Clarifications on Recent Changes

[Lost]

The firewall sale was more like a 6 hour sale and "magically" certain people knew to buy up a ton of them, which by the way is odd because at that time credits were very hard to come by, NPCs and clams were about it. I remember seeing rooms with 30-40 or more firewalls at that time. The stench of insider favoritism about this and FlipHats also a short sale, stuck with me. I'm not going to toss out accusations etc, but all staff must have known this was a problem at the time and should have corrected the "leaked info" by selling them again for a short period to allow others to get them who didn't. This game did start off on the wrong foot, I was vocal about it then, but it was never corrected or addressed. Felt the same way about how rares like stitch etc were amazingly appearing on ppl who didn't even play that much, again the appearance of some favoritism. Thank you Lost, for reminding me of this. All this bothered me and I finally left the game for several months., I returned when POTC came back. I felt like those old issues had been fixed and I did feel a little bit better about the game and the way items were released and sold. I bring this old issue up because many many players felt this way at that time and I felt it was important to bring to light again....

Staff doing favors and giving things in secret etc etc etc are things that I have no first hand knowledge of, but if true represent serious flaws in any of the Staff's judgement to be leaders in this game all the way to the top for engaging in it or allowing it. Staff who stood by and were silent about these issues are complicit as well. What can fix this? Very simple. Put a stop to it all right now.

Please step up to the plate now and announce that there will be absolutely no abuses of power tolerated and that any found will be dealt with fairly and quickly. That abusive Staff will be removed promptly, and give us firm promises that this will not continue, then live by them. We can't make you ( see rule #1 ), but we can decide if we continue to participate. I'd love to see this all put in the past and move forward in a positive manner.

As you add new staff, get some people who can be respected and trusted and demonstrate the qualities needed to run a game like MyVMK. Ok I've said all I can on this subject, I swore I wouldn't post again on this topic and did..lol, but now I'm done.

Good luck

I believe it was 24 hours if I remember correctly, but it wasn't greatly publicised. Staff told friends it was a 1 day sale before everyone else knew. The reason people had 30-40+ firewalls was because they made clones. You could make a clone and get 2,500 credits (500 credits per 4 NPCs + 500 starting bonus) and buy 3 firewalls or something. Maybe my numbers are a bit off not sure. It was a shame that limited edition items were released when the only way to buy multiple of them was to cheat with clones.

Its shocking that there aren't more features in place to moderate the staff, because from the sounds of the opening post; It was unknown that a staff member was giving away exclusive items from their staff account to friends etc. There is obviously not enough measures in place. These things have happened before and maybe staff need to be moderated themselves to make sure these things don't happen, pretty sure it happened on the old game that way.

Anyway thanks for sharing your opinion

 

[nikholeex3]

honestly, i don't know how/when this will ever be resolved. 19 pages of a thread and no other responses from staff members. i have always valued vmk so much. it has made me friends and memories i am so thankful for. this isn't a woe is me thing, but i know a lot of people, myself included, turn to vmk as a outlet. this is where i go when i want to escape the real world.

but now, who wants to be playing a game where favoritism is represented and you have no chance of getting your favorite items. that is unfair. no group of people (aka staff's bffs) should be deemed better as others.

this is never gonna be resolved. we could go back and forth as players all we want, but staff is obviously showing no interest in defending themselves or more importantly apologizing. i'm so curious to see what is going to happen.

 

[camzilla]

I won't name names but this was taken from the skype log

"roughly 3 'super rares’ were given out in 5 events.. i just do not see the problem with that"

That makes me angry. The fact that a moderator who isn't a HOST is hosting these secret events and giving out SUPER RARES and things like DREAM BADGES. It damages the integrity of the game and staff. I can't believe a staff member said they didn't see a problem with it. The person who hosted the event had friends who they probably told about the events beforehand/ knew they would be on at that time because they hang out all the time, not only in public rooms but also in one of her staff accounts locked room. Giving out super rares in secret events, where the staff hosting it has friends in the room who knew about the events and were at most/ all of them IS A PROBLEM. IT'S A BIG PROBLEM.

If you're going to release TOP OF THE RANGE RARE ITEMS that people work and trade for WEEKS AND MONTHS to get then DON'T DO IT AT SECRET EVENTS WITH NOBODY ON EXCEPT A BUNCH OF YOUR FRIENDS.

Anything more than 0 under the circumstances is a serious problem about the game and staffs integrity and the whole trading system and values and favouritism.

I didn't really want to quote and evaluate things said in that chat but this has been sticking in my mind since I read it and if this is the mentality of the staff that are left (as it came from one of the staff who is still here) then this game has yet more problems.

I agree with this post. What has happened is huge. For me at least very hard to play this game anymore, People who are here " working" then basically are in agreement with current admin and not supportive of the folks who left., basically condoning the behavior. I am now also suspect who new hires are, to me who would apply for these positions when admin has taken the stand that they have.

 

[Jasmine]

I always saw favoritism In fact if I remember correctly, the firewalls being a 1 day sale was told to staff friends before anyone else, and people wondered if the friend didn't tell people, if anyone would have known other than those "in the know". Always been favoritism and conflicts of interest.
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The firewall sale was more like a 6 hour sale and "magically" certain people knew to buy up a ton of them, which by the way is odd because at that time credits were very hard to come by, NPCs and clams were about it. I remember seeing rooms with 30-40 or more firewalls at that time. The stench of insider favoritism about this and FlipHats also a short sale, stuck with me. I'm not going to toss out accusations etc, but all staff must have known this was a problem at the time and should have corrected the "leaked info" by selling them again for a short period to allow others to get them who didn't. This game did start off on the wrong foot, I was vocal about it then, but it was never corrected or addressed. Felt the same way about how rares like stitch etc were amazingly appearing on ppl who didn't even play that much, again the appearance of some favoritism. Thank you Lost, for reminding me of this. All this bothered me and I finally left the game for several months., I returned when POTC came back. I felt like those old issues had been fixed and I did feel a little bit better about the game and the way items were released and sold. I bring this old issue up because many many players felt this way at that time and I felt it was important to bring to light again....

Staff doing favors and giving things in secret etc etc etc are things that I have no first hand knowledge of, but if true represent serious flaws in any of the Staff's judgement to be leaders in this game all the way to the top for engaging in it or allowing it. Staff who stood by and were silent about these issues are complicit as well. What can fix this? Very simple. Put a stop to it all right now.

Please step up to the plate now and announce that there will be absolutely no abuses of power tolerated and that any found will be dealt with fairly and quickly. That abusive Staff will be removed promptly, and give us firm promises that this will not continue, then live by them. We can't make you ( see rule #1 ), but we can decide if we continue to participate. I'd love to see this all put in the past and move forward in a positive manner.

As you add new staff, get some people who can be respected and trusted and demonstrate the qualities needed to run a game like MyVMK. Ok I've said all I can on this subject, I swore I wouldn't post again on this topic and did..lol, but now I'm done.

Good luck

It was definitely a problem back then, because I specifically remember posting about how I didn't like the fact that someone who was "friends" with Amy (and who people looked up to and thought was a staff member) told me about a sale (and knew when it'd end!) that my friends didn't know about. Cloning was also an issue back then because I was aware that this same "friend" of Amy had friends making clones for him so he could afford certain items in-game.

Going off of the favoritism thing (because I feel they're related)... As for the forum being part of the communication issue with the staff members @Lost, that topic actually came up last year about this time (see this thread) where most of the members saw us (me, whispered, fiyero) as trying to "attack" the staff (I also used the analogy of separation of church and state). So I don't believe many people are willing to admit that yes, the forum is a huge part of the reason why the communication is so bad. (I believe favoritism also has to do with the forum set up, but perhaps that's just me.)

So yes, both of these issues have been issues from the start and have yet to ever be admitted (let alone resolved). However, at this point, I don't see anything else happening (or at least not what we'd like to happen). I think we can continue to voice our concerns if we want, but I truly don't believe that we're being listened to at this point. Will we be listened to in the future? I don't know, but I suppose it's possible that after Amy takes a short break she will be able to deal with this. As for right now, sadly, I feel like we're wasting our breath (so to speak). While I do hope that something changes because I don't want this game to end the same way OVMK did (especially considering all the hard work that's been put into it), I guess I'm just not very optimistic at this point. I know my friend has already decided to take pictures of her avatar just in case. That's sad :/

 

[haleys]

am i the only person who finds it sad that people are paying real life $$$ for pixels..,,.,.,

 

[Oreo]

am i the only person who finds it sad that people are paying real life $$$ for pixels..,,.,.,

1 time i saw someone trying to brag about spending thousands of dollars on vmk items and i asked "why not spend it on things that actually matter?" and he said "bc why not i have nothing else to do" so i suggested donating it to charities and then everyone in that room threw tomatoes at me and yelled at me for telling him how to spend his money so

 

[Lost]

It was definitely a problem back then, because I specifically remember posting about how I didn't like the fact that someone who was "friends" with Amy (and who people looked up to and thought was a staff member) told me about a sale (and knew when it'd end!) that my friends didn't know about. Cloning was also an issue back then because I was aware that this same "friend" of Amy had friends making clones for him so he could afford certain items in-game.

Going off of the favoritism thing (because I feel they're related)... As for the forum being part of the communication issue with the staff members @Lost, that topic actually came up last year about this time (see this thread) where most of the members saw us (me, whispered, fiyero) as trying to "attack" the staff (I also used the analogy of separation of church and state). So I don't believe many people are willing to admit that yes, the forum is a huge part of the reason why the communication is so bad. (I believe favoritism also has to do with the forum set up, but perhaps that's just me.)

So yes, both of these issues have been issues from the start and have yet to ever be admitted (let alone resolved). However, at this point, I don't see anything else happening (or at least not what we'd like to happen). I think we can continue to voice our concerns if we want, but I truly don't believe that we're being listened to at this point. Will we be listened to in the future? I don't know, but I suppose it's possible that after Amy takes a short break she will be able to deal with this. As for right now, sadly, I feel like we're wasting our breath (so to speak). While I do hope that something changes because I don't want this game to end the same way OVMK did (especially considering all the hard work that's been put into it), I guess I'm just not very optimistic at this point. I know my friend has already decided to take pictures of her avatar just in case. That's sad :/

I agree with all of this and about your middle paragraph; I wasn't playing at the time but it's something I felt strongly about pretty early on but forums were heavily censored and a thread like that would have been deleted so I never did. Great minds think alike though, both using that analogy for the same situation :P

 

[Oreo]

honestly, i don't know how/when this will ever be resolved. 19 pages of a thread and no other responses from staff members. i have always valued vmk so much. it has made me friends and memories i am so thankful for. this isn't a woe is me thing, but i know a lot of people, myself included, turn to vmk as a outlet. this is where i go when i want to escape the real world.

but now, who wants to be playing a game where favoritism is represented and you have no chance of getting your favorite items. that is unfair. no group of people (aka staff's bffs) should be deemed better as others.

this is never gonna be resolved. we could go back and forth as players all we want, but staff is obviously showing no interest in defending themselves or more importantly apologizing. i'm so curious to see what is going to happen.

EXACTLY and this isn't the first time something like this has happened in myvmk's history. that's why instead of arguing over the lack of professionalism and abuse going on in the administration (which we ALL are clearly aware of) let's stand by those who were harassed by people like lisa and others. and that includes staff members like jasmine who worked her butt off since the beginning and then was clearly mistreated near the end of her run. let's make a stand and demand an apology from those staff members (and of course, a resignation) and most importantly, an apology from amy.

 

[HaleighRose]

EXACTLY and this isn't the first time something like this has happened in myvmk's history. that's why instead of arguing over the lack of professionalism and abuse going on in the administration (which we ALL are clearly aware of) let's stand by those who were harassed by people like lisa and others. and that includes staff members like jasmine who worked her butt off since the beginning and then was clearly mistreated near the end of her run. let's make a stand and demand an apology from those staff members (and of course, a resignation) and most importantly, an apology from amy.

I Completely agree. We have to do something for the ones who got hurt the most. There isn't much we can do, that's the problem.

 

[Jasmine]

I agree with all of this and about your middle paragraph; I wasn't playing at the time but it's something I felt strongly about pretty early on but forums were heavily censored and a thread like that would have been deleted so I never did. Great minds think alike though, both using that analogy for the same situation :P

Oh I know - I just wanted you to know that others agreed with you (for a while). And yeah, you're right - all eyes were on us after that xD

EXACTLY and this isn't the first time something like this has happened in myvmk's history. that's why instead of arguing over the lack of professionalism and abuse going on in the administration (which we ALL are clearly aware of) let's stand by those who were harassed by people like lisa and others. and that includes staff members like jasmine who worked her butt off since the beginning and then was clearly mistreated near the end of her run. let's make a stand and demand an apology from those staff members (and of course, a resignation) and most importantly, an apology from amy.

How do you demand something if someone refuses to listen to you though?

 

[GooniestGooniest]

Things are getting too serious, time to activate cute puppy power!

[/URL]

 

[Oreo]

I Completely agree. We have to do something for the ones who got hurt the most. There isn't much we can do, that's the problem.

Oh I know - I just wanted you know that others agreed with you (for a while).

How do you demand something if someone refuses to listen to you though?

What I'm trying to say is that fighting for a change in the administration has become pointless. You'd know better than a lot of people here Jasmine. You're attentive and we've both seen this happen many times over the course of this game. So, instead of EVERYBODY fighting for a change, I'd rather redirect that to public apologies to members, an admittance in faults, etc. Does that make more sense? I know it's HIGHLY unlikely, but I'm crossing my fingers. People need to stand up for the people who have been emotionally tormented for the amusement of some staff members and the people who have had a fun environment ripped away from them from the same people.

 

[Jasmine]

What I'm trying to say is that fighting for a change in the administration has become pointless. You'd know better than a lot of people here Jasmine. You're attentive and we've both seen this happen many times over the course of this game. So, instead of EVERYBODY fighting for a change, I'd rather redirect that to public apologies to members, an admittance in faults, etc. Does that make more sense? I know it's HIGHLY unlikely, but I'm crossing my fingers. People need to stand up for the people who have been emotionally tormented for the amusement of some staff members and the people who have had a fun environment ripped away from them from the same people.

Oh, I agree with you. I'm just asking how one would go about it when we're not being listened to.

 

[Oreo]

Oh, I agree with you. I'm just asking how one would go about it when we're not being listened to.

That's the age old question. I'm just hoping enough people refocus their attention to this movement instead of just listing the staff member's faults over and over again (which is completely fair, don't get me wrong!) because eventually Amy or another staff member will have to respond, and I'd rather the only thing they can respond to is our want for apologies for wrongdoings (which are backed by concrete evidence).

 

[Lost]

What I'm trying to say is that fighting for a change in the administration has become pointless. You'd know better than a lot of people here Jasmine. You're attentive and we've both seen this happen many times over the course of this game. So, instead of EVERYBODY fighting for a change, I'd rather redirect that to public apologies to members, an admittance in faults, etc. Does that make more sense? I know it's HIGHLY unlikely, but I'm crossing my fingers. People need to stand up for the people who have been emotionally tormented for the amusement of some staff members and the people who have had a fun environment ripped away from them from the same people.

My posts have been aimed at both a change in administration/ staff and also for public apologies. They are under the same roof really. Staff owning up, apologising and making a change.

With the posts where I have shared past experiences and certain events that have happened where myself and other have been mistreated or seen injustices or been in one of those injustices was partly to get things in the open and to make people accountable but also to try show people it's okay to stand up and say that these things have happened to them too.

I hope those who have been victimised by staff, mistreated, bullied, had injustices against them, seen unfair behaviour etc will see they are not alone and people do care about them and what happens, and that they can share if they want too because forum staff have been wonderful throughout all this.[DOUBLEPOST=1430855715][/DOUBLEPOST]

That's the age old question. I'm just hoping enough people refocus their attention to this movement instead of just listing the staff member's faults over and over again (which is completely fair, don't get me wrong!) because eventually Amy or another staff member will have to respond, and I'd rather the only thing they can respond to is our want for apologies for wrongdoings (which are backed by concrete evidence).

My posts weren't just listing staff mistakes and faults to paint them as evil or to try dig a hole for them. It's a lot of things that need to be known and things that should be apologised for. Many more things have happened, the few experiences and things I know about are only the tip of the iceburg. Getting these things in the open, I hoped would lead to apologies and change.

Like I've said all along, I never wanted to be hateful or spiteful or try to just post things to make staff look bad. I wanted those who are unaware, and those who feel alone to be heard. Things that shouldn't have happened to be apologised for.

Mainly for a change to be made with all of our efforts.

 

[Quote]

So many issues.

Spoiler

 

[Oreo]

So many issues.

Spoiler

it's sad that you don't care about people being harassed by staff members. it's sad that you don't care about the people that have been victim to some staff members and their member bff friends ganging up on them and harassing them. it's sad that you don't care about the literal CHILDREN who have been traumatized by the lack of common decency from grown adults WHO RUN THIS GAME. it's sad that you don't care that a grown woman called a 16 year old girl (and other people) with my maturity in her fingernail than half of us combined degrading, hurtful words. but mainly it's sad that you don't care about people treating people like people and not disposable pieces of garbage.

you do what you have to. I think creating the game is enough for me to just be thankful it's here

none of us aren't thankful the game is back. we're concerned the way people are being treated. nothing is being taken for granted here, not the game nor amy's talents nor the staff members who have done their job well and contributed to this experience. it's the harassment by several staff members and ignorance/fear on amy's part that's what we're very very concerned about.

^ If you both truly don't care, then so be it. I'm glad you can play this game turning a blind eye to all the harassment and injustice going on here.

Like I've said all along, I never wanted to be hateful or spiteful or try to just post things to make staff look bad. I wanted those who are unaware, and those who feel alone to be heard. Things that shouldn't have happened to be apologised for.

You aren't being hateful or spiteful at all and all your posts revealing the injustices has been mature, respect, and very important so THANK YOU!

 

[Oreo]

*look* I'm trying to stay positive so we can *keep* this game! you think I haven't been harassed!? but I want this game to last and i'm scared! so please dont yell at me like I think this is ok! or like I agree! I just want to stay positive! dont single me out please!

I'm trying to stay positive too. But knowing that there's a chance people who have been harassed by the people who RUN this game might not get the justice they deserve? That makes me upset all over again. HOWEVER, I apologize sincerely if I came across as too aggressive to you...

I just think it's always important to consider whether or not "keeping this game" is really worth it if this issue is going to continue to be ignored.

 

[iTony]

I know I am not that much of an active player in the game, but I still catch up on the forums.
I am not exactly sure what exactly happened in the game with these certain staff members.
However, there has been cases like these that I have experienced. Staff abusing powers, showing favoritism. I've seen how it all rolled out.
What happened at the end is what happened here, the staff the fired/left and new ones were promoted.

I can understand why some people think this may be unfair as someone who got promoted is doing the same thing. All I can understand is that if they got promoted by Amy, they must be doing something right. Congratulations on the Promotions! I can only see a brighter future from now on.

When I said this, I had no idea what was going on.
I have been given some insights on what happened, and I am taking this back, all of it back.
-End of Comment-

 

[Rosey]

After reading through this thread completely (By the time i heard about it the forums were already down), here is my thoughts on the matter. This may or may not be a long post, but a lot of it is in line with what appears to be the vastly majority opinion in this thread:



The original post in this thread answered NOTHING. Except for letting us know that nothing we say will change anything. How many staff have left? I think the real question is how many are still remaining. I think it's easier to answer then listing all of the ones who had enough sense to get out, or who were backstabbed and pushed out.

You said you wanted to let everyone know both sides of the story. You failed. Unless you have the link to the tumblr posts (which i have heard have been getting deleted on the forums), you do not know the other sides story, and guess what? You banned them all. How convenient.

Spoiler

You're joking, right? People on both sides have abused their position. I don't know if you're throwing darts or picking names out of a hat (Just kidding, obviously it's a huge power trip for you guys to kick out anyone who does not agree with you), but this statement is absolutely ridiculous.



This is like an older child "investigating" who broke the living room lamp, when they both did it. The verdict? The younger child! But why do you ask this mom and dad? Do i have my side of the story to share with you and make logical sense? No. But i'm the older child and you should just trust what i say is right and move on.


No you won't. What price will you pay? You already told us nothing we say will get your staff position changed. The price that is being paid is this amazing community that a lot of is cared for is being torn apart because some staff members use this game as their personal power trip.



That's why like half the staff got perma-banned for no reason, right? Including staff who have not been active in months. Take Snow. Was arguably the most unbiased and helpful admin i have seen. But you don't want old staff members who left on good terms coming back and sharing some truths, do you?


It would show 2 sides of the story. Because right now, your side is not looking too great.


Please remove the "My" from MyVMK. It is clearly not a community. It is a medium in which a few individuals let the power go to their heads. We don't have a say in the matter? Thanks for letting us know that our opinions, that we are "entitled" to, are completely worthless and will be completely ignored and disregarded.


How do we salvage this community? I see a couple possibilities, none of which will ever happen:

• MyVMK source code is released to let others create their own servers and allow us to start anew without the toxicity that this game as become.

• The files from the original VMK (The ones OpenVMK had and shared with Amy when they brought her on, which she used for her own MyVMK) are released to the public. This would be not nearly as ideal as the first option, but it would be something.

• Huge staff overhauls. Some of us care about the future of this community and game.

Again, none of these things will happen. But those three options are, in my opinion, the best chance this game has at survival.



Almost every single one of us (Ironically, except perhaps Amy) has experienced losing this game when the original shut down. A game we invested a lot of our childhoods into. Are we overreacting? If it appears we are, it shows how much this community CARES about this game and does not want to lose it again. We see what kind of path this is going down and us being vocal about our opinions is our way to try to stop it.


Since my opinion is apparently irrelevant and will not change anything, here is my honest opinion:

The remaining staff are the ones who have caused the drama. Blaming Cricket for leaking information is like the US Government blaming Snowden. Cricket did not cause this, merely shed light on it and let us know about how ugly this game is behind the curtains. I think the majority of the remaining in-game staff (I say majority because honestly i have lost track of who is left, and do not want to group someone who is not involved with this) are immature and incompetent at being staff. They let their bias's and need for power interfere with their positions as staff.


Those who have known me for a while or have seen my posts on the forums know that i have never been shy to share my opinions, whether they be popular or unpopular. And honestly before this thread the reason i did not make a topic on the leaked information was because i genuinely did not want to get banned from the game, and i knew the topic would be deleted in minutes anyway. You have allowed free and open discussion in this thread, which i think is one great decision that has been made over the past couple of days. You guys may or may not be regretting it at this point, but the forums have always been a place where posts with any critical or even slightly negative connotations would get closed/deleted, and that is a big reason why this has remained hidden for so long. I mean this site looks like it was taken off a page out of 1984.




This last bit is directed mainly towards @Amy:

I don't want these opinions and posts everyone is sharing to be ignored, but i don't want them to let it affect your personal life either. I know that the backlash from the POTC situation caused the development to become even slower because the thought of it made you remember how upset people were. Everybody voicing their opinion here is because they don't want to see this game and this community fail. I think this thread is a great first start. It lets people both voice their opinions and lets people get some steam out. But to have the staff member who made the post say our opinions don't matter and won't change anything? If this is truly a community then maybe we should start looking at what the community thinks.

glad i read this, could have saved me a lot of typing to voice this type of opinion.

however i still feel like the staff (or very few of the bunch that's left) is all about favoritism. i come on here rarely, mostly on weekends i guess, but now im thinking "why should i come on anymore? come to a place where staff themselves are being a bit ridiculous?.." no im not forced to play but I MISS THE FEELING of loving to coming onto this game! everything is just not the same anymore; no i know its not "old magic" but i mean this is just not as joyful anymore (which is why i was/am slowly stopping to play).

i dont mean to sound dramatic (nor do i care if i do sound like it) but i dont think it's really worth playing anymore after all this. come on, 6(7?(according to someone else unless it was a typo)) staff in 3 days? -SMH-. even if we don't have to be right about anything nor you guys will change your mind but i think it's time for a goodbye from me unless something changes (which will never happen of course) imo. peace.