A friendly reminder from your friends at Gamesville…

Chat in games is a wonderful thing–a way to connect with others, share stories, have fun, and make new friends.

But you need to remember to use caution because chat is, essentially, slow dancing with strangers–some of whom you can probably trust, some of whom you probably can't.

As I've said before, imagine this scenario: If someone spent a week in a chat room and copied down everything you said in chat, how much would they know about you? Would they know…

• Your telephone number?
• Your email address?
• Your street address?

The fact is, anything you type in a chat room can be seen (and shared) by whoever is in that chat room with you–so you must pay careful attention to what you type and never give out vital personal information.

If you feel that your real-life identity has been compromised and that someone is using your personal information illegally, please consult the FTC's ID Theft: Facts for Consumers or contact your local police department for more information.

Remember: It is absolutely essential that everyone use good judgment in chat–in any chat room, on any website. Have fun and socialize, but always err on the side of caution and common sense.

Sincerely,
Chris Cummings
Manager, Gamesville.com

Bullies and rude people are a fact of life, online and in the real world. Thankfully they can be a lot easier to handle online if you use the tools available to you. We take chat abuse very seriously here at Gamesville and are always looking to provide a clean and hospitable environment for members to enjoy our games.

When you encounter anyone being abusive in chat:

• Don't bring yourself down the offenders level. If you see someone acting in an abusive manner in chat (excessive swearing, personal attacks, etc.), don't try to argue with them or force them to be polite; instead, please add that player to your block list so you never see messages from that player again. If you use foul language in retort, your account may end up being banned
• Try to calm the room down. Be a leader, keep your cool. Many situations can be resolved with a kind word, or a reminder to other people in the room that the "block" button will silence troublemakers
• If things are really bad, report chat abuse. For more info check out this post.

We've always found that the best way to prevent inappropriate behavior is to be as friendly welcoming as possible to new players and living by the golden rule. Here are two really important reasons to welcome new players into the Gamesville community:

1. These newcomers could become great gaming friends and you'd be missing out on something special if you reject a stranger because they have a star badge next to their name; and of course…
2. The more people who play at Gamesville, the more money Gamesville generates from advertising and sales; the more money Gamesville makes, the more prizes we can afford to give out–everyone benefits if more people play, and a cornerstone to that is a warm, welcoming community.

Whether you're a Gamesville expert or a newcomer to the community, we're delighted so many people enjoy the games we provide here at Gamesville.

Good gaming, one and all!

Yesterday, we spoke about chat safety and identity theft. While that is a matter not to be taken lightly, a more pressing concern for some of you is handling the garden variety abusive chatter.

If you see someone acting in an abusive manner in chat (excessive swearing, personal attacks, etc.), don't try to argue with them or force them to be polite; instead, please add that player to your block list so you never see messages from that player again.

To block individual players, click the player's member name in the player list and select "Block from Chat". When a player is on your blocked list, you will not see any messages from them in chat again, unless you remove them from your block list.

"Block" is an extremely powerful tool because chat abusers really want your attention, and they can't stand being ignored. Once chat abusers stop getting your attention, they grow bored and eventually move on or stop altogether. 

To view your full block list, go to My Gamesville where you can add other players to your block list or remove players from your block list.

There may be times when intervention is needed, because the chat violates our Terms of Service. If a situation has arisen that you feel needs to be investigated, please send customer service an Abuse Report using our ticket submission form.

NOTE: DO NOT POST CHAT ABUSE REPORTS HERE IN THIS BLOG. 

When sending an Abuse Report to customer service using our ticket submission form, be sure to include…

• Abuser's Gamesville member name
• Date and time the incident took place
• Game name in which the incident took place
• Room name in which the incident took place
• Brief description of what tooks place, including language used

Our customer service team reviews every abuse report. After a thorough investigation, the customer service team decides what action to take for each individual situation.

Note: We will never discuss ongoing or completed investigations into specific users who have been reported for abuse.

Once you've reported an alleged chat abuser to customer service, your job is done; please leave it up to our customer service representatives to conduct their investigation and render their decision.

Finally, if you see someone responding to an abuser in chat, please private message that player and remind them about the block feature, and remind them that denying chat abusers attention is the surest way to make them go away.

A few people have expressed concerns about chat and identity theft. This post contains some advice and some suggested resources for more information.

Imagine this scenario: If someone spent a few weeks in a chat room and wrote down every single thing that you said in that chat room, how much would they know about you? Have you revealed your place of work? Your telephone number? Your street address? What have you said in private chats that you might not want the entire world to know?

The fact is, anything you type in a chat room can be seen by whoever is in that chat room with you–and they may repeat this information to anyone else, until the end of time–so you must always pay careful attention to what you type and never give out vital personal information, such as your telephone or cell phone numbers, your passwords, your banking details, your Social Security number, etc. 

If you feel that your real-life identity has been compromised and that someone is using your personal information to commit crimes, there are resources online to turn to for help. See the FTC's ID Theft: Facts for Consumers for details on identity theft and actions you can take to re-secure your identity.

Please remember: It is absolutely vital that everyone use good judgment when using a chat room–any chat room, on any website. Have fun and socialize, but always err on the side of caution and common sense.

Recently, we’ve received a rash of complaints about a few specific members who are having trouble keeping it clean in some of the chat rooms.

Here are some basic rules for chat. Members who we determine have failed to follow these simple rules will find their Gamesville membership terminated.

• Do not abuse, harass, or threaten other players.
• Do not use language that is obscene, defamatory, offensive, obscene, vulgar, hateful, or otherwise objectionable.
• Do not post adult-oriented content.

Chat postings that violate the Terms and Conditions — which contain additional rules that govern Gamesville and Gamesville chat — may also lead to the deletion, without notice, of your Gamesville account and everything associated with it, including accumulated Gamesville Reward Points.

These rules are pretty basic and easy to follow. Please follow them.