A Look at the Past Year – in my eyes

May 21, 2009
By cyre

Don't look at VMK ending as a bad thing – think of it as a new beginning, a chance to explore something fresh and new! Think of it like school: You don't want to leave your old friends, but still, the time has come to graduate and move onto another great adventure.

Posted April 7, 2008: One of the saddest days for me in recent times. My at that time favorite online pastime was set to close on May 21, 2008. We all started petitions, started writing, got the word out. Newspapers and even some local televisions aired our stories. But alas, it was to do no good.

Me personally, I have mixed feelings. I see people still so lost and crushed without the game. Almost a year later, I’ve looked at Yavn’s words and realized he was right. Don't look at VMK ending as a bad thing – think of it as a new beginning, a chance to explore something fresh and new! And that I did. Set to open the day after VMK closed, was a new game, still fresh in development, and almost a year later, still in beta, or “gamma” as they call it.

VFK (Virtual Family Kingdom) promised a new home for us now-refugees. We were welcomed (along with tons of bugs and glitches) a new home, and happily, a good portion of our beloved ex-VMK staff. Fin, Harmony, Hurricane, Sunny, Cat, Tiger, and a handful of new staff were there day 1 to greet us. It was like old times, but in a new world. There were closing rituals each night, usually attended by at least one of the staff. There were big plans for this new little world…horses, ride pieces, magic spells, awesome themed lands, real-life items, and much more.

Meanwhile, come beginning of June, a couple new worlds open, Small Worlds, and SocioTown. Both offer a 3D world in your browser. Both are socialization based, but with Small Worlds being more interactive. I started playing them as well. But don’t forget about Pirates of the Caribbean online, as well. That launched the previous October.

Back to VFK, moving to mid-July. VFK changes. The staff we know and love start disappearing, to be replaced with a terrible Australian staff that couldn’t even speak comprehensible English. Whenever the remaining staff were asked, we were told the staff were still around. Rumors fly that the original staff are gone. One of the most loved staff there, Groovy, disappears with a big protest by the players that loved her. Months pass, and of the original staff, only Fin, Harmony, Sunny, Cat, Wolf, Tiger remain. Cat, Wolf, and Tiger, are not seen very often, appearing to show off new items.

The first ‘Founder’ package is released. It’s cost was $47. This causes a big stir among members, and causes the topic of VFK to be banned in some online forums. This package, after a few description edits, offers (amongst other things) a T-Shirt, behind the scenes DVD, and a tote bag. There is also a huge bonus of tokens, special pin, daily token allowances, and the promise of a virtual ride able in-world horse.

Some time goes by, and another Founder package is released in conjunction with the release of the Australia land. This one amongst real and virtual items promised a hand-made boomerang by Australian aborigines. Again, I did not buy in. More and more concern is brought up about the items not being shipped, with promises of ‘next month, 3 weeks, 6 weeks,’

Time goes on, more things come out, get promised, some things happen and some don’t. Horses only come out to members, but yet kept getting promised to non-members.
Meanwhile, I have made all sorts of new friends on VFK. People I knew of on VMK, or had met toward the end. I start losing touch with some of my VMK friends, but at the same time, am getting them on the various IM programs available, and added the new friends.

Think of it like school: You don't want to leave your old friends, but still, the time has come to graduate and move onto another great adventure.

It’s so true. But I’m lucky. The friends that meant the most to me have stayed with me. We communicate often enough. I know of tons of kids that lost touch with a lot of their friends, as the game did not permit exchange of personal information in-game, and not all knew of all the forum options available to them. Many forums had posts of ‘Looking for so-and-so, my BFF on VMK’. Some found friends, some did not. Even to this day, people have not found their friends.

Back to VFK, time goes on, no packages. By this time I got back into Small Worlds and really started to play that more. It is still in beta, and fun to play. I did continue playing POTCO, and some SocioTown as well, although SocioTown was starting to lose it for me. So, stopped with Socio after a month or two. I loved playing POTCO with friends, and really got into it.

Sometime in July I was asked to be a moderator for the VFK fansite, VFK Forums. The site was going through some issues and I jumped in and helped out. A couple months later, I was made an Admin. That kind of made me have to get back into VFK, but not totally.

Getting into August I started getting back into Small Worlds. I really started to like the game again. Features had been added, and it was still in Beta testing. Some friends were migrating over there, so I started as well.

Come November 1, a new game opens. Elf Island. It promises the ability for kids to do good through gaming. All the avatars are little elves, and are seeking to find the secret of Elf Island. After 10 Goodquests are done, those with all 10 quest keys are able to find out the secret. To my surprise, we log on November 1 to see some of the VMK staff and an ex-VFK staff member there. Lily, Hula, Red, Titan, Mocha, Shadow, and the beloved Groovy from VFK are all there! With the old staff we loved, came a set of new staff that have come to be just as wonderful.

From the start, the staff at EI showed that they cared about our opinions, and what we’d like to see on the game. Of course, the same was done with VFK in the first couple months, and you can see where that lead us. Many were careful not to have that trust broken again. Come 6 months later, they’ve retained their same staff, and have not attempted any shady activities. They produced a founder package shortly before the game launched on April 1. Reasonable rates, and extra perks for members. However as it’s happened with many beta games, once they launched, they did lose players, but oh well.

Earlier this year is when I really started having enough of VFK. I got busy and couldn’t be on as much. One of the things that had kept me playing on VFK was VFK_Sunny, and I was seeing less and less of her, and asking the VFK staff to have her IM me or at least tell her I missed her was going in one eye and out the other. That really hurt me. Sunny was so special to me, and I feel as though I lost her. I hope to catch her someday and see if the VFK staff even told her I was looking for her…

Well today, I’m no longer an admin at VFKF, I left for personal reasons in February. As for VFK, I don’t play it anymore, really. Might pop on for a bit, but that’s about it. My friends know where to find me: Elf Island and Small Worlds. This is where I’ve settled, and am happiest. It’s hard to divide my time, but I’ve managed. I’ve paid to become a member of Elf Island, and have become a paid VIP at Small Worlds. Both games I paid because I had faith in the games. I knew they weren’t going to run off with our money, or make false promises.

So today being the anniversary of the last day of VMK, I look back at the last year and think, boy, what a year! What a difference a year can make. So many new friends and experiences, and the loss of one special friend. I’m a true believer in karma, and fate. Things happen for a reason. VMK’s closure was something that had to happen for every single person that played it. If the game hadn’t have closed, I wouldn’t have met all the wonderful people I know now, or probably be in some situations I am in now.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have VMK back. It was a happy place, always something to do. There are/were people trying to make these ‘recreations’ of VMK. I’d never join them. Only way I would have ever gone back to VMK is if all the same staff were still there. I just can only hope that other people receive the peace I’ve come to accept about the loss of the game.

Thanks Disney and Sulake for having given us the fun of VMK. It was truly a part of our lives we’ll never forget.

RIP VMK 2005-2008 – Remember the Magic

cyre