Online Worlds > VFK - Virtual Family Kingdom

RIP VFK Gadget

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Adventuredaz:
I suspected this was possibly coming. I detected a bit of sarcasm in the Gadget fader.  Gadget stopped working today for me, so I sought out a reason and found a post elsewhere from BlueHairedMonkey. I felt it pertinant to repost this as he wrote it.


--- Quote from: BlueHairedMonkey --- Users and Friends of VFK Gadget,

Today I regretfully had to make the decision to shut off the VFKGadget.com web server for reasons I will explain in a bit. Unfortunately, VFK Gadget will not run anymore on my computer or on yours. All of your pictures are still on your computer and I'll let you know how to access those in just a bit.

I decided to cut off this project for the following reasons:

1) I can no longer afford the bandwidth it takes to run the server. It costs over $250 per month on average to operate it. I can barely afford to rent the home I live in, let alone watch that amount of money go out of my pocket every month.

2) VFK has been completely unresponsive over the last few months. Only one of my family members (one of my daughters) still plays VFK. She asked me if she could be the main account holder so she could use my character's horse (which I've never logged in to see.) I told her that it would be no problem and that I'd call VFK and get things switched for her. Well over the course of 2 months, I have emailed them about 10 times, I've used their contact form 3 times and have called them well over 30 times -- and I've never had anyone answer my emails or pick up the phone.

3) VFK lied to me and my family. There are lots of rumors going around as to why I left and this is one of the biggest reasons. So here is the real story:

The day before VFK decided to release their first founders package, I got an email from Fred (the head honcho at VFK) and he asked if he could call me. I responded absolutely, and he called me within a few minutes. We talked on the phone for about an hour. He discussed with me all of the plans that VFK had and told me many fantastic things. But the real reason he called was because he wanted to thank me for creating VFK Gadget. He also related how important it was that I continue working on it. And then he said "VFK would like to give you 5% of the membership income for every paying member that uses Gadget." I obviously was pleased. The money that would come in would help me offset the costs of the web server and if enough members joined, it may have been able to get me a few tanks of gas a month. We discussed this at length and at the end of the conversation Fred thanked me, I thanked him and everthing seemed great.

So, founders day comes. I'm logging into VFK and I'm everywhere. I'm answering questions about the founders package. I'm defending VFK from the naysayers. I'm even on these forums spouting off the virtues of why it is an excellent deal and that we are helping to keep this company alive. And when I say that I'm helping them, I mean by being on VFK for hundreds and hundreds of hours defending my decision to pay (yep, I didn't get anything for free), and I'm continuing to develop exciting features for Gadget. It is a stressful time for me and definitely for VFK. Everything is going smoothly, but I haven't heard anything from Fred or VFK as to how I proceed with monitoring subscriptions from people that use Gadget.

The days of hearing nothing (even though I email and call) turn to weeks and eventually to months. It was obvious to me that by the time VFK announced the second founder's package that they had no plans of fulfilling their agreement with me. And please remember, this agreement was NEVER my idea. This agreement (5% of membership income) came out of the blue from Fred. I've NEVER asked for anything.

A company that deliberately uses me to market their product, promises me compensation, and then never ever contacts me again deserves no respect from me. How do I look to my family? How do I look to my girls? I was so excited that VFK had called. I told my daughters that their Dad was going to be able to work with VFK and make some exciting things. But then I figured out that VFK had no intention of ever fulfilling their promise. Now I look like a quitter to my family, to my girls and to the 10,000+ users of VFK Gadget.

But this is something I have to do. I'm sorry and I hope you read this message thoroughly and understand that I really do care, but I don't think it is fair what they did to me and I really can't afford to keep this application going.

Kurt Boyer

--- End quote ---
Anyway, we had suspected and heard rumors of some back room deals. I guess this is one and they did not come through on their end.  We thought you would at least get the membership free.   I am sorry that Gadget is gone because it made it easy to do the quests for the whole family. The paaing of Gadget coincided with my decision to only complete each quest one time and not for family members unless it is an item they might really want even as infrequently as they play. 

Happy:
Thanks for posting this Adventure.  I have not been in VFK much latety.  Sad to hear this happened to Kurt. 

littlebelle:
awe and I do not know all my passwords :(. I wish he would have given us a heads ups and said gadget will be closing in so many days :( well I only have 5 characters so just missing 2 :(. But I had stopped playing 3 of them months ago. No point I thought because I was really not enjoying this game. The lag to me is the big issue. I do enjoy what they have made with mermaids, halloween, fairy but it the lag makes playing a problem does not matter how much neat things they have it still comes down no fun with the bad lag. :( So fix the lag and many will have so much more fun.

Heck when they tick off Monkey like that they have serious issues because he supported them from day one.

Panda Pandora:
Monkey, you did the right thing. You are not a quitter; you did what had to be done and I have great respect for your decision.
Thanks Ad for the post.

Purpleduck:

--- Quote from: Panda Pandora on October 23, 2008, 08:55 AM ---Monkey, you did the right thing. You are not a quitter; you did what had to be done and I have great respect for your decision.
Thanks Ad for the post.

--- End quote ---

Well said Panda, I feel the same.

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