Been there. Done that. Bought the franchise.
First, some 'Flame' rules (not firm rules, but basic guidelines):
1) no 'guest' friend requests are accepted. Seriously...you get a list of 10+ guests in your friends list and you have NO idea where you met them or who they are. Complete waste of time friending guests.
2) I only friend people after I get to know them a bit first...isn't that how we become friends in real life? getting to know others first? Usually I receive several friends requests during a day of playing the game. I never reject the request right away. I will hit the 'X' on each one...then reject them when I log back in (since they pop back up for your approval again). Too many people who go on the map and try to friend everyone on the map. Blech.
3) my personal viewpoint on helping ppl in game does not include taking a person by the hand and showing them where something is...unless it's REALLY a hard to find place. Most places ingame are ridiculously easy to find for even the youngest kid just by following verbal instructions. (hey, most of us learned things the hard way and with NO help)
4) since it's becoming so much more frequent with people 'playing games' with other people while using their clones, I assume that most people that try to trade me or ask me for help are clones...not new people. that may sound harsh, but have seen it happen too often now that the 'new person' is actually an 'old person' who is bored and using their hidden identity to either pick on someone they don't like or just get some weird kicks.
5) if a person I friended starts bothering me, they're warned. if they find me again in game and bother me again, they're toast. if they bother me again, they're reported.
6) trade request: most of the time those are bogus, and someone just wants to ask a question or something else. I usually say that I don't accept trades and ask them if there was something they wanted to say (besides "I think you're cute", "I love you", etc.).
(if they can't say it in public, then chances are I don't want to hear it in private)
7) in general, I go by 'gut feeling'...and I don't wait long to take what I feel is the appropriate action.
The above may sound harsh, but I play the game to enjoy it, too. I don't have the time, energy or patience to deal with ppl playing head games with me. People coming to me asking for free...wearing B1 shirts and packing Q magic on their lanyard. Puhlease... Too many weirdos around. I have one last rule that is again probably harsh for some, but it is a firm rule with me: I don't friend guys who play girl characters and vice versa...I also don't friend adults who play kids (I'm talking about as a main character which is also their primary character). I recently found out about 2 people on my friends list who are doing this. They are now toast. Sorry, but that just weirds me out. I have no problem with clones playing the opposite sex (I have several girl clones myself...but I rarely speak to anyone while using them and they accept no friend requests...except 'Sheesh'. lol), but I do have a problem with adults pretending they're very young kids.
In the end, be careful who you friend. That person may haunt you. Be wise and treat the accepting/rejecting process seriously. Some people can be VERY hard to get rid of. Keep your eyes open and don't be hesitant to check people out first (peek at their lanyard). WAY too many major players changing their main titles repeatedly. Hard to know who anyone is anymore. I've already made a couple people aware of someone who is an 'old player' on VFK going around 'playing dumb' and asking people for directions to places (like Space Age...this was after I had already seen them there earlier...besides, if anyone knew where Space Age was it would be them) and asking for continuous help on scavenger hunts. This person is packing a large amount of memberships...and obviously knows their way around. "Humankind is so predictable"? Not everyone resides under that blanket statement. I think "Some people are so predictable" is closer to the truth.
I know everyone has their own way of helping/friending/etc. The above is just what my stance has become...after learning too many times the hard way. Always sorry to hear the horror stories like Verenice and the others posted above. (hugs)
Flamanar...JMHO
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Topic: Just need to vent a little.. (Read 8591 times)