A Little Clarification for Leagues on Game Rooms?

Hi there Ms. Netiquette,

As an administrator (but not the Head Admin) for one of the many leagues proudly using Pogo game rooms, and a long-time Pogo member, I’d like a bit of clarification on the rules of game room usage. Most of the time I am able to run tournaments without incidents involving players who are not members of my league.

However, there are occasions when I run into “league haters” and I need to be sure that my members and I are conducting ourselves within the Pogo Terms of Service. Rather than take a long time to describe incidents, I think the best thing to do is to list a few questions.

1. Is it okay to tell people within the chat area what league I represent? Some leagues run a brief ad about their league, some only tell the room what league they’re in if someone asks what is going on, and some will actually wait and send an inquirer information only through Pogo Mail so that they don’t ever use the league name in chat at all.
2. When someone complains about a league being in the room and suggests that we take the tournament elsewhere, what is the correct response as to why we are in that particular room? Does Pogo assign the rooms or are they assigned by the parent site for the league, such as Case’s Ladder?
3. If there is a major issue with players not in the league, am I allowed (by Pogo) to move the tournament to an empty room for the same game, or must I stick with the room I’ve been told to use?
4. If someone is being particularly nasty and I advise my members to mute the offender, but the offender says they’ve reported me to Pogo for some violation or another, how do I know what happens with that report? Will Pogo contact me if I’ve been reported?

While I can’t speak for all leaguers, I can tell you that my members and I are not only polite to non-members, but we encourage them to stick around if they ask, “Oh, this is a tourney room? I’m sorry, should I leave?” We also congratulate non-members on posted successes and thank them for in-game gifts, etc. I see no reason why leaguers and non-leaguers cannot peacefully coexist, and would love your help in making sure we are doing our part to achieve that goal.

Thank you for your continued sharing of wisdom and support.

Sincerely,

Loves Pogo AND Her League

Ms. Netiquette,

I had made what I considered “good friends” here on Pogo in one of my favorite games. I am not one to open up about my life or thoughts to anyone, but these people seemed to be extremely nice and we shared a common favorite game.

One of these people suddenly stopped talking to me completely. I had no idea why. I left them alone for nearly a week, then finally asked them why they were avoiding me. They said that they think I lied about something in my life and they didn’t want drama. I asked what they thought I lied about so I could try to prove that I didn’t lie to them since I have never lied to these people. The person just repeated that they didn’t want drama and was done. I have no idea what they think I lied about.

Well, since their favorite game is my favorite game, I’ve been avoiding it and the other friends in order not to cause anyone to feel tension. I would love to play my favorite game again, but I do not want to worry about entering a room that they are in and having drama caused. I also cannot play with my friends in that game anymore.

I know there are many rooms for this game, but there are only a few that are popular and since it’s a multiplayer game, I must choose one of these. What do I do about both the “friend” and the game?

Thank You,

No Drama Please

Dear Ms. Netiquette,

Last night I was reading some of the letters you got regarding badges and badge day. I found myself agreeing with a lot of what I read about the grumbling and whining about “sharing” especially in the bingo rooms.

I started off the morning with a disaster at home before my first coffee of the day, then headed off to “Pogoland” to start on my badges. I never look beforehand to see what they are going to be, as I like the surprise each week. I saw the bingo badge on this week’s list and my first thought was: “Great, just what I need after my morning mishap.”

Shortly after I start playing – yup – it starts. The grumbling and whining about people not sharing. This was someone who came in after me. Immediately someone else jumps on the band wagon. I tell myself, you can turn off chat or you can try another room. A couple of minutes later a thought pops into my head: “Can I turn this into a positive?”

I’m not much of a talker at the best of times but I really wanted to try my idea to see what might happen. I waited for a bit of a lull in the griping and typed into the chat “The nice thing about blackout rooms is that even if people aren’t sharing it still goes pretty quick” I didn’t expect a response and was very pleasantly surprised when one of the grumblers typed in “You’re right – it does go pretty quick either way”. Now for the real shocker, ALL the grumbling stopped! People started saying wtg’s, ty’s and yw’s. The rest of the time I was there, it was very pleasant and enjoyable.

I was quite astonished at how quickly it changed just by pointing out a positive about the room.

So, thank you Ms Netiquette for all the sage advise you have given all your readers over the years. And thank you for giving us players a chance to air our opinions.

A Positive on Badge Day.

Have an etiquette question for Ms. Netiquette? Email msnetiquette@pogo.com

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