New News, New Minis, Changing Icons, Neglected UK and MORE!

Whaddya Knew? New News!

 Dear Editor,

I was surprised when I opened the Pogo News and found your new format.  I happily went about exploring the whole thing and found it so easy to find the articles I wanted and was thrilled to find past articles were easily available as well.  Thank you so much for the updated look – it is great.

Daneel847

 

Like New(s) Changes!

Hello Dear Editor,

Just a quick note to say that I love the new News page.

Very fresh and easy to use.

Also am enjoying the ‘summer release’  in the mini mall.

Well done.

Thank you.

 

Do NOT Like the New News!

 I really wish you people would leave well enough alone.   You do not consider the FACT that there are many seniors that get used to finding things and reading things on the OLD news page and now have to  start all over again learning and muddling through the new page.   I think the whole thing sucks.

It took me over 1/2 an hour to find the promotion page and to find other things.    Why fix something that does not need fixing or improving?   Every time you think you are improving things, you make us suffer with gaming issues and make things worse and not better.

You do the same thing with some of the games which is getting to be most of the games and there are a lot of people who cannot load the games or get kicked out of them.

You take our money and it is expensive to keep paying for things that keep giving us trouble.   If you wish to continue giving us frustrations, then please lower the annual membership fee.

The price goes up and so does the frustration.  That just is NOT fair to your players and members.

Thanks for letting me sound off.

Editor: Glad to let you sound off! And your point is taken on the games, but this is different. The new News page will not (and I will stake my life on this!) affect your gameplay in anyway whatsoever!

While it may take some getting used to, all of the navigation on the old News page is mirrored on the new News page. You can pretty much find everything you’re looking for on the upper right side – including the Promotions Page.

The old News page was really difficult to maintain and required ancient processes to update. Well, “ancient” may be a stretch, but what used to take 30 minutes on the old page takes about 5 on the new page. We will not be going back.

Also – just to clear this up – we have not raised the rates on Club Pogo in five years and have no plans to do so. It’s still cheaper than a night at the movies, or even a monthly cable bill.

 

Have a Little Mercy, Will Ya?

I have heard that timing is EVERYTHING but this takes the cake!  Today is my BIRTHDAY, for crying out loud, and just look at what you did!

1.     Spring into Summer Fun “Deal of the Day” with savings on Mini items AND Badges AND Expressions?  So far this week… my friends have FILLED my closets!

2.     TRIPLE Bonus Tokens Thursday… I’ve recouped half my spending!

3.     Second day for new badges INCLUDING a “Super Badge” AND they are FUN!!

4.     Fantastic double-duty (summer AND Fourth of July) Mini release… I can’t possibly decide WHAT to wear!

I have been unable to leave my PC except for emergencies or inescapable interruptions (nature calling, dog letting out, snacks….) for HOURS!  I have been Mini shopping, gift opening, Badge getting and thanking my AMAZING Pogo friends non-stop and my fingers are tired, my lips are frozen in a giant SMILE and I have been giggling uncontrollably while trying to remember to blink occasionally!

This has GOT to STOP!  Please…PLEASE be aware of your actions and timing in the future or at least post the “WARNING-May cause EXTREME happiness” disclaimer if you are unable to control your offerings.

sign me….

“Hunchedoverkeyboardgrinninlikeanidiot” flawik123 :)

Editor: First off – Happy (belated) Birthday! We did all of this just for you! ;)  Kidding aside , it’s really delightful to read this letter and we thank you so much for your feedback! Glad you approve!

 

Another Birthday Celebrator Says “Thanks!”

Dear Editor,

I was ever so happy when I went to the Mini Mall this morning.

What a nice surprise. I saw everything that I wanted that I had missed the year I was sick. I was almost in tears I was so happy to see the Ants and the picnic basket. I just can`t thank you so much for that. I had asked only once for that and guess what? It was there. I`m so grateful for all you guys do at pogo.

Returning the pop up for the games, The new clothes. This was the best birthday present I could ask for. If I was living in the area where your offices are, I would buy you all donuts . Thank you so much again for everything, I`m hoping in the future we could have robins, chickadees, morning doves, woodpeckers and sea gulls. That would be great. God Bless you all.

A Grateful Pogo Member

Kathy

 Editor: Well, Happy (belated Birthday to you too! Another great letter! I’ll pass along your request for the birds to our Mini Mall team. They may say “This request is for the birds!” and if they do, they’ll be correct.

 

Editor’s Broken Record Response is Irritating!

Dear Editor:

I am tired of seeing or being told “You do not have to play the game “when I go to a game to get a Badge and don’t get it.  Or when I look at the letters to the editor and see the same thing.

I pay the same amount as everybody else.  I like it at the end of the year when I can see that I completed a whole badge book.  It makes me feel that the price I pay is worth it.

Fellow Pogo players remember when some people complain about a game it is just to get frustration out, so please quit with the ”You don’t have to play the game” sometimes it is just venting.

Thank You

Editor: I know that a lot of times it is just venting, but sometimes your old Editor receives a ton of complaints from players, and he feels it’s his duty to remind everyone that the Badges are optional, and if they’re truly causing some of the frustration that players have expressed, then perhaps those players shouldn’t pursue them. Pogo is supposed to be fun!

 

How Does One Change the Icon Next To Your Name?

I need to know how to change my icon beside my name. I have the one with the flashing square around it. I want to be able to put my favorite badge there. Please help me?

 

Thanks

Sue

Editor: It can be a bit of a challenge to figure this out, but it’s pretty easy! Go to your profile page, and click the “Badges” tab. Find the Badge that you want displayed next to your name, and click the little “Radio Button” beside it. It will then become your new icon.

Now, what’s even more difficult to find is how to change from having a Badge icon to a Mini icon. You can switch to your Mini by clicking the “See My Badges” link on the upper part of the homepage – where your Mini is located. Then you’ll see a pop up. Scroll all the way to the bottom of that pop up and you’ll see the options for changing which icon is shown where. Good luck!

Tokens and Badges and Stats, Oh My!

 I am somewhat fascinated by the total tokens awarded to date, and I am curious on how many the “token” leader is at. In that same light, I always try to look at a player’s public data when I see that they have more than 100 Million tokens. Yesterday, I saw someone who had a bit over 100 million, but when I looked at the badge history and favorites, they had been a member a total of 9 DAYS.

Then I thought they were a free member, and had just become a paying Pogo member. Their badge history, including the Member badge, was a total of 4 badges. How does one amass that many tokens, in so few days, and with no badges to account for it? Is this cheating (and cheating themselves, really), or a glitch from the system?

Regarding badges, how many does the badge leader have, and which badge is the hardest to get (or least rewarded)? Just curious – no names of the leaders is wanted.

Editor: Believe it or not – there is a legitimate way to earn that many tokens in a short period of time. However, I find it pretty unlikely that the player you ran into won them “honestly”.  Most likely, he or she had one or several accounts with a great deal of tokens and went into one of our High Stakes poker rooms with a friend and lost the tokens from one account to the other account. That’s generally how sneaker players “move” large amounts of tokens.

 

Don’t Quite “Get” the Poll at the End of Nettie’s Column

Dear Editor –

Maybe you can help, or recommend a good eye doctor.  At the bottom of Ms. Netiquette’s column this week there is a question: “Do you prefer the blue background or the “dark olive” font for Nettie’s answers?”  The options are “Keep the blue background”  or “I like the dark olive”.  My problem is that I see a white page with black (or maybe dark grey) letters.  I don’t see a blue background or a “dark olive” font.  Is there something wrong with my page?  Or my eyes?

By the way, the layout of the new News Page is ok, but the stark white background is a little hard on the eyes. Or should it be blue too?

Seeing White

Editor: I’m no eye doctor, but I’m happy to say that in this case, your eyes appear to be fine. In Ms. Netiquette’s last column the difference between the letter-writer’s question and Nettie’s response was a  barely distinguishable “Olive Green” from “Black Text”. Nettie put in a poll (something we can now do with the new News pages!) and players liked the way we’d done it before (with the blue).

So, you won’t have that problem anymore, and we are actually looking at what we might be able to do to lessen the brightness of the white.

 

How Can We Get the Super Badge without Paying for More Badges?

Dear Editor,

With all due respect: How are those of us who cannot afford to pay for extra badges supposed to win the Pogo Boogie Super Badge which requires us to win 5 challenges between June 20 and Tuesday, July 3, when we do not get our next set of challenges until Wednesday, July 4?

Regards,

Wendy

Editor: Two words: Personal Challenges. On the homepage, beneath the Super Badge, there’s a section called “Personal Challenges”. You can pick two of those per week, and you can replay Badges you’ve already earned that will be credited towards the Super Badge.

 

Question About Pogo UK News From Across the Pond!

Hey Ed Tahd

Nice to see you back on the UK side to edit our letters

Is this a permanent thing or temporary?

Just wanted to ask a couple of things

1. Why is the Pogo news on the UK side being neglected? Surely someone should be updating the page more frequently. We are not getting the information which are all featured of the U.S side!

I would love to see the same info that affects the UK side as well as the U.S, Sometimes we miss out because nothing is updated.

2.  Wanted to know if Pogo intends to add new ranks on other games soon? i.e Kenopop and Dice City Roller,as is there any chance of any “Club Pogo Exclusive” games as it seems to be a very long time since we had one?

Kind Regards

Phil

Editor: Thanks for your letter Phil. As you can see with this week’s Letters to the Editor column, we’re actually combining them entirely so what you see in the US is what you see in the UK.

The change, I’m afraid, is permanent. The Pogo News for the UK is now being managed by the US Community team. And with the launch of the new US News page, the last few weeks on the UK side has been neglected.

The good news is that we will be combining the UK and US sites in the future, so it will be one big News page with a special section devoted to the UK site for UK site-specific news. Any promotions or events that are UK specific will live on the localized (or “localised”) promotions pages.

The bad news, of course, is that you’ll have to put up with American grammar and spelling. You’ll miss the “u” in “colour” and “favour”, but you will start getting a lot more news, much more frequently.

Overall, I think this is a good thing. The bottom line is that when it comes to the News on Pogo, aside from a few things here and there, it’s pretty much the same. And for those things that are different, we will have a special section for UK News, and we’ll call out UK links where applicable.

We are adding ranks to games as we can, but I don’t actually know where Keno Pop or Dice City Roller fit in that schedule. Probably not within the next 6 months!

Can’t Buy Me Gems… No!

Hi Tahd,

Greetings from the UK.  A long term problem is the inability to buy Gems because of the Gem error code, and reading the forums, it seems that no help is being offered with this.  Although I haven’t run out of gems yet, I know of several people who have left Pogo because of it.   Could you possibly wave your magic wand and help get this problem resolved?

I will shortly be cutting down on what I buy because I do not want to be in the position of having no Gems, as M & M badges, Badge Albums, Claire Hart etc., are the major source of my Pogo enjoyment.

Being a Pogo addict I am very concerned that this problem is not being addressed, leaving players feeling frustrated and even leaving because of it.  Many of us have ridden through the numerous glitches over the last 12 months with stoic resolve, but the gem issue is one step too far…

I remember this being raised with Nee last year and yet the problem still exists (we all miss Nee), so Tahd, please help us addicts continue with our enjoyment.

Many thanks from over the pond.

Editor: It’s not just our UK players! Unfortunately, we have players in Canada, Australia and the UK experiencing the inability to purchase Gems.  We are aware of this problem, and our engineers are looking into why it might be happening.

AOL players who are using the AOL browser are also experiencing this, however, that’s actually an AOL Browser issue – those folks can download Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Firefox and they should have no issue purchasing Gems with those browsers.

QWERTY Ratings Causing Rash Impolite Behavior

Hi

Firstly I must say that I love QWERTY.  I love pitting my wits against better players and creating words from seemingly impossible letters.

But why oh why bother to have a rating system if you have now decided that if the other player leaves the game even just as you are about to put down your final set of letters the ratings for either player will not change?

Now whenever my opponent is about to lose they seem to just leave the game thus ensuring that their own rating points remain the same and so do mine.

In the last few days I have found myself playing robots at the end of almost every game I am winning.  Surely not a coincidence!

Please rethink this policy because I can no longer trust the rating system at all.

Editor: This, too, appears to be a bug we’ve introduced in the past month that affects not only QWERTY but several of our other rated games. We are aware of this and our engineers are working on a fix!

 

Letter *FROM* the Editor

You can call me the “Forgetitor” today if you’d like, but I forgot to mention – since next Wednesday is the Independence Holiday here in the U.S., there will be no Letters to the Editor Column next week.

Look for your next dose of letters on July 11th!

 

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Have something to say to the Editor? E-mail editor@pogo.com. Please note – if you are having any customer support or technical support related questions, please contact our Customer Experience Team