Virtual Family Kingdom?

[jjramsey]

Well I'm pretty certain it doesn't have anything to do with VMK although I will say this that I don't like the fact that they seem to be pretty much coping so much from VMK. I mean okay VMK had a great product but don't go and base your game around everything VMK offered make your own unique things.

Sure, there are similarities, but barrel chairs were around before VMK, so I don't believe barrel chairs are an exclusive Disney item ;-)

[chrisb26]

Sure, there are similarities, but barrel chairs were around before VMK, so I don't believe barrel chairs are an exclusive Disney item ;-)

That is true

I guess I just don't like how simular some things are to me I haven't seen anything that really makes VFK unique so far and the things that they have exclusive to them such as the look of the people I really don't like. The game hasn't really ever impressed me so far so not sure if I'll ever really go back to the game.

[chrisb26]

They have opened the quest the prizes are:

Surfboard Blue or Pink ( you choose when you finish the quest )
Red Beach Ball
1000 credits

This quest was very annoying you need to go to many different rooms and click things. For example one question asks you to click a rock in Stonehenge so you have to keep clicking rocks till you find the right one.

The biggest problem is since you have to walk all over the place people are blocking entrances and you can't get in rooms. The staffs answer to this click your home button. Well if it takes me 5 minutes to get where I was the last thing I want to do is start over again.

Also the quest requires you to play that game they have and click things and answer questions all trying not to run out of gas before you get far enough. Which isn't easy since half the gas cans do nothing.

[chrisb26]

They released a new quest today

Prizes

Blue Lava Lamp
500 Credits

I'm sorry but these quests are a joke. This game is supposed to be for kids yet the questions they ask are questions I doubt kids would know they are very difficult. At least when VMK had those difficult quests they were because they had to play a game the questions were all pretty easy. Here is a question from this new quest.

One Sunday, while listening to a sermon about Mother's day, a young girl realized that Fathers should have a day to celebrate how special they are too, what was her name?

Now how would kids know this?

[wizardmickey]

Dino -

Quote:
One Sunday, while listening to a sermon about Mother's day, a young girl realized that Fathers should have a day to celebrate how special they are too, what was her name?

Now how would kids know this?

Sorry, I don't even know this one!!!!!
Have you all checked out the Mercantile Shop? Look familiar??

[mickeytinkerbellprincess]

Umm, is that how Father's Day really started? I don't even know either! :P I really think they should start off with easy quests to gain popularity. I mean, a lot of people got mad at the VMK quests because they were ridiculously hard (at least from what I've heard, I've never tried them myself because I got discouraged), wouldn't VFK learn from their mistakes?

[chrisb26]

There is another new quest if your interested.

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!

They have put some new rooms on sale three of the same look rooms with different color walls then a new room also.

They have also put the i button in function so you can look at room descriptions.

They have also made a room list so you can choose your rooms as well as friends and then popular rooms.

As far as your room you can limit it to friends and also add a password to enter. You can also choose how many you want in a room from 10 - 25.

[jjramsey]

VFK has now released the info to the beta members as to the future financials for playing. They have kept their promise about free accounts. Virtually (no pun intended), similar virtual world features we were used to in VMK will be available free. For a VIP Family Pass that appears to allow up to 20 family members/accounts, $79.95/year. The VIP accounts have some additional perks. The link below gives the comparisons between free and paid. There are a few things I am interseted in getting clarified, but it looks good at this point.

One of the interesting features is the ability for people to join a group (think Intercot) and after there are 50+ members you get a group pin. Also, with certain qualifications, groups can have 10% of their VFK fees donated to a charity or non-profit organization.
...Hmmmm...Patti, JP? Isn't Intercot, uh, non-profit? I see Intercot server support here

For additional information, you need to logon in the info area using your beta account. It also has a founding member (beta) offer.

Comparison of VFK Basic (Free Membership) and VFK Family V.I.P. Pass Membership

http://www.virtualfamilykingdom.com/...Comparison.png

[Blue Genie]

Well as of yesterday I have quite VFK. I will not return to that place. I was in there last night to do there quest and some of the questions they gave out there was no way I could do it. They have that thing on to hard to do. This is sopost to be a kids game for ages 5 and up. If I can't figure these questions out and I'm a 37 year old how can a 5 year old do them. Also I'm still a guest on there. I should of had my name along time ago. So as of last night I quite.

[TinkRocks]

At this point, don't think I'll be paying $80/yr for VFK...

Looks like there was a quest this past weekend for magic, but missed that.

Bring back VMK!

[jjramsey]

Well as of yesterday I have quite VFK. I will not return to that place. I was in there last night to do there quest and some of the questions they gave out there was no way I could do it. They have that thing on to hard to do. This is sopost to be a kids game for ages 5 and up. If I can't figure these questions out and I'm a 37 year old how can a 5 year old do them. Also I'm still a guest on there. I should of had my name along time ago. So as of last night I quite.

I'm sorry you quit. Every question they have asked is easy to look up on Google. If a child does not have 'access' to Google, it is easy to do trial and error finding the right answer. You do not have to back up as far as VMK was to get another shot at the question, so it is quite fast to stumble onto the answer. One thing I have appreciated, is the ability to do VFK's quests without needing a set of 'spoilers.' VMK had some quests that were definitely not kid easy. You had to get a copy of a particular movie (that you might not own) and watch it to find out things like the color of the cash register in such and such store. Or maybe you did not have a multiple choice, but had to 'say' what a certain character said to a certain other character at a certain time in a certain movie...now that was enough to drive most people to spoilers!

What we need to remember is that VFK is supposed to be a fun way to learn about the history and the world around us. ...and no VFK will never replace VMK's Disney theme , but it is a great way to still meet up with friends.

At this point, don't think I'll be paying $80/yr for VFK...

Looks like there was a quest this past weekend for magic, but missed that.

Bring back VMK!

We all miss VMK.

As for the $80/year, you do not need to pay that. You can still play free with the following capability (some items listed below may not be available until the 'gold' release):

Design character
Decorate rooms
Buy furniture, clothing & rooms
Chat
Trade
Play single and multiplayer games (and earn credits)
Create and ride rides
Go on quests and adventures
Buy and ride horses
Participate in single player competitions
Friends list (up to 200)
...and more.

Most everything listed above we could do similar things in VMK, so I think that will be a large group that will not be paying.

If the $80 covers an entire family, I do not have a problem paying that for a year. If it is for each individual player (like some of the Disney websites), then I think there will be very few that will become paying members.

[mickeynuts]

Those of you considering doing this should note that the page where you enter your personal info and credit card number is not a secure page.

[chrisb26]

Those of you considering doing this should note that the page where you enter your personal info and credit card number is not a secure page.

Thank you for posting this Cita I was going to say the same thing. Be very careful when doing this. The company VFK is going through isn't doesn't have the secure page meaning you info isn't protected. So I would be cautious when giving them your info.

However I'm not so sure this game is worth $10 a month. I understand it has the families thing but for me who would be the only person using it that doesn't seem worth it for me. They aren't offering enough to make it worth $10 per month. So I would be keeping it free. Also after looking at the free vs. pay version there really isn't all that much incentive to paying.

Most of what you get to do with pay is using the game after hours and since that would be Midnight - 9 am for me I wouldn't probably be playing then anyways you can also trade credits for the pay version but overall it just doesn't seem worth it for me and since it doesn't appear to secure I wouldn't even think of trying it.

[wizardmickey]

I think that the general conscensus by now is...

DITTO

[Chescat]

Ditto here as well!

Once these crazy months of summer are over and I get back to playing something, if I knew some of the people were on VFK, I would probably just pop in long enough on the free version to see them. I haven't invested much time on SmallWorlds yet either since I simply haven't had the time. It seems that most of the VMK people have floated that direction.

My main game is still pirates since I pay for that, but haven't been on that much either lately.

[jjramsey]

When I called VFK Yesterday about something, they were not only very helpful about answering my question, but I found out quite a bit about them. Just a few of the items I learned were:

They are a multinational computer services and programming company with offices in New York, Texas, Florida and Australia (headquarters).

They do programming for universities, insurance companies and airlines.

If you have made an online airline reservation, you probably used a system they set up.

Their programmers are some of the best available and some of them have been keynote speakers at international conferences.

They are working with several school districts to develop teacher curriculum to be able to use with students. The schools would purchase group access, give a slot to students and they could 'play' occasional assignments (quests) to learn of history.

A family membership with 20 slots ($80/year) can have members that include family (immediate family, aunts & uncles, cousins, grandparents), friends, neighbors, etc. There is one person that is the group administrator, so unless the member to be added can go to the administrator and key in their user name and password, then that info has to be given to the administrator...so it should be somebody you trust.

Will mention more later when I have time...

[chrisb26]

Today they released the next version of the game which they are calling Gamma and from what I have heard they will have something after Gamma before finally releasing the entire game. Now why wouldn't they just stay in Beta? If they are not ready to release the entire thing then just leave it in beta.

Aside from that they have also released the map today finally but I really don't like it at all. It looks very similar the VMK map with one huge difference instead of clicking on the spots you want to go you have to have your little avatar walk there on top of the map which takes a while especially if you want a different land. It seems kind of pointless to me. It is faster then walking all over but would be much better if they didn't make you walk on the map.

[JPL]

They are a multinational computer services and programming company with offices in New York, Texas, Florida and Australia (headquarters).

Now see if this is true not having a secure page to submit your Personal Information doesn't make sense.

Just another FYI McAfee Site Advisor had the site listed as red for being supported with SPAM advertising.

Sorry but this doesn't sound like a Multinational computer firm to me.

[jjramsey]

Now see if this is true not having a secure page to submit your Personal Information doesn't make sense.

Just another FYI McAfee Site Advisor had the site listed as red for being supported with SPAM advertising.

Sorry but this doesn't sound like a Multinational computer firm to me.

You have some good points. It is interesting, if research is done as to how McAfee gets their ratings. On the McAfee Site Advisor page for VFK, their ratings are a derived from individuals leaving ratings. Out of the five ratings left, it is only a disgruntled person saying (gasp) they will charge if you want more than the free service (see below) :

-------------
Rating: Phishing or other scams

Oh My God! They Are Preying On Children! They Are Asking For Money For Special Features! I Knew This Was A Bad Site All Along!
--------------

Now if I had a dime for every time somebody has made those kind of comments, I could retire!

If the only bad comment on McAfee is correct, then Disney would have been on the McAfee list for a long time!

[mickeynuts]

The family plan that they suggest players use together requires the main account to have all the usernames and passwords of anybody they add to their family. At the very least I see scammers having a field day with this, at the worst, child predators. How can they say this is safe for kids if they are encouraging them to share that information with other players? I don't know any families who will have 20 actual real life relatives or friends on their accounts. These 'families' will be set up on message boards.