Introduction
As a Newbie, you'll quickly discover that you won't have full chat privileges. Why? We believe in freedom of speech in Whyville, but we also know that the Internet can be a dangerous place, so we want to first make sure you spend some time getting to know our town and our rules on how to chat safely.
Parental Permission
If you are under 13, and you haven't sent us a Permission Slip, you cannot freely participate in chat. If you'd like to chat freely, have your parents to sign the permission slip, then mail or fax it in to us. Don't ask your parents to write us an email. That doesn't work because we need a valid parental signature. You're used to permission slips from school, right? This works the same way!
The Chat License
As a new citizen, you'll also need to earn your Chat License. The Chat License is our way of seeing how well you understand what you can and can't say in Whyville. You can take the Chat License tutorial in the Welcome Lounge. You'll even earn 150 clams when you finish!
Read on for some hints on how to ace the test.
If you walked up to a total stranger on the street, would you tell them your full name, address and phone number? Of course not! And you shouldn't do it in Whyville either (or anywhere else on the Internet for that matter). So, giving out any information that could be used to contact you in real life is a no-no. This includes the name of your school and your email address. Basic info like first name, age, gender and state or country is fine. If you live in a big city, that's fine too.
Abusive language is absolutely not allowed in Whyville. That means no swearing, no bigotry, no cyber sex and no threats! Whyvillians pride themselves for being a smart, civilized population. If you come here to be a bully, a racist or a thug, you'll quickly find a big thick stripe of duct tape across your mouth and you'll have a few days to think about your behavior before we'll let you chat again. And, since most of the citizens in this town are kids, R-rated language and behavior is unacceptable. If you've got a problem with that, you'll find yourself talking to the Tape!
Another sure-fire way to get run out of town is by pretending to be a City Worker. City Workers wear stylish (ok, maybe not so stylish) red hats with a yellow "CW." City Workers don't take off their hats and don't ask for passwords! If someone tells you that he or she is a CW but isn't wearing the City Worker hat then it's a big fat lie.
Finally, asking for or giving out passwords is illegal in Whyville. No exceptions. We say this over and over again but we still get tons of complaints from Citizens who've had their accounts stolen. And activities that involve giving or receiving passwords are illegal; that means no makeovers outside the Style Studio, no salary raising, no selling or trading accounts. Period.
Punishments
After getting the chat license, you should be good to go! We wish you a fun time chatting and socializing in Whyville. Just remember to heed our rules! A few citizens like to think that they can get away with any or all of the behaviors listed above. The thing is, sooner or later they are proven wrong.
When citizens break rules, City Workers have no choice but to mete out punishments. Sometimes this means clam fines. Sometimes it's "taping", which means a piece of duct tape slapped across the citizen's face and no chatting for a number of days.
Other times, citizens can even get banished for breaking our rules one time too many. If you get banished, there is no way back. All your clams and possessions on that account are wiped clean. It doesn't matter if it was your friend who came on as you and got you banished because you are responsible for EVERYTHING that happens under your name. This is another good reason to never give out or ask for a password.
