So some of you are against the taken issue, and others are not, and some of the staff have made interesting points on this issue.

VMK is geared primarily for an age range that still has the necessity for role playing, (such as playing with dolls, and building forts and pretending your power rangers.. etc)

From what I have heard from staff, it is not the issue of being taken that is the problem, it's the behavior that coincides with it. As players and community leaders it is up to us to educate the members of proper behavior. Ask them:"Would you go to a stranger in DLR and ask that?" might go a long way instead of saying that being taken is not ok.

Don't go into rooms that have the type of behavior and try to stop it, because then they will do it in the public places, and bother you even more with it.

I think reporting rooms that encourage taken is not a big enough issue, kids will be kids, and have the need to explore different safe ventures, but the behavior that goes above just being taken should be reported to VMK staff.
Such as those who are trying to have a bay be, or make out as it used to be. Even telling staff new words kids are using to make inappropriate behaviors might help them.

I think you all would agree that if the staff is not going to do anything about people who are just being taken, than we should make them aware of whats going on above just being taken, and report it. It's a waste of our time to report things they won't do anything about, so let's report on what they will, and educate them on how its strange to go to a stranger and ask if they are taken.

:goofy: :goofy:

Very well said!

-KookyQuack

well i just think this stuff get worse and worse! a was in a river ride class with HOST_Phinny and a guest came up to her and said very inapprooriate things to her! is was awful!

well i just think this stuff get worse and worse! a was in a river ride class with HOST_Phinny and a guest came up to her and said very inapprooriate things to her! is was awful!

Oh! I remember that!

Oh... I remember that..

-KookyQuack

Emakla, may I congratulate you on making one of the most level headed analyses of the "taken" issue that has appeared on the forums in a very long time.

I've stated my position on many a thread in the early days of this forum (and subsequently many of those threads were deleted because others got nasty in their posts). I don't think the taken thing should be allowed...mainly because of the things do and will get out of hand. Frankly, if you all really wanted to say "AceBestShammyLights is my girl friend," it should be OK, once you and AceBestShammyLights become well acquainted with each other. What VMK starts...is kids learning to trust anyone they meet online, which may lead to dangerous behaviors on sites where they don't ban you for saying you live "closer to Disneyland than WDW."

u were there kooky?

u were there kooky?
Sure I was. After the guest left, I said "What just happened?"

-KookyQuack

oh yeah i remember now!

I don't care about the taken stuff but, it's the stuff they do when they are "taken" you have a very good point

For all I care I would give anything to have the word "taken" taken out of the dictionary!

-coolgogogirl

For all I care I would give anything to have the word "taken" taken out of the dictionary!

-coolgogogirl


If VMK took out a lot of the words that we didn't like, we wouldn't be able to say much.

For instance. They took out baby to stop them from saying it, now they say bay and be, if they take those out I am sure they would then start using be be, and so on and so forth.

Just because the word taken might get removed, doesn't mean they won't be "tea can"

;)

For all I care I would give anything to have the word "taken" taken out of the dictionary!

-coolgogogirl

But if it was taken out of the dictionnary they would probbaly say take in like they now say bay be

Why must MY friends be banned? :( :bawling: :bawling: :bawling: :(

Spot,they might have been hiding it from u,they might have been doing that "taken" junk.U nevah know,they might have "asked staff out".Ewww, who knows who those "taken" ppl ask out, i mean, if ur like 23, then u ask some1 on vmk out, u could be asking out a 7 year old.Ugh!-shudders and makes grossed out face-

___________________
Kirby Freak!

That opening statement is extremely true, but even still the taken/not taken thing bugs a lot of people, regardless of the level of behavior they are performing.

If VMK took out a lot of the words that we didn't like, we wouldn't be able to say much.

For instance. They took out baby to stop them from saying it, now they say bay and be, if they take those out I am sure they would then start using be be, and so on and so forth.

Just because the word taken might get removed, doesn't mean they won't be "tea can"

;)
Hey now don't encourage them with new ways to say it!

Since there so caught up in being taken I really doubt they can figure out how to dance around the dictionary :Tongue:

every where i go i see ppl saying are you taken? this has to stop. hmm....

~kirby

that is one reason i am leaving vmk very shortly

For all I care I would give anything to have the word "taken" taken out of the dictionary!



Just like when they took "Baby" out of the dictionary, they'll probably find a way around it like, ta can.

Emelka, very well said. The iPod nano contest though, has driven more and more people into it, I can hardly find anyone who doesn't! Oh well, another day, another person saying I know nothing about VMK because I come up to them and say that stuff is wrong.

The concern of VMK has always been to protect minors from being contacted within the game. As long as they can do this, I don't think they care much about virtual relationships of any kind.

As bizarre as it seems, if a young girl unknowingly picks some 30-year-old guy as a boyfriend in the game, perhaps VMK figures no harm can come from it unless there is inappropriate dialog going on, because these players will never meet in real life. References to age are frowned upon, which may be an additional safety buffer, but this only adds to the "invisibility" factor of who you are dealing with.

As others have expressed here, I hope that young players are not learning to be too trusting of others online, as a result of the strange safety net VMK has in place.

Bottom line, parents need to talk to their kids about online safety in general, and help them keep a balance between online and real life activities.

Well said! I posted some similar comments over in this thread (http://www.vmkforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=374859#post374859) where people were shocked to see VMK_Red saying that "taken" is not against the rules.

There has been some excellent discussion here, but at the same time we do not allow discussion of bf/gf/dating on the forum since it can often become not G-rated. Please see this thread (http://www.vmkforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9881) for a clarification of the updated policy. For consistency, I feel obligated to close this thread now, but I will leave it visible since I think the discussion here has been quite informative.