Space Month
- Thread starter Tinker Blue
- Start date
Sure thing, @xCharlottex!
The Tardis was the winning prize, and the flubber was the consolation prize!
The Tardis was the winning prize, and the flubber was the consolation prize!
I got to say.... i didnt know what the host or consolation prizes going into yesterdays event and it made receiving them more fun and exciting!!! I cannot express how excited and pleasantly surprised i was to get a tardis!!! So i would like to request that maybe spoiler tags could be used for the newsletter for people who dont want everything spoiled or maybe you delay releasing the event prize info or something like that.
Im starting to get concerned this months newletter might be worse handled then last months....we are halfway through the month and no word or update on the new pirates chest prizes. And the newsletter has not been updated since may 4th. An update on the pirate chest prizes would be greatly appreciated.
Also, I love the idea of doing a genre as a theme and hope to see more genres used as themes! I think a fantasy or adventure month would be cool. And a mystery month would be a great time to incorporate gravity falls and rescue rangers stuff.
Also, I love the idea of doing a genre as a theme and hope to see more genres used as themes! I think a fantasy or adventure month would be cool. And a mystery month would be a great time to incorporate gravity falls and rescue rangers stuff.
Yes, we realized this month was following last month's pattern... We didn't intend for this to happen at all. We had a lot of great things in store for the month and once again real life caught us off guard. We understand how this might frustrate you all, it frustrates us too when we can't give to the community as planned. All the staff members are volunteers so we are all working around the real world to try to keep up with the game. We are so sorry for letting you down again and hope you understand we hate seeing the community disappointed with us. We had chest prizes planned out, but are still working to get them released if we can.
We hope you understand and will bare with us while we get things sorted out.
Thank you!
-Kida
We hope you understand and will bare with us while we get things sorted out.
Thank you!
-Kida
If real life is getting in the way so much for staff why not recruit more staff. To be fair, if this was a real workplace environment, and people didnt attend work because "real life got in the way" as much as it happens here, they would be fired straight away. Maybe there needs to be a tougher staffing process because it seems that all the new staff that are recruited seem to be following the same patterns. Why not have 2-3 more staff as backup or just to give a helping hand with things because clearly something isnt working right now.
As of right now... the admins are the only one with knowledge on how to upload to the game. Not all staff are administrators.
There are the Hosts, Mods, and then the Admins. The adminstrators are the only ones right now that can load items into the game and they have a busy real world situation right now. This being said... any items that are made have to be tested, fixed, and then tested again and even then items still get unknown glitches which leads to issues uploading items as well.
We are coming up with a plan to distribute the power to different staff members to allow for less overall dependency on the administrators and a more even flow of things.
Even though you think we are a working business... we are not. We cannot stress enough that we are volunteers. We all have jobs, school, etc. just like the rest of you. This isn't "work" to us. We do not get hourly wages like the OG staff of VMK. This is us voluntarilly giving our spare time to the game we all love.
The staff team works hard to get things to where they need to be, but things happen. We aren't trying to make an excuse over and over just to disappoint you all.
We all want what's best for the game and we still strive to do what we can to accomplish all the goals that have been set for a certain month.
We are sorry for the lack of items and communication regarding poor updates to things.
We are trying to get better. Don't give up hope on us yet!
-Kida
There are the Hosts, Mods, and then the Admins. The adminstrators are the only ones right now that can load items into the game and they have a busy real world situation right now. This being said... any items that are made have to be tested, fixed, and then tested again and even then items still get unknown glitches which leads to issues uploading items as well.
We are coming up with a plan to distribute the power to different staff members to allow for less overall dependency on the administrators and a more even flow of things.
Even though you think we are a working business... we are not. We cannot stress enough that we are volunteers. We all have jobs, school, etc. just like the rest of you. This isn't "work" to us. We do not get hourly wages like the OG staff of VMK. This is us voluntarilly giving our spare time to the game we all love.
The staff team works hard to get things to where they need to be, but things happen. We aren't trying to make an excuse over and over just to disappoint you all.
We all want what's best for the game and we still strive to do what we can to accomplish all the goals that have been set for a certain month.
We are sorry for the lack of items and communication regarding poor updates to things.
We are trying to get better. Don't give up hope on us yet!
-Kida
There are plenty of voluntary working buisnesses in real life. Many charity shops, churches etc. These wouldnt function if their staff reflected the current situation of the staff here. There deffinately needs to be a tougher process to make sure staff hired are right for the job. And a massive help would be to train lower members of the staff hierarchy to be able to add items to the game so that when cases like this happen, admins can give them the job to do it. This seems to be the main problem.
@ everyone
The thing is, it's not like the staff members don't realize there's a problem. The majority of staff members are actively brainstorming, planning, building rooms, hosting games and events, creating quests and new items, etc, for every new month. I understand they are a "team," but using the umbrella term of "staff" when criticizing them is extremely unfair to the ones who ARE trying to keep this game going, who interact with us in-game, are around to help and do VERY EVIDENTLY put forth a very respectable amount of time to make sure SOMETHING is going on throughout the month. I see people constantly complaining to/about them, but it is NOT the fault of the staff members we encounter in-game that new things aren't coming out, and they ARE making the best of the resources they have to make the best out of a rotten situation.
It's not like at the beginning of this month the staff had nothing else to release and they're just slacking. The lack of communication to us regarding when things will be out is because they genuinely DO NOT KNOW when the higher-ups will be around to put the new items in-game. How do you think these staff members feel, who have to put on a good face and try to calm the masses when they, too, are frustrated? They've put in time and effort to plan this month, they've developed all the events, quests, games, and new items in advance, and are just like us - they're waiting, hoping these new things happen soon, and it's easy to see that THEY feel just as disappointed as we do, if not MORE because their hard work is going down the drain. Their efforts are being dampened by things that are out of their control, and that's entirely unjust.
It really does come down to this: the staff we encounter in-game and on the forums, who take the bulk of the flack and anger for these issues, are not to blame. They are volunteers giving their free time - and I think it's incredibly insulting to say that they're not putting forth enough time for this game. It is only a few who are not able to currently keep up with the demands of this game, and that problem does need to be addressed and resolved sooner rather than later. This is nothing that the staff doesn't already know, and it's foolish to think they are not trying to find a way to make this better. I'm sure they're sick of being scrutinized and slandered for things that are out of their control (as the select few that this kind of criticism would be more appropriately directed toward are not the ones actively around dealing with these complaints).
As Kida said, they're working on making things better. The hired staff, in my opinion, is extremely personable and active in trying to keep the game from going under. People like Nala, Rapunzel, Pegasus, Morph, HoneyLemon, Rafiki, Duchess, and Stitch are seen on the regular in the game, and Bolt and Hercules' new items give me hope for MyVMK's future. Looking at this list of names, I'd argue that most of the staff hired are right for the job, and I would even bet the staff who typically do more behind-the-scenes work (shout out to Kida) would fit this category as well. They set the bar high, and they deserve the credit for all the things they do instead of being grouped in with the ones not meeting our expectations.
We're lucky to have these patient, helpful people as our mods and hosts, and they deserve to be shown a lot more understanding than they're getting. People who don't see that aren't seeing the real situation here, and the critics who blame the staff as a whole are going to chase away the solid staff members we already have. Please be careful not to take for granted the ones who are doing good things. We need them to stay.
The thing is, it's not like the staff members don't realize there's a problem. The majority of staff members are actively brainstorming, planning, building rooms, hosting games and events, creating quests and new items, etc, for every new month. I understand they are a "team," but using the umbrella term of "staff" when criticizing them is extremely unfair to the ones who ARE trying to keep this game going, who interact with us in-game, are around to help and do VERY EVIDENTLY put forth a very respectable amount of time to make sure SOMETHING is going on throughout the month. I see people constantly complaining to/about them, but it is NOT the fault of the staff members we encounter in-game that new things aren't coming out, and they ARE making the best of the resources they have to make the best out of a rotten situation.
It's not like at the beginning of this month the staff had nothing else to release and they're just slacking. The lack of communication to us regarding when things will be out is because they genuinely DO NOT KNOW when the higher-ups will be around to put the new items in-game. How do you think these staff members feel, who have to put on a good face and try to calm the masses when they, too, are frustrated? They've put in time and effort to plan this month, they've developed all the events, quests, games, and new items in advance, and are just like us - they're waiting, hoping these new things happen soon, and it's easy to see that THEY feel just as disappointed as we do, if not MORE because their hard work is going down the drain. Their efforts are being dampened by things that are out of their control, and that's entirely unjust.
It really does come down to this: the staff we encounter in-game and on the forums, who take the bulk of the flack and anger for these issues, are not to blame. They are volunteers giving their free time - and I think it's incredibly insulting to say that they're not putting forth enough time for this game. It is only a few who are not able to currently keep up with the demands of this game, and that problem does need to be addressed and resolved sooner rather than later. This is nothing that the staff doesn't already know, and it's foolish to think they are not trying to find a way to make this better. I'm sure they're sick of being scrutinized and slandered for things that are out of their control (as the select few that this kind of criticism would be more appropriately directed toward are not the ones actively around dealing with these complaints).
As Kida said, they're working on making things better. The hired staff, in my opinion, is extremely personable and active in trying to keep the game from going under. People like Nala, Rapunzel, Pegasus, Morph, HoneyLemon, Rafiki, Duchess, and Stitch are seen on the regular in the game, and Bolt and Hercules' new items give me hope for MyVMK's future. Looking at this list of names, I'd argue that most of the staff hired are right for the job, and I would even bet the staff who typically do more behind-the-scenes work (shout out to Kida) would fit this category as well. They set the bar high, and they deserve the credit for all the things they do instead of being grouped in with the ones not meeting our expectations.
We're lucky to have these patient, helpful people as our mods and hosts, and they deserve to be shown a lot more understanding than they're getting. People who don't see that aren't seeing the real situation here, and the critics who blame the staff as a whole are going to chase away the solid staff members we already have. Please be careful not to take for granted the ones who are doing good things. We need them to stay.
I truly think Most of us understand the lack of items due to real life going ons, i think all the community mainly wants is better communication..... we shouldn't have to ask or wait until the end of the month after 3 weeks of lack of newsletter updates to find out whats going on.
I love how you guys communicated the host prize for this week...if you cant update the newsletter at least tell us via tweets.
I love how you guys communicated the host prize for this week...if you cant update the newsletter at least tell us via tweets.
Id love to see maybe pictures of the items scheduled to be released, if the items are made but staff dont have the ability to input them into game right now, it would be nice to have a post with some pictures of the upcoming items to say hey, we do have some items ready for you guys but we arent able to put them into game right now, here are what they look like. At least then players will see that the items are there and ready to go into game, maybe that would give us a bit more faith & excitement.
(Pls don't ban me)
Please understand, From what I see only Amy and Schweetz can upload stuff into the game (Simba, if he has the power too) but that's too few. And when all admins are busy then we have Pixar Month Part 1 and right now Sci-fi month. As well as with only two GAs they are taking the brunt of the force and making items, but then all that hard work goes to waste when they can't even see their items in game. It's like "Thanks GA's but we are too busy so your items will never see the light of day. There is plenty of hosts, and there is probably enough mods as well. But those two Positions need more people to have more hands at the ready. As well as maybe make a new position called "Media" staff. These will be the ones who update the newsletter and the twitter and keep players informed of what's happening or what's being planned or done. Halfway through the month it seems that chest items aren't going to get added. Host prizes are still being updated so that's good, new items to buy at the store aren't there. Like those lightsaber pins, Every week a completed set could've been sold Like Luke and Obi-wan first week, then Darth Vader maybe the next week, then the darth maul one, and then the battling sabers. This way not all of the things are released the first week and then treated like "Ok, no more items for the store".
This was the April post but none of this seems to be remotely ready, PR team has not updated us at all on what's happening or what the players should expect. And the planning months ahead to avoid this happening again happened again..... So whatever team is the "PRs" is not doing such a good job right now, not to be rood but the evidence is there. Maybe hire more or replace current ones who aren't doing anything. There is plenty of people who want to help make this game as great as it used to be, I heard the rumors and legends of the past where players didn't hate staff and everything went swimmingly but as the years went by that magic started to disappear and if nothing is done then the magic will be lost forever and every player will move on and try to find something else to play like ToonTown Revisited or something. So even if you aren't looking for Hosts still keep an eye out for coders or GAs or PRs so you can create a solid team of people who can take the wheel when one or two of those members are gone like Koda and Lady stepping down or Amy and Schweetz irl stuff. Needs to be some order and organization for future months like the stuff is ready AND uploaded already maybe, then when said month comes you have the assets already there and launching a new month goes off without a hitch. Even re-releases would be cool like Starwars there is pet bases and some furniture already in game or Tron stuff like the room or the clothing or the furniture. As long as things match the month it's all fine and dandy unless of course GAs of the past don't want items to get out of the vault. But other than that yeah. Please read and consider all the players opinions and points of view and don't ban anyone of us for speaking our minds.
Please understand, From what I see only Amy and Schweetz can upload stuff into the game (Simba, if he has the power too) but that's too few. And when all admins are busy then we have Pixar Month Part 1 and right now Sci-fi month. As well as with only two GAs they are taking the brunt of the force and making items, but then all that hard work goes to waste when they can't even see their items in game. It's like "Thanks GA's but we are too busy so your items will never see the light of day. There is plenty of hosts, and there is probably enough mods as well. But those two Positions need more people to have more hands at the ready. As well as maybe make a new position called "Media" staff. These will be the ones who update the newsletter and the twitter and keep players informed of what's happening or what's being planned or done. Halfway through the month it seems that chest items aren't going to get added. Host prizes are still being updated so that's good, new items to buy at the store aren't there. Like those lightsaber pins, Every week a completed set could've been sold Like Luke and Obi-wan first week, then Darth Vader maybe the next week, then the darth maul one, and then the battling sabers. This way not all of the things are released the first week and then treated like "Ok, no more items for the store".
This was the April post but none of this seems to be remotely ready, PR team has not updated us at all on what's happening or what the players should expect. And the planning months ahead to avoid this happening again happened again..... So whatever team is the "PRs" is not doing such a good job right now, not to be rood but the evidence is there. Maybe hire more or replace current ones who aren't doing anything. There is plenty of people who want to help make this game as great as it used to be, I heard the rumors and legends of the past where players didn't hate staff and everything went swimmingly but as the years went by that magic started to disappear and if nothing is done then the magic will be lost forever and every player will move on and try to find something else to play like ToonTown Revisited or something. So even if you aren't looking for Hosts still keep an eye out for coders or GAs or PRs so you can create a solid team of people who can take the wheel when one or two of those members are gone like Koda and Lady stepping down or Amy and Schweetz irl stuff. Needs to be some order and organization for future months like the stuff is ready AND uploaded already maybe, then when said month comes you have the assets already there and launching a new month goes off without a hitch. Even re-releases would be cool like Starwars there is pet bases and some furniture already in game or Tron stuff like the room or the clothing or the furniture. As long as things match the month it's all fine and dandy unless of course GAs of the past don't want items to get out of the vault. But other than that yeah. Please read and consider all the players opinions and points of view and don't ban anyone of us for speaking our minds.
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