Look, I know you don’t understand this whole internet or the whole gaming thing. You think it’s just a kid thing. Wake up. It’s the 21st century and you are raising your children to be illiterate. They will lose all their money, they will be locked out of accounts they paid for and worse of all they will be unable to function. Take responsibility, tech support can’t help you if you’re stupid. Your kids will need to learn these skills if they are to survive in this world. Computers and internet are not going away.
Lesson 1: WRITE IT ALL DOWN
It doesn’t matter if it’s for Super Poke Pets or your bank. Write down the Name on the account, the billing address, any credit cards, the phone number, the email address, the profile name, the secret questions, passwords and any information you put into that account. Why? Because there will come a day when you need to provide that information to get access to your account and if you don’t know it you will be out of luck.
Lesson 2: DON’T MAKE SHIT UP
I know you think you’re being all secure by putting fake information in your account? No, you are shooting yourself in the foot. When you have an issue with your internet account or you’re gaming account you will be shit out of luck. Tech support can’t enter your account with your information. They cannot reset passwords without valid answers to questions or email address. This practice ensures you will never see your account again and will probably get you banned.
Lesson 3: READ ALL TERMS OF USE, SERVICE, ETC
Have you ever been in front of a judge? Try saying I didn’t know what the speed limit was..just try..I’ll wait here.
Out of jail yet?
There internet is just not just some pretend game. It’s real life. Not knowing the rules of a community, a game or a service gets you the same treatment you are banned, kicked out or worse you go to jail. Treat the internet, games and everything else online as if you were talking to a real person because you are.
Lesson 4: WHAT YOU DO ONLINE IS FOREVER
You can’t delete the information. Canceled accounts, old web pages, forums posts, pictures, anything you do online is forever. Delete a crazy post about how you like being a bigot and it will be all over the place in an instant. There is even a name for this: the Streisand effect.
So before you start calling people names, be racist, trash another person, company, product or race. Before you lie, cheat and steal. Think. Sit down and say, “If I was going to say what I’m about to post in front of a 250lb man would I die?” If the answer is yes, don’t post.
Ignore this advice and one day when you need help people will Google you and your name and ids your old mistakes will come up and you will be shunned. This is real life people. Get it straight.
Lesson 5: IF IT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU THEN ACT LIKE IT
Do you love your Xbox gamertag? Would you die with access to WOW. Then fricking act like it. Write down all the information to your account. I don’t care if you are 4 or 94. Write it down. No one can help you if you can’t be bothered to use a real email address or write down a password. You will be screwed. Then keep it SAFE. Don’t give it your buddy, don’t post the information online. Don’t expect that your 8 year old will be responsible with your credit card if you just hand it to him or her. They will all abuse it.
It seems like common sense, but it is not. Anyone can act like a moron. Only a few actually protect themselves. Take responsibility and realized that the internet is not a toy. This is real life.
A few weeks ago I was running my Serenity game. This was the first day of the new reboot, and they all had new characters. Before we started, the I asked B., the new ship captain, if he had rules for his ship or any NPC requests for crew. He said, oh since we didn’t talk about it, anything was fine.