People Introduction List of People You Will Encounter Chats and Personal Messages Forums Conclusion Introduction People is what makes Party in my Dorm tick. Obviously without people, there would be no app to play. I have been on many MMORRG games on my iPhone, but what makes this one, and all of A Thinking Ape (ATA) games, is that you can actually chat with friendly people who care about more than just a game. People are so friendly and thoughtful, and I know of many people who have become quite good friends because of this game, including a lot of friendships I have made that I have outside the game. But, with that there is a caution. You never really know who is on the other side of that iDevice/Android. Here are some things to notice and watch out for as you play PimD. List of People You Will Encounter Mods – Very trustworthy. They moderate chats and forums and make sure the ToU is enforced. If you have any questions regarding PimD, ask them. Average, dedicated players – usually trustworthy. These are the players that are active quite a lot. They usually know the ends and outs of PimD, but do not always obey the rules. Use discretion. Stats vary from low to high. (Different than sexters) The “Sometimes” Players – Sometimes trustworthy. These players are on and off PimD. They could go days or weeks without logging on. Normally, they use the game just to talk to friends and not upgrade. Sexters – NEVER trustworthy. It is best not to associate with the players who sext. Will be discussed later on. Normally have lower stats (but not always) because they come just to get visual stimulation. Chats and Personal Messages Not everyone is who they say they are I felt like this was the most important thing to note, right off the bat. Remember, remember, remember: Do NOT trust ANYONE you just met!!! PimD is a fun place to meet new people. Campus chat, clubs, forums, and personal messages are great ways to get to know people. And getting to know people is extremely important. There are going to be many people through your PimD life that are going to want to message you and talk to you just to take advantage of you! Many will try to smooth talk their way into your life, just to take you to some 3rd party chat application and try to sexually “harass” you. I get at least one person a day following me, just for this purpose. If you feel like something is fishy with the way someone is talking to you right off the bat, PLEASE be alert. Do NOT trust them. Let me give you a real example of something like this happening: A 23 year-old man met a 12 year-old girl in a chat room. They began talking back and forth for months on end. Soon, he started asking for more and more information, very innocently (or so it seemed). He was giving false information back to her the whole time. He received her email and instant message name and became good “friends” with her, according to the girl. Eventually he gained enough information to be able to track her down (not having the address). He stumbled across the place where she lived, he could tell what she looked like by the pictures he sent her, but she could not tell what he looked like because he sent her false pictures. He found a time when her parents were away and she was home alone. At that moment he broke into her house and molested that 12 year-old girl. They eventually caught him and he spend a very disappointing 3 years in jail (should have been way longer). Now you may say, “Oh yes! He was caught! Good!” But, that girl has to live with those scars the rest of her life. And when he gets out of jail, she will be ever fearful for her very life. Now, do you think it was worth it? Did she think that would happen, just by stumbling across a random chat room? No. But, it did because she was not careful. Now, I warn you! Please be careful of what you give away in PimD. You may think, “That would never happen to me!” But, may I submit to you, she probably didn’t think it would happen to her either. If someone seems fishy to you on the game, block them IMMEDIATELY (you can do that by scrolling down on their profile and clicking the “block” button). If things seem more sever and they keep trying to get a hold of you, report them immediately to support. (support@athinkingape.com). To avoid this happening, please follow these guidelines: Do not follow anyone who asks for a specific age on World Chat (wc). Yes, you may fall into that certain age category, but you do not know that the other person falls into that age group. The female asking for men in between 13-17 may in fact be a 45 year-old, male child-molester. You really do not know! Do not follow anyone asking for role play (rp) in wc. Note – not all role play is bad, but when there is a random person who asks for rp, most (not all) of the time they are referring to sexting. Watch out for these people, or your fantasy trip to the zoo may end up getting you in trouble. Do not follow someone who just randomly follows you. If you have never talked or seen a person on PimD, and they follow you, watch out. I recommend posting on their wall first and ask why they followed you. If they don’t have an answer that sits right with you, do not follow them. Do not follow the people who post “Follow me for gifts, etc.” on wc. You do not know people on PimD and should be careful who you follow. Check someone’s wall before you friend them. If it is full of questionable material, you can almost guarantee that that is what they are looking for in you. Not everyone who follows you will be a sexter or pervert, but please keep that in mind every time you see that notification. Do NOT give anyone any reason to question your intentions There are obviously going to be some times in which you want to friend someone on PimD. Here is a list of do’s/don’ts to remember in meeting someone in PimD. When in wc, do NOT just follow random people who post. This will give them an raised eye-brow on your intentions. If you want to follow someone, write a short explanation on their wall why you wish to follow them, then click the “follow” button. This will set their mind at ease. Even though it is not always bad, try to minimize the use of the words role-play, unless it is obvious your intentions. Be specific on your intentions. It is also better to advertise for rp in a public setting (club or the fan fiction forum). And make sure that club has the words “no sexting” on the club page. If you follow all that, people will not question your intentions for rp. Here is an example phrase: “Come to the club Clean Role-Play Club for a fun role-play about going to the zoo!” I know that is a very corny way to put it, but you get the idea. Join a club and meet those people in the club, rather than following random people. This is more of a personal preference, but if you want to take a safe road, please listen. Normally, when you join a club (a well-known, established club), you can trust mostly everyone. Get to know them in a public setting first, then follow them for private chat. This way you get the general idea of how they operate. If you follow these guidelines, you have a better chance of not appearing creepy, especially your first few days on PimD. Forums If you are new to PimD, I encourage you to get started in the forums. They are a fun place to get to know people. I have already made a guide concerning forums, but I felt it necessary to cover the topic here as well. Introduction to Forums In PimD, the forums can be a fun place to be! Great conversations can be found at just about any time of day. Conflict, praise, studies, games, stories, and many other things can easily be found in the forums. But, getting started on forums is not an easy thing. If you are new to the forums, it is essential that you get a few things down before you start posting away. If you do not start out carefully you may be labeled as a “noob” or made fun of. If that happens, your path to “Forum Greatness” will be greatly hindered. Getting started When you first arrive in the PimD forums, you may ask, “What should I do first?” This is a valid question. Here is a list of things you should do before starting out on the forums. Threads to Read First and foremost, read “IMPORTANT – World Chat and Forum Behaviour” located in the “Rules of Conduct” forum. This will save you a lot of trouble in the future. This guide was set up by the PimD developers and if you do any of the things on the list, you could run the risk of being silence or forum banned. Secondly, read –JordanMooCow-‘s thread called “Ultimate BB Coding Guide!” located in Questions/Feedback. This will show you how to make lists (such as this one), make words different colors, and many other things. Please do not ask in various threads, or post your own thread asking how it is done… it gets annoying sometimes. Read –Zuess-‘s thread “The Guide to Forum Behavior” located in the Other PimD Discussion Forum. This shows you how not to be misunderstood in the forums, and is great for beginners and forum veterans. Another thread that would be helpful to read is Leonardo-Da-Vinci’s “How not to Argue in PIMD”. Especially if you are new to the forums, this is a key. If you offend someone (whether by accident or on purpose) you could end up being looked down upon in the forum section of the game, and ultimately could be looked down upon in all of PimD. Many PimD players have quit the game because a post they made in a thread ended up getting them hated. Be careful with what you post. Read Royale’s “The Scary Truth” located in Off Topic. This is a very great thread on the dangers and consequences of sexting. Sexting in forums in looked down upon and could result in a silence or forum ban, plus be hated among your peers of PimD. This is not a thread, but is a very important thing to read. Be familiar with the Terms of Use in PimD. Click Help on the home screen, then slide down to Terms of Use (third from the bottom). If you break anything in the ToU it could result in a silencing or a forum ban. Now since you are familiar with the threads in PimD that will save you from utter embarrassment, let us look at some tactics you can perform in the forums themselves that can help you in your rise to forum greatness. Before Posting in a Thread Read the entire thread first. Jumping in at the very end of a conversation could result in humiliation or ridicule. This could be a conversation between a certain club or certain players that has nothing to do with you. They could get upset that you are not caught up with all the facts regarding the situation. Know who you are speaking to. As in a real life college, PimD has those “popular players” who have a great voice in PimD. Posting something against those players may turn many people against you. The “popular crowd” are usually in tight with a lot of stronger players who could easily farm you (attack you repeatedly) if you offend their friend. Do not make an accusation against someone whom you have not met. Again, you may not know the whole facts regarding a situation and could be looked down upon for saying something in error. This is last in my list, but is certainly NOT least. It can be summarized in one word….Grammar. Please spell check and grammar check what you write before you click “post”. There are people in the forums known as “Grammar Nazis” who will tear down everything you say just because you do not use right grammar. Posting a thread There are things you need to know before you post a thread in PimD: Do’s Do follow all PimD rules in your post Do spell check Do be respectful Do post threads in the appropriate forum(i.e. Role Play goes in “Fan Fiction”, Questions go in “Question/Feedback”, etc. Don’ts Don’t make threads begging for a volley or money (ask in World Chat) Don’t make threads regarding sexting. You will get haters galore and a silence or forum ban. Don’t make a thread bashing anyone unless you know all the facts Maintaining your thread Here are some tips to think of while your thread is active. Expect trolls. They will come. It is best to ignore them while they are there. If someone keeps bugging you about various things in your thread, you may ask them to leave. It used to be that you could only ask people to leave if they had posted spam or profanity in your thread, but this has changed. If you wish for someone not to post in your thread, ask them to leave. If your thread is dying, yet you feel like it can still be an active post, then bump it. It will bring the post back to the top of the Active Topics list. But, do not over-bump. If the last five posts in the thread is the word bump, posted by you, then let it die. You will just annoy people that way. Try to keep your thread on topic. As the OP (original poster), it is your job to keep it on topic as much as possible. If it strays too far, the mods could lock it. You can read this separately in Hermes Guidebook: Forums but this is an updated copy. Just about everything said in the Forum Guide is said here. Conclusion As I stated before, PimD is a fun place to meet people. But, like I always say, on the other side of the iDevice/Android screen are not just black and green names, they are people. Some of those people may be genuinely nice, and some may be evil. I warn you, watch out who you talk to in PimD! Thank you for taking the time to look through this!
Zach, you do immoral things for satisfaction. YOU ARE A FOUR STAR!!! It is very immoral to not dv me, and then snicker about later.