Don't Ruin the Game by Thandrie Davis (Originally published 16th January, 1998)

There are many ways to interfere with the fun of Acrophobia. I receive email each day about this, and I want to help clarify what is acceptable and what is not. This A File spells out actions that aren't tolerated... I like to call them the "Common Sense Rules."

STEALING THE SPEED BONUS
Typing "aa bb cc" to get two speed bonus points is cheating. While the two points stolen are not enough to win the game, it is enough to prevent other people from getting the bonus. It's not creative, it's just annoying.

GETTING AROUND THE ACRO
This_is_the_most_annoying_paragraph_I_have_ever_written. Using_underscores_or_other_symbols_to_connect_two_words_into_one_letter_is_c heating. Soisputtingthewordstogether.

It's okay if everyone in the room is doing it (i.e., Couch rules or other game variants) but if it's only one, that person is cheating.

INFLUENCING PEOPLES VOTES
Sending private massages, yelling to friends in the office or telling anyone in any way which answer belongs to whom is cheating. The names don't appear in the voting round until after everyone has voted for this very reason.

It is also obviously cheating if someone uses the chat box to influence people's vote. And once again, not very creative at all.

BEING ANNOYING
Typing lots of chat into the chat box over and over is annoying, but people can /ignore that. Insulting people in answers can't be /ignored, but is something which will get that player banned. These people should use common sense. If they wouldn't do it to someone's face, they shouldn't do it in the game.

PLAYERS MISREPRESENTING THEMSELVES
If someone represents themselves to be anything other than a player of the game, he or she will be banned. This includes being a Berkeley Systems employee, the Acrobot, or anything else other than a player of the game.

GETTING AROUND THE CHAT FILTER
In "Keep It Clean" rooms, it's not just the words we're trying to keep clean, it's the intent of those words. Using characters to fill in certa!n w@rds isn't cute or original. Omitting letters is equally bad. If someone avoids the chat filter to say something that would normally be filtered, that person will be banned.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
In last month's A File we described the steps to take if someone is bothering you in the game. Basically, tell people in the room to use the /log command and email us the proof. (For answers in the top of the screen, a screen grab is necessary. /log only works for messages in the chat box.) If we find that user's actions inappropriate we will ban the user.

Bezerk Revived is not associated or affiliated with Sierra.