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Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I am a long time Pogo player and have just recently started entering my Mini in the Amazing Mini Contests. I had two Minis that I loved one day and could not make up my mind which one to use. I put one on and went into a judging room, then when the judge left changed my Mini to the other one I loved and went into another room for a different judge to see it.
Unfortunately, there was a player we’ll call SugarySeagull who followed me to every room I went into, accusing me of cheating. I tried to get away, but she continued to follow me. How can it be cheating to enter a contest with no prizes? If it’s wrong to do this I won’t do it again, but I have scoured the entire Terms of Service document and never found anything about this issue. I tried to look in Help, but there was nothing there, or if there is, I did not find it.
My feeling is that if, and I do mean *if*, I was “cheating”, so was the person who kept following me. She was abusive in her comments and others in the room told her to pipe down… well, they said it more bluntly than that but I won’t repeat what was said. I was also told if I get “caught” changing my Mini and going into a different room for that one to be judged that my name will be on a list and I will never win again no matter how awesome my Mini is that day. Is that true?
So please, please publish something on the “Rules and Regulations” of the Amazing Mini Contests. I promise to read all of them and abide by your decision.
Thanks so much for addressing this issue,
Amazing Mini Misstep?
| Dear Amazing Mini Misstep?, Please go grab a nice cup of herbal tea. I’m afraid I have bad news for you. But first, I must compliment you for taking the effort to ask this question. There may be some people who are surprised you would even think to do what you did. However, you plainly state that you are new to these, and we must both keep that in mind and commend you for being open minded enough to ask. While I don’t condone the behavior of the player who followed you around, it is not only impolite and unfair to try to enter more than one Mini into the Amazing Mini events, it actually can cause the judges confusion. You see, only one Mini can be represented by your screen name. So, if Judge A chooses your first Mini, and Judge B rejects your second Mini, and you don’t change it back to your first, the rejected Mini may end up in the Amazing Minis section of the Mini Mall, causing Judge A to think that you changed your Mini. Players are expected to put on one Mini, enter one Mini room and stay put for the duration of the event. SugarySeagull, if she felt she had to act, should have politely pulled you aside through Private Chat or Whisper explained that you can only enter one Mini per Amazing Mini event. Following you around and berating you only upset you and the others in the room. For a nice overview of what to expect and what is expected of you, you can read the article: Learn About Pogo’s Amazing Mini Events! |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
So, I was playing Pinochle the other day and when my partner and I missed our bid (because we got dumped on), one of the opposing players congratulated their partner and their partner said thank you. Then later in the same game when the other team lost their bid, my partner congratulated me.
The thing is, it really annoyed me when the other team caused us to lose our bid and then they congratulated each other. I thought it was so rude. I didn’t say anything though because I didn’t want to seem rude by calling them rude. But then when my partner congratulated me I didn’t want to say thank you or anything because I thought it was rude of the other team to do that.
I’ve never actually had this happen before, usually people say “good try” or they just don’t say anything.
So my question is, do I have a right to be annoyed with them for purposely making us lose our bid and then congratulating each other? And is it rude to say “thank you” if my partner congratulates me when the other team misses their bid?
Thank you,
Confused Congratulator
| Dear Confused Congratulator, I’m going to be straight up with you – I’m not super familiar with Pinochle. In fact, I’m only barely familiar with it, but I do see your point and it does seem a little weird to publicly congratulate your partner in front of the other team after a play like that. It seems to me that the more gracious response is, as you said, to say “nice try”. I’m actually going to stop here, and allow others who are more familiar with Pinochle to chime in with what they believe is the best way to handle this situation. We have a lot of very polite players who will likely be able to provide Ol’ Nettie the best tactic. So, Pinochle players – please pipe up! Send Ms. Netiquette your thoughts! |
Dear Ms. Etiquette,
In regards to last week’s letter about cheating in Canasta regarding the letter from the week before.
I, too, was recently accused of cheating in Canasta because Pogo dealt me many threes and gave me winning hands many times over. I was taken aback by this person, and also, I couldn’t understand how one would cheat in playing Canasta. (After reading your comments, I understand now).
I didn’t say anything to the person, thinking it was absurd for her to question me. All the through the game, she criticized me for my support in praising her moves, i.e. “gh”, “nh”, “gg”. Finally, I stopped chatting and continued to play. After she told me I was cheating, she left the game.
I see your point in trying to establish to players that the accused should state that we aren’t cheating, however, the ones accusing wouldn’t believe us if we denied it. I hate leaving a rated game unless it is an emergency, and for people to be poor losers because of they are not getting the cards, it is on their shoulders, not mine.
Thank you for letting me spout.
Another One Who Won’t Deny or Justify my Innocence
| Dear AOWWDOJMI, I have received a lot of letters and comments regarding my answers on this issue, and again – with tea in hand, I stand by my answer. But, perhaps, I do need to go just a little deeper into it to fully explain my position. First off, I didn’t just fall of the hay truck. I’m not näive. You, and many others, are correct – it can be like trying to tell a hungry meowing cat to please not meow. Many people will stubbornly hold on to their beliefs rather than accept that maybe – JUST MAYBE – they’re wrong. However, not everyone falls into that category. There are people who will accuse others of cheating, and then recognize their folly. It is for these people that one we politely explain that we’re not cheating. On rare occasions, players will see the light, apologize for making the false accusation, and correct the situation. And we’re talking about manners and how far to go to be polite. I firmly believe that a single, simple explanation is the most polite thing you can do. Anything beyond that isn’t necessary. And saying nothing, while understandable, doesn’t allow the other person the opportunity to correct his or her assumption. |
Have an etiquette question for Ms. Netiquette? Email msnetiquette@pogo.com
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