I've been gone for almost three years, so I can't chime in on any of the community aspects that may need to change, but what I can say is - I cannot play. There's nothing I haven't tried at this point. I was able to play in 2013, but not anymore. I've tried multiple versions of Shockwave, ranging from ones that were current when VMK existed, to the most current version. I have scoured the forums looking for people who have the disconnect loop, I've updated and downgraded Flash, tried MyVMK Pal, etc,. The game simply doesn't work for me anymore, no matter what I've tried.
Flash and Shockwave are going (and practically already have gone) the way of the dinosaur. Everyone on here should know that MyVMK doesn't work with Google Chrome anymore, and when you consider that Google Chrome dominates the desktop browser market, you're alienating almost 50% of total internet users. That's a ridiculously big number. Granted, while I took this number from Wikipedia, and while it might not be correct, I do know that Google Chrome is definitely the most used browser.
Assuming that the 49.02% statistic is correct, that means 50% of the internet is already barred from playing MyVMK due to the aging format it currently uses. And this ties directly into what I think is needed for the longevity of the game - it needs to be rewritten and made able to work on current browsers in 2016. While I'm sure this is a very hard task, I think it's basically the only way MyVMK can survive into the future, especially if you consider the already niche market the game is in. Restricting yourself even more won't help it grow, it'll do the opposite. A new user isn't going to spend the time trying to play the game if they cannot immediately get in - they will simply just leave.
Also, if anyone does know a way to fix my problem, please let me know. I would like to play the game again. Feel free to PM me if you do.