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Recent Articles07 Black Friday and Beyond
* 5-19-04 *
Apologies, for some reason I had the wrong year on this top line. I have no idea why. If you noticed all the dates that followed has 04 on them. Apologies for any historcial confusion this may have caused.
Apologies, for some reason I had the wrong year on this top line. I have no idea why. If you noticed all the dates that followed has 04 on them. Apologies for any historcial confusion this may have caused.
Most of the remaining There staff (including Levi Jones and Minai) is laid off in one of the saddest days in the history of There. Members, including the MAB and other groups, rally to the support of the reaming There employees. At a special (packed) MAB meeting, attended by X-MAB and Current MAB members alike Michael Wilson addressed concerns raised by the membership. Michael Wilson also posted the follwoing to the news section of forums.
"Today I would like to announce that There is changing its strategic direction to focus on our technology platform.
We will continue to run the consumer service, but will need to make changes so that we can better align our costs and run this service profitably. As we go forward we will continue to evaluate the consumer service and our ability to meet our financial goals on an ongoing basis.
All of us at There have poured our heart, soul, and in many cases, significant financial investment into There these last few years. We have been inspired watching you, the community, also pour yourselves into making There great and unique and so incredibly fun. We believe that virtual worlds like There will continue to evolve, and want There to continue to play a key role in this evolution. By focusing on There as a platform, we believe it can play a role in any number of virtual worlds, including the one youve helped to build.
Effective today, these are the changes we are making to the consumer service:
1. Well be open the same hours we are now, and well continue to offer customer service through Live Help and email. (We havent determined if customer service hours will change, but will let you know if they do.)
2.Well also continue to have in-world moderation to help control griefers.
3. Well still be accepting developer submissions, although the approval time may take a bit longer.
4. We will still accept new members (monthly subscriptions only), and youll still be able to purchase Therebucks.
5. We will no longer be making regular updates to the software, and we will not be fixing bugs.
6. Were not sure yet how well handle There Central, but will get back to you when we do know.
7. Well likely have some kind of newsletter, but it may be sent out less often than the twice a week it goes out now.
8. Well be updating the Terms of Service soon to offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on membership fees.
9. We will no longer be sponsoring the Mentor or Event Host Credit (EHC) programs, nor will we be paying Refer a Friend bonuses.
We will be posting a Q&A which will hopefully address some of your questions shortly.
Michael Wilson
VP, Community "
_______________________________
A few days later a Question and Answer was also added.
Important Changes at There, Inc. : Q&A
Here are some Questions which we anticipated you may have, and some answers:
Q: Will There be reducing its open hours?
A: No. Theres service hours remain the same.
Q. Will it be harder for me to reach customer support?
A. It shouldnt be. As always, the best channels to reach us are email to help@there.com, and Live Help.
Q. What about griefers? Will you be doing anything about griefers?
A: We will continue to offer in-world moderation, and will do what we can to help control griefers.
Q: Who will help users in-world with problems/training considering cuts to community helpers?
A: We hope that our Mentors will continue to greet new members, although we will no longer be paying them in Therebucks.
Q: How will There change now that the company is focused on building out the platform?
A:We will run the service across the same hours, we will still have customer support, and we will still accept and approve developer submissions. Were not yet sure how well handle There Central updates. We do know we will no longer be updating the software regularly, and will not be fixing bugs. Our engineering resources will be entirely dedicated to building tools and functions for our technology platform. In general, we will really be turning over the There experience to our members – its actually you who have been driving the bulk of the experience for awhile now.
Q: Is There going to close?
A: No. The company has just received new funding and will continue to operate; only we will now be focusing most of our resources on building out our platform.
Q: What happens to my account if There shuts down the consumer service?
A: Again, we plan to continue to run the consumer service, and will be evaluating its financial performance on an ongoing basis. If at some point, we determine that we cant run the service profitably, we will at that time notify you of any changes, and will let you know the status of your account.
Q: Are my Therebucks at risk?
A: As long as the service continues to run, youll be able to use your Therebucks just as you do right now.
Q: Is There being set up for acquisition?
A: No. The board of directors and the management team are all very positive that we have created a valuable technology platform, and that we can remain independent as we continue to strive toward our milestones.
Q: Why is the membership only finding out now?
A: This change is a business decision, and were sharing it with you just after it was shared with the employees.
Q: Is this going to turn into a situation like other online worlds which have closed recently?
A: There is already succeeding on numerous levels – financial, partnership, technological and commitment levels. We will continue to develop our technology platform, and will continue to keep our eyes open for the best opportunities for us in the consumer marketplace.
_______________________________
5-26-04 There announces Levi items and Nike items will no longer be sold.
5-28-03 Bacios and Portahomes released in shop central! Including the large portahome which was originaly going to be issued only in small numbers.
5-29-04 Elliot Beasley releases his "Dedication" video.
6-5-04 Rick Slick releases a please dont close there slideshow/video
6-8-04 There sends out a community letter telling the membership that Raffle Tickets have been discontinued , forum reorganization announced too.
6-9-04 Brett gives his "Follow the Bouncing ball" State of There Address inviting all the members to follow the bouncing ball and sing along "There in NOT closing"
6-10-04 Chagall releases the "Party There" video
6-13-04 There releases a ton of test items in catalog including ramps and hoverpack hoops.
Other items were added to staff catalog, but did not work at all. Including many drinks.
Most interesting of all these itmes which did not work was a image sign which evidently would displace an in world taken screenshot.
6-15-04 Members find unlimited paintguns in catalog.
6-18-04 The very first ThereCon starts. originated by Hula this week long series of events had the misfortune to be the first full themed event to occur after Black Friday, although planning started in early Feb. With the exedous of several builders many projects for this event were scrapped. Miracle Pictures premiers Broc Lee and the movie as well as a movie quest called Land of There Lost during the event. In a contest the ThereCon Mascott was named CThereLu! by Narile!
6-24-04 gaultier releases a video about g0d
7-9-04 The very first Aloha Friday, organized by Hula, takes place.
7-23-04 Hula introduced the University of There
7-30-04 Quest Kits and Card Tables pulled from Shop Central temporarily.
8-11-04 Brett gives an forum update as There approaches the 90 day period.
8-16-04 ThereCare launches!
8-19-04 Caldera Sun Times closes.
8-23-04 There Inc becomes Forterra Systems.
8-23-04 ? There releases more clothing items in shop inclluding more skirts and rave pants. Advertising in Karuna moves into sacred PAZs ending the wall of karuna - or at least pusing it back further. The rave jeans billboard (shown at right) featured an animated scrolling texture. The skirt with the neon writing flashed on and off. Previously the giant skirt with the writing has been seen just past the Monkey Pool near Karuna. Now it moved near the spa end of Karuna Plaza.
8-26-04 First post Black Friday update add in monthly rentals on funzones.
Unofficial There Gathering in Southern California is a ton of fun! Baloo, Vash, Jack and other There staff drive south to attend!
8-28-04 Giant drain discovered in ocean! Bacios released in world in several greta pastel colors!
8-30-04 Fat Hamburger releases a trailer for his Austin Powers movie.
9-13-04 Annual memberships announced
9-18-04 Meret unveils his statue of liberty!
9-30-04 Brett leaves There
9-30-04 Alex Community announces the nomination process for the Fall 04 MAB
10-1-04 Pineriver releases the Keep on Jumping video.
10-1-04 New Kansas and Comet become PAZ dropable.
10-?-04 Phedre releases her wonderful western hats and Indian braids (for women). The mens long hair does not work out and later she brings out "The Brave" hairstyle.
10-4-04 Helper Nilla leaves There.
10-13-04 Mission Slightly Difficult begins casting
10-14-04 Next beta test announced and NDA is lifted. Most members invited in.
Previous beta tests (form V2 Beta till October 04 still covered under NDA!)
10-14-04 Phedres Wild West hairstyle the braids is released in several colors. Mens braids were delayed then later canceled and the brave was created to replace it. Cowboy hats came out a week or so later.
10-15-04 The Avie Who Shagged Me is released by Fat Hanburger.
10-20-04 Kangaroo releases The Old Wattering Hole music video
10-27-04 Fall MAB members announced.
AllisonChains Amxscott Celtic Chagall DocD DreamWeaver Geea Ishmael55 Kally_Lunch Malika mrf1xit Nep oli UBER_GEEK xThor ZachC
10-28-04 new version runs a program that cleans out inventories. This makes log-ins slower for the first few times you log in then later it becomes faster. T-Bucks change from 1787T/$1 to 1800T/$1. Skin colors are changed again to better match clothing colors. Shop Poster try=outs increased to 10 minutes up form 30 seconds. Hoverboats can now fly up to 50,000 meters (the old limit was 10,000) There hands out a 1 year anniversary gift to al current members! A nice shirt celebrating the first year. Cafe Press shop opens and introduces a few related items including a hoodie and a mouse pad have the same image on them. many vehicles have lower prices (like hoverboats (down about 10k) and Bacios (about 4k less) many catalog items are also significantly cheaper. Some items, however, go up in price.
10-29-04 There opes Cafe Press shop for real life There goodies!
10-29-04 Giant religions statue appears on top of Mt. NeNe in cplporters PAZ. Statue designed by Jinx_tv
10-29-04 New Fall MAB 2004 announced:
AllisonChains
Amxscott
Celtic
Chagall
DocD
DreamWeaver
Geea
Ishmael55
Kally_Lunch
Malika
mrf1xit
Nep
oli
UBER_GEEK
xThor
ZachC
10-31-04 Kangaroo releases the cool I Shot The Sheriff video
11-12-08 a memorable live quest occurs in There featureing many there staff members. Hosted by the "There Live Quest" group it is an elaborate quiest and diffult to finish in the time alloted, but the overal result was turly memorable! The quest was called "Wheres Hula?" and it was the first quest to ever be promoted with a video commercial!
11-22-04 ? Baloo introduces a proposal to the membership detailing developer submission price increases for builder items, lower prices for many clothing items, and the removal of the free developer copy. This goes through many revisions before implementation.
12-3-04 Mackie returns to the programing team to take over from Hula as Programing and Activities director. Hula decided to pursue other activites.
12-2-04 Mission Slightly Difficult holds a wrap party on completion of filming the epic feature length motion picture. Editing proves problematic and the film is not released until the follwoing year.
12-7-04 All auctions are all going to be canceled as part of the change in pricing of developer items. New submissions after this point are moved to the resourced based pricing model However tis is delayed until the start of the following year.
12-7-04 includes a new winter themed island claled Frosty, which turned out to be shaped like a snowman!
12-10-04 Hula has her final day working for There.com
12-22-04 Droopy and members of the group "Kindness Awakened" invite the there staff to ahve a good time on them and present the There staff with aproximately $675 worth of therebucks! Like most events there was some entertainment (in the form of Oli doing an interpretive dance to "You are my Sunshine" and then things degrade into a paintball match.
Janruary 05
1-19-05 There staff members had a night on the town paid for by the members of there through a fundraising event by the group "Kindness Awakened" led by Droopy. Members of the There staff deceded upon Dave and Busters in Milpedis for fun and food.
1-28-05 Kittenkat gets her 1000th approved item!
1-31-05 All Auctions end on Jan 31 to make room for the new version of the developer program.
Feburary
2-2-05 New version includes more developer templates including large scale (shops config 2-5) , Higher polygon chairs, decks, knicknacks, etc. Cuban heels, High resolution testures for clothing, single texture animations, Low res clothing testure too, and strangely enough someting I hav enever seen in there an animated there house door painter, acio painter, flutterbug painter.
?? ?? There closes for a day as they move thier co-location facility. There suggests that people pick up thier PAZs rather than loose a day of rent. No mention of what house or zone renters should do though : )
3-3-05 Steve delivers a State of There address outlining his vision for the future of There.