FA sold to 11 year old commercial internet game

[Conan]

This is probably a sign of desperation: In the past, there have been stories about people having their FA ads rejected. Sometimes, these were because the ad was too commercial in nature for their purpose, which is stated as "by our members, for our members". That has changed. Dragoneer has given ad space to the online "instant messaging client" IMVU, an 11 year old online service that looks like it'd be popular amongst people who weren't born yet when it was founded. The ads are specifically tailored to furries, pitching the ability to "build your own fursona". 



IMVU makes it's money by having you fork over real cash for fake merchandise. I have to wonder how long until we see "Fursuit makers HATE him!!! The one weird trick for Fursuit Success" and "Make Cash Fast! Sell Dragon Dongs From Home!" ads.

No word on whether or not it took him a month to reply to their ad inquiries.

[venthewolf]

it will not take that long when scam ads will pop up

[Rowedahelicon]

I like how this news goes hand in hand with even more reports of people not having their ads put up on a timely basis. Don't forget the free ad he gave to the FNAF guy.

[an hoopoe]

Do wonder about Princess Piche's financial situation esp. with his recent declaration per this

https://forums.vivisector.org/index.php?topic=822.msg8695#msg8695

that FA will never donations again. It looks like Dragoneer has been spending a lot of money of late: last year he bought a house, and in Jan. of this year he was complaining on twitter that he won't be able to go to a convention unless he's a dealer: https://twitter.com/Dragoneer/status/557292023095365632

It also looks like he recently bought a great dane dog (not noted for being cheap to look after):

https://twitter.com/Dragoneer/status/572541759898693634

And I noticed that he's started commissioning again. I did a search on FA for "Dragoneer" and I found 18 commissions since Jan. 2015, and from the artists prices at a minimum he's spent $1,046 on commissions so far this year.

At the start of Feburary 2015 he referred to "us poor people" : https://twitter.com/Dragoneer/status/562052618097557504

So presumably he hasn't won the lottery or came into loadsa money or anything.

[venthewolf]

This explains all:

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6588324
https://forums.furaffinity.net/threads/1353961-FA-IMVU-Discussion

[an hoopoe]

This explains all:

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6588324
https://forums.furaffinity.net/threads/1353961-FA-IMVU-Discussion

So Dragoneer sold FA to IMVU in January. So much for transparency!

He's is no longer the owner of FA:

And I am no longer the owner, but I am in charge of the site, direction and improvements. The difference is I now have the resources to make the improvements that have always been needed.

^
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6588324#cid:44892881

However he's dodging answering people when they ask what IMVU is getting out of this or what IMVU's relevancy to the furry community is and esp. if/how IMVU is going to monetize FA:

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6588324#cid:44892893

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6588324#cid:44892823

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6588324#cid:44893002

More hardware:

Well, given I've got about $20K worth of new hardware going into the site this weekend, we'll also get paid coding help, additional resources to expand, grow and make the site everything it's needed to be.

^
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6588324#cid:44892959

A very interesting comment:

I have been on IMVU for a number of years, and feel that this was one of the worst ideas ever. =/. What is this? Is this going to turn FA into another site where you have to pay to access "adult" material, which is not even close to adult material? IMVU's business practices are sketchy at least, and that is saying things lightly. As a previous dev on IMVU, they had no issues throwing the banhammer for making "adult material" Can anyone assure us that IMVU's business practices of making you pay out the ass for everything is not going to float over to here? Are they going to get a say in what content can be uploaded to FA? If this is the case, I am packing up now and finding another furry site.

^
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6588324#cid:44893374

[venthewolf]

Pigeon says:
However he's dodging answering people when they ask what IMVU is getting out of this or what IMVU's relevancy to the furry community is:

Well its in my eyes just a big monopoly:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6588324#cid:44893261

Edit: They claim they have a "BIG furry userbase"

[Vaerinn]

I actually had to double check the fucking date when I saw the IMVU announcement.

Satire is dead.

[Baron Von Clop]

I guess that explains why I have been waiting four months for a response to my advertising request.

And this smells weird to me, too. IMVU is going to be not only funding the site's expansion with more hardware, but adding in professional programming work too, and all they want in return is... what, advertising?

That's a tough sell.

edit: hahaha welp

[JigsawJones]

I guess that explains why I have been waiting four months for a response to my advertising request.

And this smells weird to me, too. IMVU is going to be not only funding the site's expansion with more hardware, but adding in professional programming work too, and all they want in return is... what, advertising?

That's a tough sell.

edit: hahaha welp

I just read through a series of twitchie Journals about IMVU buying FA from neer and vows of people leaving because now all the porn will be deleted... heh heh

[Conan]

Explains the hasty trip to the Bay Area where he got the chance to get to FC.

[Anarcho-Loser]

First time post, hope its decent. Ill probably mostly just stay lurking.

As far as FC, I saw on the FAF thead about this that IMVU had a table at FC. So, maybe now we know why Dragoneer said he HAD to go. Maybe to sign the contract? Though I suppose that could have been done without an in person meetup.

Also, caught this on Twitter: https://twitter.com/panderp/status/578647385976500224

Anyone know if Arcturus really still owns part of FA? They said they will be contacting legal counsel to see if they have a case.

[JTfurry]

First time post, hope its decent. Ill probably mostly just stay lurking.

As far as FC, I saw on the FAF thead about this that IMVU had a table at FC. So, maybe now we know why Dragoneer said he HAD to go. Maybe to sign the contract? Though I suppose that could have been done without an in person meetup.

Also, caught this on Twitter: https://twitter.com/panderp/status/578647385976500224

Anyone know if Arcturus really still owns part of FA? They said they will be contacting legal counsel to see if they have a case.

Lets all get the popcorn!

[JTfurry]

Oh lawdy...

https://twitter.com/panderp/status/578647385976500224

https://twitter.com/panderp/status/578706116458242048

[kernel.panic]

Oh lawdy...

https://twitter.com/panderp/status/578647385976500224

https://twitter.com/panderp/status/578706116458242048

[Conan]

http://new.spring.me/#!/dragoneer/q/207732784?

So much for that!

I can't wait for him to get screwed over. The schadenfreude will be off the charts.

[nrr]

http://new.spring.me/#!/dragoneer/q/207732784?

I forgot I even asked that. Rereading it, his answer is pretty funny considering that the folks who inves^Wdonated probably deserve more equity than anyone else for having been duped, without any tangible recompense in return[0], into giving money to keep the site running.

That said, I wonder how well they were represented in the sale to IMVU. I'm willing to hedge a bet on "not at all."

0: This goes with those ornaments actually being delivered notwithstanding. That was billed as some sort of holiday product sale, albeit with a product that shipped some several months too late, which follows different rules.

[Gryphoneer]

WELP

Expect a sudden influx of users on Weasyl.

[an hoopoe]

As is usual for him, Dragoneer has been misleading people, in this case about who wanted to buy the site and why. He claimed that some people wanted to buy the site and shut it down and some people wanted to buy it and replace all the existing staff (not a bad idea to be honest!) however someone who had tried to buy the site spoke up and said that he only wanted to buy into FA and would have left the staff in place with a board of directors.

Here's Dragoneer's misleading statements:

Through December, I received many offers to sell FA. Some wanted the site just to turn it into a store front, but in doing so wanted to dismantle the site. Others wanted to buy it LITERALLY just to shut it down. I didn't want any of that. Money was good, and some really high figures were thrown out, but I legitimately care about the community. I haven't done this for 10 years out of my own time and energy just to see someone come in and rip it apart.

IMVU offered to help the site with funding and support the site as is. They're the only group who didn't want to tear it down, but help build it up.

^
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6588505/

Honestly, I got a lot of offers to buy the site. Some people offered me a LOT of cash to buy the site, and I and every staffer involved would walk away. But that's not what I wanted.

^
https://forums.furaffinity.net/threads/1353961-FA-IMVU-Discussion?p=5109503&viewfull=1#post5109503

And here's the truth:

BULLSHIT!
My offer EXPLICITLY was insistent on keeping Yourself and your staff In place, while creating a board of directors who could help with the management, future planning and growth of the site.

To clarify for those not in the know;
Myself and those backers with me (who will remain unnamed for their privacy) offered to buy-into (not outright purchase) FA at the valuation of $50,000.00 where the following things would happen. A board of directors would be created, where Dragoneer and his silent partner Chase together would keep 46% of voting rights, while the new players involved each would get 9%.

What this percentage of ownership would mean is that if Dragoneer and Chasewanted to do something the way it has been, all they needed was one of the new investors to agree to do it. However, if the new investors wanted to make a change that was contrary to Drgaoneer and XYZ it literally would have to be every single one of the new owners voting together to veto it.

The second part of this buy in would be to create a board of directors like all the furry conventions out there. That is what Myself and the new players would be bringing to the table. My experience with conventions and planning, as well as the ability to organize many different departments and sub comittee's. In addition to being able to fundraise and steer the long term direction of FA.

There was details still to be discussed and agreed upon, but the talks didn't get any further than the money and some obviously meaningless chitchat with Dragoneer, since my offer was either right on top of , or after the IMVU timing.

^
https://forums.furaffinity.net/threads/1353961-FA-IMVU-Discussion?p=5109610&viewfull=1#post5109610

Also, someone made this good summing up post:

From the looks of things at this point, bearing all of the known facts in mind with no presumptions or assumptions, this is what we have.

IMVU, a company that admittedly plays fast and loose with user data and will sell and/or give it to anyone they please, has bought Furaffinity.

IMVU restricts creativity on their site, and charges people for every aspect of use, from keeping your registered name so nobody else can use it, to uploading new creative content and more.

IMVU is seen as a low-quality Second Life rip-off by most of the people who actually know what it is.

IMVU advertises constantly on facebook in order to gain a larger user base, of mostly females and teens.

Many people in the furry community have never heard of IMVU, which brings me to believe that their advertising is not effective.

There was a fundraiser for Furaffinity during the time that the offer was being made to purchase FA by IMVU.

Many offers were made to purchase FA during this time, one of which included maintaining the power structure and control of FA, and forming a cohesive and organized board of directors for the site. All other offers were declined.

FA attempted to combine/partner with another site previously, and that process fell apart quickly due to incompatibilities between the sites and management styles.

Furaffinity was sold to IMVU months before the user base was informed.

The sale of Furaffinity changed the TOS for Furaffinity in specific but vital ways.

Changing the TOS of Furaffinity without notifying the users of Furaffinity immediately upon said change is a violation of Furaffinity's TOS and user agreement.
______________________

With this all in mind, what it looks like to me is that IMVU is scrambling to try to grow it's user base and make more money off of unsuspecting people who are willing to pay to play a lesser version of Second Life (a free game). Based on the facts and their policies and recent advertising behavior, IMVU is struggling as a company and is making a mad grasp at a different advertising method in order to keep their company afloat.

All in all, I do not like it, and it seems very, very shady.

^
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6588505/#cid:44905165

[Gourd]

WELP

Expect a sudden influx of users on Weasyl.

https://forums.weasyl.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?7082-March-Madness!&p=78810#post78810
Oh it's already here. lmao