"I understand that change can be hard, but that is the better approach, the way many of the original FA folks (all still at IMVU) have been seeking. We had to end the old before anything new can happen; you will just have have to wait and see if our vision is successful."

-A modified David Newman (CEO of CineForm) quote

Similar circumstances, CineForm was acquired in full by GoPro... They WERE a professional video codec company. Now it looks like they want it to only work with their Hero cameras, by ending support for their professional transcoding/capturing utilities.

Dragoneer no longer has his own opinion and has to abide by a corporate PR line. David Newman had to do the same. They all have to follow their respective companies' wishes. GoPro wanted better tools ONLY for their cameras, so you can see why they had to end support for all the professional tools solely for the best interests of their camera line.

What will happen to FA? One day it will come down to the site will no longer remain profitable for IMVU and it will have to "change" by shutting down and/or integrating into the main site. The other approach is to try to make money by any means possible, including pop-ups, and all the worst tactics shady sites like to use.

Artists are already having a harder time cause more people now want to use adblockers to view FA. Before, all FA ads were artists promoting themselves which was totally fair game. Now with the third-party ones, more people will no longer see artists putting themselves out there in that form, cause people are already annoyed by seeing stuff like Toyota or Wal-Mart in their FA stuff. (and just confirmed, malware ads.) They'll have to work harder to do it via submissions, YCHs, and raffles.

The future does not look bright IMHO for both companies.