VMK May Re-open for Ridley Pearson, Update: False rumor Options

[VMKaddict]

Okay I am not sure what to make of this, but this is posted at ridleypearson.com

VMK rumors
There are rumors circulating about VMK possibly being extended (for long time users) for a few months longer. I can't confirm anything at this time, but keep your fingers crossed.

I'm not sure if I would even want WDIG to re-open the game just to have it taken away again.
On the other hand maybe if Ridley was contracted to make a series of books involving VMK the game would be more successful in Disney's eyes. Maybe we should be writing Ridley instead of Disney.

[kangapal]

Ridley came to one of local libraries recently, I was going to ask him how he felt about VMK closing, but we had plans for that night and he was late starting things at the library. I would love to hear what he thinks about it.

[lastinside]

While painful to lose again, I would take another day in VMK .. I still am missing a tree

[DobbyDobbz24601]

Who is Ridley Pearson and what does he have to do with VMK?

[Jennings]

Who is Ridley Pearson and what does he have to do with VMK?

Ridley is the author of the book "Kingdom Keepers", which was a book about the Magic Kingdom after dark, it also had a portion of it take place in VMK

[PiratexxPrincess]

Even though it would just close again, I really hope this rumor is true!

[jcatsby]

While painful to lose again, I would take another day in VMK .. I still am missing a tree

Hmm ... sorry for the blurry enlargement, but I found this tree in some screen shots of my VMK inventory just prior to closing. Does it look at all familiar?

[lastinside]

This is the tree i am looking for ... sombody i know has it ...

[lastinside]

Sadly .. this is now posted on his website

False VMK

I'm now told by my "insider" that indeed it may be only a rumor (about VMK). Sad, because my "source" of the rumor was another top insider. But alas, I'm afraid VMK is gone. I'm disappointed too....
Ridley

http://www.ridleypearson.com/blog_kids.html

seems though everyone (insiders, authors, kids, adults) want VMK stay open... only person set against it is Mr. Wadsworth and WDIG ... sad how they cannotdevelop a business plan

although i will vote differently as a stockholder if i ever see his name ... unless i just sell the stock and be done with them

[jcatsby]

I wish I could find the link again - but I recently saw an article somewhere in which Wadsworth (head of WDIG) was quoted as saying "there was no valid business plan" in place for VMK, which contributed to the closing. I find that interesting, since:

- I am sure that a hand full of VMK players could have easily come up with a viable "business plan" by spending 1 afternoon in a conference room together somewhere.
- As a Disney stockholder, I find it a bit troublesome to think that WDIG even spent the money to originally launch VMK apparently (per Wadsworth) without any thought first having been given to a business or operations plan.

If Wadsworth's comments are true, it does not exactly fill me with confidence that WDIG is spending (doubtless) thousands of shareholder's dollars on various initiatives without giving any advance thought to what they are spending that money on! No way to run a business in my experience ... having some sort of a plan in mind before you start making infrastructure, design and staffing investments seems like a pretty basic concept to me.
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E2A: I found the link, Steve Wadsworth was quoted in an LA Times article. Link to the article below, but here is the text of his comments that I found so odd:

"It never achieved scale," Steve Wadsworth, president of the Walt Disney Internet Group, said in response to questions last month at the EconSM conference. "It was promotional. There was no business model attached to it. It had a small but passionate audience."

LA Times Link

This post has been edited by jcatsby: May 26 2008, 01:25 PM

[MadAboutMickey]

I hope that Pearson is right. Even if it opened for another couple of months I'd be satisfied.

[FairieSprite]

E2A: I found the link, Steve Wadsworth was quoted in an LA Times article. Link to the article below, but here is the text of his comments that I found so odd:

"It never achieved scale," Steve Wadsworth, president of the Walt Disney Internet Group, said in response to questions last month at the EconSM conference. "It was promotional. There was no business model attached to it. It had a small but passionate audience."

Steve Wadsworth makes me mad. If there was no "business model" attached to it, then why did they add all those VMK items to the Disney Movie Rewards, not to mention all the pirate pins they were selling that contained VMK codes? And let's not forget the Herbie items from Herbie: Fully Loaded. There were so many opportunities to turn this game into a profitable business, especially if it meant keeping the game open. Part of me thinks they should reimburse everyone for all of the VMK items they got from the Disney Movie Rewards. Why not just add the points back to everyone's accounts? I don't think they would lose very much (if any) money by doing that. In my opinion, they never should have offered those rewards in the first place if they were going to close VMK so suddenly (although I still believe they had no intention of closing when they started releasing those items through DMR, despite the fact that they are now saying VMK was never intended to stay open for so long since it was just a promotion - it seemed like as soon as they realized VMK was going to shut down, they quickly removed the VMK rewards). Had I of known VMK was going to close so suddenly, I probably would not have gotten three Stitch helmets. Eh live and learn, I guess...

[PiratexxPrincess]

Of course there was business attached to it!
I didn't spend so much money on trips/pins/DMR points for nothing, I did it for the game! That sounds like business to me....

[Jennings]

I gotta admit, I'm pretty ticked off at Wadsworth.

VMK was the most realistic and original MMOG created by WDIG. Now, when it started it out, it was losing money, they were giving the tours out for free (I'm almost positive they were for free) and it cost money to hire those tour guides. THAT I can understand. However, I don't understand what he means that there was no buisness plan attatched and that is wasn't making very much money.

Before VMK opened, I was a yearly vacationer at WDW, and when I heard about VMK coming out when I was in WDW (March 2005) I was estatic. When VMK opened I joined with an original character within the first two weeks, I played a little during the summer, however was pre-occupied with camps that I really didn't play as much as I wanted to and my interest began to fade away. I returned to WDW in October; and here is when the time and money started pouring in. I learned that VMK had quests....and I spent my entire day doing them. (No spoilers) I easily became addicted and was ready to spend money on ANYTHING VMK related. When the T-shirts came out, I bought one. When Herbie Fully Loaded came out I bought one. And then came the pins....No lie, In the past 6 disney trips I have spent around 700 dollars on those pins. Then comes DMR. I bought two home theaters, a red stitch hat, and inferno. That's 2,150 DMR Points. I'd estimate I bought around 15 DVD's. Multiply it by an average DVD price of $20 and that's 300 dollars.

Now let's put all these expenses (excluding the park visits) together

300 dollars DMR
700 dollars Pins
25 dollar Shirt
20 Dollars Herbie Fully Loaded

That's 1,045 dollars.

Now just for kicks and giggles I'm gonna estimate the park expenses.

Plus- 18,000 dollars

So almost 20,000 dollars has been spent in my family towards VMK...

Hey Wadsworth, explain to me how it was not a money maker!!

[Rubella-Angella]

Go jennings! But I do agree, I spent $750 on VMK stuff for VMK! I earned all that myself to buy stuff off ebay and to spend when we went to disney last year. And yet Wadsworth says that's not profitable? I don't understand. How does he feel NOT realizing the disney coorperation is taking kids' money on a VIRTUAL GAME that we could obviously spend on other things besides cards for a computer game. But most decided to spend lots of it on the cards. Where does our money go? Is it now lost in space with our once-beloved VMK or is it jingling around in Wadworth's pockets? You be the judge. But right now in my eyes, Wadsworths judgement of "non-business modeled" is crap. Pure crap. Excuse my language, but I'm ticked just like Jennings.