How Often Must I Extend Time?

Dear Ms. Netiquette,Recently I was playing Shuffle Bump and my opponent was taking his time lining up his shot. His time ran out so I extended his time, and I did so gladly. He worked on lining up his shot again and his time ran out again. This continued for 2 more time extensions, finally on the fifth one I refused his extension.I’m just wondering how many times should we be expected to extend time? I don’t mind once or twice but five seems a little much.

Serious Shuffle-Bumper

Dear Serious Shuffle-Bumper,The simple answer is: extend it once out of courtesy, and twice if he or she runs out of time again –with a suspicious eyebrow raised– and then don’t extend the time again. After you’ve denied the third extension, ask your opponent what’s going on. At that point your opponent may be able to give a solid reason why he or she is having difficulty making the shot. If the reason sounds legitimate, then you can negotiate with your opponent the number of times you’re willing to extend. If the reason sounds like a basket of balderdash, then I would suggest exiting the game and finding a more worthy opponent.

 

Ms. Netiquette,

My favorite game is Battle Phlinx, I love it and usually have a great time playing, however I have noticed recently some players are getting Phlinx-Rage! These players will purposefully lose the game very quickly and spend the rest of the round pranking a player over and over again. I’ve had it happen to me by at least 4 players in the last two weeks! My best revenge of course is to win the game and the “Ragers” will leave the room after 3-4 rounds but I wondered if you could publish this letter to let everyone know that these games are supposed to be fun!

Mrs. Good Sport

Dear Mrs. Good Sport,I like your attitude! Thank you for alerting everyone to this new phenomenon. Hopefully people will grow tired of it quickly. It is unfortunate that there are some people who get their jollies by causing problems for others. For those who don’t want to put up with this, you might consider playing against people you’ve had positive experiences with in the past, or creating a game with the setting such that pranking is not an option.

 

Dear Ms. Netiquette,

I have a couple of comments, my first, is it rude to tell Pogo players they are being too “lovey-dovey” in a game? Early the other morning, I and 3 others joined a game and I know we entered on a table with 2 other players but the things they were saying to each other made me and my friends want to go and throw up.

Would I have been rude to ask them to take it to a Private Chat? By the time they left we all cheered. I can see getting a little mushy in the evenings if you are playing with your husband, boyfriend or girlfriend, but I feel, certain things should not be said in public chat. I would just like to know what to do if that happens again.

The other comment is to tell you I love your advice and think it is better than some of the other advice columnists I read in the papers. I can say everytime I read it I get something out of it whether it be sad or funny, something in it will touch me. I have been through a lot this year with Hurricane Katrina, and if it was not for Pogo, I think I would have been put away by now.

Thank You so much for being here for me, even though you do not know it, You do HELP…

Yours Truly,

Thankful for Pogo in Texas
(originally from Mississippi)

Dear Thankful,Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m flattered, but I must tip my hat to many of those newspaper columnists as they have helped me learn to be reasonable and look at both sides of any issue. They have also helped shape my advice and have given me a basic education in common sense. Now let’s answer your question. I’m assuming that this couple was simply describing how much love they have for one another and not actually breaking any of the Terms of Service. If this is the case, then in the future should you enter a table game and encounter a couple getting obnoxiously mushy, you certainly have every right to kindly suggest that the players discuss their love for each other in a more private arena. You can politely say: “Guys, would you mind continuing your discussion more privately please?” If they huff and puff and leave, well, you probably won’t be that disappointed. If they decide to stay and continue to sling arrows of loving proclamations at each other, you can either mute them or find another game.