Moneys. Owls. and an Old Man. Which answer will reign supreme?
“Oprah is my hero.” — Laverne, one of the play140 robots.
Laverne is confused by “Secret Ninja Techniques.” But unlike most who are confused by them, she isn’t getting killed.
When the round is over, you can give a “stamp of approval” by clicking the thumbs-up icon next to that answer. But what if you are tired of that boring old thumb? What if you want to be a little bit different? Well now you can with New Stamps! During the end of the round, just click the “Get More Stamps” link above the scoreboard and you can spend your coins on over a dozen new stamp options, including a smile, a country flag, or even a heart. Today, most stamps cost between 100 and 500 coins. However, the true TAG Zen Master will want the limited-edition Yin-Yang stamp. 10,000 coins, available for a limited time!
You can buy multiple stamps, but you can only give one out each round. To change the stamp you are using, just click the button that shows the stamp next to “My Stamps.” Also, please note that we are still in beta, so when you buy a stamp it might not show up immediately; you might need to wait until the next round to use your new stamp.
We can’t wait to see those new stamps out there in the game! Join us!
Laverne and Monty, the TAG robots, chime in with another All-Star selection. Does Laverne seem a bit angry this week?
Time for another edition of TAG All-Stars, featuring Laverne and Monty.
Here is our favorite play from the last week. We used XtraNormal to make a nifty little video. What do you think?
Report an answer
In today’s other blog post, Rules of the Road, I talked about our community standards. In this post, I explain how players can help make those standards happen.
If you are playing on Facebook, and you see a play take place that appears to violate our community standards, mouse-over the answer and a “no” symbol will appear. Click it, then a popup form appears with options to choose from. Briefly describe what happened, and we’ll take care of it. It is as simple as that!
T.A.G. The Acronym Game – Rules of the Road
as of March 31, 2011
Any online game that allows for real-time communication between its users has to deal with the issue of “community standards.” We could have chosen to make T.A.G. an adult-language game, where no topic is taboo. Instead, we want a fun and inclusive environment. To that end, we have a list of five things we do not allow in our answers (or in our upcoming chat feature):
Offensive, violent, or adult content (all content must be suitable for children age 13)
What is offensive? We can’t give you a list, but we know it when we see it. And so will the community. At the end of the day this is your game. Don’t submit answers that you think are inappropriate, and report things you think are inappropriate. Together, as a group, we’ll get consensus.
There are three examples that we can share. Please do not use any of these:
- Sexually Explicit Terms: Referencing “sex” is ok. Referencing a particular sexual activity is not. In other words, don’t be more specific than “sex.” It isn’t about the word; it is about the detail.
- Explicit Bodily-Functions Terms: For instance, a reference to going to the “bathroom” is fine, but describing the act of going to the bathroom is not.
- Drug Terms: Making a reference to “drugs” is fine, depending on the context. Describing the act of taking drugs, or putting them in a positive light, is not.
Derogatory comments, hate speech, attacks against individuals or groups
Please don’t use language that is hateful of anyone. This includes homophobic, sexist, racist, or other terms that denigrate someone based on who they are.
Harassment, bullying, stalking
Please don’t use TAG as a way to attack someone.
Spam, commercial advertising
Please don’t use TAG to promote your business. (If you want to promote your business through TAG, send an email to tag@play140.com.)
Cheating, violating game rules, nonsense answers, interfering with play
This covers several things:
- Don’t Cheat: D.T.A. = Do-not type answers-thatcheat! Playing with the acronym is part of the fun. Getting around the acronym is NOT part of the fun.
- Do Not Get Around Out Banned-Words List: Suppose we banned the word “snack.” If you entered “sn-a-ck” to get around the filter, that isn’t ok. Neither would “sn*ck” or anything similar. We ban many words in the game. We aren’t interested in publishing the list — we want everyone to be able to come to this site, and that list is not safe for 13-year-olds! (I’m 36, and the words I’ve had to encounter on this list…)
- Do Not Enter Nonsense Answers: Don’t type in something random just to get 5 points.
- Do Not Abuse The Reporting System: Do not report other players just because you do not like them, or because they are not friends of yours, or other similar reasons.
The vast majority of winning answers have nothing to do with hate or explicit language. If you might be stepping over the line — don’t. Especially in your first 20 games. By then, you’ll know the difference between something that is a bit risque and something that will get you a warning or a ban.
Awesome TAG players make for awesome games of TAG. Do your part by being awesome, and report those who are being disruptive. If you have a suggestion for these Rules, don’t hesitate to email us (tag@play140.com).
- Andrea Jennifer Shubert
Game Designer of T.A.G. The Acronym Game
Chief Creative Officer of play140
