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Project: SAVE VMK! General Discussion about VMK closing! |
I don't understand. |
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#1
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I don't understand.
So, VMK was closed in May of 2008 as a result of an extension of it's deadline.
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But I'm not here to bring up nostalgia. I'm curious as to what made Disney think it would be a good idea to stop a thing like VMK from growing to the popularity ranks such as Toontown. In the Quote, Yavn states "It's now time to focus our resources on our new virtual worlds." It's not common to see companies to merge groups into another, making it larger, but you wouldn't see the Cars online group merged into the Club Penguin group. Was VMK not seen as popular as all the other games to stay? VMK was also a helpful learning tool, in a sense. Back when I was (Admittedly) still in elementary school around VMK's beginning, my spelling sucked. however, with the dictionary, I was pretty much taught how not to look really dumb on online games, although nowadays i can't trade currency because nobody knows how much mine tough sand mix hunt red coins are worth. I know this may be running dry with ideas, but I just really wanted to get this off my back after looking at VMK's abrupt end. Heck, if I had the chance to talk to yavn again somehow, I'd encourage him to talk to the Online Game division at Disney to get VMK another shot, possibly a permanent residence, like Toontown. -Rambling- Then again, Toondown has a Pay2Play system, and is probably why it's still alive and well today. Perhaps if VMK had some kind of system where payment can be made, but isn't absolutely required. Not in the sense of Habbo, where play...Parents can buy their kids special pixels, creating rankisim, but like making supercredits where a 6000 credit item would only be like 2000. -end rambling- |
#2
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Well, we were also always being told that it was Sulake's fault that VMK ended. No idea on the factuality of that, but if that's the case, then there really isn't anything Disney Online can do about it.
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#3
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Uhm... you know, they were telling the truth about it closing because it was a promotional. It was a promotional for the 50th anniversary. It was meant to close after one year, but lots of people wanted it to stay, so Disney extended it for a couple more years.
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Broccolisprout, 2005-2008 |
#4
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Why couldn't they just keep it as a general promotion for the parks. |
#5
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I guess they had to pay for the mods to stay online all the time, and with all their other online games, they decided to get back money by ending VMK ?? Silly suggestion.. i know..
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everything by me. |
#6
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they really could have added a "pay to play" option, like, pay w/ real money for certain rare items in the game... so you don't NEED to pay, but you can if you wanted to. and i'm sure many vmk players would, especially the adult ones. then they could have made money anyway. sigh...
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#7
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What struck me as odd was all the script created for additions to the game. There was a plethora of content left to be added to the game. Plus the game itself could've and should've been expanded to incorporate the entirety of the estate, represent the rides, and create more accurate portrayals of aspects of the parks. The game never felt finished. It was awkward that the game would appeal to be unfinished. I always expected more of a solid, full park experience before the inevitable conclusion to the promotion. Yet it seems like they just cut the thread of vmk's fate, so to speak. It was just such an abrupt end. There were items and additions to the game scripted and ready to be released into the game. The game itself was just beginning to truly grow into a more unique experience with the addition of vehicles and such. Why would it just die? I always thought there would be a period of decline or stability before it was done, but the game just seemed like it was still growing. Like it was in the puberty of it's design, just beginning to truly blossom into a full game. Yet, no. It just died. Weird, huh?
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There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, shining at the end of every day. There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, just a Dream away... |
#8
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I know! They even got us hyped up on the idea of 'VMK Stories.' Then, they were just like, "Nope, sorry, no VMK Stories for you." :/
Last edited by Jezzi; 12-29-2011 at 06:20 PM.. Reason: unnecessary quote |
#9
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Very good point. I think something went wrong in the plans... like, they already had the intention to keep it alive but then someone higher up said to shut it down o_o because as you guys pointed out, there were so many plans and stuff....
I don't think it was always destined to be closed down... Last edited by Jezzi; 12-29-2011 at 06:20 PM.. Reason: unnecessary quote |
#10
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Huh. Haven't been here in forever. How many of you remember me?
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It seems to have been offline recently, but if his site ever comes back up, you can find the post at http://www.greypawn.com/?p=33 A couple people have copy-pasted it in it's entirety on other forums before it went down, though. Let me see if I can do the same here... Spoiler for The End of VMK:
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It was most likely for this reason that VMK had to go. It's also perhaps worth noting that VMK closed only months before WDIG, the Walt Disney Internet Group, was merged with Disney's games division and re-organized into what is now known as DIMG, the Disney Internet Media Group. While most of the upper management is still the same, it's not unlikely that further down the ladder a lot of power shifted hands during this re-organization, and it's possible that very little of WDIG's former employees still hold the same positions in DIMG, if they're even still around at all. This is still speculation on my part, but the two dates are close enough where it doesn't seem like much of a coincidence. VMK was at the wrong place at the wrong time on multiple fronts, so in retrospect it's not surprising (Albeit still very disappointing) that Disney made the decision they did.
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I will walk heavy, and I will walk strange. Last edited by Jezzi; 12-30-2011 at 11:28 PM.. Reason: cursing/non-g/advertising |
#11
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Thanks for the clarification, Illidan. Back in the day (wow, I sound like an old person xD) when people were debating 'who closed VMK/who didn't', I was too busy being angry about it closing to care.
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#12
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I haven't read everything yet, but I agree with Polar in that, I don't really care who closed it. I'm usually one to go at someone at get angry at it, but really I don't care who did it, I just want it back.
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#13
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I still don't buy the whole "it was just a promotion" line. Looking back, I remember that they actually advertised VMK on other game sites. Who advertises an advertisement? To me it seems that they always expected VMK to make some money for Disney, while also promoting the parks. Which they could still have done if VMK remained open.
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