Why I Rarely Go into SocioTown

[BriarRosie]

Well, tonight sort of confirmed to me why I gave up SocioTown for the most part.

I haven't signed on for many months, and tonight I decided to see if anyone I knew was on. I gave up my Permanent Resident status a long time ago, and I am really glad I did.

I did get to see DsnyDeb, and it was great to see her.

But somehow the conversation from those non-identified ??? people came up, and they were talking about a 31 year old woman dating a 14 year old. She wouldn't stop commenting on it, and I got annoyed.

Well, apparently she was a Game Guide.
Yeah, I know. She was annoyed with me because I was rude to her for telling her to knock off the inappropriate talk! The next thing I know, I've been "sen t to jail" for a week by this girl who was irritated with me.

I wrote to one of the game developers to tell her what happened, and why I felt this girl abused her power. I unfortunately started up in their forums, and this girl was telling me I was basically kissing up to the guides because they had a badge!

Oh, the irony of that! The girl not only didn't announce that she was a Guide, but she never gave me a warning. She saw me announce to Deb that I was leaving, and she quickly banned me because I was "getting away". Sheesh.

I really had to share this. I know all my VMK buddies would understand.

[ZetaGirl]

Briar, I am sorry that you had a bad experience at Sociotown. I had played the game regularly until recently. I know you, the players and the guides that you are refering to. The guides there do their best to police the game, but quite often things get out of control. I can't vouch for the actions or conversations that took place on your last visit because I was not there, but I no longer choose to play the game for VERY valid reasons. Although the game says that it is for ages 13+, in my opinion the almost unfiltered dictionary and loose moderation should rate the game for more mature players. I'll PM you with more details about why I left. As much as I enjoyed the game, I no longer recommend it because I felt the moderation is inadequate, and I did not feel safe.

[disvaclub92]

That is just horrible. I am not surprised tho. I agree the moderation over there was less than to be desired. Hence, why we tried to have some community of game guides there but you know how that goes.

[Kasiks]

I was wondering about that game today but I've found other things to do, guess it was not a bad thing ^^

[BriarRosie]

I can see why many people have decided to leave this game. I wouldn't recommend it if that's what new players might possibly deal with.

[aliceblue]

Forgive me for making an observation here, even though I've never played SocioTown.

The more I look at current games that claim to be appropriate for 13 and up, the more I appreciate the constraints that VMK had in place to protect young players. I know it was not perfect, and we all used to complain about the dictionary, but you've got to hand it to them for taking their job seriously. (So seriously that even the most rule-abiding players felt a little paranoid at times.)

Game developers who think all they need to do to cover their bases is provide report buttons and minor filtering of chat are extremely naive. I would not feel comfortable bringing a young teen into many of these environments.

I've come to the conclusion that games can only be geared for adults or geared for kids; I have yet to see anything that successfully achieves a middle ground.

[ZetaGirl]

I totally agree with you aliceblue. With a less restictive age limit, developers can get more people drawn into their games and earn more revenue. Unfortunately, what is considered 13+ often has less moderation than required for the younger end of that spectrum, and people in general should avoid them, especially youth.

With all the critisim that VMK got, they did an excellent job with what they had.

[disvaclub92]

Agreed Alice, that is where some of the online rules protecting children are flawed. Minimal requirements set.

Kids can lie and get around the rules and you know they do. Ultimately the responsibility lies at home with the parents, but you know how that goes.

Scary scary virtual and real world out there, if your not aware.

[PrincessNoelle]

There are a few games out there that I checked out to see if my daughter and I could play together. They were pretty bad, not only for her but I don't necessarily want to see that kind of behavior either.

[Bugdozer]

Hi,

That is why i have settled in with Elf Island. It has the same values that we were expected to follow in VMK. Taken is not tolerated, the chat is basically the same as vmk. Some familiar staff are there as well, Lily, Hula, Saturn, Red, Titan so on. From the time the game opens to closing there is always staff visible. They reply right away to messages and have been very open to our in put on what we would like to see. All of this is going on while we are doing good for our world. We have completed 4 month long quests which resulted in 6 homes being built by habitat for Humanity, 6 boats repaired that are used to hunt down shark poachers, 2000 trees planted on Africa and a polar bear being tracked in the arctic. A great message for everyone. The building is not as advanced yet as VMK but they are slowly getting there. So for now i will stick with this as i have found nothing else that seems to hold my interest.

Bug

[concerned_citizen]

sorry to ask just want to know if any of you encounter this player named thundebolt who now goes by the name of flamerz presently.


i miss vmk 2

[SimonCharles]

Originally Posted by BriarRosie

I can see why many people have decided to leave this game. I wouldn't recommend it if that's what new players might possibly deal with.

Yeah... doesn't sound fun.

[rickyratsmom]

VMK was unique those of us who were a part of that family know it so well, since then I have been on WLO don't recommend to children C9 pretty good just lots of grinding and no building, now FW great guild community if your looking for a MMO not so gindy check it out no building though bth FW Forsaken World