Save VMK! : VMK Blog

April 2005 - VMK's First Version Billed as an 18-month Advergaming Initiative...Or Was It???

Commentary: The below article mentions VMK's first version as a 18-month global initiative (the first time I have seen an actual time limit attached to VMK), so why then didn't the website state that upon signing up?  It should have read somewhere that the "event" (i.e. VMK) would end in 18 months...they didn't say that because they knew people wouldn't become so involved with something that would go away in 18 months.   What would happen to WebKinz if it was only a short-term virtual world?  I wonder.  Maybe VMK should have been billed as a Temporary Virtual World.

Excerpt from Food Magazine Article, Children Encouraged to Advertise to Themselves: "Companies are becoming increasingly interested in reaching children at home – and one highly effective way of doing this is to use websites. Not only do they have a global reach, they are also likely to be used by children without direct parental supervision, because adults are usually not around to help children recognise or interpret the marketing messages. Indeed, many adults might have difficulty distinguishing the marketing messages from the entertainment, since they are often one and the same thing. Examples that the Food Commission has spotted in recent months are shown on these pages.

This summer Disney, the giant media company, will launch a new website called Virtual Magic Kingdom, where children will be able to: ‘chat, play and trade with friends’, ‘decorate your own (virtual) room and mix music’, and ‘compete with other players in our Pirates and Fireworks games’. What the early version of the website does not mention is that Disney plans the site to be an opportunity for ‘advergaming’ – interactive internet games carrying commercial messages. The first version is due to be launched in May as part of an 18-month global initiative, targeting children aged 8 to 12 years old. Disney has not yet announced what sort of advertising the new site will carry, but the focus is likely to be on promoting Disney theme parks. Kids will also earn online points within the Virtual Magic Kingdom that can be redeemed for products at a ‘real’ Disney Magic Kingdom. As the president of Walt Disney Parks Jay Rasulo explains, ‘We hope it becomes a real hangout for preteens and teens."
read entire article

Source:  Food Magazine - The Food Commission, UK

Reference to Virtual Magic Kingdom dates back to July 1996

The Virtual Magic Kingdom "project" has been around a while...at least 12 years ago in fact...take a look at the resume excerpt below.  It looks like VMK was around long before Virtual Magic Kingdom was released as a promotion to celebrate Disneyland's 50th Anniversary.

July 1996-November 1997,  Disney Interactive
Title-Computer Graphic Artist/Technical Artist
Duties – Model and texture game props. Create interface elements. Process and composite 2D animation on rendered backgrounds.
Projects-
"Virtual Magic Kingdom" PC
"Aladdin, Fate of Agrabah" PC
"101 Dalmatians, Escape from DeVil Manor" PC

Source: http://www.rossworthley.com/files/RossWorthley.doc

VMK Kids Unite 5/10 Protest: Updates

Updates:
May 7: Disney Executives and City of Anaheim sent Formal Notice of Protest.
May 7: Protesters consider official slogan.
May 6: Planners finalize logistics and contingency plans for Saturday.
May 5: OC Register is offering coverage of the protest.
May 5: Second Pre-Planning Web Conference scheduled for Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 8:00PM (PST)
May 4: Organizers work through the evening on logistics for the protest.
May 3: First Pre-Planning Web Conference scheduled for May 4, 2008, 8:00PM (PST).
May 2: VMK Kids Unite releases their official Press Release
May 1: City of Anaheim Planning Department gives "official" green light for the protest.
May 1: City of Anaheim is given Second Notice of Intent to Protest.
April 30: Organizers canvass the area around Disneyland in preparation of the upcoming protest.
April 30: Event organizers convene this afternoon in Garden Grove for a planning meeting.

Register HERE for the 5/10 Protest at Disneyland

Source: VMK Kids Unite

Virtual World Protest: Avatars March on VMK for 2nd Save VMK Walk

Another successful walk was staged and carried out today in VMK.  This time there were two Save VMK Walk Rooms (thanks SoupDragon!!!).  There were queues in each room and things were hopping especially for SoupDragon.  Here are some pics from one of the staging rooms.  Thank you again to all who participated...see you at the next Save VMK Walk!!

   

Updates from SaveVMKToday.com!!!

May 07, 2008 at 05:09 by Nicholas

We are still working very hard to Save VMK, I just did a major national magazine interview last night and am scheduled to do two more this week. One is with a major national news network. I'll post more soon but can't say much now!

Source: SaveVMKToday.com

The Big Question: Why Close Down VMK??

"We have been asked hundreds of times -- by major stock holders, and by the very young -- the same, excellent question over and over: "Why would Disney want to close VMK?"

Some say, simply, Disney is being "greedy." They want more money any way they can get it, they say, and Disney appears to think few players will stay on VMK if they begin charging for it. Judging from hundreds of comments we've received, this is an incorrect notion. The players love and live for VMK, and some would gladly pay.

Further, if Disney is simply being greedy, why is Disney throwing away a $2 billion project? Especially when that value for VMK is calculated upon Disney's own valuation formula?

Here is the formula: Club Penguin had 700,000 players. Disney bought it in what could be a $700 million deal. Thus, Disney counts each ClubPenguin user as being worth $1,000 dollars. Disney assigned this value even though each player only pays between $58 - $72 per year to play. That adds up to about $50 million per year, which is what they reported making from ClubPenguin last year.

This brings up another question: how will Disney make money on the ClubPenguin deal? Perhaps Disney expects ClubPenguin to keep all their players signed up until the yearly amount equals the purchase price -- in another 14 years. This appears highly unlikely given the pace of technology.

Or, it could be that Disney hopes to recoup their investment selling ClubPenguin-brand products on the side. That doesn't seem very likely either.

Finally, Disney could be hoping to make back their money by getting many, many more people to sign up for Club Penguin. How can they accomplish this? The comments we've received suggest that the amount of people who can see themselves as penguins may be a limited number. So, Disney could be hoping to increase their Club Penguin (and other virtual worlds') membership by closing down other, free parts of their web sites, in hopes players will sign up for paid Disney sites instead. That sounds feasible.

Except there are some problems with that approach which -- judging from the comments sent here -- are becoming big problems. Kids are realizing Disney is ready to pull the plug on virtual worlds at any time, which doesn't build the trust needed for a successful virtual community, which is something built as much by the players as by the corporate sponsor. Meanwhile, experts are claiming Disney is being irresponsible, immoral and damaging the psyche's of its young audience.

Parents seem to agree, joining an ad-hoc boycott of all things Disney. And lets be clear here: this boycott is less out of expecting any real response from Disney corporate offices than it is based upon a growing dismay toward the Disney brand they once loved. They are cancelling their trips, throwing away their trip-planning DVDs, and changing the channel to Nick, because they are just sickened by the "whole, VMK-closing thing."

So, while the Disney-is-being-greedy theory seems partially valid, it doesn't appear to be accurate or working. Disney remains focused on providing extraordinary quality within their brand. So maybe, as others say, Disney is just being "dumb."

Look around VMK; the site has already lost it's many acquisition-minded players. Meanwhile, look at the other Disney virtual games: Are they suddenly busier? Overwhelmed with new players? Many say they are not.

By comparison the Virtual Magic Kingdom -- unlike Club Penguin -- promotes all things Disney, specifically offering a convincing promotional tool to get people to the parks. Could VMK itself have been promoted better? Perhaps. Yet the promotional potential of VMK is still there, and according to the comments we've received, is working very, very well. Do people who play VMK want to go to the parks? And actually go there? Absolutely, see for yourself (e.g., in the final comment).

Further, many agree that visiting the Disney parks is not cheap. So whatever their expenses for running VMK -- estimated at under $850,000 per year -- Disney has a clear way to recoup them in full, and then some. Here is where things take a surprising turn.

Also unlike Club Penguin, VMK doesn't have 700,000 players. Rather, VMK is said to have over 2 million registered players. Over. Two. Million. Players. And make no mistake, for many of these players, VMK is their primary entertainment, Internet and recreational avenue. They may have "Hannah Montana" playing in the background, but VMKers are leaning forward, focused on their real friends and real interactions within the virtual world of VMK.

So, going by Disney's own valuation -- with each player being worth $1,000 a piece -- VMK is worth $2 billion dollars. That's billion, with a "b."

Who would have thought Disney was doing so well that they could throw away a successful, growing, $2 billion dollar project? Meanwhile, every year, Disney avoids a potential $144 million dollars per year of profit, simply by not charging $6 per month to play VMK, which could, over time, push VMK to exceed it's $2 billion value, just as Disney expects ClubPenguin to surpass its $700 million value.

Perhaps Disney doesn't think VMK players are worth as much as ClubPenguin players. The rejected players seem to feel that way. Ask the seriously ill Madison Reed or any of the millions of other "fired," former VMK players. Let's say VMKers are worth only half the original amount, or $500 each. That still makes VMK worth $1 billion. So VMK is clearly a very, very valuable social network, virtual world, brand-builder, Internet property, and money-maker.

So, given the brilliance that is VMK (and its revenue-generating potential), the Disney-is-being-dumb theory doesn't hold water, either. Which leaves one theory left.

Some speculate that Sulake, the company which developed the underlying (outdated) technology VMK is based on, are the real ones closing VMK because they just signed a deal with Paramount. Plus, the contract had already run out and was merely being extended. Lastly, Sulake needs the staff to create the sure-to-be-uplifting "Mean Girls" world at today's presumably higher rates.

So Sulake appears to be playing the cards it was dealt wisely and carefully. Noted. After all, what does Sulake care about Disney? Or fans of the Disney brand? They're all just another client, as far as Sulake's concerned. And bonus points to Paramount for out-witting Disney (although they better be very careful in their own dealings with Sulake!).

And why did Disney sponsor a virtual world -- where children were supposed to grow and develop their (and Disney's) presence, property, and social networks -- by contracting with Sulake for such a limited time? The 10-year olds playing VMK all knew VMK was supposed to go on forever, so why didn't anyone at Disney appear to know this too?

Which leads back to the original question, one which, it turns out, no one but Disney can answer: "Why would Disney want to close VMK?" SaveVMK.com has a petition of over 16,460 people who would like to know.

And it suggests another, yet-to-be-answered question: Why are the Disney stockholders standing by while such a tragic mistake is made if VMK were to be closed forever?

The world may never know the answer. Or care, since other, non-Disney virtual worlds are likely to pick up that $2 billion value, while gaining the gratitude of millions of former VMK players and their families (formerly known as Disney customers) on May 22."

Source: SaveVMK.com

Found Comments at SaveVMK.com

"i know someone that has a very rare condition. her body cant feel pain and cant control her body temperature. so she stays inside her home most of her life in a controled temperature environment. if she dares to go somewhere, she has to wear what looks like a vest packed with ice packs. she is home schooled. since she cant go outside to play with other kids and has to be carefully monitored in her activites, she plays vmk. on vmk, people dont know she has this condition. she can have fun and be just like any other normal little girl. she doesnt have to be concerned about the temperature or being careful because of the virtual environment. it also helps her with typing, reading, writing, and some spelling. it also gives her parents a break from monitoring her activies 24/7. they know she is safe on vmk. now what will she do????? they are just being down right cruel to do this to her. when she found out what was happening, she was in tears for nearly an hour. please vmk staff or whoever is doing this, DONT CLOSE VMK. DO IT FOR HER. DO IT FOR LITTLE KIDS ALL OVER WHO MAY HAVE RARE CONDITIONS AND VMK IS THERE ONE CHANCE AT FREEDOM! "

"My niece is handicapped and is confined to a wheel chair or laying down, her social life is very limited due to her disability. VMK offers her the ability to form friendships, and enables her to have the pleasure of walking, shop, decorate, play games she normally can't play, swim, drive, diving in the ocean, barter, and other skills she can't use in her reality. I can't understand how Disney ( a company geared towards magic with children) cannot have the compassion to keep this website open for the disabled."

"Hello Everyone, I have been born with a type of Dwarfism that I can't even begin to spell.. I am made fun of at school all the time because of my hight, but on VMK was the first time I realized that just because I had a problem outside I have an extreme love for Disney.. I love Disney and they should just let us win.. this one time.."

These were just a few of the comments that made me want to save VMK all the more. Please help!

Source: The Bayer Family Blog | SaveVMK.com

Save VMK Buttons!

Take a look...there are even buttons out now...Save VMK!!!

Source: DisneyEcho | DisBoards

Radio Interview re: VMK Closure & virtual worlds is UP!

It's all here...at this link

On this episode of Spark:

• Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom closes its doors
  • Cassie's LetsSaveVMK videos on YouTube
  • Aengus's TodayInVMK.com
• Beth Coleman on participation, ownership and identity in online virtual worlds
• Spark listeners share their "off the grid" stories
• John Sanderson tries to keep large trucks from getting stuck in Wedmore, England (full interview)
• Michael Feir gives Nora a tour of the internet from the perspective of a blind person