VMK RANT! (long) Contact information removed by request from Disney

[HeDiedxILive]

Just putting in my complete and utter agreement.

 

[StitchfansJr]

Well Said!

 

[cteddiesgirl]

I agree with most of what's been said on this thread.
Much applause (we really need a smiley for this) to Kelsie, Mal, Demon and others!

I can understand what you are saying peasy, And maybe that is a reason why they did this. But to ban people indiscriminately because they *think* someone is using shortkeys or some other program is just wrong.
Where do they get off saying how fast a person can or cannot type?
I can understand to some extent because of flooding the system.
I also cannot understand what they have against using shortkeys. It's not doing anything to the game unless many people are putting in hundreds at a time. But, they put out a game where a rare prize is something the vast majority of people are going to want and they think that everyone is going to manually type hundreds of codes just to find it? They need to put themselves in the players shoes.

And to the Host that said it's part of the fun, yes, it's real fun spending hours and hours getting codes and they hand typing them in trying to find the one out of hundreds to get you that costume.

Just put it up for sale already! Or at least create another one that we can buy instead.

VMK can put a limit of how many codes each character to put in each day. And they need to tell us that magic number!

But VMK needs to get off of their attitudes and get with the program. Most players are regular people with a love of Disney. And not all can afford to spend their entire lives playing one game.

 

[ShadowKittyKat]

I would like to rant about the people that have gotten the pirate costume.

Why do they have to show off? Why must they rub in our faces the item we've been trying to get for so long (two days )? And then people make rooms like, "I Got The Pirate Costume!!" and everyone comes into that room just to see a greedy boy/girl that is wearing the pirate costume. Then, the people around them ask them SIMPLE QUESTIONS, like "did it take long to get it?" That is a SIMPLE yes or no answer! Yet the greedy person will not respond and will most likely ignore them or pretend to be afk.

Then we see a boy/girl go into a trade room with the pirate costume on. That person ALWAYS will "tease" the players in that room. Then they say, "I am trading my costume" and when people offer for it, the owner of the costume declines every offer. This is really sad. I can't believe some of the greediness on VMK.

My own friend traded for the pirate costume. She is not the same anymore. She has become a true enemy. She walks into every trade rooms she finds and does what I stated above. Yeah, some friend.

Rant over...

 

[Chedstro]

OK, I have to respond to this. I have now four friends who have the pirate costume. They have not been "show offs". Just wearing them brings on the most extreme abuse!

It ranges from "Trade me now, plz plz" to a girl who just walked through a public room and said, "Show offs!"

I think at the moment, if I was fortunate enough to get one, I would hide in the Narnia Closet, lol.

 

[PirateDaisy]

If I won the costume, you are darn tootin' I'd be wearing it, is that considered being a show off? No way! You should be glad your friends are lucky enough to be able to get that costume. If you get mad over the fact that someone is wearing the costume, that my friend is called jealousy. Not a good thing to have the green eyed monster, just learn to deal with it. With patience and luck, maybe one day you will also get the costume.

Now back on topic, as stated before; I completely agree with all the suggestions and opinions made. Although I'm a bit peeved at vmk, you will still find me on because of the friendships I've developed on there. That is what the game is about for me, vmk has long lost it's luster. My dream of it being a real Disney Park online has been crushed by all the stress caused by these quests, rare items and overall rudeness I've been seeing lately.

It's pretty obvious vmk is really not making an effort to make things right, so basically it is up to us to try and make vmk Disney again. Kelsie had the great idea of just feeling good by giving a random person an item. Though that found problems in it's own way but a few sour apples does not mean the whole batch is rotten. I will continue to try and spread the "glove" in vmk because we cannot let all this get in the way of our own dreams in vmk.

I will continue to write to vmk and show them my displeasure. Indeed, Walt would be chewing some heads off right about now. lol

 

[Maleficent2]

.

So, can someone fill us in on the relationship between Disney and the 3rd party vendor? Do the "Contact Us" emails go to Disney, or, as we fear, the developers? How much control does Disney have in the decision making process? For example, who determined that these quests would be obviously too difficult for kids? Who decided that it was a good idea to advertise the availability of new game prizes that kids would want and then make them virtually impossible for most kids to obtain? Again, the decisions that have been made over and over again seem to be decisions that one would think came from a group of programmers who didn't know their intended audience. What is Disney's involvement in the whole VMK experience that bears their name and reputation? Though we admit to being uninformed on the arrangements between Disney and the developers, it seems to us that he only thing really lacking in the VMK world is hands-on Disney management as Disney DOES know it's audience.

We love the game concept and have enjoyed participating both on-line and in the parks. I hope Disney commits to keeping and improving this game.

I am not totally sure of the correct answer for these questions but I will state what I do know.

Disney hired Sulake to help with this project but Yavn(who used to work for Sulake-to my understanding) is employed by DISNEY.

As far as the inner workings of VMK I do not have any of those answers.


Mal

 

[The Wolf]

It makes absolutely no sense to me why VMK would even think about doing something like this and after a year haven’t learned more about their targeted audience.

Hi All

Just had to add, well said Kelsie and the rest.

Event after event has proven that VMK has no idea of what it's audience is and to be honest they don't seem to care.

They didn't like it when everybody milked the Kelloggs game and yet they go and set one up that makes you reap codes. There's some smart cookies in control of VMK, I'll say.

Just for info, amongst The Dead I know over 250 codes have been entered and not one has yielded a costume yet.

Gotta love those odds

 

[bevgray]

Saw this on another board. This was a response made last evening.

"Originally Posted by Clusty
Player: Is VMK trying to make us mad by not letting us get the pirate costumes?
HOST_Hula: They are trying to teach you patience, and that not everything comes easily."

Sorry, that answer does not wash with me. Entering code after random code teaches lottery and gambling concepts (i.e., I'm going to hit on this NEXT one).

To my way of thinking, "to teach patience and that things don't come easily" would be to sell the costume for 10,000 or 20,000 credits so that guests would have to EARN the credits by playing games. Sort of the idea of "work for what you want, things aren't free in this life". Old fashioned concept, I know, but they did that with bat magic and it seemed to work fine.

I have every respect for the efforts of the Staff but I think that response really misses the boat. I realize that trading and the "haves/have nots" are a huge part of the game for some. If it was geared for older teens and adults, I wouldn't say a word since this is the nature of computer games (how many remember Ultima and the magic hammer that was so darned hard to find)? But this game is for a younger targeted age group. Even there, I don't have a problem with rare and unique items. But for Walt's sake and the sake of all the young ones, don't make the rare items magic or one of their favorite characters' costumes. A young child just wants to dress up like Jack. He or she doesn't care if it's rare or not. If you want a rare item, make it a special, non-magic pin (like lion or Tomorrowland orange), or a specific color of furniture (like blue Stitch box or green pirate throne). For those who care, they can focus on these rarer items but at least there is an alternative for the rest who don't care about that (red box and red pirate throne). Or, if you HAVE to make a pirate costume rare, why not the Davy Jones costume that an 8 year old might not want anyway?

Sorry VMK, you still need to take a long hard look at these issues.

 

[AlienNation]

Saw this on another board. This was a response made last evening.

"Originally Posted by Clusty
Player: Is VMK trying to make us mad by not letting us get the pirate costumes?
HOST_Hula: They are trying to teach you patience, and that not everything comes easily."

Sorry, that answer does not wash with me. Entering code after random code teaches lottery and gambling concepts (i.e., I'm going to hit on this NEXT one).

To my way of thinking, "to teach patience and that things don't come easily" would be to sell the costume for 10,000 or 20,000 credits so that guests would have to EARN the credits by playing games. Sort of the idea of "work for what you want, things aren't free in this life". Old fashioned concept, I know, but they did that with bat magic and it seemed to work fine.

I have every respect for the efforts of the Staff but I think that response really misses the boat. I realize that trading and the "haves/have nots" are a huge part of the game for some. If it was geared for older teens and adults, I wouldn't say a word since this is the nature of computer games (how many remember Ultima and the magic hammer that was so darned hard to find)? But this game is for a younger targeted age group. Even there, I don't have a problem with rare and unique items. But for Walt's sake and the sake of all the young ones, don't make the rare items magic or one of their favorite characters' costumes. A young child just wants to dress up like Jack. He or she doesn't care if it's rare or not. If you want a rare item, make it a special, non-magic pin (like lion or Tomorrowland orange), or a specific color of furniture (like blue Stitch box or green pirate throne). For those who care, they can focus on these rarer items but at least there is an alternative for the rest who don't care about that (red box and red pirate throne). Or, if you HAVE to make a pirate costume rare, why not the Davy Jones costume that an 8 year old might not want anyway?

Sorry VMK, you still need to take a long hard look at these issues.

I agree totally. If it was to teach patience, then it wouldn't be a random hit/miss thing. It would be an automatic bingo after so many codes. - Rings Buzzer - I'm sorry... wrong answer, please try again!!

Also in response to the that's part of the fun thing as stressed by the staff's comment... (and yes I am guilty of this), how is it fun for anyone at all. For those playing the game and doing the codes, many of us are missing out on so much by just sitting in a room entering code after code with short remarks to the room in between typing and for those not doing it, how is it fun for them to come in where their friends are to a room of "zombies" just sitting around saying nothing at all. For those people I have been ignoring because of this, I send out my apologies.

 

[redbaybound]

I wrote to Paul Yanover a long time ago about the un-Disney like aspects of the game. I won't repeat them here because most of it has already been so well said by others. The response I received said in short that VMK is a marketing tool and their focus was selling more Disney product.

Well, this is how well their marketing has worked.... my 8 and 9 year old won't play anymore. My neighbor's kids won't play anymore. My friend's kids won't play anymore. And frankly, my time is very short, so I rarely play even though I used to go through withdrawal if I missed a day.

Marketing is one thing, fostering greed and avarice is another.

 

[mouseman68]

I agree with all you are writing but pardon me while I play devil's advocate. What is creating the popularity of this game? Very similar to pin trading beanie baby collecting or any type of collecting, it is acheiving an ultimate goal of collecting the rarest items being offered. VMK is trying to acheive this by making certain items very hard to come by and making them more valuable. I understand it is a kids game but there are several adults out there that are pure collectors of these fine virtual artifacts. If there were no rare items to obtain would the popularity of VMK exist? I am not so sure it would.

My fear is that if our issue of the difficulty in obtaining these rare items is solved by making them readibly available, how popular do you think VMK would be? I know there is a great social atmosphere, but I can not help that is secondary to the collectors.

I hope I did not offend anyone. I do not have any of the most sought after items, and of course, like all, would love to have them, but would hate to lose the popularity of VMK.

 

[Kelsie]

I agree with all you are writing but pardon me while I play devil's advocate. What is creating the popularity of this game? Very similar to pin trading beanie baby collecting or any type of collecting, it is acheiving an ultimate goal of collecting the rarest items being offered. VMK is trying to acheive this by making certain items very hard to come by and making them more valuable. I understand it is a kids game but there are several adults out there that are pure collectors of these fine virtual artifacts. If there were no rare items to obtain would the popularity of VMK exist? I am not so sure it would.

My fear is that if our issue of the difficulty in obtaining these rare items is solved by making them readibly available, how popular do you think VMK would be? I know there is a great social atmosphere, but I can not help that is secondary to the collectors.

I hope I did not offend anyone. I do not have any of the most sought after items, and of course, like all, would love to have them, but would hate to lose the popularity of VMK.

Not offended at all! My point is IF VMK is going to design games for these 'elusive' codes that require you to keep trying, for heaven's sake, let the players enter the codes without the threat of being banned.

I do understand the 'collectors' aspect, let's just make it fair!

 

[bevgray]

As I said earlier, I have no problem with items being rare/hard to get. My complaint is with the items chosen for this designation. Young children love magic and "let's pretend" that it seems to me a real pity that the rare items are the very things a young child will want the most. I also take some offense at the host comment "teach you patience". Is VMK's purpose now to instruct our young in life's lessons? Yes, we all have to learn how to deal with the unfairness of the real world but is a Disney-sponsored venue the place to learn that?

Have the rare items, by all means, as it does add fun to the game. But don't select the items that appeal to people who aren't interested in being the VMK equivalent of Mr. and Mrs. GotRocks or the Bling Bling cousins such as magic and costumes. I still have difficulty equating "learning patience" with what is, in effect, a roulette wheel. I stand by my statement of, if that is the goal, then tie it to credits that must be worked for, not the random luck element of a program algorithm that is set way too low.

 

[Califgirl]

I agree with all you are writing but pardon me while I play devil's advocate. What is creating the popularity of this game? Very similar to pin trading beanie baby collecting or any type of collecting, it is acheiving an ultimate goal of collecting the rarest items being offered. VMK is trying to acheive this by making certain items very hard to come by and making them more valuable. I understand it is a kids game but there are several adults out there that are pure collectors of these fine virtual artifacts. If there were no rare items to obtain would the popularity of VMK exist? I am not so sure it would.

My fear is that if our issue of the difficulty in obtaining these rare items is solved by making them readibly available, how popular do you think VMK would be? I know there is a great social atmosphere, but I can not help that is secondary to the collectors.

I hope I did not offend anyone. I do not have any of the most sought after items, and of course, like all, would love to have them, but would hate to lose the popularity of VMK.

Well, maybe I am "Dumbo" or just not good at the computer game concept of 'aquire -aquire' aquire", but I would enjoy this game a lot more if the focus wasn't on a few rare items. The magic was created for me when I realized I could interact with 'real' people in real time. The magic is the friendships I've made, and the love of Disney we share (and maybe also sharing the frustration of catching ghosts, or the mystery of finding our way through the Big Thunder Maze when it first came out). Sure I have some rare pins (not inferno) but as I can only wear a limited amount of pins anyway, who cares? I guess I could change my pins once in a while, but I don't seem to. Those of you who know me, know that Cazalet hardly ever even changes her clothes - thank goodness for Jellyrolls drycleaning service - cleans while you wear them! But yes, I do always buy the new costumes. I'm not sure why, but I'm guessing that we all like something new, and it is fun to have the new stuff first. Why? Because we want to feel special. This is a basic human want - to feel special. To feel like we got a good deal. To get something new. To feel special.

I have worked in the customer service industry in one way or another my whole life. My two caveats are this: Everyone who is not me is a guest. Every guest has MMFI on their forehead. It means "Make Me Feel Important"
Sometimes this game does the exact opposite of that. But, my friends always make me feel welcome and important. (my friends and the NPC's - it's always nice to be greeted by name! lol) That's why I enjoy VMK.

Thanks to all my friends who uphold the DisneyMagic concept even better than VMK does.

 

[Tampa]

VMK has set this game up so you are cool if you have inferno, you are awesome if you have a Stitch hat, etc.

It was an honor for me to sport the new gold mickey ears in the parks when people had no idea where to buy them. I'm 6'3", so I was a perfect advertisement for the new dig!

But I'm posting to say I was in Epcot yesterday, and I saw this huge nemo fish-hat that if it were 60 degrees out, I would have baught it.. and would have been completely awesome!

 

[The Wolf]

I had to laugh at the earlier post about comments by Paul Yanover about VMK being purely a marketing tool to sell product.

So, taking his lead I guess DLR and WDW will now be starting a new queue system for popular rides such as Exepedition Everest and Soarin' etc.

After all the parks are nothing more than entertainment zones designed to sell more product, aren't they?

So by that rationale the new system would involve you standing in line for Everest for many hours. During this time you will be removed from the park on numerous occasions for no reason whatsoever (we'll call these extra magic treats shall we) after you finally make it to the ride you will be told 'sorry ride closed now' upon pointing out that this is not really fair after all your time you will be met with a sarcastic and purely uninformative answer a la VMK staff members, (let's go with, 'I don't give a damn what you think I'm still getting paid, but I'm so shortsighted I can't see that if I don't treat you right you'll all leave and I'll be out of work' shall we because after all that is what they are doing ). If you do manage to get on the ride you will leave happy that you have achieved something, however on exiting the ride you will see a nice big sign that says 'Rides for all, no wait, go to Emporium'.

I think these people should be placed in charge of running Disney as they obviously have been sprinkled with that same unfriendly, self obsessed pixie dust the a certain Mr E used to exude.

I have one thing to leave you with to ponder...What would Walt say?

 

[Great1]

Saw this comment posted by *Geggy* on another site and thought that it said it all...

"When you enter a code, why do you think the last line is, "You will be the envy of the kingdom."? They are providing 'safe' and 'secure', but they're also providing envy, jealousy, and want."

Too sad.

 

[Queen Malcrusula]

Besides the obvious (VMK doesn't have enough servers, long lines, disconnects all the time, impossible quests, etc.), I must say they finally did something right. I was able to complete the quest last night and win a prize. Now granted you can buy the black piano, but it was nice to be rewarded for my effort and I was really happy. I was disconnected once during the quest but because there was no time restraint and I didn't have to wait in a long line to be able to play, I won and got a prize. This is the way it should always be. Kids can really get into this. I believe this is what VMK should be about. Not the impossible but with a little effort the possible. Forget the green car - fireworks is not possible for the average gamer! And that is who VMK should have in mind. Also, if items were not so hard to get they wouldn't be sold on EBay! I think all prizes should be available to all players. This will end the greed and more quests like last night would be the answer. You can only complete a quest once and this prevents hording!
Yours respectfully, Queen Malcrusula

 

[kutekiley]

well HELLO!!! Do you expect VMK to GIVE OUT THINGS? NO!i personally do not understand the reason of this thread, its makes no sense.You're supposed to do quests and work for things in VMK! it sounds to me as you do expect VMK to just give things to the people of VMK.Do you really believe this? or are you just tricking yourself?Well, of course they're not going to do this.