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You’ve seen them in your Messages box if you’re on Club Pogo. Maybe you’ve even received them in your e-mail box, or possibly heard them in a chat room. They’re rumors, myths and lies! They pollute the Internet with falsehoods, needlessly upsetting many people who fall prey to their messages.
But have no fear, Nettie’s here! I’ve pulled out the strongest tea I have (imported from England, thank-you-very-much) and I’m ready to rupture a few rumors, mash a few myths and liquidate a few lies!
Where these come from, and who starts them is anybody’s guess, but they fly around Pogo like, well, flies! And, unfortunately, too many people take them for fact and continue to spread them. Now, when you receive these types of messages in your message or e-mail box, you can send them to this column!
Without further ado — and with many thanks to the many people who wrote in with their favorites– let the debunking begin!
- Club Pogo is Going to Start Charging by the Hour!
This is simply not true. Club Pogo will remain a subscription service, and will continue to provide some Premium items for those who wish to enhance their Club Pogo experience. Nettie says: False! - The Jackpots are Fake!
This one has been floating around for at least two years because someone couldn’t find a winner on their friends list. The truth is that the Pogo jackpots are real, and real people do win them. However, when someone wins, they have the option of having their screen name or their first name and last initial posted on the Recent Winners list. Many people choose their first name and last initial as they do not want to be tracked down by curious people, thus they’re not available by using the Friends List. You can check out some of Pogo’s winners in our Winners Circle interviews! Nettie says: Untrue! - 10,000 Tokens from Pogo’s Honest Player!
This stems from a promotion we did many years ago called the “Site-wide Challenge”. Back then, this e-mail might have made sense, barely. Today it comes across as just a weird message that starts out with “WE GOT THIS BADGE DOWN!” and essentially leads one to believe that if you forward this message, you will receive 10,000 tokens. Contrary to what e-mails like these say, nobody tracks how many times an e-mail is forwarded. Nettie says: Balderdash! - Week-long Challenge Marathon Petition
This e-mail seems to make an appearance every so often, and simply states that after so many signatures Club Pogo will let everyone do as many challenges as they want for one week. Club Pogo does provide Personal Challenge Marathons on occasion, but they are limited to three personal challenges. Nettie says: Baloney! - Pogo Will be Doing Away with Weekly Challenges!
This email included “official” quotes and sounded so authentic that it’s not surprising it fooled so many people. Obviously, the challenges are not going anywhere. Nettie says: Horsefeathers! - Virus Sent Through the Messages!
This one has taken on more than one form, but the message is pretty much the same: “don’t open the message from So&So because it contains a virus that will destroy your hard drive.” Well, as you know, Club Pogo messages are simple text messages. You can’t attach any files to them, and thus, you can not send a virus through the Pogo Message system. Nettie says: Hogwash! - Pogo Representative Warns of Hacker!
Someone *may* have at some point gone into a room and claimed that he or she was a Pogo representative and possibly warned people of some hacker. But, if such a person exists, that person is not a representative of Pogo. A good question to consider when hearing some of these things is: “if Pogo wanted to tell me something, what would be the most effective method they would use?” I assure you, it would not be going from room to room telling people to send messages to others to spread the word. If Pogo has a message, it will either be in your e-mail box from Pogo, in the Pogo News, or as a system message either in the chat room or in a pop-up. Nettie says: Hokum! - Don’t Add So&So to your Friends List– It’s a Virus!
This seems have sprouted from some other website, but it’s been transplanted to Pogo where it’s grown and flourished. Obviously, someone’s account can not be a virus, and adding a friend to your Pogo Friends List can not give you a virus. Nettie says: Poppycock! - Be Warned! So&So is an Online Predator!
Okay – now we’re getting personal! This one is tough because it could be true, but it could also be completely and utterly false. So, it’s best to let Pogo’s Customer Support department deal with the situation, and not believe these types of e-mails. Why? Because it is an unfortunate truth that there are people who will spread falsehoods about people just for revenge. Nettie says: Disregard! - You Can Get Free Tokens/Gems/Badges/Subscriptions/etc…!
This message, e-mail or chat command generally tells you that you can get free stuff off of some unofficial web site. This is not only untrue, it’s also potentially dangerous. Yes– believe it or not– there are some sites that attempt to sell people tokens, but buyer beware– giving your personal information to a site that sells ill-gotten tokens/gems/badges etc… is a recipe for disaster. These sites could potentially take your Pogo account, or worse. Much worse. Anytime something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Nettie says: Rubbish! - Sign This Petition to Get Pogo to…
These messages make the circuit from time to time, and while some of them sound like great ideas, signing the petition won’t do anything. Pogo does receive petitions from time to time, but we have never taken the action the petition demands. In a lot of cases, the idea expressed in the petition has already been considered and for whatever reason not implemented. In other cases, the petition is asking for way too much. Nettie says: Fiddle sticks! - If You do Such&Such in Such&Such Game, Pogo will…
We do love that players are so passionate about some of our games, but sometimes that passion leads to falsehoods. This type of rumor has surfaced from time to time, but as of this writing, it’s really making the rounds in Everyone Wins Bingo, where players are telling others like: “as someone makes a blackout, the wilds stop for everyone” and “if a player in a passing room makes a blackout, you can mute them and they won’t get any more wilds”. Nettie says: Total Tomfoolery! - Pogo is Going to Shut Down on April 1! (or May, June, July, etc…)
I’m willing to consider that this may have started as some sort of April Fool’s Joke, and not necessarily created by a ne’er-do-well who wanted to spread an awful rumor in hopes to get people worried and panicked. Nevertheless, it wasn’t a very nice thing to do, and it’s not true. Nettie says: Swine Cleanse! (cousin of Hog Wash – I’m running out of these!) - Pogo is Only Focusing on Facebook and the iPhone!
While it is true that we did launch Pogo games on both Facebook and on the iPhone (and will be on other platforms in the future, no doubt), we are still very actively updating and putting our resources towards our Pogo.com site. Nettie says: Pig Bath! - You Can’t Win Prizes if You Visit Pogo Fan Sites!
We do know that there are a handful of wonderful fan sites out there, and while we don’t advertise them, we respect and are honored by them. Why don’t we reference them? Because we don’t control the content on these sites. If we were to call them out and the content became objectionable or dangerous, it would reflect poorly on us. We do appreciate them and don’t discourage players from seeking them out. And we certainly don’t punish anyone for doing so. Nettie says: Sow Soak! - Pogo is Showing Subliminal Messages!
We’re not sure how this one started. Possibly innocently – it could be that someone did see some words or something on Pogo and mistakenly assumed Pogo was suddenly showing subliminal messages. But it’s not the case. It does take a great deal of computer code to make Pogo run, and there will be times people run across some messaging they won’t understand, but we’re not sending any sort of subliminal message. Nettie says: Pork Scrub! (okay – that’s it – that’s the last “hog wash” related exclamation!)
So, there you have it! Have you heard any rumors, myths or lies you’d like to see added to this list? Please let Ms. Netiquette know!
Want to chat with others about this column? Visit the Pogo Forums!
