Virtual Family Kingdom Thread

[AdventurersClub]

Instead of celebrating their "bugs" they should be fixing them. I can't speak for everyone, but my defination of a bug means an unplanned flaw in the game that needs attending to. I really hope they get their act together, the sands of time are against them, as they officially open in a week.

 

[Mnementh]

I'm sorry but did I just read that players enjoy a bug so much that even tho they have identified it, they aren't going to fix it yet?

Look at it this way... this is one of those "fun" bugs that isn't really doing any harm to the game as a whole. I seem to remember a lot of people wishing VMK wouldn't have fixed some of the bugs that that game had.

 

[SharkMeal]

The size bug isn't going to do any damage to the game.. it's just a little
humor out of being giant or small there's no big deal in not fixing it right away.
Have to admit I do get entertainment out of that bug sometimes.

But if it was a bug in which you lose your items or something and they leave
it like that it would be a totally different situation.

However I am having doubts that they will be ready by June 26th of THIS year
lol. Where's Merlin's shop? Rooms list? Wasn't the rooms list supposed to be
added on like the first day? They haven't mentioned anything about it anymore
have they completely dropped the idea?

 

[SkippyPaul]

ya know i really wish ppl would stop bashing VFK just bc there are bugs! And here is just a heads up... THIS IS BETA! THERE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE BUGS AND WE ARE SUPPOSED TO HELP THE STAFF AND PROGRAMERS FIND THEM! in my opinion they are trying VERY hard right now. they are balancing 2 things... 1) giving us new features to play with and 2) smashing those bugs WHILE they continue to give us new features... so plz ppl give them a break. They JUST opened RIGHT after VMK closed so that all of us would have some place to go to meet all our frineds from VMK

I dont think what ppl are doing here could be considered bashing vfk. Its just discussing the facts as has been done here on the board since long before I came along. We all realize this is beta and staff and programmers are scrambling to get ready for the unveiling, and fix known bugs and issues. But most of us are also involved in beta stage of several other games. Its compairing apples and oranges. Every game has its issues, beta or not, just as did vmk. And even as much issues as vmk had, we would all welcome it back in a heart beat and all probably run with our pants flaming from these other games.

Nothing against the vfk folks whatsoever.

 

[aengus]

Look at it this way... this is one of those "fun" bugs that isn't really doing any harm to the game as a whole. I seem to remember a lot of people wishing VMK wouldn't have fixed some of the bugs that that game had.

The size bug isn't going to do any damage to the game.. it's just a little
humor out of being giant or small there's no big deal in not fixing it right away.

How do you know you have the fix if you dont test it? How do you know the fix doesnt break something else?

 

[Mnementh]

Are you sure they haven't tested it? If they know where the problem is, maybe they tested their fix overnight last night while the game was closed and are sure it works.

 

[Goofy05]

Hi
Well said ,this what i have been trying to make people see all week.
The game is in test mode and we are supposed to be the testers, not the moaners.
Of course it is not like the old game yet , but they are trying hard to make it into a good family game.
I have seen more staff in this game then i ever saw in vmk.
Also some people have pointed out that they do not reply to E-mails.
Now let me think what was the game that had the contact us system named The Black Hole? Why it was vmk !!
Come on people play and help them , or just do not play.
I do not understand why people play a game they do not like, there are plenty to choose from.
Support them together, do not trash them.

You are comparing vfk to vmk and it simply can't be done. They will never be vmk.
I can't offer my support to a game that does little to correct known issues, yet releases ONE new game and furnishings that just do nothing but sit in inventory and have no relevance to the theme of the game.

Well about the guest thing,

unless they set up a system to auto approve names, some staff member has to go through say 45,000 names that may still be guest and manually approve them?

Just a thought they are prob working hard to fix it but idk.

All assumption. We don't know how many names need approval or who is responsible for approving them.

the ppl with the titles that havent been approved either had spaces or have problems with them... i think once the public release opens or whatever you will get a chance to change your password and name in the game...

Again, assumption. We don't know why some names have been approved, some not. I registered two names. One approved, the other can't even log in. Separate emails, yet it tells me the name that I reserved on Day 1 is already in use.

it's not just about the bugs, dude...it's the fact this game is going further away from what they billed themselves as, and it's the lack of communication with the developers to the staff...

Yes. Nobody knows where this game is going. Not even the staff.

I can say I wrote to VMK contact us, got canned response, and when I responded to that I got nothing...VMK black hole.

I wrote to VFK contact us, got a personal email, with a phone number. Called the phone number, spoke with real live person (omg!) and got results . Then sent another email to them thanking them and adding a suggestion, and received another personal email. Another friend sent an email and recieved a response back with correction made in game immediately. That's one up in my book!

You're one of the few who did get a response from vfk, I have not.
Comparing vfk to vmk is a moot point. They are totally different games. I will say that vmk's messaging was lacking, but it has no bearing on vfk.

I'm sorry but did I just read that players enjoy a bug so much that even tho they have identified it, they aren't going to fix it yet?

Well I guess thats good news because the game comes out of test mode in 7 days.

Maybe the programmer likes paging through millions of codes so much, he/she wants to do it all again to find that one line! Gosh!

Instead of celebrating their "bugs" they should be fixing them. I can't speak for everyone, but my defination of a bug means an unplanned flaw in the game that needs attending to. I really hope they get their act together, the sands of time are against them, as they officially open in a week.

But the size bug is cool! (sarcasm) Don't you enjoy being miniature and having to take three times as long as everyone else to cross a room?

Look at it this way... this is one of those "fun" bugs that isn't really doing any harm to the game as a whole. I seem to remember a lot of people wishing VMK wouldn't have fixed some of the bugs that that game had.

The size bug isn't going to do any damage to the game.. it's just a little
humor out of being giant or small there's no big deal in not fixing it right away.
Have to admit I do get entertainment out of that bug sometimes.

But if it was a bug in which you lose your items or something and they leave
it like that it would be a totally different situation.

However I am having doubts that they will be ready by June 26th of THIS year
lol. Where's Merlin's shop? Rooms list? Wasn't the rooms list supposed to be
added on like the first day? They haven't mentioned anything about it anymore
have they completely dropped the idea?

See above. Any bug is a problem with the program, regardless of how "fun" it is.
So many issues going unaddressed and unresolved. It's obvious to me, they had no definite "plan" for where they wanted this game to go. They are winging it and that will hurt them. You have to have a storyboard and a plan for a community to work.
I'm looking forward to reading what the gamers' sites reviews of vfk will say!

How do you know you have the fix if you dont test it? How do you know the fix doesnt break something else?

Maybe they should have hired you to test it? haha We all know you broke it.

 

[funfly]

Look at it this way... this is one of those "fun" bugs that isn't really doing any harm to the game as a whole. I seem to remember a lot of people wishing VMK wouldn't have fixed some of the bugs that that game had.

Yep, there were bugs we all had fun with in VMK and hated to see them go.

 

[awesomepatty-cake]

I used to really liked to come to the Dis boards to see what was new, funny things that happened on that day, maybe some help on quests that I had a problem with in VMK. I would skip over most of the people complaining about the quests etc. The fact that VFK has only one place to look it’s not easy to find the funny stuff or new things without having to wade through lots of negative posts questioning everything that is being done or not being done. I keep thinking maybe it has changed but I see it has not. I have not seen posts that scrutinize any other game so much. When I am on VFK I have seen many players saying how much they enjoy being small. They have been asking hosts for weeks for a game so they can start earning credits. They have been asking for furniture for a while. These may be all kids I don’t know for sure but they just want to play and chat on VFK. They don’t care how the whole system is set up or if they have gotten rid of all the bugs. As an adult I could wait for them to straighten everything out first before they put a game in or furniture but most kids do not have the patience for all the waiting for them to fix everything that people have mentioned. My biggest problem is that kids read these boards and for some reason take some peoples opinion as fact. I was getting upset with some of the things that Aengus was saying and posted something, one of the responses I got was “I think as a moderator he does have to play the role of devil's advocate ... maybe more than he'd like to.” This can be found on page 151. This response upset me because this person thinks that for some reason that Aengus who is only the board moderator has to tell us whether a game is good or not. I’m sorry I had to choose Aengus for my example I have nothing against him. I know he is only putting up his personal opinions but I’ve heard kids telling me other things that were said on the board as if it was truth not just an opinion or rumor. I not only miss VMK but I miss the Dis boards that used to make me laugh.

 

[AdventurersClub]

I used to really liked to come to the Dis boards to see what was new, funny things that happened on that day, maybe some help on quests that I had a problem with in VMK. I would skip over most of the people complaining about the quests etc. The fact that VFK has only one place to look it’s not easy to find the funny stuff or new things without having to wade through lots of negative posts questioning everything that is being done or not being done. I keep thinking maybe it has changed but I see it has not. I have not seen posts that scrutinize any other game so much. When I am on VFK I have seen many players saying how much they enjoy being small. They have been asking hosts for weeks for a game so they can start earning credits. They have been asking for furniture for a while. These may be all kids I don’t know for sure but they just want to play and chat on VFK. They don’t care how the whole system is set up or if they have gotten rid of all the bugs. As an adult I could wait for them to straighten everything out first before they put a game in or furniture but most kids do not have the patience for all the waiting for them to fix everything that people have mentioned. My biggest problem is that kids read these boards and for some reason take some peoples opinion as fact. I was getting upset with some of the things that Aengus was saying and posted something, one of the responses I got was “I think as a moderator he does have to play the role of devil's advocate ... maybe more than he'd like to.” This can be found on page 151. This response upset me because this person thinks that for some reason that Aengus who is only the board moderator has to tell us whether a game is good or not. I’m sorry I had to choose Aengus for my example I have nothing against him. I know he is only putting up his personal opinions but I’ve heard kids telling me other things that were said on the board as if it was truth not just an opinion or rumor. I not only miss VMK but I miss the Dis boards that used to make me laugh.

Lets not wear rose colored glasses, not everything in life will be perfect nor will everything in this game. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and most "negative" opinions are just and deserved. VFK says one thing, but never follows through, if it bothers someone and they feel strongly enough about it to vent a bit, they are fully entitled to do so. Being we are only permitted one thread, all posts are to be in this thread, we have to work with what we have.

From my stand point, the "negative" comments can be quite helpful to vfk developers, they will never learn how to run their game if they don't have legitimate useful feedback. The mind set and attitude that everything in VFK is perfect, was a reason I avoided this thread, because I like to read unbiased opinions on both sides. Kids may read this thread, but that is no reason to shelter opinions and give false impressions. We do a disservice to VFK if we do not give them accurate feedback. That is the only way they will know how to improve.

As for their excuses for why things don't get done that they promised, the only response I have to that, is my favorite expression:

"Excuses are reasons people don't do stuff."

 

[Goofy05]

I used to really liked to come to the Dis boards to see what was new, funny things that happened on that day, maybe some help on quests that I had a problem with in VMK. I would skip over most of the people complaining about the quests etc. The fact that VFK has only one place to look it’s not easy to find the funny stuff or new things without having to wade through lots of negative posts questioning everything that is being done or not being done. I keep thinking maybe it has changed but I see it has not. I have not seen posts that scrutinize any other game so much. When I am on VFK I have seen many players saying how much they enjoy being small. They have been asking hosts for weeks for a game so they can start earning credits. They have been asking for furniture for a while. These may be all kids I don’t know for sure but they just want to play and chat on VFK. They don’t care how the whole system is set up or if they have gotten rid of all the bugs. As an adult I could wait for them to straighten everything out first before they put a game in or furniture but most kids do not have the patience for all the waiting for them to fix everything that people have mentioned. My biggest problem is that kids read these boards and for some reason take some peoples opinion as fact. I was getting upset with some of the things that Aengus was saying and posted something, one of the responses I got was “I think as a moderator he does have to play the role of devil's advocate ... maybe more than he'd like to.” This can be found on page 151. This response upset me because this person thinks that for some reason that Aengus who is only the board moderator has to tell us whether a game is good or not. I’m sorry I had to choose Aengus for my example I have nothing against him. I know he is only putting up his personal opinions but I’ve heard kids telling me other things that were said on the board as if it was truth not just an opinion or rumor. I not only miss VMK but I miss the Dis boards that used to make me laugh.

I'm sorry you think we are any more critical of vfk than we were of vmk, as I think there are plenty of arguments that came out of those discussions, as well.
Why are we so critical of vfk? Please do read the posts, even the negative ones. The answers are there.
If all positive is what you seek, there are vfk forums where negative comments never seem to appear.
Most of us who talk about the bad parts of vfk are only warning people not to get overly excited about vfk being the next best vmk. It's just not going to happen.
Safety is still our number one concern. There are still issues with the safety of personal information being kept safe on vfk. Some have been addressed, mainly due to those of us 'negative' posters.
As for Aengus playing "devil's advocate", it is not a requirement of being a moderator, he shares the same concerns the rest of us do. Aengus has always been looking out for the dis kids and will continue to do so.

 

[Gsterg]

I can agree that some negative comments are good, but some of your comments (greeniemimi) have been more than negative comments. I have nothing against you but all i am saying is you donr have to bash gfk everytime thre is something that you don't like. And one last thing. VMK was loved by all. When it closed vfk opened a door for all of us. With about 90% of vmk joining vfk, most ppl thought vfk would be the same as vmk. Well its not BUT this game has potential so if you guys can wait a while and not keep being negative then maybe just maybe you will see...

~Gsterg

 

[AdventurersClub]

I can agree that some negative comments are good, but some of your comments (greeniemimi) have been more than negative comments. I have nothing against you but all i am saying is you donr have to bash gfk everytime thre is something that you don't like. And one last thing. VMK was loved by all. When it closed vfk opened a door for all of us. With about 90% of vmk joining vfk, most ppl thought vfk would be the same as vmk. Well its not BUT this game has potential so if you guys can wait a while and not keep being negative then maybe just maybe you will see...

~Gsterg

Lets not confuse a negative observation with bashing, those are totally different things. Negative observation is a fact, bashing is an opinion. Some of the observations green said were indeed true, she may have added some of her own thoughts to her observations, but they were indeed facts. I however doubt it was that high a percentage that joined VFK, I know many people who didn't sign up, and still have no plans to do so. If we do not state the negative, VFK will open with glitches when they can easily take this time to improve. Why would we want VFK to ignore observations, both good and bad, when they can take this time to observe and fix their problems in a timely manner which may end up preventing a future problem. Nothing is perfect, but it doesn't mean VFK shouldn't try to perfect what CAN be perfected.

 

[SkippyPaul]

I would like to tell you something that happened tonite. Sweet and I went in to vfk, which we rarely do. We were in the backyard for maybe 5 or 6 min when racist comments started flying. I knew they were aimed at me like they always were on vmk. Ppl in the room reported this incident and within a few minutes vfk_groovy was there. I was seeing red at this point and thought it best if I leave the game. Which Sweet and I immediately did.

Besides Sweet, to very nice dis friends kingquackatac, and Keepswimmingdory also reported these 2 girls that were being racist, then pm'd me here on dis to show support.

I wont go in to more detail but King spoke to vfk via phone and the girls were dealt with immediately.

Im not passing this story along to you for any sympathy believe me. Just wanted to let you know that Im going to try and be a little more understanding of staff and programmers at vfk. Not only do they have to fix bugs but they have to play baby sitter, police officer and nurse maid to a bunch of midget pixels.

Thanks guys.... you know who you are

Robert

 

[JulyGirl]

I would like to tell you something that happened tonite. Sweet and I went in to vfk, which we rarely do. We were in the backyard for maybe 5 or 6 min when racist comments started flying. I knew they were aimed at me like they always were on vmk. Ppl in the room reported this incident and within a few minutes vfk_groovy was there. I was seeing red at this point and thought it best if I leave the game. Which Sweet and I immediately did.

Besides Sweet, to very nice dis friends kingquackatac, and Keepswimmingdory also reported these 2 girls that were being racist, then pm'd me here on dis to show support.

I wont go in to more detail but King spoke to vfk via phone and the girls were dealt with immediately.

Im not passing this story along to you for any sympathy believe me. Just wanted to let you know that Im going to try and be a little more understanding of staff and programmers at vfk. Not only do they have to fix bugs but they have to play baby sitter, police officer and nurse maid to a bunch of midget pixels.

Thanks guys.... you know who you are

Robert

I am glad to hear that they are making an effort to keep negative players under control. That was really my first concern when the place opened up.

 

[aengus]

I keep thinking maybe it has changed but I see it has not. I have not seen posts that scrutinize any other game so much. When I am on VFK I have seen many players saying how much they enjoy being small. They have been asking hosts for weeks for a game so they can start earning credits.

If you think we are tough critics wait until June 26th when the game magazine critics take a look at the game.


You can't possibly think I am the only one that doesnt think the game is very good and my wonderful personality is converting people to agree with me.

 

[Gsterg]

The reason i think most of us are bringing problems, bashes, and - comments is bc all of us are so used to VMK's perfect game play, graphics and the rest... im sorry about my comment before yours AdventureClub.


~Gsterg

 

[aengus]

Constructive.

Heres some things I think VFK should do:

forget about vmk, I know a few people posted they want them to re-create vmk but the truth is they cant. They cant have mickey ears, space mountain or pirates of the caribbean. Get back to your history theme and drive your humvee as far away from vmk as you can. As long as you mimic vmk you will be compared to vmk and thats just not going to work. The release of a fireworks game on July 4th is going to inflame many people beyond the current levels. We put VMK on a pedestal, its a bad choice to want to be compared to around these parts, you cant win that war.

back off your opening date of the 26th. Post on the front page something honest. Wow this game has been fun to create but we are a bit behind and we wont make the opening date we had originally planned. If they open to the public then they are saying this is a finished product and the criticism will only increase. Sure the game can continue to evolve after being open, but you are declaring a certain expectation of a working product after beta ends.

Stop adding, you have to make what you have work.

Remove the contents of your web page according to date, dont leave the first couple of posts pre beta and just after beta and then the present. It's misleading and makes people feel like your hiding something.

Fix your webpage, its the first thing people see, you should make a better impression. If anyone has any trouble figuring out what I mean, try clicking submit without putting any info in on the waiting list section. Get into COPPA compliance, its hard to believe a family game isn't meeting a federal requirement to protect children.


I am no game developer, these are some of the things I have just observed by watching and reading. Maybe my advice is silly who knows I just know they are actions I would personally be impressed by.

 

[HeDiedxILive]

Yep, there were bugs we all had fun with in VMK and hated to see them go.

I seem to recall certain clothing bugs we all would have loved to keep. The Pirates costume option when creating a character, the HKDL baseball shirt was it?




And is it just me, or have we been spending more time arguing about arguing than we have spent actually discussing the game?

I can totally see both sides of all of this, so I'll just sit back and watch this discussion while hoping for the best for the players, children and adults alike... whether that turns out to be VFK or not.

 

[Bugdozer]

VFK I Scream for Ice Cream Quest

June 20th (Friday), 7:00 AM Pacific Time, to June 21st (Saturday), 10:00 PM Pacific Time

With all this hot summer weather we need something to beat the summer heat and what is better then Ice Cream!!
This Friday and Saturday play our "I Scream for Ice Cream" quest and learn all the chilling history about Ice Cream, and maybe a little about popsicles too!
Get ready for some cool summer fun and prizes this weekend! Be there or be square.
Once you complete the quest, you will receive 1,000 credits to help you buy new rooms that are coming soon, a red and white ice cream cart, and your choice of either chocolate or strawberry ice cream parfait!