Word of CAUTION

[threeboysdad]

I know it feels harsh but even some of the kids that are being banned need to be for giving out way too much personal info.

That is a great point... It might help to understand that if you give out personal info, the only way to protect you is to eliminate your character. That is, the only method on VMK that someone can use to identify you. Once it is gone, the chance you could be found again without outside help (chat room, email, forum page) is very remote. So think of bans in such situations not as punishment, but rather protection.

 

[Adventuredaz]

I agree with threeboysdad, they are using some sophisticated software to as near as I can tell flag speech and speech phrases. I think it is more on the fly, and only review back for a pattern.

From past warnings I know people have received and bannings looking at what they said it looks for certain chains of words as well as specific words. Depending on what it is, some are more serious then others while others repeated would show a pattern. Normally they would let you know right away though.

So above I see someone said, "what high school do you go to?" in the context it was innocent it was commenting on what could be said, The flagging program would automaticly alert them to that statement and for safety purposes they will ban you for giving or requesting personal infomation. So yes I would be carefull with that high school thing, they have programed the system to look for specific things. (I might add this includes messages)

 

[deepshadow]

Mal is right.I guess they removed all those words because of people using them wrong in the past.I have seen threads discussing how he/she was banned without doing anything.The most obvious reason is because of something you did in the past.I have posted this on one of those threads but it was ignored.

 

[cat_herder]

Could you give an example of a "silly reason" that some one got banned. So we can all learn. Thanks!

I was just sitting here thinking, I wish people would tell exactlly what they did or said that got them ban. What may be a silly reason to you might be pretty serious to me or someone else.

 

[caribbound]

Do you think all the disconnections are minor forms of punishment or warning similar to the more severe bans? Or is it merely system overload? And why is it so difficult for their system to handle it? Are they any different than other game sites or IM's?

I'm new to vmk so was very excited to finally get up to the owner of the room giving away free stuff b/c she's leaving. Spun the batting thing and hit a HOMERUN! I never win stuff in games. Sometimes get to the final few in falling chairs but even in "free stuff" rooms by the time I get there I either disconnect or they run out or dc. So I'm "yay" and patiently wait for offer to trade. Wait wait wait. nothing. The line behind me is patient surprisingly, but as I start to type in if owner is ok, she says "wait a minute" so I say ok. I wait more and aminute later I'm booted from her room. What's with that? I was so excited to have gotten the homerun. She was leaving anyway, but ds said I should report her so I tried. But kept getting message that my message contained words not understood by the dictionary (they don't blink red here so it's impossible to know what's bad). Eventually I got dc after trying to send my message a few times unsuccessfully, so i'm wndering if they dc people who have too many typos or number words or whatever I was doing wrong.

Then tonight I joined a level one pirate game that had been waiting a LONG time for people and when more people joined he booted me and then asked if anyone ELSE wanted to join. I thought my gosh how rude. He still waited awhile before starting so I joined the other side and it was a close game but we lost. It was only level one and he was waiting and asking for people.

Sorry, gone off topic. I think people like that wouldn't hurt to be banned for poor magical kingdomship. Imagine if I were my 10 or 12 yr olds being treated like that just trying to play the game. Well, that's all I'm doing, but I know how people can be.

 

[Disney Dreams]

... Eventually I got dc after trying to send my message a few times unsuccessfully, so i'm wndering if they dc people who have too many typos or number words or whatever I was doing wrong.

Then tonight I joined a level one pirate game that had been waiting a LONG time for people and when more people joined he booted me and then asked if anyone ELSE wanted to join. I thought my gosh how rude. He still waited awhile before starting so I joined the other side and it was a close game but we lost. It was only level one and he was waiting and asking for people....

Hi Caribbound,

I am sorry you are having a frustrating start to vmk. Welcome to the DIS boards. Just two quick notes on your post -

1. You did not get dc due to too many typos, etc.... The DC Monster is probably THE most frustrating thing in this game. Trying to write an intelligent letter within the confines of the dictionary is very difficult. Try to make it very brief - and you can always us the Contact Us button on the homepage which allows you to write a "normal" note. But, as for getting the boot from a free stuff room - probably the second most frustrating thing in this game. Eventually, you will decide that your time is better served playing the games, getting credits, and buying what you want.

2. On that note - if you want to play pirates anytime, let me know. My name is jegrezo in vmk and I would be happy to help you out, as I know many others here would. Let me know when you are usually on and what your name is in the game. Here's to sinking pirates!

 

[Adventurejimbob]

Hey Ace!
As you and my brother Scooterjake pointed out, vmk has started banning for what I feel are wrong reasons. And how do I know? My vmk girl and I were on maybe 15 minutes. She was asking me how I made out at the doctors this morning, I am having surgery soon. I mentioned something about the meds they gave me and POOF we were both gone. Sad. Shortly after that another friend told someone he looked "hat" and another 24 hr ban. So ppl God forbid dont mention the word HAT no matter how bad you want to and dont care about another fellow vmk'er. Its constant fear whenever you open your mouth to speak. So from now on, I walk around like night of the living dead, arms extended, saying " I must play pirates I must play pirates".

Skippy, I don't mean to be rude (No, I am not Simon Cowell!), but that post has ban written all over it. Taken, Talking About Things In Real Life, and anything to do with Personal Info (Medication, Location..etc.) Hat is just one letter away from hate, and that is why it is used for. The only kind of dictionary dancing I am going to approve of doing myself is Numbers: On, 1, To, 2

You get the point. I just do not want to see more people saying stuff like this and wondering why they got banned. The Hand is Cracking Down on bad behavior now!!

 

[SeaSpray]

Just saw this thread and wanted to add that on Wednesday evening (the day this thread was started), my DH CL_capecad, who as you all know would never say a mean thing to anyone, got a message that popped up on his screen that said something about harrassing other players!!??!?!?!?? He took a screen shot of the message. And I'm calling it a message because he said it didn't say "warning" anywhere on it.

This happened when he was in the pirate's game lobby, and he walked away from his desk because we watched the season finale' of "Lost" that night, and when he went back to his desk an hour or so later, he had been disconnected (but that could've been because he was gone for so long), and that message was showing.

So... there does seem to be something that was going on, this past Wednesday, and I dare anyone to try and say that the message CL_capecad got, was because of something he actually did, either now or in the past! He thinks maybe it was a room message/warning.... but who the heck knows.

All I know is that if they ever try to accuse him, or me, of something as ridiculous as "harrassing other players", I'll quit VMK in a heartbeat and not look back. He and I (as I'm sure do many others) dedicate almost all of our online time to HELPING and playing games with beginner players and even not so new players, who need help.

I guess I took it as a personal insult that VMK would even put something like that on his screen. And if it was just a room warning, they really should indicate that it was a ROOM MESSAGE or ROOM WARNING, and not a personal message or warning. *hmph*


EDITED TO ADD: The only thing we could think of was maybe a player was trying to talk to him while he was not there, and got annoyed, and reported him. I've had that happen to me (well not the reporting part), but I'd be in a trade window or something and look back at the screen and see someone saying some pretty nasty things to me just because I'm a Community Leader and wasn't answering them right away!!! But VMK really should be investigating these things, if that's indeed what happened. And I think from now on, CapeCAD and I will simply log off when we walk away from our desks, just so we can't be accused of something like that.

It's ridiculous to be so stinking afraid of walking away from your computer while logged onto an online game!

 

[*TrixieBella*]

I once got a pop up like that Cape girl and when I asked Runo about it he said, "it was a reminder, not a warning". Im not sure in VMK's book there is a difference between a "reminder" and a warning but that is what I was told.
He also said that it was sent out to everyone in the room.

I was also told that if it is not a ban, then you should relax and make sure you reread the values to make sure you understand them and you do not get another "reminder, warning or ban".

We all know that Capecad is NOT capable of harassing another player but I think your idea of logging off while away is a good one. Just last night I asked CL_Tangaroa to watch over my character as I went afk for the exact reason that you state. Some players are too quick to report and you just dont know what was reported or how the staff may interpret the complaint.

Be careful everyone!!

 

[JeanJoe]

Skippy, I don't mean to be rude (No, I am not Simon Cowell!), but that post has ban written all over it. Taken, Talking About Things In Real Life, and anything to do with Personal Info (Medication, Location..etc.) Hat is just one letter away from hate, and that is why it is used for. The only kind of dictionary dancing I am going to approve of doing myself is Numbers: On, 1, To, 2

I agree with your post, except for a few items.
- "Taken" (briefly referred to in the Newsletter as having a "special friend" LOL), as ridiculous as it is, is NOT against VMK values, and will not get you banned unless you violate VMK values in some other way

- in this instance, "hat" was being used as a dictionary dance for "hot"

- ANY dictionary dancing can be construed as violating VMK values

- it is a real bad idea to consider dancing the numbers to be OK, ever. That's been a no-no since day 1. Yes, everybody does it. Yes, the staff do it, too. But, you can still get warned or banned for it. I just wanted to make sure you were aware of that. Granted, you are far less likely to get in trouble for answering "too" when someone asks how many hidden Mickeys there are in a room, than if you said "my tell a tone is fine on on I too tea for...", but don't be surprised if you get warned (or banned) even for the "innocent" uses of number dances.

And I think from now on, CapeCAD and I will simply log off when we walk away from our desks, just so we can't be accused of something like that.

It's ridiculous to be so stinking afraid of walking away from your computer while logged onto an online game!

Another idea (and what I try to do) when going afk, is to try to enter a Guest Room with a waiting list, and then cancelling out of the queue. It leaves you in Map Screen Limbo, where no other players can accuse you of ignoring them.

(Or, I suppose, go into Music Mix.)

Logging back in takes a while for me, so I prefer not to log out. AND, even when I do log out, frequently the avatar remains left behind, until I quit the browser completely, and gets accused of ignoring people.

 

[Maleficent2]

Terry-

Sorry that happened to CapeCad....you could not find a nicer person in the game.

When I made the statement about bannings or warnings coming from things that happened in the past not just at the moment I was not making a blanket statement about all bannings and warnings.

Some are just unjust and we know that CapeCads being an example of one of those.

 

[SeaSpray]

Terry-

Sorry that happened to CapeCad....you could not find a nicer person in the game.

When I made the statement about bannings or warnings coming from things that happened in the past not just at the moment I was not making a blanket statement about all bannings and warnings.

Some are just unjust and we know that CapeCads being an example of one of those.

Thanks Mal, I know you were making a general statement, and for the most part, most people tend to think that everyone who gets a warning or ban or whatever, HAD to have deserved it for *something*. I know that's what I used to think, before this happened. lol My comment wasn't directed at you, although I can see where it could appear that it was

Bella: Thanks for that info regarding room messages/warnings.

Joe (notice I didn't call you Jean ): Good idea regarding leaving your character in an area of VMK where you can't be reached, so to speak. lol Fortunately we don't have problems with logging in and out, the real problem is when we step away from our desks thinking we'll be right back, but end up getting sidetracked for a while, and then coming back to a message like that. lol


Anyway...I definitely think something must've been going on this past Wednesday with VMK; maybe they felt it was time for some VMK Values refresher courses? Who knows. lol

 

[SkippyPaul]

Skippy, I don't mean to be rude (No, I am not Simon Cowell!), but that post has ban written all over it. Taken, Talking About Things In Real Life, and anything to do with Personal Info (Medication, Location..etc.) Hat is just one letter away from hate, and that is why it is used for. The only kind of dictionary dancing I am going to approve of doing myself is Numbers: On, 1, To, 2

You get the point. I just do not want to see more people saying stuff like this and wondering why they got banned. The Hand is Cracking Down on bad behavior now!!

I understand what you are saying but I disagree when you say these things have ban written all over them. While taken has stirred up alot of bad feelings it is not against vmk values. And how can you interact with the vmk community without talking on some personal level with your friends. All I did was talk about my doctor appointment that morning. And the word "hat" I mentioned in my post was used in reference to looking hot. That word is used my almost everyone I see but that day it took my friend off for 24 hrs, her first ban. Most of my rooms mention vmk values and I preach that to my friends almost daily. But one by one friends disappear in spite of how careful we are. Yet, I have had 2 ppl for almost a month now, follow and harass me on a weekly basis. They were reported over and over by myself and my friends and........they remain on vmk. So I walk around now mumbling woot or hmm alot.

 

[caribbound]

Hi Caribbound,

I am sorry you are having a frustrating start to vmk. Welcome to the DIS boards. Just two quick notes on your post -

But, as for getting the boot from a free stuff room - probably the second most frustrating thing in this game. Eventually, you will decide that your time is better served playing the games, getting credits, and buying what you want.

2. On that note - if you want to play pirates anytime, let me know. My name is jegrezo in vmk and I would be happy to help you out, as I know many others here would. Let me know when you are usually on and what your name is in the game. Here's to sinking pirates!

Thank you for the kind words and offer. I'd been on DIS for my 2002 trip but either never posted or forgot my login name and reregistered. Funny how I'm earning my ears.

At 100 credits/day for ned and Esmerelda and such, and the occasional 25 credit pirate win, it doesn't add up fast. Someone gave me a river turns left as they are leaving. I think that's alot of credits wherever I would buy it from-haven't even seen them. Now I see you guys get alot more credits at the higher levels of Pirates. But then again I have to be on the winning team.


Unfortunately since it's a new novelty I'm on too often. I only work two days and I stay up late. I avoid the time dh can see me.

I started out as TrishaDiva because everything I put in was taken and thinking this was a "kids" game I wanted to sound cool-not old. Reading that many of you have multiple characters for more credits and wanting to change my name anyway I created Caribbean_Gal. They rejected Caribbound...maybe sounded too S&Mish. It's really just short for Caribbean bound as in "going to". I don't do whips.

 

[Prettybluebunny]

If you ask me VMK is going ban happy, you can get banned for talking about other sites. I mean ban me for a month I have been through that not forever!!!!! It said "you have been banned for giving out personal infermation"
What fliping infermation?I was talking about the dis boards a friend helping me find it and then "POOF" I was banned for 10 yrs!( but my friends irl are getting me everything that comes out LOL)Still,and VMK's dictionary change? What is up with that you cant type u ?and stuff like that?( now thats crazy ) But being banned I am, I feel free lol like VMK had me taken into a cult ( scary ) but i still miss it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Becky

 

[threeboysdad]

But being banned I am, I feel free lol like VMK had me taken into a cult ( scary ) but i still miss it!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is not unlike any other video game... I am willing to bet there are many among us would not be caught wasting time playing xbox but will spend hours on VMK.

I am happy for your newly gained perspective... Welcome back... lol

 

[*TrixieBella*]

I asked a staff member about this and his reply was, "Well it is an interesting theory, but there is no truth to it"

So there you have it folks, VMK is NOT doing mass bannings by reviewing past chat logs.

Relax and enjoy your time in VMK

As we mark the one year anniversary of VMK, lets all review the VMK values and keep VMK safe for everyone and keep ourselves from being banned!!

 

[caribbound]

If you ask me VMK is going ban happy, you can get banned for talking about other sites. I mean ban me for a month I have been through that not forever!!!!! It said "you have been banned for giving out personal infermation"
What fliping infermation?I was talking about the dis boards a friend helping me find it and then "POOF" I was banned for 10 yrs!( but my friends irl are getting me everything that comes out LOL)Still,and VMK's dictionary change? What is up with that you cant type u ?and stuff like that?( now thats crazy ) But being banned I am, I feel free lol like VMK had me taken into a cult ( scary ) but i still miss it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Becky

oh no! I was trying to tell someone about about this site saying "shorten disney" then next line "add boards". She didn't get it the first time so I had to repeat it. I may be creating a new character and email, hmmm. Live and learn. At least I don't have rooms full of stuff to unload. I think I have 4 pieces of furniture and 6 friends, two of them my own kids.