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Dear Readers,
After over 7 wonderful years of reading and responding to your letters regarding game and chat etiquette, the time has come to bring this column to an end.
In these past 7-plus years, I’ve covered virtually every possible manners issue at least five times over, save a few “one in a millions”, and thus the decision to bring this beloved column to a happy conclusion.
You can always read the Ms. Netiquette Archives if you happen to need a quick fix during tea time. That link takes you all the way back to 2006 when the column went weekly, but then skips ahead to 2010, so to view the years in between, you can start here: Old Pogo News Ms. Netiquette Archives. Unfortunately -and for anyone keeping track – the first few columns before that are gone.
I started in early 2006 with just a few columns addressing a few “hot topic” concerns, and then after we realized that many players had many questions, we turned it into a weekly column in 2006.
To say a proper farewell, I feel it necessary to take a look back, so I’ve handpicked three of my favorite columns to wrap up what has been a really fun part of my job. So, without further ado, here are a few of my favorite columns from the past!
1. Is it Impolite to Use Witchcraft to Win the Game? This one was so far out of left field that this probably stands out to me as my most memorable column. It was certainly the most fun I’ve ever had researching an answer!
2. Hey Nettie, In Case You’ve Forgotten– Politeness is the Norm on Pogo! This column came at a time when I was still fairly new to the job, and had been spending a lot of time reading complaints about players. Most importantly, it served as a pleasant reminder to me to keep in mind that most people on Pogo are already following the rules of etiquette. It’s very easy to get jaded when all you read are complaints. The answer to the second letter in that column caught the eye of my boss at the time, who complimented me on it, so this is one of my more memorable columns, personally.
3. Can Pogo Players Be Too Nice? This may have been the one time where both parties embroiled in an issue wrote in about the same situation. Or possibly it was unrelated, we’ll never know, but the coincidence was amazing regardless, and it was the only time in the thousands upon thousands of letters I’ve received that this sort of thing occurred.
And there you have it! Thank you all for supporting the Ms. Netiquette column over the years. It has truly been one my life’s greatest blessings to have had the honor to do this column, and I wish you all a wonderful, etiquette-filled, “use-the-mute-when-you-have-to” future!
Sincerely,
Ms. Netiquette
i dont think i EVER missed your Column, i LOVED it, so sad that your going. I have been reading your wonderful advice for almost 6 years. I wish you all the BEST with whatever you plan on doing Ms nettie. You will be GREATLY missed :(
Going to miss you. Your column was both witty and informative. Your departure just emphasizes how much POGO has moved away from its membership base. What used to be a somewhat user friendly game site with pleasant people and a small dream of winning a $4999. prize has turned into a corporate entity where the wishes of its users no longer matter. We now have choppy games, little prizes, missing customer service, indifference as to members” desires etc. Most of my friends have already left – maybe this is just another sign that I’ve overstayed my welcome. Good luck Nettie – you did a good job and provided a much needed human touch!
:( I am saddened to see you go! I have always been a big fan and read the column every time it came out.
why and why cant I ever win a decent prize besides darn wallpaper it is so frustrating
when you see countless people winning constantly. I have been a member for so long
crap wouldn’t even mind a darn mug. and please don’t response by saying oh there are
just so sooooooooooooooooooo many players. just give me a break
And this relates to Ms. Netiquette in what way?…
and you want ms netiquette to do what about this??
Hat off to you Nettie! Thank you for the laughs and smiles! Even the “downer” ppl have a place on the net! Thanks for helping us deal with them! Too bad so many of them found a place here! lol In general, people follow rules, which one would think would be common sense, but often needs to be put into words, which…. was you! Thank-You!
I will surely miss the Ms Nettie column, but hope to see Nettie around, and that she will remain with Pogo. Perhaps we will see her judging in the next HOF Mini Contest, I know i was thrilled to have her judge my room before! Regardless, the best of luck in future undertakings!
Awe,, sure going to miss you Ms. Nettie,,
Why must you go.. sheesh, some may not like this idea but.. if its budgets cuts Im willing to pay a bit more to keep you around… it saddens my heart to see you go.. Please Pog reconsider this.. I love to read Ms. Nettie every week.. its such a part of loving pogo as is the Editor… I truly thank you for all your awesome replys weather people like um or not.. Drink lots of tea an I hope you will still be with pogo.. my heart is so sad…
You have made me laugh an learn so much since you have been with pogo.. if it family time you need I can under stand that to.. we as a pogo family sure will miss out on you an your great wisdom… its like we are burying a part of us to….
May GOD bless you an your family always… thank you for all you have done.. if you dont know this then I must tell it.. you are truly wonderful an beautiful in so many ways….
will *^* miss you so very much… hats off to you Ms. Nettie..
Love you always
Sandi an Jazzi Bear
OH NO! I don’t want to see you go! I read your articles every week and look forward to them!
I will surely miss you, Ms. Netiquette. I looked forward, each week, to your column. I appreciate your sense of humor as well as the sage advice you always have to give. Good luck in your future endeavors.
Nettie I am sorry to see your column ending. I read it just about every week. I hope you are staying with Pogo. I wish you happiness and thank you for your service. Pretty sure this will take more than one cup of tea to digest.
Wait a minute here – Ms Nettiquette is written by Pogo Tahd – our Editor of Letters to the Editor, so is Tahd “retiring” and how does this affect Letters to the Editor? I have noticed that there have been fewer and fewer weekly Letters to the Editor, with the excuse given that Tahd is on holiday ( how much annual leave do you American’s get then?) so I think this proposed scrappiing of Ms Nettie has more to do with Pogo wanting to stop any interactive posts with its members – which is a bad move on their part!
????Tahd is Nettie? Where did you get that? Your note is really an eye-opener :-D Please elaborate.
Pogo Tahd only wrote Ms Nettiquette last week–usually, it’s Pogo Nettie!
Tahd is the Editor.. Ms. Nettie is a lady.. bet ya they are to different people.. reguardless will miss Nettie wisdom…
Bye Bye Nettie…and with you goes part of my weekly POGO ritual. Good Luck in whatever you do and may the bird of paradise nest in your chimney.
AWWW Ms Nettiguette you will be dearly missed, I have so enjoyed reading your column and all the questions ppl have written to you. Some serious, some silly and some down right idiotic lol..Thank you for all the great advice you have given us over the years..Good Bye and Take Care.
I appreciated Nettie’s column~looked forward to reading it and Letters from the Editor (whether or not I agreed with them, I heard what ‘Pogo’ had to say!). Archives are never the same as something fresh and new. Letters to the Editor and Nettie are the only ‘human factors’ we have been able to look forward to from Pogo’s side and their loss is not good. I feel that somebody, somewhere made a lot of cuts. Please tell me I’m wrong? Don’t remove your ‘human factor’ Pogo!!!
Another case of “out with the old”? So sad!
I’m sorry to see your column leaving; yours was always the first one I read each week. You set us straight when we were out of line etiquette-wise and complimented us when we got it right. Thanks for all the help and the laughs over the years.
You should have warned us with a stronger cup of tea, Nettie. I will miss your sage advice (some of which I used on my own in dealing with Pogo situations) and will just miss coming to your column every Friday after work. Whatever will I do? Stronger tea, perhaps? Seriously, you will be missed from a long time player in Missouri. :)
I am really going to miss your column. I look forward to reading it every week. If a weekly column is too much, how about going monthly? All I can say is thank you for adding to my Pogo experience. You will be missed!
I know you have covered every subject under the sun but I look forward to your column every week. Thanks for all the good advice and giggles I have received. You will be missed and every time I brew a fresh cup of tea I will think of you and your quick wit. Good bye.
Thanks so much for all you’ve done, Nettie! I hope you’ll still be available in some capacity… It was so hard losing Pogo_Scott… *sigh* Wishing you all the best!
I think there are some seriously wrong decisions being made in the name of pogo just recently. A big part of what keeps members coming back for more is because of the interaction between staff and members which is there for all to see and comment on. It seems that the personal touch is disappearing and being replaced by a ” take it or leave it” attitude with getting our money being the main driver. Did anyone think to consult members before making these decisions?
I have watched pogo grow from the beginning I sure hope I am not going to watch it decline – I have always loved my time spent on here.
to Miss Nettie I say a heartfelt thank you for your kindness and for your wisdom when dealing with difficult subjects. Maybe you can job share on “letters to editor” with Pogo Tahd – I do hope that “Letters to the Editor” stays for many years to come.
So very sad to see you go….I also read your article faithfully and not only get a laugh or two, but your advice has helped me with some nasty run-ins I have personally had. I raise my tea cup and say “cheers to a job well done” ta-ta for now !!
Miss Nettie, I looked forward so much to reading your weekly column. Where will we go now if we need advice? Seriously, good luck to you, and if you’re leaving Pogo as an employee, please come back as a player and share a cup of tea in some of the rooms with us. Happy trails!!
If this place is getting ready to fold, please let me know now, so I can save my time and money! WTF!! Ms. Netiquette bids farewell? What is Pogo without Ms. Neti?!
Good Bye Nettie; loved your columns.. Many Blessing to you*+*+*+
Hello & Good Bye Nettie, I am fairly new to Pogo & enjoyed your column, I can imagine all the letters you received that either left you laughing or thinking, “O kaaay”. Thank you for your sage adivce through time & may you enjoy your time off everyday. Take care gal, God bless you & thank you for the many memories that you left for Pogo’s playing family. :)
Job cuts have no boundaries, even in the cyber world.
Goodbye and good luck Ms. Nettie.
Farewell to you, I hope you keep your humor in tact and do not suffer from this change. I realize people may think 100% of the questions have been answered, but the world changes daily, and sometimes a new perspective is just what is needed. I think a little reinforcement along the way helps all of us to achieve a better outlook on life, and perhaps to develop a little more tolerance for those that share our world. You should be proud of the accomplishment of a job well done, and proud to know that so many will be missing you and your advice every week. I think the older ones of us relate to your column much like the Dear Abbey of old, but the younger generation unfortunately in their “near virtual zones”, will probably not have the same concept.
Hats off from this gentleman that appreciates a “no bull” conceptual approach — thanks for the advice and for all the work you put into your column.
Best wishes for the future and don’t let the bumps slow you down.
I am another one that don’t like some of the changes in pogo.I have paid for several years, and will probably not renew,problems with games not loading even though everything is upgraded to what they say. loved your advice on problems, since it is so hard to contact pogo for anything.and as far as the tokens go, what really are they good for? new outfits?can’t even buy a mug with them. and some look at them as gold. actually they are worthless, sorry you will not be around to give advice, some of it has been very helpful, good luck to you.
I am not unhappy to see the column go, It was a waste of time and the only thing it really shed light on was how there are people that take stupid to a new level. Kudos to the end, and it was an ok effort while it lasted but when advise columns are around, it brings out stupid to extreme levels. Pogo is better without.
Dear me…you are unpleasant.
And yet you’ve taken stupid to an even higher level. It’s not a waste of time if at least 1 person learns something from Ms. Nettie. And since you think her column is such a waste of time, why bother reading this particular column and even posting a response to it?
good bye my friend
Surely yours is a presence that will be missed. May you have many long days and pleasant nights in your future. ‘Live long and prosper’
Sorry your leaving – I am just passing my first year and you will be missed. How do we get answers to our questions now?
It is such a unpleasant way for your departure – I know you do not make these decisions, but Miss Nettie, what a slap in our face from Pogo to cancel our 4th of July Pogo mini contest. This is a way that some of us can display our pride in our country.
Good luck,
Chocolatelab1
I cried when I read that ms. Nettie is departing us. It is a sad day in Pogoland with her loss. I will need to find laughs somewhere else.
Wow, either you are exaggerating or that column meant WAY too much to you. Nettie was a good read, but certainly not a cry-worthy now it’s gone good read.
Hey Nettie I am going to miss your column. You have a way with words. Sometimes I laugh at what you say or cry or just say o just it over it lol. I hope everything works out for you and your family. Best wishes
toodles !
I just started getting really interested in Pogo, after joining in 2009 and quickly losing interest to be regained now. And here my favorite read is going away. Sad day.
This is really sad news but I do understand. I’ll miss your column and the respectful way you always handled the many questions and complaints that were sent to you. So often I was shocked by some of the petty problems that some have written to you about but you always responded with grace and dignity and you were never afraid to tell them exactly what was on your mind. POGO won’t be the same without you! You are to be commended for a job WELL DONE!! Best wishes and take care.
I think the Editor has been doing the column for many months now. I believe at least a couple of times his name appeared right below the heading for Nettie’s weekly column and it would get corrected at some point to Nettie’s name. Poor Pogo Tahd, having to go through two sets of mails for two columns every week. It seemed like Nettie’s style suddenly changed many months ago so I don’t think the person who had been doing the column was doing it any longer. No matter what, it is a shame to see the column go but we still have the Letters to the Editor column and we can still write to the Editor and there is no reason not to address etiquette issues if we wish to write to the Editor. All the best to whoever is and has been behind the Nettie persona.
gonna miss u miss netti been reading ur columns for awhile now. but hope you kick back and enjoy your tea
as for me ill toast a beer to u hun. thank you and God Bless
pogo this is so wrong i love this colum and cant believe you are gonna take it away
THANK YOU ms nettie,,
This isn’t a comment on a news article, but although I have been constant with Pogo for 11 years, I don’t understand why I am now getting popups of coupons every game over and over which disrupts my concentration and my enjoyment of the game. It shows you what to do to get rid of it, but it hasn’t worked, except given me pag4s of sites to go to. i dilike this coupon popup in my games and I have all popups blocked in my computer. this is from Pogo.com. would you please address this info some other way for those who do couponing? thanks.
another reason to not renew thanks
Nettie I want to thank you for assisting me when I had someone stalking me, following me from room to room. I had never even “met” the person and all of a sudden there they were and I couldn’t escape them no matter how many times I changed rooms.
Having been stalked in my real life being stalked on Pogo was terrifying, although I tried not to show it.
You were very kind to me and helped me to continue playing on Pogo without fear that the stalker would find me.
I think of you as an advocate for Pogo players, like a help desk before I have to wade through all the problems getting to chat with a “real” person on the EA help desk.
I am hoping that your job at EA is still there as long as you want/need it. Having worked in I/T for most of my working life I have been downsized, at companies that went broke and no longer exist, lost jobs due to mergers, and pretty much had the “pleasure” of working on crews consisting of me and however many guys they had. I hope that is not happening to you.
We all love you at Pogo and are sad that you are ending your column. Thank you so very much on behalf of everyone on Pogo.
Hate to see you go, always a first on my list of reading on Pogo. Wish you would stay but if you can’t then know we’ll be remembering you ever so fondly over our tea & Pogo.
First of all we highly thank you for the column and even though there were many issues thrown your way we appreciate all that you could give us all in retrospect of any situation that arised and gave the best answer to each issue,though we’re sadden to see you go I hope that you are very happy on your next journey where that may lead you;take care and I wish you well in the future.
I want to say thank you for all the tea and advice given each week. I thoroughly enjoyed your column every single week and I will miss it. Good luck in your next great adventure.
I agree will all of the above replies. Having just started a new position I can see that you might need new challenges but like everyone, I will Miss Ms. Nettie. You have been there during many stages of my life, including grad school. Even when I did not have time to complete weekly challenges, I found time to see what was up in the world of Ms. Nettie. If you are staying on with POGO, please I hope you find the time for an occasional special column, perhaps around holidays. God Bless and good luck.
bye nettie and gl to u