Nettie Responds to Responses to Last Week’s Responses

I actually disagree that my answer was wrong. What you describe is inappropriate. People pushing their beliefs– religious or otherwise– on others in game rooms is not polite.

However, it’s not against our Terms of Service.

Last week’s letter writer was upset because people asked her to stop discussing her religious beliefs in the Spiritual Rooms. She did not say “Being that I am better than everyone else, I was in the midst of telling all the sinners where they’re going unless they convert when someone told me to stop!”, which would have garnered a different response from me.

You come across as having a beef with all Christians, and your broad use of the word Christian will no doubt offend many Christians who keep their spirituality to themselves and don’t prostelyze. You are, in essence, railing against exactly what you are doing yourself in your letter!

My advice from last week stands: use the mute. I say this to last week’s letter-writer and I say it to you. If you are in a room and someone is forcing their religion on you, mute them.

And, quite frankly, this issue is not about religion, specifically. The same advice goes for anything that has anything to do with belief or opinion– politics, religion, John versus Paul, etc… So, if someone is pushing the merits of having bacon added to everything you eat and you don’t want to hear it– mute ’em!

Oh boy did I step into a “tsk tsk tornado” with that answer! I just re-read my response, and I started off by saying “…leagues have no business asking players to vacate a room. They may, VERY politely, ask if others might consider switching rooms…”

“Please leave this room as we are about to have a Tournament” is impolite. “We’re about to hold a tournament, and space is limited. If anyone might consider changing rooms, it would be greatly appreciated” is not impolite. It’s a simple request, and nobody should feel like they must oblige.

But– and this is important, so listen up! A Tournament Director who makes this request should only do so as a VERY LAST RESORT! And furthermore, the request should only be made once, and not mentioned again in any way afterwards.

As for the tournaments themselves, I’ve heard from plenty of people who have had excellent experiences with polite tournaments. Don’t let a few bad Tournament Director’s darken your opinion of all leagues and tournaments.

I get very annoyed with people who talk on their phone while waiting in line to buy a cup of coffee or tea. When they finally get to the counter to order, they’re wholly unprepared for the transaction and waste everyone’s time while they put their call on hold, look at the menu, ask a couple of questions, and then dig through their pockets or purses to pay.

Why don’t these establishments do away with these people? Because they’re customers, and while they may annoy us at some point, they are part of our community and part of our life.

I disagree that every tournament is an inconvenience to all players already in the room. Most people learn to adjust to the inconveniences in life and work around them.

For instance, I have to take a couple of deep (silent) breaths while in back of the distracted customer. People in the room have to mute the tournament people. Yes, a small inconvenience, but we’re not alone in this world, and people do what they need to do to adjust to these inconveniences.

There are a lot of very well-behaved leagues out there who go out of their way to ensure that the room is disrupted minimally. They use the Tournament rooms if they’re available, and they politely discuss the tournament with the room if a Tournament room is not.

I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “sanction”, but we do allow Tournaments on Pogo and we do provide Tournament Directors with Tournament icons to make their jobs a little easier. Those involved are held to the exact same Terms of Service that every other player agrees to upon signing up.

So, if they’re excessively advertising, or breaking any of the Terms of Service, by all means report the offendors. If they’re just simply trying to run their tournament, use the mute instead. Or find another room.

Ultimately, you will have to accept the fact that the tournaments are part of the experience on Pogo. You can be upset about it, or you can learn to live with it. And likewise, I’ll have to accept that some people take longer than others when ordering drinks. I can choose to be upset by it or learn to live with it. I think my tea will taste better if I choose the latter.