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Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I am wondering why we even need “Uncensored” chat rooms on the Pogo site anyway?
I will certainly never play in one ever, as I don’t feel they are necessary.
Can you tell me why they exist here?
Uncensored Rooms Begone!
| Dear Uncensored Rooms Begone!Uncensored rooms are a courtesy we provide our players who enjoy a room where they don’t need to watch their language so much. This does not mean that they can engage in chat that violates the Terms of Service. These rooms still have rules when it comes to hate speech, harassment, or illegal activity.But, as long as they’re not using the language to purposefully cause discomfort for others, then they can use curse words without fear of being warned, suspended or banned. So, that’s why they exist. And I would argue that they are necessary for both the people who do enjoy a little “salty talk” and for those who do not. Giving the “Salty Talkers” a place where they can chat more freely keeps them out of the other rooms where players who prefer milder chat play. It’s a win/win! Just because you don’t like or understand something doesn’t mean it shouldn’t exist. The basis for all etiquette is the acceptance of the fact that we are not all the same, and we should respect each other’s differences. |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
An interesting situation happened to me yesterday.
While in a game room, an individual came in and greeted the room with “Hi” and went on to say that she was 12 and on her grandma’s computer. The mini had white hair.
I responded with a “hello”, my age (60), where I was located (Northern California) and a comment on our local weather (lots of wind and rain).
Another player, we’ll call Namecaller, immediately attacked me for talking with a 12-year-old and repeatedly called me a perv. When someone else defended me, Namecaller also called that person a perv. Namecaller made a number of assumptions and accusations, none of which were valid. Perhaps his or her only exercise is jumping to conclusions!
I believe this was clearly inappropriate behavior in a public chat area… after he or she left (after two others came to my defense), I had a nice conversation with the 12-year-old. Clearly, Namecaller has personal issues. He/she should not be making either accusations or conclusions such as declaring me and my defender as pervs.
How does one report such inappropriate behavior, and what actions are available?
Just Friendly
| Dear Just Friendly,I’m so sorry you had to put up with such rubbish. Obviously, this young lady was online with her grandmother’s account and Namecaller accusing you and your roomies of being “pervs” was not merely an extreme breach of etiquette, but a violation of our Terms of Service.Reporting abuse is very easy – just highlight the player’s name in the “Who’s Here” list and right-click upon it and choose “Report Abuse”. You’ll be taken to a screen where you can fill out an abuse report. It should be done as soon as you recognize a violation, as the player may leave the room, and it becomes more difficult to fill out the report after they’re gone. In this case, under “Type of Abuse” you’d choose “harassment”. Once you’ve submitted the report, it can take a while before action is taken, so you will find that the act of filing a report will automatically also mute the reported player. You might wish to encourage your roomies to mute the player as well. Nothing but nothing drives an abuser more crazy than being completely ignored, so go ahead and drive ’em crazy! |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I know this is a question you must have had a thousand times over, but as I have never seen you answer it while I have been a Pogo member, I feel inclined to ask it.
Are there specific rooms and times when the tournaments meet in Pogo?
I have found nothing more irritating than when I, or others are having open conversations in a game room and we are suddenly inundated by 15 or more people in a tournament who suddenly monopolize the chat. It’s one thing to be able to go into a private chat with one other person, but when you are talking with several and tournament players come in the room, all you have is a string of peoples names with beating hearts flowing down the side of the conversation area and no way to get a word in edgewise.
Are there ways to avoid the tournaments ahead of time, or is it all luck of the draw? If cyber etiquette is ‘netiquette’, then could we have some tournament etiquette, or ‘tournaquette’?
Tired of Chatter Bombs
| Dear Tired of Chatter Bombs,Your “tournaquette” remark nearly caused me to laugh out all my tea. Very clever!I have good news and bad news. Let’s hit you with the bad first. While we do have Tournament Rooms in many of our games, we don’t have any rules regarding leagues holding their tournaments in any of the rooms we have. There are a limited number of Tournament Rooms available, and for whatever reason, leagues do at times need to run their tournaments in the regular rooms. So, while they may be annoying, generally they are not violating any of our Terms of Service by entering. That said – there are no special allowances for leagues or tournaments, so they are held to the same rules of conduct as everyone else, and if you see that they’re violating the Terms of Service, you can report them for abuse. Most leagues go out of their way to be polite to the room they enter. Many will introduce themselves, let players know what’s going on and remind everyone of the “mute” feature. Of course, if you’re in the middle of a conversation, that’s of little help. So, what can you do? The easiest thing is to employ the somewhat hidden “mute all” feature we have and then manually unmute the players with whom you were conversing. This is done by typing into the chat box the following:
To be clear, that’s a backslash, the letter ‘m’ a ‘space’ and the ‘asterisk’. This will mute everyone in the room. Then you can pick from the “Who’s Here” list those players you wish to unmute, which you can do by right-clicking their name and choosing the “mute” option which will uncheck their name. When you want to unmute the room, you’ll want to type the following into the chat box:
To be fair, running a tournament is not an easy task. For a little perspective, check out the And Now a Word From Our League Administrators column from last summer. Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid these occasional disruptions, but if you get in the habit of doing this, and telling others about it, then you can at least lessen the disruption. |
Dear Readers,
The Holidays are here! As such, this column will be taking a short two-week break! Please look for the next Ms. Netiquette column on January 14th.
I wish you all a most joyous holiday and a fabulous 2011!
Ms. Netiquette
Have an etiquette question for Ms. Netiquette? Email msnetiquette@pogo.com
Want to chat with others about this column? Visit the Pogo Forums!
