IMVU to Exit Beta This Summer

IMVU has been in open beta for some time--since April 2004 according to Wikipedia--but it's getting ready to go live. I just received an email from the platform's PR company looking "to put together a group of elite influencers to gather opinions and feedback on the product before we take them out of beta," which will happen some time this summer. The long public beta doesn't seem to have hurt growth, though: IMVU reports over 20 million registered users and 400,000 active users, thousands of content creators who have produced over 1.3 million unique items, and a teen-slanted demographic with "a lot of 20 and 30 somethings using their product" as well.

Comments

[Torte]

IMVU is not ready to come out of BETA -- read through their Content Creator Forum and all of the new developements they have thrown at us (and some, not even told us about), and you will know why just by reading the titles.

Then, hop over to the Bugs forum -- the client is not ready to go out of BETA at all -- nor is the previewer which is used for developing.

Unless IMVU comes out with a magic, fully funcioning client and previewer in the next few months, I do not see how coming out of BETA can eve be concidered.

[P. Joseph Sandbothe]

Considering that IMVU has alienated and angered most of those thousands of content creators with their new peer review program and continually changing product ratings I would be surprised if they can even continue as a beta let alone a full production model. This "teen demographic" is mostly funded by free promo credits which when used generate no profit for the developers. All the while the site makes more and more items "adult" or unfit for their site, losing the paying adult consumer. Add to that the constant software problems I am not optimistic as to the future.

[Amy]

IMVU is totally full of bugs and is no where near ready to come out of beta! There are so many things going on in there right now, they don't know whether to scratch their watches or wind their butts! They are having a HUGE issue with the devs and customers right now and how they are being treated, and there are WAY too many fake accounts that they can't take care of! The BBB already has complaints about them while being in beta, and once they come out, it's gonna get more, and then they can REALLY get in trouble. IMVU, please, PLEASE listen to your users! You are not ready to come out of beta!

[John]

IMVU uses horrible business practices. They hook you will a million reasons and promisses until they get your money then the coin flips. Not woth the time, effort or money.

I have been on imvu for a year and a half. I am now deleting my account.

[Kathy]

How can a company like this even think to come out of Beta?
Their site is filled with illegal music up for sale.
They have no communication with their community....you call their office and you get a very rude receptionist.
Their response to emails are minimal.

[John]

ROFL...IMVU is no where close to being ready to exit BETA mode. The messenger is so unstable it crashes or freezes changing outfits or if there are more that 2 chatters. They are understaffed, treat their developers/members horribly, and can't even follow their own TOS. In short IMVU is a mess ALL over, from business practices, and customer service, to the actual client itself. And if you need a response from staff....well I hope longevity runs in your family.

[John]

ROFL...IMVU is no where close to being ready to exit BETA mode. The messenger is so unstable it crashes or freezes changing outfits or if there are more that 2 chatters. They are understaffed, treat their developers/members horribly, and can't even follow their own TOS. In short IMVU is a mess ALL over, from business practices, and customer service, to the actual client itself. And if you need a response from staff....well I hope longevity runs in your family.

[JollyRancher]

IMVU is in no way ready to come out of beta.
their Employies are uniformed and unprofesional. When they are asked questions concerning the site the will either ignore you tottaly or say i dont have an answer for that right now i will get back to you on it. When they do not come back with answer the general user will tend to ask over and over again only to be brushed off or replied to in a rude and unprofesional manor. IMVU need to improve their customer service before even thinking of comming out of beta

[VOR]

Interesting. I thought you had to have a product first before you could go live. IMVU certainly does not have a fine tuned product to offer anyone. It is quite littered with broken concepts, broken tools and vague rules that even IMVU itself breaks. Not to mention all the dirty little secrets.

If they are going by statistics only, then they are false ones. I sure feel bad for the Board of Directors and investors who are only looking at falsified numbers that do not reflect the reality of the business they are counting on to become a success.

This truly is a business run using backwards logic, where in the product may be fudged to look good, but indeed, at the end of the day, the fudge will end up running down their backside.

As a user of this site myself, I truly would love to see it succeed, but almost every employee would need to be replaced, along with management. If this is what they plan on doing by selling this company, I sure hope to hell the potential buyer looks beyond the inflated numbers and actually looks at the product and the community itself before they are stuck with a lemon.

[Djar]

IMVU coming out of BETA? LMFAO so u wanna tell me its goin to become a finnished product? dream on

[Pamela]

HMMM where is the positive in feed back...Although the idea of this concept is a great one you have to be ahead and not lagging(lol) behind..This program is no where near ready to come out of beta. It is sad to see the changes being made and about the the only thing that is accurate in the inflated statement is the size of the interviewees head...it is not compatible with modern technology..meaning Microsofts wonderful new windows program vista(lol)all of the above statements are true and "the client" is not considered or listened to in their forum content...very little positive feed back. And if the majority of earnings are being made off the sale of bootlegged music and net content due to copyright violations. Then this is the lawsuit waiting for you.

[Boo]

The ONLY good thing about IMVU coming out of BETA is that they will finally be legally responsible for their actions against their user & developer community & will be able to be held liable for their many many illegal actions against both parties.

I agree that there needs to be a COMPLETE change of staff from Board down in addition to a 180 turn around in company policy

[eXium]

Hm, IMVU coming out of beta? Wow, it's been a while, but I think it is necessary. I hope this means that there will be much needed improvement. Now, IMVU is great - otherwise why would so many people still use it? I see a LOT of negative feedback in this thread, but I assure you that IMVU is quite interesting, they are just dealing with issues that any decent sized company is going to deal with. For example, World of Warcraft deals with illegal gold farmers, and even after tens of thousands of bans, still has illegal gold farmers. Second Life was dealing with "Age Players", and I almost guarantee you they still exist. And IMVU deals with "music rings" and even now illegal gold farmers sneaking into the economy, and it probably always will occur. You can't blame IMVU for those sort of issues - as they only made the canvas with good intentions for social entertainment. But you can definitely judge their business model regarding their "Content Creator" program. That and their "Resellers Program" need a bit of tweaking before this out of beta release. That's my 3 cents. (Yes, 3)

[imvuvictim]

This is very interesting news,IMVU is going to try and go legit eh?
so does this mean that the IMVU forums will no longer be censored and that posts will no longer be edited and/or deleted in order to cover up unethical activites by staff and forum mods?
will the first amendment still not apply on IMVU as has been stated repeatedly by IMVU staff?
The business ethics of this company and many of it`s employees does not lend themselves to IMVU being anything more than a second rate beta test product.
It is ironic that they say they are looking for a group to offer feed back before they come out of beta this summer.IMVU users have flooded the forums with feedback for over a year now,almost all of which has been ignored by IMVU.All negative feedback is deleted from the forums and the user who posted it is banned.perhaps IMVU should have said they are looking for a group to offer them only positive feedback to stroke their egos before they come out of beta this summer.
An IMVU manager was quoted as saying that after dealing with imvu users all day he fully believes that the gene pool needs to clean out it`s shallow end.
The blatant favortism and double standards exhibited by imvu staff and their agents is nothing less than criminal in my opinion.
There are 3 sets of rules on IMVU one for the developers and users one for IMVU and a third set that is an unwritten set that IMVU makes up as they go along.
It`s ironic that a company like IMVU,that is registered with the dept of labor as a telecommunications company and is operating a chat server,has virtually no comunication skills when it comes to communicating with it`s customers/beta testers.In fact as I already mentioned the IMVU forums motto is "the first amendment doesnt apply on IMVU"
refering of course to the first amendment right to free speech.
The stataholic website shows that IMVU user statistics over the past 12 months have plunged by as much as %70 in some areas.
As others have stated the only good thing about IMVU coming out of BETA will be that they might finally be held legally accountable for their unethical,deceptive, and unfair business practices.
As far as the performance of the actual chat client, all I can say is not only is it not ready to be taken out of beta but it in fact should be taken back to alpha testing.
In order to use the website a user must use two different web browsers,becomes some features dont work with IE while other features dont work with firefox.Depending on what you planning to do on the website will dicate which browser you will have to use.
IMVU coming out of BETA this summer? lmao I think this annoucement is IMVU`s attempt at an early april fools joke.

[CONTENT CREATOR]

Reasons why IMVU should'nt go LIVE
1.BUGS IN MESSENGER
2.BUGS IN PREVIEWER
3.CONTENT CREATOR PROGRAM A MESS
4.UNPROFESSIONAL STAFF
5.TEDIOUS CATALOGE
6.NO COMMUNICATION FROM STAFF
7.MANAGEMENTS DENIAL OF ILLEGAL MUSIC BEING SOLD AND REFUSAL TO DEAL WITH IT.
8.STAFFS LACK OF ACTUAL USAGE OF IMVU RESULTS IN BAD DECISION MAKING
9.IMVU IS OBSOLETE AS FAR AS PROGRAMMING GOES
10.GEARED TOWARDS TEENS WITH NO MONEY WHEN IN REALITY IT IS MOSTLY ADULTS SPENDING THE MONEY.
11.AP PASS IS A JOKE IN ITSELF.
12.IMVU CHANGES RULES AND TOS WITH TOTAL DISREGUARD FOR THE COMMUNITY.
13.TOTAL DISREGUARD AND CONTEMPT FOR THE DEVING COMMUNITY.
And this is totally out of context:
The long public beta doesn't seem to have hurt growth, though: IMVU reports over 20 million registered users (alot of these numbers are dead IMVU accounts made when the company first opened and others who have came,seen and left as quick as they arrived)and 400,000 active users,(I would query what is thier meaning of ACTIVE) thousands of content creators who have produced over 1.3 million unique items,(thousands of devs who IMVU has alienated and 1.3 million products made by good people who are tired of being taken advantage of) and a teen-slanted(IMVU refuses to acknowledge that its adult base has imploded) demographic with "a lot of 20 and 30 somethings using their product" as well.

NEED WE SAY MORE?

[Jeffrey1970]

Not much I can add, other then what everyone has already said is 100% true and accurate!!!

[ns]

oy! they are no where near ready to come out of beta! first of all, imvu has been changing things without notifying anyone of the change, except in the forum, but only a select few ever visit the forums. some people do not have any access to it at all! second they are imposing fees on people so they can "gain control of what's theirs" and put more money in their pockets, straining the already strained community. third, the fact that minors can't get credits and beg or do things they should not, is a huge factor. while imvu has a tos and other policies, they DO NOT enforce most of what they write most of the time!
many of the content creators are having issues because of all the new things imvu is adding without telling us. there is a huge problem with copyrights, infringement and other things they feel they are not liable for. the chat program works fairly well, most of the time, the catalog to buy items is still a mess and loaded down with many illegal music products, and now they are trying to get content creators to sign away their rights to what ever they make.
i feel since i joined in 2006, that imvu is severely under trained and understaffed. they claim they cannot answer many questions we pose because we don't need to know. i'm sorry, but imvu needs to get a serious reality check if they think this is the way things need to be done!
if you don't believe any of this, take a look in the forums, at the policies and ask around! many people are unhappy with them at the moment!!

[Disgruntled Creator]

I have one thing to add. (actually i want to just expand on something) The fact that "Peer Review" is nothing more then FORCED LABOR on paying users.
You pay for your name and to be allowed to make products. You pay for credits to buy product. IMVU charges a large amount to make the 1st product and then takes an additional amount from every single item sold. They also implement that you now must "work" to police their catalog because they refuse to be held accountable for anything that is within the products.

Forced Labor on customers who pay to use their site. ready to go live? What a laugh.

[slnsual]

At the rate IMVU is presently going, they won't have many creating content by this summer so I hope the plan includes hiring some content creators who they pay rather than exploit for labor.

[Poked]

400,000 active users? Ha!

Go to their main page and take a look at the active users everyday.

An average of 50,000.

20 million members are dead dummy accounts. IMVU out of beta is truly laughable. And they disrespect and abuse the developers that create their content. I am a content creator there and an active member.

[IhateSubway]

First they practically take away the Access Pass, then they bring up Peer Review, which EVERYONE was against but they go ahead with it anyway. Then, they pull the publish bull, then they let slip a "bug" that charged everyone 5% for any transaction. Now you can't submit anything to the catalog unless you have the new previewer which is buggy and locks up 90% of the time, and they want to go live? Is IMVU run by a bunch of monkeys? This is just ridiculous. I'm so glad I stopped developing because IMVU obviously doesn't give a rat's behind about their customers/content creators. They're driving away all the adults, whom are the ones that invest REAL money into IMVU in the first place...

[LordSoulFire]

" IMVU reports over 20 million registered users and 400,000 active users "

The last I knew, IMVU only had a little over 3 Million Users, that's besides the point however. The reason for only 400,000 Active Users and not 20 Million? Take a good look at IMVU's policies and the way it treats its paying customers. It speaks volumes.

Absolutely hilarious... IMVU coming out of Beta? It was lucky to come out of Alpha. The fact is, IMVU needs to go back into Alpha so that testers can focus on the bugs, Customer Service can focus on doing what's right for and by its paying customers, PR can work on its irresponsible marketing in terms of marketing in emphasis towards teenagers while not having the safety measures in place to protect them, and the CEO can focus on making sure that all teams know what the rest are doing at all times.
This company has made a fine art out of ignoring the customer and pushing for their goals regardless of whom it hurts. Until it learns how to treat its customer base with full disclosure and respect, it has no need to come out of Beta.
On the other hand, maybe it would be best if this company continued towards its goal of IPO - maybe then the company will be purchased by Disney or some other company that knows just what the hell its doing and the service can improve on all levels.

Bottom Line.. Beta? It should have been out of Beta a year after being in Alpha because the at the end of the day its still in C-Stage.... Crap.

LordSoulFire
X-APC General Manger ( IMVU Council )
X-IMVU User ( Second Life buries IMVU )
X-IMVU Content Creator ( currently selling not creating. )
X-Paying User of IMVU

Enough said.

[Angie]

Ignore all the rude comments these are stupid people with issues trying to ruin IMVU and the fun that can be had on it. Like any other tech chat it has some issues but the fun and cool products out weigh the bad points. Don't let these fools keep you from trying it out. You can do or be anything while chatting with friends or meeting new people. It's really, really a fun place to be. WARNING if you looking for an XXX site go search the internet for some porn sites LOL This is a chat for non disturbed men looking to get internet laid and cheat on their wives and gf's. So don't sign up then complain. Get your jolly's somewhere else.

[JVNT]

IMVU is NOT ready to come out of beta. IMVU is a cool idea, and it was good. But right now, they seem to be doing everything they can to screw over the content creator's and paying members. They're slowly making everything AP that really shouldn't and have started using a peer review to keep from having to police the catalog their selves. Many suggestions, bug reports, etc posted on the message boards there are constantly ignored, and they don't even bother to listen to members (the fact that they put up the peer review is a great example of that). IMVU is NOT a finished product and needs to stay in beta until the bugs are fixed, and until the staff gets a clue.
I would love to see IMVU succeed, I love the site and love creating on there. But there's no doubt in my mind that they are causing their own gradual downfall.

[Jacob]

IMVU is a chat client that you can create content for. There are rules that have to be followed when you make content. The biggest problem is that creators make products that is against IMVU's rules.They sell these products to customers that use IMVU to chat. IMVU removes these products that never should have been made in the first place and then the customers get upset.

Creators have to stop breaking the rules then blaming IMVU. IMVU didn't make the content and shouldn't have to police the content. Each creator should be responsible for their own products and be thrown off IMVU when they break the TOS.

IMVU doesn't condone nor allow this type of thing but people that use IMVU do it anyway. I'm sick and tried of all the creators passing off their bogus content and getting it taken away from us instead of just following the rules. stop blaming IMVU and stop ripping off customers. We pay good money. If anything, IMVU doesn't punish creators enough.

You sell virtual goods and like any store, should be held responsible to your customers by law not IMVU. What will you do when you get sued and not IMVU for breaking the TOS and selling your products to unsuspecting customers? there is a group going after all of you...not IMVU. You own a store, you put up the products you owe us.

IMVU is a kick ass chat that I highly recommend. I don't recommend creators producing products that break IMVU rules. They aren't help resonsible for their actions.

[M]

IMVU coming out of Beta is as brilliant as eating lead paint for a snack. The entire politics behind the site are corrupt to begin with (for both users and creators), customer service is still nonexistant (after two plus years and counting), products are constantly rated and rerated and then when complaints arise the company simply points to a TOS declaring that "they don't make money here, so its ok to change the rules", and the design and construction are constantly buggy without proper fixes (ie-when a fix actually does happen a NEW improved bug pops up..). There is no reason to put any new money into this site until a great deal changes. If you are ever curious, just pop in and read a few of the forums from a very large variety of outraged community members, adults and teens alike. Also, if you plan on having any adult oriented fun, then pack up and skip along because it won't happen unless you can truly become used to daily disappointment and a loss of rights to exploiting teenagers.

[DrNoXx]

IMVU will die soon as it is not the only virtual world in the net and they have made MAYOR mistakes with their customers AND developers.

What please was the Activities to get all the stuff tagged AP and so on last year, when there is now a HUUUUGE BLACK MARKET for Articles which would be tagged AP or Mature by imvu. They forced it by deleting many articles of users BEFORE informing them... ahh the list is too long to be thought of what happened in that times... and since... it has not really become much better: there is some developers forums in wich a middleman brings the news to the community, so the customers can not say there would not be an information flow, but not because the leaders of imvu would have realized, that those customers are their profitand they would want to hear what the customers think.

I verified my age... by sending my passport's scan and I said I want this verification for all my accounts... LOL... then they wanted money to veryfy my age... on the other accounts wtf is That??? it is that the customers should pay for the mistakes, imvu planners have made... way more: after I had verified my age for one account, they wouldn't even accept from a verified member papal payments for the AP of a second account I own . After everybody knows, that it is idiotic to pay with creditcard data in the internet, they want to force us to do such idiotic things... go see the security forums these days about open selling of creditcarddata in the internet... a platinum card data will cost you 38 dollars... is that what imvu wants? Children buying a platinum creditcard with their paypal or egold accounts and then cheat imvu... or do they want their customers to provide their creditcarddetails over the net if they haven't done that yet to have some more data for the hackers selling them?

By making the developers angry they will only have lousy creators left, as all the good ones will go somewhere else to create there and sell there... with less struggle and working programs to really feel like a 3D creator, not a lousy programmer,not even worth to be asked. Their manuals for developers were so lame, that it was only reading between the lines, that would have brought you forwards.

I can only say the same as all the others here: I can not imagine, that imvu will leave beta staus the next few years as I believe the few people left there will leave more and more to other similar services, that KNOW what service on a customer is and thinks in advance instead of punching customers and developers in the face all the time, so money will become less and less - how will they pay developers then?

AND as imvu is more setting their eyesight to children, they will loose much more, as children now make their own 3D worlds on their own PC's already and connect those then p2p... They can submit their own stuff that will not cost a dime. LOL, people, this short sighted methods of a company that could be THE first community worldwide now if they would have had at least a little knowledge of marketing and service and besides realized that they are dealing with living humans here, not pixels.

Most of the grown up people that wanted to have both... a 3D messenger to meet the family and such AND a possibility to have some virtual "sexuality" they have lost already to redlightcenter, sexvilla and such services... well, that were the people, that left THE MONEY I guess...

I could go on and on... sorry if I bore you all

[JVNT]

Me praising IMVU? I don't think so.

I posted a comment and it was either changed to me praising IMVU, or it was deleted and replaced with someone using my name. I didn't say any of what now shows under my name a few comments higher.

IMVU IS NOT READY TO COME OUT OF BETA!

Not until the staff learns to listen to the members and fix what needs to be fixed. They are hardly, if ever clear about what is and is not supposed to be AP. Flagging is a complete waste. Someone could flag a full floor length gown with long sleeves and a high collar and it would get marked to AP without even being reviewed.

There are bugs in the previewer that aren't addressed too.

I want IMVU to succeed because it's a good idea, and I like making things on there. But IMVU is causing it's own downfall.

[JVNT]

(Eh, ignore the thing about my post getting changed, I used a different internet browser that overlapped a bunch of text and showed my name under someone elses comment, my mistake.)

[xXNanceXx]

IMVU is so not ready. They change their virtual goods policy every month, and without notice to anyone. They assume we are going to read it everyday, like we have the time. now they have come to the conclusions that ANY sleepwear is ACCESS PASS ONLY, and going through the catelog and moving every item deamed as sleepwear, lingerie, undergarments,boxers, to the APO. Not only does this SUCK! but it is bull$hit too. Eventually every thing in the catalog will be access pass, As someone pointed out to me today in the forums, sandals should also be AP because people that have a foot fetish would consider that sexual. And funny enough I would not put it past imvu to actually follow through with that too, like the other clothing restrictions. next to go would be toilets, beds, showers, and bla bla... and regular every day users will have to wear only Burkas, when customer service actually does its job it intales, communicate with the users and developers, fix the bugs in the previewer and the chat client, get a virtual goods policy that actually reflects REAL LIFE RATINGS, then they should go live. But right now they belong along side the now dead Saddam Hussain and ex-memebers of his rediculous regime! DON'T YOU JUST LOVE OPPRESSION?:-s

[SolitaireStrange]

This is crazy! IMVU are constantly updating their 3D messenger system in order to eliminate the bugs in the system but each time they do they end up creating a new bug instead - or bringing back an old one that should have gone away months ago. More than 3 people in a chat room and the system crashes, trying on anything in the dressing room takes ages to load, the credits system is flawed both for users and developers - no way should it come out of beta!

[SolitaireStrange]

This is crazy! IMVU are constantly updating their 3D messenger system in order to eliminate the bugs in the system but each time they do they end up creating a new bug instead - or bringing back an old one that should have gone away months ago. More than 3 people in a chat room and the system crashes, trying on anything in the dressing room takes ages to load, the credits system is flawed both for users and developers - no way should it come out of beta!

[DeeperSymphony]

I would like to respond to JVNTs post specifically as a content creator, and I know you are a content creator as well.

I have never had a product pulled from the catalogue or re-rated in any way because I have checked every product since the MCG was released with the MCG skin. To an extent I agree that devs need to be held accountable for their product, but IMVU did change the rules in the middle of the game, essentially. There has also been a gigantic issue with grief flagging of products. I have seen clothing with NO ToS infringements get re-rated or pulled for no apparent reason. So IMVU "not punishing devs enough" is a gross overstatement in my opinion, at least to a certain extent. In the case of the music rings, boxes etc, which are in fact ILLEGAL products, certainly your statement I think is appropriate, however there are some fatal flaws in they system that are turning many good and responsible developers away.

1) Dev Tokens- Many Devs don't even know what to do with these because they are largely pointless and annoying. Why should I get 10 credits for a product that I rightfully should make a modest 75 on? Oh wait, IMVU isn't making money on it because they issued fake currency that people are now paying in, so let's just pass the suckiness down to the devs.
2) Peer Review- I actually enjoy peer reviewing items, however I feel like things are just getting passed along because there are some clear breaches of ToS that I have voted as "Product Fails" and will be among only one other who does so, and yes, I have clearly read the ToS and VGP. It has opened my eyes to how many clearly AP stickers are trying to pass through under the guise of being GA and overall I think peer review helps keep devs accountable for their content. Nevermind that it will take out a giant chunk of my income (I make custom dev pieces for the DOC and other outfit contests, with the lag of peer review, I will no longer be able to guarantee they will have their outfit by contest time.)
3) Lack of Communication. It has been said and said above, I won't waste my typing about it here.

[allyson]

IMVU needs to get rid of children 1st...where I come from...you don't see 13 yr. olds walking around in outfits like that or w/ them bodies they make & where exactly do they get money from to buy this crap?? yes, from parents, but you have us ADULTS that WORK & PAY for IMVU on a WEEKLY basis!! Make another program for them for pete's sake! Im glad that I stumbled upon this..I think it's bs that they can't even tend to their paying customer, which I AM, and decides to go LIVE w/out takin' care of other business first! I would lose money, some serious money, if I end up deleting my account, but I'd rather do that than continue to be treated like a nobody when I & a whole bunch of OTHERS pays their damn paychecks every week! THAT'S what pisses me of the most..if it wasn't for US payin' customers...IMVU wouldn't be able to eat, shit, sleep,....pretty much live. I have 2 children & there is NO WAY IN HELL they would be on here & I'm sure that o

[EAKMcDowell]

IMVU going out of beta? NO WAY! The chat client crashes a lot, lags even the most powerful computers, and likes to crash the moment you have more than 3 people in the room. Also, staff turn a blind eye to mule accounts and cheating going on in the Daily Outfit Contest, instead of doing the decent thing and permanently disabling them. I feel it is poorly managed, and needs a lot of work before even considering going out of beta. If they do, they won't last long at all.

[allyson]

oops,lol..i hit post instead of preview lmao

[PrincessofErised]

The glaring problems with IMVU are fixable, if they would only take the time to listen to their users. I have thought and posted many times that splitting IMVU into two sites, the main one with free speech, actions and developing and the second, IMVU Jr. for all the kiddies. You can police it to your hearts content. You also cut down the risk of underage users and adults mixing. You eliminate most of the AP problems or even the need for it, that awful MCG, and cut down on the server overload which crashes. Fully staff both sites and weed out the unused accounts. Two separate catalogs and clean it out. They have an outfit contest everday with between 300 and 900 submits. They police THIS with staff and mods, etc... but the catalog? IMVU gets it's cut on everything, on both ends, with the submissions and the sales. Then it bans, re-rates or pulls these items so the customer and the devs must re-create and re-buy and do the whole process over and over again. So who is happy? IMVU

[A]

I've been on IMVU for over a year and half and yes, they have continually screwed their customers over and over again. They lie, they misinform, they don't follow their own TOS yet are quick to point it out to their customers when they break it, and they surely do not listen to their customers at all, EVEN when they ask for feedback. The client is a resource hog and instead of fixing the issues they have with it, they look at other ways to take the consumers' money and not follow-through on what customers have asked for. They add extra expenses to developers without even telling them, and then it's OOOPS!!! We forgot!!! Basically, if you really don't value your money, like to get screwed over time and time again, this is the place for you.

[Mooncatx]

I think IMVU is coming out of Beta even in the crappy shape it's in-- is because they screwed the pooch so badly since last year that they have to go public now or risk never going public because they'll have crashed and burned in beta. IMVU since I joined has gone from Fab to Sad. Buggier with each new release, and screws over devs and customers on a regular basis. Second Life and any of the other Virtual worlds freely open to 3D avatar fans are better products on almost every level. The one edge IMVU had was that it USED to not need a lot of resources and even clunky old computers could play it. It's an edge it loses a bit more of with every "new" version of their program.

[Tired&Cheated]

What A joke this Is !!! I cant stop laughing at the fact that the Clowns At imvu actually believe they might be anywhere ready to come out of the "Eternal Beta"
As a customer I have been duped misled lied to by imvu.

They advertised and sold to mwe an Acces pass for $20 so I could be an Adult with Other Adults they sat back and rubbed thier hands in glee when they were collecting all the money for the AP items submitted and sold in THIER catalog and then one day decided that this was no longer a fun and pulled a great many items while the money is coming in for sales of ILLEGAL items such as Music products they look the other way.

They renege on promises also a good while ago they marketed the "Gold Pass" with a promise of furthur special actions to be included within the gold pass spectrum.
The Gold Pass members were to pay a one off fee for the service which they did and they did then they waited and hey presto one day IM-FU decided to screw all the GP holders by announcing the VIP status now the VIP's got everything the GP's were supposed to be getting with a twist they had to pay $10 a month for the "priveledge" of being a vip A friend complained and had her account disabled for daring to question the imvu DICTATORSHIP and don't be fooled IMVU or IM-FU as the members refer to it is dictatorial It has absolutely no real or ETHICAL customer service whatsoever It will screw you over time and time again the forum is run and controlled by power hungry Hitlers with bands of subservient little Hitlers kissing the butts of the Hitlers that be in charge of the forums You will get no joy from daring to complain about IMVU or its services on the forums because the forums are imvu's private property. AS such the henchmen and women who control the forums will delete your post or alter it and slap yo with warnings or forum bans to silence you then they even delete an account that you paid for with hard earned for daring to complain !!

If you do join Be very carefull what you buy from the catolog as it will be pulled and taken away eventually and the tos states that if you buy a product that is later re rated you will not be compensated for the product you no longer own
through no fault of your own. Imvu has the right to steal your property.
In short I M F U has all the rights you as consumer have none at all.
you only have the right to buy more I M F U creds.

[John]

IMVU is a nice concept that was badly thought out and executed by staff with the aptitude of the "Keystone Cops".
The problems with bad treatment of customers, content creators, catalog, peer review fiasco, AP/VIP/GoldPass rip offs have all been stated in previous posts AND all true.
Something else severely wrong is the fact IMVU seems to think creating a virtual society mingling 11, 12 to 17 yr old minors with adults is fine and dandy. WRONG,WRONG WRONG!!!!!!!!!!. Minors are already at risk from online predators in so many ways on the internet, and IMVU practically creates a predators paradise throwing children in with adults on every level. The minors should have their own separate site, separate catalog and most importantly separate GROUPS. As IMVU Groups program is set up now, any SICKO looking for young minds and flesh can create a group and lure in his/her prey. These groups are unmonitored, and only checked or deleted if a complaint is lodged.
So, IMVU going out of beta? I don't think so. They need to get back to basics, create a messenger client that is stable, delete all those bogus, unused, inactive, and unverified accounts. Create a guideline that content creators can follow that isn't being changed at IMVU's whim. They need to create a customer service department that actually services the customers, as well as a service rep for Content Creators. Hell, they can't even run an outfit contest, that isn't full of bogus accounts cheat voting people to the top on a daily basis. Thats probably 1/2 or more of the "active" users, mule accounts with unverified email addresses created to cheat at a silly contest.
WAKE UP IMVU, you are nowhere close to being ready to exit BETA.

[Anonymous]

IMVU: A WAKE UP CALL!

I have a report on my experience with IMVU. Although I may only be thirteen I would like to talk about IMVU.

IMVU is a virtual site where anyone can chat. I’ve personally been on IMVU myself so I’ve experienced the downsides.

First of all IMVU says it is a friendly web site but is it? It’s like a chat site where adults meat new people. There’s is nothing wrong with that but I’ve recently heard a women dating on a site. When they got back from the date she made the mistake of letting him enter her house. She got raped. I was a former member of IMVU and an avatar said I want to f#*! you. I’ll remind you I’m only thirteen, you can’t blame me if I feel abused. I pressed on the Report Abuse button but I haven’t been told what punishment the use gets! That’s called IMVU service.

Secondly you are pretty much talking to a bunch of strangers. It’s like walking up to a random person and saying “Hi. Want to chat?” There’s always a fear that you’re actually talking to a fatty who lives in an old shak eating a pie with tomato sauce! Or an obsessed stalker at a coffee shop tapping on a laptop and talking about meeting in person!

Last of all you have to buy credits with real money. What’s the point? You are using your money on a bunch of pretend things! They also have this weird system of a refund! A friend of mine never received a reply because she wanted a refund and well no more money. They’ve also said you can start your own business, first of all you have to buy your own name. How ridiculous is that? The people who complain to IMVU end up getting their account deleted and getting no refund! The people who are currently using the site are just wasting away in front of their computers.

My advice is GET A LIFE! There are so many people in the world who are in poverty and have no food, no water and no shelter. How can people be so selfish and only complain about things they don’t have that are not essential to life. Most poor children end up being rich and famous and helping people who were like them. Don’t get old and regret not making a difference or helping anyone. This is my wake up call you either hang up or listen.

From,
Anonymous

[Prokofy Neva]

Wow, IMVU got all the devs in the IMVU FIC beta community hopping mad and they are venting! They must be doing *something* right. I am *so* there.

[Rip]

Prokofy your such a GOOFBALL jezzzzz!

[Blakhawk]

Plaaaaant!

[Tukiisan]

IMVU coming out of BETA? You guys got to be joking. It's barely ready to be released. Try another 4 years of fixing things and please stop doing ridiculous things.

1) I bet with you that 70% of the community spenders are AP users. The more you delete the more you're pissing of people. The less the people want to stay.

2) Taking those DEV's items with your new TOS? Jesus.. Have you guys ever think without those DEV's will youhave so many products in IMVU? They are your BUILDING KEY to your blardy community.

3) Get a LAWYER to check what you wrote on TOS and PRODUCT details as in Buying AP details. Unless you guys want to get sue for misleading consumer.

IMVU is far from being ready. You guys are just lucky to be in BETA if not i'm sure by now IMVU got a number of lawyer letters.

[FallingBelowTheLight]

*shrug* I don't care about the bugs.... JUST MAKE THOSE "Mac-Version" whiners to stop it!!!

[StealthShadow]

FallenBelowTheLight's right, because I'm sick of people complaining, and whining, and screaming to make a Mac version. Just do it, already! If you're gonna whine, don't do it to me.

[Dainn]

John's correct. IMVU isn't ready for Beta, and yes, they could use a grown-up version website. Predators seem to be growing nowadays, so IMVU, WAKE UP!

[Irated]

Good Lord! IMVU is coming out of Beta? This is damn hilarious! IMVU is really pissing me off.I'm a new user and was really enjoying IMVU when all of a sudden, my favorite corset dress was taken away from me by IMVU, it claimed that the corset dress was wrongly rated, i took a look at pictures which i have taken,and found nothing wrong with it. IMVU consists of a bunch of corrupted staff, who are money suckers. Though i don't purchase credits as i think it's a waste of time, but i really pity those who spent their money and time on IMVU. The AP pass is just one of the means to suck more money from their users, they don't even work, why the hell do users purchase the AP pass if they can't even do anything with it and have to be constantly warned by IMVU. In my opinion, IMVU shoul first pay more attention to users rather then sitting back and shaking their legs, waiting for money to roll in. They have no rights to treat their users, if all users stop using IMVU, then IMVU will not earn any money, so indirectly IMVU depends on us for income.Chat freezing is really making me go crazy,i have to reinstall IMVU for 6 times (not exxageration). Until they learn their lesson, they should never come out of Beta. They will just be a joke to their competitors.

[AnonIMVU]

I bet the 13 years old Anonymous is a 4channer Anon. But he's right.

My IMVU female avatar was attacked by one of those random stupid users from India or Egypt. The user was angry when my avatar didn't show him some virtual boobs. He didn't have an AP anyway so he wouldn't have seen shit.

I want kids out of IMVU, I want those users too stupid to understand what they can do online out of IMVU, and I want the AP to be worth of what it costs.
I guess that's what anyone else in the community wants anyway...

[Trenchsoul]

I will financially back, with my limited resources, a lawsuit against IMVU for their theft and misuse of developer's creations and AP user purchases. One of two things needs to happen: IMVU needs to either shut down and revamp completely OR sell to a company that will do the jobs their not currently doing themselves. It's a travesty that they are "slanting" towards a teen based client when the AP and other adult users are the ones supporting and promoting their system and being reamed by it. If there is a class action lawsuit, I can be counted on to put in my worth behind it.

[BabeOfBathory]

Copy of the complaint I sent to IMVU which I'm sure they will as usual NOT answer. I have yet to receive one reply or explanation from them. Guess the whole idea is to chase off decent developers and keep the garbage:
The product I received a TOS warning for sticker HEY was set to AP. It is in a pose YOU approved for AP and is NOT showing any restricted areas. I would like you to explain why this was switched to RESTRICTED from AP and why I received a TOS warning. This is completely ridiculous and since the stickers are quite old and have been up there quite some time an explanation is necessary. This sticker and the WAITING sticker are in your approved AP poses! Yet I received TOS warnings on both and both were switched to restricted. After about 8 months. Unlike other messages sent to you I expect this one to be answered. There is nothing RESTRICTED about either one of those stickers! YEAH I'M SURE THEY'RE READY TO GO LIVE. PLEASE.

[Pikaboochoo]

IMVU is NOT ready for going out of beta.
They gotta learn to respect thier developer community and stop using them and lying to em and treating them like crap.
Without all those dev the selection of items would be very little and imvu would of had to pay more to hire someone to make stuff.
PLus they got devs doing peer review.
And words been said some poor devs ran into an item someone made that contained child porn.
NOt somthing that someone wants to see.
Good reason for the peer review to be there so that item get properly failed and the creator get reported but still no one should volenteer thier time have to deal with crap like that.
PLus developers have to deal with oceans of items containing copywritten music from artist like system of a down or Korn and many more.
The devs know they are illegal but cant do anything to stop them execpt skip them.
IMvu makes money off of these Illegal items yet they claim NO RESPONCIBILITY for the items.
YEa haha Lawsuit waiting to happen

IMvu makes big money off of devs.
HECK They make mega money.
They pay to submit and pay part for every sale.
Imvus is also saving and TON by having developers do peer review.

They are obviously getting everyones money.
NOw since devs and paying customers are footing the bill?
WTF are we being treated so freaking poorly?

[NYOB]

This weekend for the Memorial Day Holiday IMVU Corp. posted a white supremecy power fist in a company banner. The banner was a feable attempt to prop up a failing peer review system. The unfortunate choice of symbols was so shocking and outrageous that IMVU should be made to apologize all over the world in multiple languages. The official company response was something along the lines of..."uh, that's not what we meant" yet the sickening banner was left displayed on every page for the duration of the weekend (so far). Heads should roll, from the top down. Maybe new management could bring the company out of beta.

[Lucy]

no way ready to come out of beta

[Lucy]

no way ready to come out of beta

[LosingEverything]

There is no way IMVU is ready to go out. I kinda follow FallingBelowTheLight's words. Why wait to get out of Beta just to make a Mac version? I hate those people who complain all the time about the whole "Mac Version" bullcrap. Anyway, besides that, IMVU needs to learn to wake up and fix the problems and flaws (which are plentiful) before Live. IMVU, crazy? Hell yes.

[tam]

Imvu did a major screw up over the weekend they put up a white fist banner that stated you must do peer review for the catalog.As you all know a white fist represent racism (white supremacy)or socialist movement.It was originally a black symbol now turn hate symbol.I was so shocked if I did not already bought my name I would have left.

I have a copy of said banner for those who don't believe me.

Sorry for us they are going no where fast

[Bro******]

I agree and believe everything I have read on this whole page. IMVU is phucked when it comes to the way they treat their paying customers so that their non-paying customers can be happy. Screw that.

I am tired also of losing items in my inventory, I paid for that crap, and though I get a refund it is only a part of what I paid. IMVU makes money off sales, makes money off of deleting the product after the sale forcing dev's to remake items to charge them again, to delete the product again, it never stops.

I quit buying credits, canceled my VIP, and am 2 steps short of canceling my account and going someplace where being an adult means being treated like an adult.

Let the unemployed nonpaying children have IMVU...then see where they go!

[Kristy]

IMVU is a total rip off..they take your money and find some excuse to keep changing the rules but if you break the rules..see ya..no compensation..I'll never go back and I advise anyone even thinking about that site to stay away, especially if you are an adult. The site is run by children who don't know what being an adult is. They offered products of an adult nature and after purchased were taken away as they continually re-rate items in thier catalogue..for the most part thier site is always crashing and they can't seem to work out the bugs..as far as I'm concerned they can kiss my ass..kristy

[Mieiikki]

Sorry, I do have to agree with most here. IMVU is FAR from ready. It is not just the bugs in their software .. its the bugs in their entire system and not thinking

ANYTHING though. I myself am a small Dev on imvu.. I feel personally like I am getting the shaft. First and foremost.. they get 10% of all of my sales that they make ME bust my rump for.. Anyone can grief flag for zero reason and my item is not even looked at, it auto goes to Adult rated I get no warning so I may fix said item. I am forced to do peer review to ensure my own items get though and into the catalog in a timely fashion. While doing Peer review IF I as a responsiable Dev fail an item for meeting the TOS and the rest of the Devs decide to pass it anyways (Because they are pissed about peer review) Then I get punished, I get that vote which my "Peers" say was wrong but, was actually correct per IMVU's rules counted against me. Funny how I see some that I "get wrong" turn to Disabled within a week.. WoW so the item that my Peers Passed and I got punished because I was wrong and failed it, is to bad to even be Adult pass and gets pulled period. Is anything done to the ones that decided to pass everything? Nope .. only the Devs that actually vote according to TOS wether we agree with Tos or not. Why do I not agree with Tos?? I pay for adult pass for Dev reasons, but I have many friends that simply want that aspect of the service. Now, tell me.. why do we pay $20 to see each other stand around in the nude and wear slightly revealing clothing?? Oh, and Pajamas because bras and panties or anthing that is considered a nightgown/nightie is aduly only. Anyways, why do I have to give them $20, prove I am an adult and then can not do what ever it is that I wish? If I want actions which would dipict my Avatars doing the nasty that I feel that is my god given right, if I want "toys" for my Avatar that is too.. it I want a guy with the john holmes look or a girl with double Es that is also my bussiness.. I have proved I am an adult, I paid my due to be in an adult community.. WHY am I being censored??

The need new servers, larger servers.. They have way to many members and not even server space for everyone.. If they did when the kids got out of school the servers wouldnot start slowing down and locking up, white screening our chat windows and freezing the catalog. To be 100% honest , If I myself did not have so much of my own cash tied up in imvu... I would be some place else

[openyoureyespeople]

Everyone who even knows about IMVU (and other sites like it) should stay away. They are looking out for no one but themselves. No offense to anyone, but anyone who develops for these crooks is nieve (sp?). It is so obvious, that a few computer nerds (maybe?) thought of a simple way to dupe people into padding their pockets.

If they were really in this for the long run, if they were really concerned with making their customers happy, it would be obvious. It is not. I don't care if it is a so-called BETA program. That's just the crooks excuse.

I am a former customer/member who finally wised up. Shame on IMVU!

[Celeste]

Yes, IMVU is fun, otherwise I wouldn't still be there. I have quite a few friends and an extensive wardrobe, and it is currently the only IM program that works on my computer (ironically). I also love developing and make a tiny bit of money from it. Not a lot, but it's fun.

However, I have to wonder...

Do the staff even USE the product? Because they sure don't seem to have much trouble saying how wonderful it is while many other users repeatedly crash in the laggy client.

[G]

rIMVU coming out of Beta is like a pregnant woman giving birth to a 50 year old.

The engine that runs it is being held together with bailing wire and duct tape and customer service is crap.

I am not even going into how they treat developers there, I am not going to devote the time it would take to list the mistakes they have made.

Good Luck with it rIMVU, you are the one who took a dump in your doorway, now you have to walk thru it to get out.

[lalaa]

IMVU is totally awesome. I've never had trouble with IMVU or there staff. They've always responded to my emails and I've never had trouble with the Previewer and the Client. I do agree that IMVU should not come out of Beta as there is some things they need to set straight first. I've been on IMVU since 2006 and I believe it's growing stronger and better every year.. Apart from the "Peer Review" program which is quite stupid.

[satisfied IMVU customer/developer]

OMG
ITT (in this thread) the butthurt IMVU minority.

You have maybe 10 or 15 very vocal whining developers who muck up the forums complaining about every little thing in sight. I've been a part of IMVU for 2 years now and I've seen alot of growth and change.

Issues are addressed as quickly a possible, but when a particular developer doesn't get to dictate what gets changed RIGHT THAT MINUTE, as if they own the company or something, then OMG IMVU IS BROKEN! All these people are ridiculous and need to take their bipolar meds.

[dont worry]

hehe i wouldent even think of leaving beta until they have a client for linux and mac but hey thats just me

[A]

Haha, yeah IMVU sure needs to come out of Beta, to bad they can't even manage it while it's in beta, I've been on IMVU for a year now, and umm I've seen BAD customer service before, but IMVU, wow.... Selling illegal music, selling illegal pictures, anyone ever heard of copy right laws? Anyway IMVU is ust waiting for a law suit. To anyone who wants to own this site or join up with it, don't it sucks, bad customer service, bad business, law suits, and overall it's just not worth it in the end. I'm not investing anymore money into it seeing how I won't be ruefunded.

[openyoureyespeople]

Not everyone who posted here is a developer. I am not, and never have been. I have however, personally dealt with poor customer service, theft (by IMVU), and dishonest developers. The illegal issues abound on IMVU. It's a shame too. Someone could have had a good thing. The fact that just a few people post here does not mean there aren't others. Most are probably like I use to be...just sit back and not say a word. More likely they don't take the time to research and find places like this. It makes me sick to see how this is such a dishonest business...virtual goods period! Because it is not tangible? Well, the tides are about to turn. To those that would defend IMVU...well, open your eyes.

[dont worry]

like erlier stated and i am a dev on imvu it needs to have apps for linus and mac as well before it goes live

[Rose]

Yes, IMVU is fun. Developing is fun. BUT...the place is full of bugs. Nothing seems to ever get fixed, only patched up and then they move on to muck something else up. Go form your own opinions, sign up and read the forums. Try out the lagging, crashing client. Don't forget to check out all the ILLEGAL music in the catalog while you're there too. Out of BETA? Hahahahahaha

[General Bays]

(QUOTE) Posted by: JVNT

IMVU is a chat client that you can create content for. There are rules that have to be followed when you make content. The biggest problem is that creators make products that is against IMVU's rules.They sell these products to customers that use IMVU to chat. IMVU removes these products that never should have been made in the first place and then the customers get upset.

Creators have to stop breaking the rules then blaming IMVU. IMVU didn't make the content and shouldn't have to police the content. Each creator should be responsible for their own products and be thrown off IMVU when they break the TOS.

IMVU doesn't condone nor allow this type of thing but people that use IMVU do it anyway. I'm sick and tried of all the creators passing off their bogus content and getting it taken away from us instead of just following the rules. stop blaming IMVU and stop ripping off customers. We pay good money. If anything, IMVU doesn't punish creators enough.

You sell virtual goods and like any store, should be held responsible to your customers by law not IMVU. What will you do when you get sued and not IMVU for breaking the TOS and selling your products to unsuspecting customers? there is a group going after all of you...not IMVU. You own a store, you put up the products you owe us.

IMVU is a kick ass chat that I highly recommend. I don't recommend creators producing products that break IMVU rules. They aren't help resonsible for their actions.
(END OF QUOTE)

What a %^&*$#@ laugh!! This guy HAS to be paid to say that. Sure IMVU is a fun thing, BUT it is so bugged and the costumer service so crappy that if it goes live, it won't survive. Basically, GOOD LUCK IMVU, YOU NEED IT!

[dont worry]

[quote]What a %^&*$#@ laugh!! This guy HAS to be paid to say that. Sure IMVU is a fun thing, BUT it is so bugged and the costumer service so crappy that if it goes live, it won't survive. Basically, GOOD LUCK IMVU, YOU NEED IT![/quote]
LMAO! XD you do have a point there

[Artist formerly known as TheaterChik]

This is certainly a joke. Yes a lot of people said before me, content creators are getting the shaft. I am personally a furry. My avatar is often that of an animal, with a furry skintone, ears and a tail. Popular pro developers of items like those I wear are losing a lot because of the change IMVU makes without notice, developers are getting flagged left and right and they haven't even heard what was going on. A lot of us are trying to get help with a new product because furries want to look like their animal and not be forced to wear clothes.

They have bikinis out that hides the restricted areas and they followed the MCG, but then all of a sudden someone pipes up saying they dont like it and IMVU changes it to please them and then a bunch of developers who have made these furry bikinis are forced to change their product at a moments' notice, and change the pictures. It takes a while with popular pro developers who have made a lot of unique and well made items. They could have informed the develoeprs of this before hand but no, they ignore the developers completely and let them find out the hard way with warnings and such.

IMVU is totally not ready if they cant communicate with developers. As a holder of an AP, the advertisements in my messages tell me when there is an AP exclusive offer. Why cant they have that for developers? A message that they can see on important creator news. It affects all creators whether or not there is an item taken out.

I even had 35,000 credits taken from my account by an admin, as I looked at my credit history because it drained all I had and i left a message over a week and a half ago and no one has yet responded, and they said it would be 24-48 hours for a response... I even talked to a friend whom had the same happen. The same amount of credits. IMVU is basically stealing from the valued customer... Where is the "customer is always right?" I've seen a lot of people here saying the same stuff and yea, they're right, but why are the right one the ones being kicked under? Because IMVU doesn't give a crap about constructive criticism.

[Mom]

One more thought... what about security? I've found kids in my stepkids school(elementary) (and yes one of my stepkids as well) who have opened these accounts and represent themselves as older adults, then proceed to act out adult activities in the avatar rooms with whom ever gets off on it. The draw of this is enough to put us at our parent contol utility wits end. Right down to removing the computer all together. This site, I expect can end up in more trouble than MySpace ever could have. At least there, the kids can't make their own avatar pornography.
Live or not, IMVU has and will always be blocked from our homes indefinitely.