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[Happy]

These screens displayed today.  I could not get the "Why Upgrade" link to open.

[FilamentTheBright]

Mind you, I'm not complaining.......  but it does seem a little soon for this doesn't it?

Just a thought.

[Adventuredaz]

Mind you, I'm not complaining.......  but it does seem a little soon for this doesn't it?

Just a thought.

Not really, I discused this with Happy earlier.  If you read the terms of service (like anyone does that) it was very clear they intended to go this route.  It seems this will be more the norm then free games, everything cost something to operate.  The kicker will be what is the value vs. benefit, is it a playable game if you don't pay.  This is a much more finished product and I would expect them to have a rather short beta period which will go diectly to pay to play when they are done. 

[wdwdreamin]

I notice under Payment Method the choices are Credit Card or Promo.  Wonder if Promo could be a free trial?

[FilamentTheBright]

Mind you, I'm not complaining.......  but it does seem a little soon for this doesn't it?

Just a thought.

Not really, I discused this with Happy earlier.  If you read the terms of service (like anyone does that) it was very clear they intended to go this route.  It seems this will be more the norm then free games, everything cost something to operate.  The kicker will be what is the value vs. benefit, is it a playable game if you don't pay.  This is a much more finished product and I would expect them to have a rather short beta period which will go diectly to pay to play when they are done. 

I completely understand what you mean.  I just thought is was a very quick turn around.  Most places are up at least a month or so before the payment options come.  And especially in Beta mode.  VFK is the only one that I know of that has asked to pay during Beta.

[Purpleduck]

Got to admit, it is nicer to see the "plans" ahead of time.  So we know what to expect and how much.. get a bit of time to play and decide.  Not get hit up with the rush VFK did.

In my view, I wish they had also presented us with the differences between pay/free ahead of time as well.  (Thinking of Disney's PH bomb.. oh look the stores are open.. oh wait, you cant shop cause you didnt pay! )

[fantasymooma]

I would like to know what you get with this membership.  Where did you find this?  So I can read up on it.  I doubt I'm going to pay for the game tho.

[Happy]

I would like to know what you get with this membership.  Where did you find this?  So I can read up on it.  I doubt I'm going to pay for the game tho.

Souper was on the Cruise Ship today.  It must be a very new page because the "Why Upgrade" link was not working.  My guess is that link will tell the features of the "Full Membership"

[Astro]

In my view, I wish they had also presented us with the differences between pay/free ahead of time as well.

Agreed.   

[Bugdozer]

Ink and I saw this page the other day but i believe you can not sign up right now.
They are probably getting it ready. Another step in getting the finished product out. I like how they are handling the boats coming over rather then having major server overload.

I hope they offer some kind of family plan also. I don't find the price that unreasonable.

Bug

[Happy]

Ink and I saw this page the other day but i believe you can not sign up right now.
They are probably getting it ready. Another step in getting the finished product out. I like how they are handling thr boats coming over rather then having major server overload.

I hope they offer some kind of family plan also. I don't find the price that unreasonable.

Bug

Yes, the boat by boat was a smart idea so they could test the waters. 

[mummykat]

I haven't had the opportunity to sail into Elf Island yet. I guess my boat left without me. But, was wondering what is the consensus so far among those of you who have been playing?

Do you like the game?

Is it the best "replacement" so far for VMK?

Will you pay to play?

[Adventuredaz]

I haven't had the opportunity to sail into Elf Island yet. I guess my boat left without me. But, was wondering what is the consensus so far among those of you who have been playing?

Do you like the game?

Is it the best "replacement" so far for VMK?

Will you pay to play?

Unfortunately there is no "best replacement" for VMK.  Amazingly, each of us had different reasons we joined VMK and continued to play it. Because of this we are all looking for different specifics in games.  The other factor is our desire to reunite in a common place with oour VMK friends, for this time will tell. 

It is a cute site and they have some nice features.  Some of it takes a little getting used to or figuring out. They do have former VMK "stars" Lily and Hula as well I am told a few other staff and Groovy from VFK. The game is a little more finished then VFK and perhaps a little less complex then small worlds. It has no importing of pictures or music and video.  The games are "elfy" takes on some well know games, they are not bad but at this time nothing along the line of team play or comparable to vmk.  With the veteran staff they kicked right into host event/activities and with familiarity they have worked well.  I have seen more titles I recognize at one time then anytime in the last four months - keeping in mind an entire segment of VMK players totally dismissed VFK without giving it a fair shake. 

It is at this time in my short assesment no replacement but has a nice feel.  Players appearances are a little more appealing then VFK and smallworld in my opinion.  I will need to see more and explore with friends some.  I am still holding out hope VFK will release some of the promised games that would be more my style.  I can play 1 player games like these anyplace anytime and that is a key factor for me.  I do enjoy the familiar faces but I am not yet comfortable with the feel of the game and interfacing in the game with others coupled with a good bit of lag and stress on my computer.

I think the price is fair if you have to pay, at this time I have not reviewed what it offers vs. free and I will need to see a lot more before I would commit. 

At this point, 6 months after the close of VMK and after playing countless games and paying for one that did not deliver, I have been convinced I would be willing to pay this price for VMK -  not sure yet on any other game. 

[KingQuackATac]

I'm dissappointed by two things on Elf Island:

1) The Avatar: it's kind of faded in appearance when in public places. The colors of the avatar are not as bright and vibrant as the surrounding backdrops. The character also looks and moves in a 2-dimensional fashion. The girl faces are all the same, and the boy faces are all the same (just like VFK) except for skin tone, hair style/color, and eye color.

2) Room Building: the items you can collect and store in rooms do not meet my needs. If I'm judging by the VMK standard, Elf Island is much like Pixie Hollow. If this doesn't change, I don't see our family staying long for this reason alone. But who knows, maybe EI will come up with a grid system.

And for someone who joined VMK in it's last year, and who sometimes felt like an outsider looking in, having former VMK hosts doesn't do much for me. Hopefully the inequality will not happen on Elf Island, but many former VMKers (especially kids) have expressed on other sites as feeling left out and inferior because of who they didn't know. I think VFK has fallen into this pattern in the last month, with host games that felt like Dreams Month on VMK, where the Dream Ears (insert purple pumpkin, horn of plenty) were given at random with luck being the ONLY way to attain the item. There are other less frustrating ways to get players on the game than this.

[Kаsiks]

I haven't had the opportunity to sail into Elf Island yet. I guess my boat left without me. But, was wondering what is the consensus so far among those of you who have been playing?

Do you like the game?

Is it the best "replacement" so far for VMK?

Will you pay to play?

• I don't like the game because it seems to be limited in hours to play, and also it seems too random for me (items, graphics, ..)
• I am not really looking for a replacement for VMK, I am just looking for games to play in order to get some fun, for the moment, game I am hoping on is HKO.
• Nope, there are other games that I would pay to play

[1]

Unless a game has a major company backing them like Disney, Coke, Mattel, etc. I expect there to be pay-to-play at some level.

I am enjoying the game so far. And it definitely has the potential for me to pay for it in the future. I think they need to improve some things before we are paying members. These are the things I need to see improved:
1- The lag
2- The avatars' appearance
3- The placement of items in our rooms.

The lag is very bad at times, and barely present at others. I am running Flash 9 on IE. I know when I used Flash 10 in VFK, I froze or moved extremely slow. It improved in VFK when I changed from Flash 10 to 9. Anyone using 10 on this game? Or found the game ran better on Firefox?

Like I've been saying before the game opened, the avatars need work. They don't fit the background. The colors need to be brightened and they need to have more of a 3D look. I was hoping the delay in the game opening was due to them changing them after all the comments on the blog about the way they looked, but I guess not.

I like how we can resize our items. I wish we could have done this in VMK. I have no problem moving things around. But if I leave and come back, things are not exactly how I placed them.

[Bugdozer]

I am going to agree with Adventure in that there is no best replacement for VMK. I gave up looking for that a while ago. VMK was a unique game that we loved for many reasons but I think the main one being our love for Disney. So I am not looking for a replacement. I am looking for a game that me and my child can have fun playing. I want a game that is not a remake of VMK but thrives on it's own uniqueness. I would like a game with great background support and communication.

So far I have found EI to be very interesting. The rooms are amazing-the colors and details. I was never much of a builder on VMK so i am not having issues with that on elf but Ink was a huge builder and says Elf has some work in that department to keep him interested.

I love that there are 9 mini games to choose from-so many for a newly started game and we have been told more are on the way. I also would like to see some multi player games.

As far as the staff we know in the game- red titan lily hula groovy and possibly a few others it just gave me that at home feeling. They are working hard to try and run some host events during this testing phase. I have seen them treat everyone with kindness and they are excited to see so many VMK players again. I have seen more names I know in this game in the last 6 days then any other game I am personally playing. 

As far as the mention of hours- The game is only running these hours DURING the testing. Once this phase is done they are suppose to run hours similar to VMK.

I too like MyAwesome have lag sometimes and other times no problems. I am hoping with time this will improve. It is after all day 6. I like the way they are handling the influx of people and not just throwing open the gates and saying run in. That would cause major server issues or crash.

I also agree the avatars need some work. I must admit they are not as bad as I expected but do need some brightening up. The clothing option is amazing. I have not seen 2 elves dressed alike yet. Very nice personalization there.

The communication has been amazing. They do not have a black hole, are answering e-mails. They respond to in message calls for help. They are taking the time to listen to us. Look at day 1. It was impossible to know who was saying what. Our names did not come up in the speech bubble. Many were complaining about that. I was shocked when I logged in on day 2 said Hi and there was my name with what I said. They fixed that right away. That was amazing to me. I feel with time we will see things change-just remember we are not trying to turn them into VMK. We need to give them ideas that will benifit the game play. I saw someone asking for them to make Mickey Ears. I just shook my head.

I am excited to see what the goodquests are. They will be month long quests that you work as a team ( your tribe) to finish. Sounds intriguing.

As for paying I have no idea yet. I am paying $9.95 a month for Ink to play pirates and he has not logged in in 2 months. We talked and that is going. I am going to cancel that paid subscription. I want to know the details on Elf before I pay. What is the difference between pay and no pay. Is there a family plan? What percent of our subscription goes to the organizations they are working with to improve the world. In the end if I am happy with what they say and what I see then yes I would pay for a game. I found their price to be very reasonable. If you did the year plan it comes out to $4.87 a month less then 1 movie ticket or a meal at McDonalds and you get a month of play time. 

Time will tell but I will hang in there and give it time. I have my foot in the door at smalldworlds and VFK and will give this a chance also.


Nice to see so many i know in there and hope to see you all again,

Bug

PS As a side note EVERYDAY before log in CLEAR YOUR CACHE (temporary files). This helps the new changes they have made to show up.

[littlebelle]

The best thing about elf island is seeing so many of my friends all in one spot. Nice family reunion Not sure how much time I will invest in Elf. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from disney. So have not really attached myself to any social game. Exception Wizards which can be solo or social.

This game reminds me of a much older age Webkinz. I do play webkinz but not sure I would invest lots of time in this game. I think the graphics are wonderfully done. Bright and colourful. But my avatar looks pale and need more movements. I feel like I am a VMK flat moving around a 3-D set.

I look forward to learning about the quest because I love quests. But am torn because VFK has come such a long way and seems to meet more of my building needs. It is the lag that is the issue for me. Which they said flash 10 should solve once the bugs are out of it.

But I do not spend much time on there either.

The price is reasonable and I could see myself signing up. On a month by month basic to see how it is going.

I sure hope we can build like other places because that could be the deciding factor. Also a family plan would be very important. Another depends on what tribe I get in not sure how that will work. I would like more team games because playing arcade games by yourself can become very boring.

Maybe they could have a room that you buy just to build in. So that you have the option.

Well time will tell

[Purpleduck]

I had decided long ago, that my "goal" with a game, was to be able to be with my friends I made over the 3 years of VMK.  I had the full 150, and always a waiting list, since about four months into the game.  There were always at least 20 online at any given time.

To that end, I have no interest in how any avatar looks, just let me be with my friends.

When I used to try to play VFK, it was very disappointing to almost never see any friends logged on.  (I still have a lot of friends I never did find on VFK.. very difficult to "run into them".)   I have to "wait" for early closing, to hope to find more than one or two.  As I am not proficient at their games, the only draw for me is their quests.. though they are wickedly lame and offer no challenge.

SmallWorlds made it easy to find friends, they have been the best for that.  I do enjoy their games, and the missions have both lame and challenge.  Building is fun, exploring even more so.  I have found that in exploring, I have even made new friends, and there is almost always a few friends on.  Chinese checkers, while being "old school", provided the best party with old friends I ever had, since VMK closed.  It helped that there were bugs in the game, and a very friendly staff member who was so willing to join right in. 

Pixie Hollow, with planned meets, was great to find friends.  However, now that I collected everything I could, earned every badge.. and cannot participate in shopping without being a member.. there isn't much to do until more challenges come out.  So friends are few and far between as well.

EI has only just barely opened its shores.  By the way they handled allowing VMKers to pre-register first, and bring them onto the island first, has made it easy to find friends.. although there are a lot more I hope to hook up with.  I do like the single player games, and look forward to competitions in "tribes" as being similar to the team competitions in VMK.  I don't much care for the "sticker items" for our houses,  but they are amusing and very imaginative.  They have also shown in their Field Guide, that there will be things to collect.  So, solo and team games, collections, quests after a fashion with team competitions.. so far.. I can live with that.

EI has been VERY responsive and quick to listen and fix things.. VFK could use a lesson from them.

So.. my bottom line being friends.. says at the moment.. if I had money to pay.. it would be between SW and EI.

But I want to see more of EI first.. more friends, more of what they say is coming, and more info on the differences between paid/free memberships.

[thealienstitch]

Paying for the current version of Elf Island I would have to pass on, however it is early still and one can hope for a lot to change in the future. I truly miss the type of building we could do in VMK, and here we seem to only be able to place items. Now this is cute, but really not much of a challenge to me. I also pay for POTC ($9.95) a month for Boo and I, and we very rarely play anymore, if ever. Also we both play World of Warcraft and pay $14.95 x 2 a month. To really want to pay for Elf Island as well, will take a lot of changes to their game to peak my interest. That being said........Let us hope they improve this really fun little game.

Fee

[mummykat]

Wow, great responses.  I guess we all do have different criteria by which we make our gaming decisions. I just know I miss so many aspects of VMK. And, so far I haven't found "that perfect spot". As U2 said, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for...".   

[cyre]

I'm very much happy with EI and look forward to the extended hours.  As many have said too, I'm very happy with how they're responding to us with our suggestions and ideas.  Having well at least some of the old staff back is great, wish they all could have come, but am happy with who is there.  I will most likely pay for this, maybe start month to month, but could see myself paying for a year.