still there, if indeed they are who they say they are. I believe they have a responsibility to uphold the trust that has been placed in them because of their reputation. I can understand if they were initially misled about the safety features that would be in place when they took the job, but it is difficult to understand how any current/former child professional in their right mind would continue supporting VFK after seeing the inadequacy of that system.

 

[Disney Dreams]

Well really they paid for squat more or less, if the items aren't tradeable. ... The membership items aren't worth jack in the trading world on VFK.

Well, they DID pay for things. They get the silver hat and the spinning wheel, as well as the 70K credits. Also, being "worth" and "worth in the trading world" are 2 entirely different things.

Would I like a cute silver hat and spinning wheel? Sure! Do I feel the game is worth $50 atm, which I should not be spending anyway? Nope. It's a personal choice

Oh also, those who probably paid to be a member today are probably going to end up paying alot more then just that.

Absolutely. People's past spending habits are the best indicator there is for their future spending habits.

 

[SharkMeal]

Wow...it really is a VFK lovefest over on VFKFF...LOL...oh well...every game has its supporters and detractors...but what surprised me is how quick the moderators over there are to close a discussion when it starts to go negative for VFK...

That really infuriated me over there. I started the thread, I was like "Be careful
about the vip family founders thing its not secure at all and it doesn't look too
safe" and we had 4 pages of good discussion and then "You guys are offering
opinions that are negative vfk you rude ppl we are locking this" LOL.

 

[SharkMeal]

Outraged.

This was a quote from delldude on VFKFF



"I was in a room with a staff member,
everyone but 3 people and staff had a hat,
totaling about 8 with 3 without

Someone started harassing a player because he did not have a hat on
telling him he had to leave

Staff said nothing and left the room,
i was shocked.
i said one thing, "lets just drop this topic and enjoy the game."
then the comments furthered
one being "You should not have started playing if you did not want to pay"
and ending with
"Your not good enough for this room"
and i wound up being boot.

I already see this happening
thats great "

NOT ALREADY. >_<

They are just jealous we have something they don't - brains. Whatever
happened to theirs is a mystery.. Spending 50 bucks on bogus and then
thinking they are superior to all others because they wasted 50 bucks.

Wow.

 

[Goofy05]

NOT ALREADY. >_<

They are just jealous we have something they don't - brains. Whatever
happened to theirs is a mystery.. Spending 50 bucks on bogus and then
thinking they are superior to all others because they wasted 50 bucks.

Wow.

Nobody knows if anyone paid for anything, those pretty shiny new hats could have been gifts from the developers to get more people to buy their package. I don't know either way, but I've seen this in many instances, give someone something free, let them use it and watch how many flock to buy it. It's a sales tactic that has worked for a very long time. I could be wrong, there could actually be people out there who purchased into the whole "envy of the kingdom" spiel...