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Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I read your articles all the time. Once in a while I learn something new. I have been puzzled by something for a while now and maybe you can help.
I play many different games. Some quite well. I have learned to play almost every game on Pogo since I began playing here. I have been playing these games for about 8 years in some cases. I have been playing Euchre on Pogo for about 5 years now. But in the last few months I’ve had a few (3-5) people tell me that something I do during the game is unsportsmanlike.
While playing a very evenly matched player in Euchre we traded points back and forth the entire game. The score is 9-9. I finally get a great hand and bid it alone. The player got upset and stood up from the table. I did not even make all 5 tricks for the hand but still got 1 point and the win. However, I am then informed that it was rude to bid a loner. They say it is overkill and unsportsmanlike. This has happened to me in the past where the score was something like 7-4 and I bid a loner to take the win. I received the same complaint then.
I see nothing wrong with what I did. If Pogo allows you to do it, it cannot be cheating. I have played many card games and many other games and other than cases like hearts where the goal is to have the lowest points, the idea is to outscore your opponent. If I win by 1 point or 4 points it is no difference. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. I take my lumps when I get them and I dish out as many as I can. If the idea is to win then what’s the difference in the method? Should I dumb down my strategy late in the game or just stick to a winning plan?
Am I A Loner In My Thinking?
| Dear Loner, Truth be told, Old Nettie isn’t much of a Euchre player. So I contacted two Euchre gurus, Michelle D. and Mary O. in our Customer Support department. They both concurred that going it alone is a valid way to play. Michelle also said “The only way I could even remotely imagine it being a problem is if one did it every hand (thus not allowing their partner to play at all). It’s also worth more points if you do it successfully, but no one’s going to be able to sustain a streak of that… and to be frank, if the other team has someone doing loners against them and winning a lot, they need to improve their play.” I do want to clarify one statement you made. You said: “If Pogo allows you to do it, it cannot be cheating.” This is not always true. There are going to be situations where the game will allow you to do something that you shouldn’t. For instance, in many table games Pogo allows you to set up games with no timers. Unfortunately, some poor sports who are losing simply stop playing when it is their turn. This forces their opponent to either “out-wait” them, or to quit the game and take the loss. This is not something Pogo expects or encourages people to do, but it is possible to do it, yet it is still cheating. |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I love Pogo. I can’t help it, I can’t explain it, but I do. What I don’t love, however, is that Pogo has given us, the players, the option of marking another player as a target to receive curse stones in Battle Phlinx. They say that the road to heck is paved with good intentions. This idea was a good intention, but it leads to heck. There are those in this game that will always target a person that comes in to the game and does well (I speak out of many experiences here) and that makes the experience heck for us targets. For example, just this evening I was playing, and someone was targeting me. I asked nicely for them to stop, and the reply I got was, “Oh grow up you were doing it too.” For the record, I was not. I do not target for the simple reason that I don’t like to be a target. So, duh, why would I do that to someone else? I’m sorry that there are players that aren’t as good, but you shouldn’t punish those who are…just find a different room. Also, this whole Prank thing in Battle Phlinx? Another good intention paving the road to heck. People who lose get mad, then they will Prank another player, and then leave. Talk about being rude!!!
So, I have two final things to say on this subject:
1) To those who target other players, STOP!! It isn’t nice, and it is very discouraging to us.
and
2) To Pogo, PLEASE take away the option of targeting!! Or at least make it to where you can’t target the same person but every 4th game (so that they can target the other players some if they’re so heck-bent on it!)
Thanks for your time and please give this some consideration!!
Sincerely,
Girl with the Big Red Target on her Back :-)
| Dear Girl With Target, Guess what? You already have the option of playing Battle Phlinx without curse stones or pranks. It’s built into the game and can be found in the “Table Options” when you set up a game. If you have a complaint about any table game, you might want skip the “Play Now” button, go into one of the rooms, start up a game yourself and take a look at all of the game options available to you. You may be surprised by what you see. Furthermore, by going into the room itself, rather than hitting the “Play Now” button, you can see if there are other tables set up that have the options you prefer. There is a legend at the left side of the room that tells you what each icon means, and you can find a game of your liking. So, you already have the ability to never play another game with Curse Stones or Pranks! You can either start a game up yourself and choose the options, or you can enter a game that has those options already chosen. Happy playing! |
Hey There Ms ‘Quette.
This column is pretty good, so I figured I’d give my own two cents on player etiquette on Pogo.
It’s the oldest issue in the book, really. While the world just seems to WORK this way, I think Pogo should start taking note of the sexism- occurring in multi-player game rooms, especially. Now I’m not some Gestapo on this; flirting and being playful is a LOT of fun sometimes, as long as it’s respectful. What I am mostly speaking of is the fact that men will treat a girl differently the moment she walks in the room, or will outright make terrible insults ABOUT women, WITH women being in the room.
For example, I went into a Hold ‘Em game not too long ago. There were four guys and two girls, all just sitting and playing; seeing as that’s what the game is for (playing and having fun), you wouldn’t expect the mood to go sour. Then a comment was made about the “dealer”, saying “It must be a woman; not giving me anything good.” I was just going to be content with an eye roll and forget about it, when ANOTHER player said something to the tune of “I’ve never gotten anything good from a woman.”
Now c’mon. If this is what is seen as socially acceptable by these guys, they shouldn’t be playing in group games where women can pop in and out. It’s just simple respect. Making light hearted jokes is one thing, but outright insulting, almost with this growling sneer is just wrong. The girls playing on Pogo have probably done NOTHING to provoke anyone to say such things, and if one or two girls has made a guy mad, guess what? Those girls are jerks, and it doesn’t make the collective grouping of women null and void. We deserve respect just as much as anyone.
To bring this into a bigger scope; if one were to insult another race, whether it be African American, Latino, Asian, etc., Pogo and many members would be on it. Just replace “women” with a race or religious sect (your choice) in the statement above: “I’ve never gotten anything good from a ____.” To put more importance in protecting a race or religion and treating the women who are being mistreated as just “whiny pains/overzealous feminists” makes a BIG problem in my view.
I’m not trying to start some “flame war” over this. It’s just that if we’re to treat any race, religion, etc. with respect and report abuse in those factors, thus causing perpetrators to be kicked off the site, shouldn’t that apply to misogynistic behaviors as well? Or are women not worthy of respect? I’d like to know, really. This happens everywhere, and it needs to stop.
Equal Rights for All (Again!)
| Dear Equal Rights, You are absolutely 100% correct. Sexist language used in the chat rooms or in the game itself is considered hate speech. This goes both for men and for women. Now the hard part is deciphering between what is truly hate speech and what is joking and flirting. If you find yourself in a room where someone says something sexist, then you should express your feelings. A simple “Hey now… I don’t like that kind of talk!” should suffice. The player may apologize or explain that he or she was “just kidding around.” Either way, if the player ceases with the sexist chat, then you’ve been successful. However, if the player continues to make chauvinistic remarks, then you should report him or her by using the “Report Abuse” feature. Simply right click the players name in the “Who’s Here” list and click the “Report Abuse” link. You’ll be taken to the abuse report which you may fill out and submit. Sexist language goes both ways. Over 50% of the players on Pogo are women and as much as I hate to say it, women can be just as sexist as men sometimes. So, men, you may see this as well. If you enter a room full of women making sexist comments about men, you should express your feelings and if the chatting doesn’t stop, you should report them. |
