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[DreamTulip]

Here is some interesting reading about VFK and its makers: 

"August 25, 2008
Virtual Family Kingdom Developer Launches as dimension5 Labs
dimension5 Labs announced its launch at the end of last week as a new virtual worlds developer with its own platform. D5's work is best known in Virtual Family Kingdom, which launched in beta mode earlier this year as a homemade replacement for Disney's closing Virtual Magic Kingdom. dimension5 says that it closed off the beta at 100,000 users, but plans to go public in the coming weeks as proof of "not only [having] the technical skill to produce a solid virtual world, but the marketing acumen to make it a public success."  While Virtual Family Kingdom may show off the company's technical prowess, the timing of the beta and the public reaction to Virtual Magic Kingdom's shutdown certainly helped with the marketing.

dimension5 plans to offer advertising in its existing worlds (only VFK is announced) as well as custom Web-based environments on its proprietary platform.

The D5 platform is casting a wide net. It's coded in ActionScript3 and is XMPP-compliant, which dimension5 touts as an advantage for companies looking to add a browser-based, 3D virtual world to current communications efforts, but the system also comes with a backend aimed at COPPA-compliant moderation for kids under 13. 

D5 has a larger background in Web design and direct mail advertising software as well, so it'll be interesting to see what direction its new platform takes the company in.

"We wanted to make sure that  we could safely approach any company looking to build a virtual environment and tell them on no  uncertain terms that we could build what they needed," VP of Marketing Justin Handley said  in a statement. "The only way we could see to do that was to  create one of our own that demonstrated a rich feature set, highly detailed graphic design, and scalable stability into the hundreds of thousands.""
found at:
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/08/virtual-family.html#more

Also:
http://d5labs.com/

http://d5labs.com/virtual-worlds/


I admit it, I don't know what a lot of this stuff means but there must be a smart one among us...

~Dream

[Adventuredaz]

Yes, this is very interesting.  So much so I am going to sticky it for now.  Be sure to click the link to see the "parent company" site if you are interested

Some interesting points are clearly they do intend to advertise in the game (against previous statements) They really have not finished many of the things they have promissed.  This explains the lack of direction, they seem to be showcasing certain things and if they run into trouble they move on and go back to it.  Comments about Copa compliancy and ... interesting after all the debate.  They appear to want to be like saluke and run peoples virtual worlds or "promotions"  and as supected marketing is their strong point.   I could go on but at this point I will leave it here while I go looking for my horse and free bonus items...

[Happy]

Here is some interesting reading about VFK and its makers: 

"August 25, 2008
Virtual Family Kingdom Developer Launches as dimension5 Labs
dimension5 Labs announced its launch at the end of last week as a new virtual worlds developer with its own platform. D5's work is best known in Virtual Family Kingdom, which launched in beta mode earlier this year as a homemade replacement for Disney's closing Virtual Magic Kingdom. dimension5 says that it closed off the beta at 100,000 users, but plans to go public in the coming weeks as proof of "not only [having] the technical skill to produce a solid virtual world, but the marketing acumen to make it a public success."  While Virtual Family Kingdom may show off the company's technical prowess, the timing of the beta and the public reaction to Virtual Magic Kingdom's shutdown certainly helped with the marketing.

dimension5 plans to offer advertising in its existing worlds (only VFK is announced) as well as custom Web-based environments on its proprietary platform.

The D5 platform is casting a wide net. It's coded in ActionScript3 and is XMPP-compliant, which dimension5 touts as an advantage for companies looking to add a browser-based, 3D virtual world to current communications efforts, but the system also comes with a backend aimed at COPPA-compliant moderation for kids under 13. 

D5 has a larger background in Web design and direct mail advertising software as well, so it'll be interesting to see what direction its new platform takes the company in.

"We wanted to make sure that  we could safely approach any company looking to build a virtual environment and tell them on no  uncertain terms that we could build what they needed," VP of Marketing Justin Handley said  in a statement. "The only way we could see to do that was to  create one of our own that demonstrated a rich feature set, highly detailed graphic design, and scalable stability into the hundreds of thousands.""
found at:
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/08/virtual-family.html#more

Also:
http://d5labs.com/

http://d5labs.com/virtual-worlds/


I admit it, I don't know what a lot of this stuff means but there must be a smart one among us...

~Dream

Interesting find Dream. 

Decoy can you please translate:  The D5 platform is casting a wide net.  It's coded in ActionScript3 and is XMPP-compliant...

It should be interesting. 

[DreamTulip]

Yes, this is very interesting.  So much so I am going to sticky it for now.  Be sure to click the link to see the "parent company" site if you are interested

Some interesting points are clearly they do intend to advertise in the game (against previous statements) They really have not finished many of the things they have promissed.  This explains the lack of direction, they seem to be showcasing certain things and if they run into trouble they move on and go back to it.  Comments about Copa compliancy and ... interesting after all the debate.  They appear to want to be like saluke and run peoples virtual worlds or "promotions"  and as supected marketing is their strong point.   I could go on but at this point I will leave it here while I go looking for my horse and free bonus items...

OMG I got a sticky!    hehe     Pass me something to drink I feel faint...
I noticed that part about in game advertising too Add.  I always thought it would make financial sense but it does go against what has been said to this point. 
I also found this interesting:  " dimension5 has quickly become a market leader in the field of Virtual Worlds, having created what became one of the top 10 worlds online before it was even taken live.  In  a limited beta, VirtualFamilyKingdom.com was flooded by membership requests and had to close off at a private beta of 50,000 users.  With tens of thousands waiting in the wings while we finished development and a limited offer to our private beta we hit profitability with the world before it ever launched." 
From the little I understand it seems as though they are making/using VFK to advertise their services and prove their worth and ability to other companies.  Aww I almost feel used.    I hope they don't drop VFK if they get other jobs.  That would be even worse then being a Disney "promotion".
Oh and I read about the virtualnewsworlds article on another site so I can't take credit for "finding" all this.
~Dream

[Happy]

Hands drink to Dream Tulip  : .

[Purpleduck]

LOL Dream!  You are too cute, about the sticky!  But I am glad it made you happy! Way to go


As for my .02, I find it SO out of line to suggest that they are a viable virtual game company!  We still can't do MANY normal things.  Can only sit on certain furniture, even then it's buggy.  Can't dance, run, jump.. or anything else but walk.  They definitely don't deliver as promised, either time-wise or item-wise.  Their games are buggy.  There is so very much more that is still wrong or missing, they should not even yet be out of Beta.  Sure they came a long way in a relatively short time.. but that doesn't mean they are ready.

Yet they believe they "have arrived".  Sorry, I don't agree.

Sure I will go on to do quests, and if I can, closings.  But even the closings are only because that is the only time to find anyone on.

I think they are hanging by a thread, and are hoping this announcement will bring in more investors.

[PrincessWendyBird]

Yes, this is very interesting.  So much so I am going to sticky it for now.  Be sure to click the link to see the "parent company" site if you are interested

Some interesting points are clearly they do intend to advertise in the game (against previous statements) They really have not finished many of the things they have promissed.  This explains the lack of direction, they seem to be showcasing certain things and if they run into trouble they move on and go back to it.  Comments about Copa compliancy and ... interesting after all the debate.  They appear to want to be like saluke and run peoples virtual worlds or "promotions"  and as supected marketing is their strong point.   I could go on but at this point I will leave it here while I go looking for my horse and free bonus items...

OMG I got a sticky!    hehe     Pass me something to drink I feel faint...
I noticed that part about in game advertising too Add.  I always thought it would make financial sense but it does go against what has been said to this point. 
I also found this interesting:  " dimension5 has quickly become a market leader in the field of Virtual Worlds, having created what became one of the top 10 worlds online before it was even taken live.  In  a limited beta, VirtualFamilyKingdom.com was flooded by membership requests and had to close off at a private beta of 50,000 users.  With tens of thousands waiting in the wings while we finished development and a limited offer to our private beta we hit profitability with the world before it ever launched." 
From the little I understand it seems as though they are making/using VFK to advertise their services and prove their worth and ability to other companies.  Aww I almost feel used.    I hope they don't drop VFK if they get other jobs.  That would be even worse then being a Disney "promotion".
Oh and I read about the virtualnewsworlds article on another site so I can't take credit for "finding" all this.
~Dream

Hugs Dream, we also saw this link and I'm glad you posted the information. I was actually glad to see some sort of plan to finance things. I think this is the "long term" plan they were talking about to finance VFK. I'm not sure about the advertising since they had previously stated they would not, but I always thought that would be a great way to help finance things. I am hoping, though, that launching new "worlds" for companies, etc. will provide ongoing financing for VFK. Only time will tell, I guess.

I would still like to see some basic things fixed in game, like all of us seeing the same thing on our screens and being able to sit on every chair we have. But, I know we are still in Beta (or gamma) and I have been seeing progress recently. Stacking in the game was a key component in my opinion. So much of the tech. stuff I don't understand and I won't even try to pretend.   I am hoping this is a good sign and means onging funding for the game and that maybe this will spur them to get some things perfected. I sure wouldn't want to show a client this as a fully working example at this point. Hopefully this will play into our hand as players and not work against us with resources going to other applications.

Thanks again for the information Dream! -passes Dream a drink in honor of her sticky.-  

[Patchy]

"D5's work is best known in Virtual Family Kingdom, which launched in beta mode earlier this year as a homemade replacement for Disney's closing Virtual Magic Kingdom."

Why does this word keep popping up? how about using "alternative choice"? Nothing will ever replace vmk  

[Astro]

Very interesting indeed.   

Great Find Dream!   

[1]

I am having a difficult time understanding why the people involved with VFK are opening new companies and shuffling the game around. I wonder who VFK really belongs to.

I don't believe VFK has 100,000 members currently or even 50,000 members during beta. Now that the guest numbers are randomized, we will never know where they are at in terms of members. I find this interesting that they want to keep that fact hidden. I would not be surprised if all this promotion for VFK's success is because they are looking to find a buyer and make money like Club Penguin did when they sold themselves to Disney.