Redeem your 
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I have received notice that my privileges have been temporarily been suspended as I was being harassed by another player and finally responded with an obscenity for which I do regret. I was wondering how long is the suspension and if there is anything I can do to be re-instated as I do enjoy the privilege to play.
Thank you for you time
Help Me Nettie!
| Dear HMN,You are not alone. It’s very common for regularly polite people to let a profanity slip when confronted with a player whose only goal in life appears to be getting others riled up. Unfortunately, it’s still a violation of our Terms of Service, and you might end up with a warning or suspension.Suspensions last three days. Once your suspension is up, you are free to play again, but you do risk losing your account should you be caught violating the Terms of Service again.
Keep in mind that there are a lot of impolite people online and some of them will skirt the Terms of Service just to see if they can push you into slipping up. As soon as you do, they send in the Abuse Report. They themselves might even get away with it because they’ve managed to not violate any Terms of Service. And if they do get suspended or lose their account, they just create a new one and within minutes they’re up to their old tricks again. So, what do you do? Learn to recognize quickly when a conversation is starting to sour, and immediately mute the person who is causing the problem. Once you’ve done that, you’ve deflated his or her motivation and you’ve protected yourself from being tempted to violate the rules. |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I recently was playing High Stakes Poker, and having been dealt a beautiful hand, I bid high to open. The other players all folded, and I won by default. One of the players said he didn’t want to play “kiddie poker” and I responded that there was nothing “kiddie” about a straight flush. He then corrected me saying, “That’s when you want the others to stay in.” I suggested to this player that perhaps he should play the way he wants and I will play the way I want, and that when I want advice, I’ll ask for it.
Was I wrong to open with a high bid? I mean, it is only tokens, and the games are for fun. I understand there are players who take these things too seriously, but really, do we have the right to tell people what the can and can’t do in a game, as long as they are following the rules?
Flushing Out My Opponents
| Dear Flushing Out,You didn’t mention which tab you were playing under. If you were playing under the High Rollers or Super Rollers tab, then good strategy dictates that you do want to keep everyone betting, and raising, and checking until you can show your hand and reap the benefit of a great deal of tokens. People in the High Rollers and Super Rollers tabs have the expectation that they are going to be playing with people at their same level.However, you certainly didn’t break any rules. The gentleman who accused you of playing “kiddie poker” wasn’t very nice. Instead of making a snide remark, he could have kindly given you a tip for future hands. But he didn’t, and there are plenty of others who will react just like him.
I think your answer to him was fine. In the future, you might want to play in the lower stake tabs. |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I would like to ask that bullying be stopped in Pogo. Last week there was a challenge in Texas Hold ’em and players were very rude and cruel in the room and I find its happening a lot in Pogo rooms. Please remind people we are there for fun and nice chat; not bullying and name calling. I know there is the mute button but I don’t want to miss some of the chat. When we report to Pogo seems to be the reporting individual gets banned.
Please publish something on bullying as its an issue more than in pogo but we do not want it in the game rooms. Thank you very much.
Bully to the Bullies!
| Dear Bully to the Bullies,Why just Pogo? I would like to ask that bullying be stopped everywhere on the planet, and that all people suddenly get along and we rid the planet of all evil, injustice, greed, natural disasters, bad weather, hunger and disease. Furthermore I would ask that sweet, sugary, buttery chocolate cakes suddenly become very healthy for you and the more you eat them, the more fit you become.We both need a dose of reality, I’m afraid. The bullying on Pogo isn’t going to stop, and neither will that extra slice of chocolate cake bring me closer to my optimal weight. So what are we to do?
Thankfully, on Pogo we have the mute button, the ability to turn off the chat, and the Report Abuse feature. The other tool we have at our disposal, which helps both in our desire not to have that second or third slice of chocolate cake and in our wish to not be bullied, is will power. Too often when we see people bullying others, we either respond to them in defense, or we bully right back. Both do nothing but escalate the issue, and possibly make us the new target of the bully. If we ignore the bullies, put them on mute, turn off chat if necessary, or report them should they be in obvious violation of our Terms of Service, then we take control of our own experience and we don’t let them ruin our day. |
