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Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I am not mad or angry just wanted to vent my frustration. I entered a room to play, won the game, and the game randomly gave another player some tokens. Again, someone else won a game and I will assume I was given the tokens. I am in the room to play and unwind. It was pointed out by two others that I did not say TY for the tokens.
REALLY? Is life so hard on them that they demand a thank you? Do they write down everyone that the computer gives tokens to and expect a TY? OMG! My goal is to play the game and move to the next game.
I responded to this person, that I play to unwind and don’t think it is necessary to thank everyone for tokens when the game randomly selects a person for the tokens. The other people who were pointed out spoke up. I have played Pogo since the late 1990’s and have never been asked to thank them for a random gift of tokens.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Thankful When Thankful
| Dear Thankful When Thankful, I’m actually a little surprised that this is still an issue on Pogo! I can understand why some folks might have expected a “thank you” after these types of games were released (those that provide tokens to others in someone else’s name), but I thought by now people would be over that particular expectation. Alas, you shouldn’t feel obligated to say “Thanks” in a game if the game decides to give you tokens on someone else’s behalf. If you are aware that the tokens were granted, and feel like it, then you can choose to, but there should be no expectation of one. A lot of times players are not even aware that a “gift” has been given, so it’s not only impolite to demand a “thank you”, it’s just not realistic. As I’ve said many times about many gift-giving inquiries – give from the heart and not to receive acknowledgement. If you receive gratitude, be grateful. If you don’t, don’t worry about it. And since it is gift giving time, I’ll remind folks that if you, yourself (ie: not the computer), do take the time to give someone a gift, and they don’t thank you, rather than get upset about it, you might consider simply not giving them another gift. |
Dear Nettie,
This letter is regarding your response to the letter dated 11/18 which is signed by “Not up for Task”
I have to respectfully disagree that you consider another person doing someone’s badges for them as “cheating”. I find that judgment extremely harsh and quite subjective.
I mentioned in the forums that there are times when a family member happens to hop on my computer when I need to get up for whatever reason. They then continue a game I’m playing, and sometimes inadvertently garner a rank or game award badge. Do you then consider that cheating when it is unintentional?
I also stated that if I had someone win a Badge for me, I have no problem letting others know this was the case. Is it then considered cheating in your opinion if you give due credit to the player who so graciously took the time to win that Badge?
There are a myriad of reasons why someone may not be able to get a specific Badge. The issues run the gamut from health to personal and I think it is unfair of you to judge so harshly and label it cheating.
Cheating, by definition, entails deception and I think it’s safe to assume that those who allow others to garner a badge for them are not doing it with the intent to deceive and will gladly give credit to another if asked.
Sincerely,
Not So Quick to Judge
| Dear Not So Quick to Judge, Did Ms. Netiquette think she might get bombarded with letters about that particular answer? Why, yes, indeed, Ms. Netiquette did! But guess what? I stand by my words. And I’ll remind you that I did say: “That said – is it a huge deal? No. Badges are collected for personal pleasure”. It all comes down to how seriously you take your achievements. For some people, Badges are a reflection of personal achievement and they earn them all by themselves. For others, they just want the Badge in their book. However, if you’re not earning all your Badges by yourself, then you are, indeed, cheating. Yes, mistakes happen, people accidentally play on the wrong account and progress towards a Badge is made unintentionally. That’s more of a mistake than cheating, but when others knowingly earn Badge progress for your account, well… whether you like it or not, it’s what it is. Again – in the scheme of cheating, it’s low on the totem pole. It’s a bit like jaywalking. People do it all the time, it’s most often harmless, but guess what? It’s still against the law. I jaywalk all the time. I am a lawbreaker. I don’t consider myself a criminal, but I do break the law when I jaywalk. So, it’s up to every individual how they want to treat Badges. If you do them all by yourself, then you can safely say that they’re all yours. If you choose to have someone do some of them for you, well… you are showing someone else’s work off in your Badge Album as your own, and while that might be just fine for you and you’re quick to let others know you didn’t earn them yourself, it is not an accurate reflection of what you’ve accomplished. |
Dear Ms. Netiquette:
I have been a member of Pogo for over 6 years and have loved it – most of the time.
The problem is only one game: Fortune Bingo. I love playing bingo and I don’t have any issues with Bingo Luau or with Everyone Wins Bingo.
Several weeks ago there was a Daily Challenge were we had to have a legal bingo in Fortune Bingo to get our 1,000 tokens, and almost all of us agreed that we would wait so that everyone could win.
Unfortunately after 3 games and numerous times of pleading from numerous players, one or more players would not cooperate and I finally just gave up with the same issue happening over and over again.
This week I was off for the holiday and decided that I could catch up on some of my Badges and three of them were the Fortune Bingo badges: 40 times for the spin, 50 times for the spin, and being the only person in the room 10 times to call a bingo. I have left these alone because I knew that they would be very difficult to get.
I realized that I could get into a room alone and do them on a single card and move quickly. The only problem was that others would naturally come into the room after I was there and already working on my card. That wasn’t a problem, but when I would tell them that I didn’t care about the bingo I only wanted the spin and gave them my number, they would still call bingo before I got my number. I got very frustrated and finally either got up really early or went to bed really late and went to the Speedy Play rooms. I did get all my badges done, but is there something that can be done to help others that are having the same issues as me?
Frustrated with Fortune Bingo
| Dear Frustrated with Fortune Bingo, Alas, I’m afraid the news I have for you will not make you happy. The folks in the room who call “Bingo” when they have it are not actually doing anything wrong. While they may not be complying to your request, they are actually playing the game according to the rules, and while it might cause you some frustration as you do your badges, the onus is on you to figure out a way to earn the badges anyway. And it does sound like that’s exactly what you’ve done, so kudos to you! Yes, it can be a challenge on top of a Challenge to earn some of the Badges that we offer, especially when the Challenge directive requires us to be dependent upon the actions of others. Alas, there’s no way around it, and while you’re welcome to ask players to comply with your request, you’ll find that sometimes people won’t. And that’s their right to do so. |
Have an etiquette question for Ms. Netiquette? Email msnetiquette@pogo.com
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