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Post by zyvia on Oct 21, 2010 15:18:34 GMT -5
Hey everyone I spoke with a representative from General Mills. It only took me about 3 minutes to get through, I asked why was mills closing and he told me the main reason was because subscription, participation and play level had greatly decreased. He also mentioned they had new ideas and concepts that they think children and adults will like. I tried to get more information about the ideas, but he said he thinks they want to keep a surprise. After that he took my name and address and email which are all optional. And finally he said that it would be a great if I can tell/get other players to call in. So come on lets flood those phone lines!  Again their number is 1-800-248-7310 |
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Post by kanda on Oct 21, 2010 15:29:39 GMT -5
I'm calling now! I'm willing to try anything to get them to keep it!!!
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psyin
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Post by psyin on Oct 21, 2010 15:32:15 GMT -5
Same.... I am not ready to let this site go...
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Post by beaky555 on Oct 21, 2010 17:10:39 GMT -5
I cant call just yet but i will! Millsberry is to awesome to let go and im sure the new thing they are making wont be nearly as good. And i did notice not many players play anymore It use to be in the 8000's and 9000's now its only in the 2000's Right now theres only 2'260 Thats still a lot of players though  |
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Post by mystery on Oct 21, 2010 17:20:51 GMT -5
Thanks for the phone number. My daughter called them and told them how sad she felt. The representative said that they are working on new things and that she will pass her report to them. I hope it helps. This is a big blow. We love Millsberry.
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Post by maryfuns on Oct 21, 2010 22:41:26 GMT -5
I will call....
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Post by dudeinsoccer on Oct 22, 2010 8:49:49 GMT -5
I called a while ago and just to let everyone know, the phones are open at 8:00 to 5:00 central time. The person, Trevor, said that they are closing it because the decline in players. He said that there is gonna be something else that we are going to enjoy. He also told me that there will be no trick-or-treating this year because of the closing but there is new costumes in the wearhouse. When I first called it said that this call will be recorded... Does anyone know why?
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Post by kanda on Oct 22, 2010 9:34:16 GMT -5
The calls are mainly recorded for safety reasons. I am very sad to hear there will be no trick or treating. I also called and was told the same thing, that the closing is due to lack of players. I wonder then if we promoted mills enough and got a lot of new players would they keep it up and running? Just a thought...I'm desperate  |
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brent3b3
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I do talk to tomatoes!!!
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Post by brent3b3 on Oct 22, 2010 14:12:09 GMT -5
I think it's horrible that they are closing Mills down. The surprise sounds like another game hopefully similar to Mills. If it is then I'm ready to spend all my money and close up my account and start fresh. I think it will good for everyone if that's the case. But if the surprise is another yearbook me and GM are going to have a problem.   |
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Post by spudos on Oct 22, 2010 15:20:23 GMT -5
I'm calling right now. "All current phone lines are busy." I hope they get the message. ;D I asked a few questions. First I asked why Millsberry was closing. The representative said that they saw a general decline of interest and popularity in the site, which is consistent with what everyone else has said so far. I also asked if a new site was being planned to replace Millsberry. She said that she does not know, but General Mills is refocusing their efforts. Finally, I asked exactly how the yearbook process is going to work. She said that there will be an icon next to each item in your stuff that you can click to add to your yearbook. On a page called www.millsberry.com/yearbook (doesn't exist yet) you will be able to customize your things and print it off. You can print off as many different yearbooks as you want. The representative said she would pass on my comments to General Mills. It sounds like General Mills could be planning another promotional site or event. Whatever happens, I'll sure miss Millsberry. |
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Post by becky642 on Oct 22, 2010 15:40:10 GMT -5
If this impending bulldozing is truly because they don't think enough people are playing, then they should do more to promote it! It's a fun, fantastic, safe online family game. What's to say this new "thing" they're considering would attract any more people than Millsberry does? Millsberry has a devoted fan base. Alienating them doesn't make sense as a long term strategy. If this is what happens after years of playing and collecting and purchasing their products, who would want to devote any more time in any of their online ventures? There are many logical arguments which can be made in support of keeping Millsberry open. Keep calling and emailing and spreading the word about the facebook page!    Maybe we can make a difference!  
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blang
Project
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Post by blang on Oct 22, 2010 15:45:39 GMT -5
I also called and received the same answer as to why they are shutting down. I asked if there is any chance that they decide not to close, and she said at this time, no, the decision has already been made. I then asked if there will be another fun promotional site replacing Millsberry. She said that General Mills will be focusing on "other offerings" whatever that means  I have a gut feeling we can get this decision changed if we get together and make them change their mind. Flood the phone lines, send letters and emails, spread the word about the Facebook page. If we all stand and watch, Millsberry will be gone. If we put up a fight, we'll at least make them think about this decision! |
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Post by hayleymcivor on Oct 22, 2010 15:48:41 GMT -5
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Post by spudos on Oct 23, 2010 17:00:20 GMT -5
Try to call as often as you can! The more calls they receive, the more they will get the picture.
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Post by zeke on Oct 24, 2010 14:10:09 GMT -5
I am utterly devastated at this. My and my children played Millsberry everyday. I homeschool my children and Millsberry has been a very educational, fun tool.
I called General Mills on Friday to find out why Millsberry was closing. I talked to two different people who were very helpful.
I finally was told that Millsberry is closing because of all the cloning. I asked more about that because I don't know much about it. Basically, people make duplicates of items and selling them for large amounts of MBs. They then get so many MBS that it skews the economy. The more people who did this, the worse it got. They tried to fix it but it was out of control.
They felt it best to start over on something else but they said they have to start from scratch and it will probably be at least a year before something new is started.
I asked if we would be able to keep everything that we own and they said that our items will not transfer into whatever it is they are now doing. Neither person would tell me what the new thing would be. I asked if it would cost money but he wouldn't answer that. He said that many of the details had not been worked out yet.
I told him I saw that a petition was being started in hopes of changing their mind. Although he thought that was nice, he said the decision had been made.
So to the cloners, thank you very much for ruining a fun, educational game.
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Post by zyvia on Oct 27, 2010 10:43:28 GMT -5
Hey guys I had some of my friends contact General Mills in reference to the cloning problem, because I had to hear this for myself, I can't verify what other people were told, but I can say we were told something a little different, we were told that they did have a problem with people cloning items in the past, but this is not the reason the site is closing, again we were told that the site is closing because of participation and all the other reasons we know about.
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Post by happydappy on Nov 5, 2010 16:05:30 GMT -5
Well for Peet's Sake come oN! I was home sick today and there are 2,152 citizens on right now and they should be in school! How did you even make money anyway! I was citizen of the week and this is the world's best computer game ( way better than the others) just have cool new exciting ideas like you could have a family and switch players and make a living!!!!!!!! I cant call just yet but i will! Millsberry is to awesome to let go and im sure the new thing they are making wont be nearly as good. And i did notice not many players play anymore It use to be in the 8000's and 9000's now its only in the 2000's Right now theres only 2'260 Thats still a lot of players though |
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Post by kanda on Nov 6, 2010 9:07:42 GMT -5
I too have been home sick for the last three weeks and in that time the players have been around 2-3's even on the weekends!  |
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Post by Faith on Nov 10, 2010 17:27:42 GMT -5
I can't believe they are closing this! I am now 18 and I remember playing this game with I was younger. It bought back SO many memories! VMK is closed, Runescape is now horrible, Neopets is out dated, and now Millsberry!  Why Millsberry! We've got to do something! Facebook pages, heck, I WILL put on advertisements on Google. Just you watch the people online counter go crazy from so many people! |
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Post by likeitornot34 on Nov 10, 2010 18:37:23 GMT -5
Well for Peet's Sake come oN! I was home sick today and there are 2,152 citizens on right now and they should be in school! How did you even make money anyway! I was citizen of the week and this is the world's best computer game ( way better than the others) just have cool new exciting ideas like you could have a family and switch players and make a living!!!!!!!! I cant call just yet but i will! Millsberry is to awesome to let go and im sure the new thing they are making wont be nearly as good. And i did notice not many players play anymore It use to be in the 8000's and 9000's now its only in the 2000's Right now theres only 2'260 Thats still a lot of players though You do have to take into account however that millsberry is a global thing - so while most people are in school, on the other side of the world, millions are let out of school. I can see what beaky means.  ~likeitornot34~  |
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Post by becky642 on Nov 11, 2010 9:13:00 GMT -5
As far as those counters go, keep in mind that when there were upwards of 10,000 people online at a time in 2007, the servers crashed or slowed to a crawl and people COULDN'T play. This was followed by months of no new items or promos, and more people lost interest. I recently sent a nice long letter to General Mills about the closing of Millsberry. I'm going to post it in another thread. Calling is not the way to get our word across. We need a letter writing campaign. When I called, I also mentioned the problem with our basements missing, so I was sent a copy of the transcript from the phone call. Let me tell you, the things I mentioned were NOT in the transcript. The customer service rep totally butchered my words. 
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Post by kanda on Nov 11, 2010 13:10:23 GMT -5
I am working on a letter now and will post it when I'm finished. I noticed in the transcript of your call becky that whoever did it made you sound very rude. Almost as if you were demanding and pushy and I think that's the worst part. Why would mills want to listen to people who sound pushy? I for one won't be calling anymore if that's how our words come across! |
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Post by hayleymcivor on Nov 11, 2010 16:45:03 GMT -5
Before I came across millsberry back in 2005 I was with neopets and club pequin. I diidn't like neopets because it was to much info on the home page and it was compcatied to use ( i was 10 yrs old ). I signed up to club pequin because it looked very child friendly, but then discovered that to use the full version and items you had to pay to use the site. For that reason alone II left and went on a hunt for a new game - MILLSBERRY ALL my friends were playing it So i joined in, the only thing i didn't like is when i went to the libruary and didn't sign off mills, people could use YOUR account and move stuff (well bck then you couldn't send a package), so maybe change you buddy and muck with your house a little  This then made me think about keeping up with 'sercurity' in real life Also Millsberry has tought me some life skills and has helped me with my maths at school. Before Millsberry, i didn't know how to right 1 million in figures! The yard sales came in and i saw things for 1,000,000 - so i learnt basic maths while playing mills I am sad to see Mills go from us all, but I hope this NEW GAME will not copy the other child friendly sites out there because mills was uniquie in many ways and I would like to see the creators build 'the next thing from Millsberry' To end this, I would like Millsberry to build more fun games that you can play without getting bored on some of them LOL for this NEW SITE! -something like 'fishland' but without the ads |
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Post by lit2bears on Nov 12, 2010 17:33:36 GMT -5
People listen up, DON'T WANT TO LOSE MILLSBERRY???  Get on Facebook, myspace, where ever people connect and tell all you can to join us in Millsberry. The more people we get to join the better chance of us KEEPING MILLSBERRY! (Hum...isn't that what Becky asked us to do months ago???)  Ask them: Do you like buying clothes? : Like to build your own home? : Play games to win money and get hold of rare Items! : Meet other Millsberry friends Join Us here at Millsberry.com  for fun, games, and surprises In Millsberry! All ARE welcome no matter what your age!  |
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