Real People Feel Pained as Virtual Drawbridge Goes Up
The 3-d web and Virtual Worlds are - I contend - the future of communication and a big part of community as we connect with wider and wider diverse groups of people. But there are glitches.
If truth be told there's more than one glitch.
The Disney folks have discovered that.
Or should have.
The Wall Street Journal sums the situation up neatly when it points out that "For Walt Disney Co., the task of opening a virtual version of Disneyland on the Web was relatively easy. Closing it, though, is proving to be quite a bit more difficult, thanks to the wrath of obsessive fans of Disney's theme parks."
It started with the launch, in 2005, of the free online game Virtual Magic Kingdom, based on the design and feel of the real world Disneyland park.
Fans wanting to visit Tomorrowland or princesses in catles were able to do just that in virtual reality through avatars they created. Plus the Kingdom gave visitors - or did until tomorrow - lots of opportunity to interact with others who share an interest in Disney and online virtual reality games.Players, participants, or those who WSJ calls "Disney's notoriously obsessive fans" were quickly hooked and Disney bragged that over a million avatars had been created.
So far so good.
Soon more and more Disney-ites were participating in the the game and accumulating a kind of Disney Dollar - aka "VMK points" both through the game and through real world Disney activities including visits to Disney's parks, scavenger hunts created for them and purchase of special Virtual Magic Kingdom items.
Couples went on dates to Disney resorts, took honeymoons there, families had fun playing the reality part of the game in the parks and the virtual part of the game at home.
That was then and this is now.
Fans are both heartsick and furious that tomorrow Disney is closing the
virtual castle door and drawing up the drawbridge. Players' profiles,
points, real estate, collection of virtual status symbols are all
disappearing.
It's as if their identities, their virtual lives are erased. And that's caused some to "throw themselves in front of Disney's virtual wrecking ball." Save VMK sites have flourished - one with 20,000 signatures on an online petition to preserve the place they think of as their home away from home.
Adult fans of the VMK's dont just roll over and play Lady and the Tramp in tough times and as the WSJ accurately notes:
"In 2004, they were instrumental in rallying behind former board member Roy Disney's attack on the leadership of then-Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner."
But what does this tell us about emotional investments in virtual reality formats that could disappear at any time, on a whim, as a statement - the reason doesn't much matter. Is it much different than the island on which we have homes and businesses in Second Life being sold overnight leaving us -feeling- virtually homeless?
Investment Breeds Emotion
Backlash from those who feel connected to a world which disappears is
sure to be lasting and the emotional effect of feeling disposable must
be deeply unsettling. Some will call that juvenile. But take it from
those on the intercot message board; they are grieving.
So far however, Disney isn't budging in spite of the hit the game has become and the hit Disney is taking from fans. It does not generate revenue in their view, goodwill notwithstanding.
Is there an alternative? Well yes and no, Although the adult fans don't seem to be abandoning VMK for "Disney Fairies" younger users have created close to six million avatars there and the obvious plus for Disney is that although it is free so far they plan to start charging for participation in some parts of Fairies.
$ Cha-ching $
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Susan, Thanks for the great post and the link love. I think Disney could have taken a different tact with this and demonstrated that they understand the concept of brand community, but sadly they missed that opportunity.
Posted by: Doug Meacham | 05/20/2008 at 09:20 PM