Shockwave Help: Community FAQ

Community® FAQ

Community Safety Tips

To protect yourself and your privacy, never share any personal information with another user on Shockwave. Do not give other users your telephone number; email address, home address, IM screen name, the name of the company your work for, or the name of your school. Never post personal pictures of yourself or your family on Shockwave.
Don't give out your password. Shockwave staff members will not ask you for your password, and we will never e-mail you a request for your password.
Be cautious of others. If another user on Shockwave says something offensive, sends you something unsolicited, or you see something on Shockwave that makes you uncomfortable, please let us know by using this form and we will investigate and take any necessary action.
All Shockwave content is posted on Shockwave, by Shockwave. We strongly urge you to delete e-mails, files, or web pages that you get from people you don't know or trust. Do not follow any links posted by other users on Shockwave. These links could potentially lead to viruses that may damage your computer. Please be wary of any Shockwave "competitions" outside the Shockwave domain. All Shockwave promotions are contained within our site and any Shockwave content outside the Shockwave site is not endorsed by Shockwave and should be engaged in at your own risk.

We reserve the right to terminate access to any community feature at our sole discretion for any reason.

Profiles

How do I get a Shockwave community profile?

Starting a Shockwave profile is quick, easy, and FREE. Just set up a free Shockwave account using the "Join Now" link at the top of any Shockwave page. After you successfully create your account, you will be forwarded to your new profile page. From there, simply follow the instructions for setting up your preferences.

Is a Shockwave community profile free?

Yes! Setting up a profile on Shockwave is quick, easy, and best of all it's FREE. Visit our registration page to find out more: http://www.shockwave.com/account/register.jsp

What can I do with my Shockwave community profile?

You can use your community profile to select avatars, post reviews, chat, save links to your favorite games, and tell other users a little bit about yourself. We'll be rolling out more and more community features in the near future, so get your profile ready! http://www.shockwave.com/account/register.jsp

How do I get an avatar to use on Shockwave?

First, make sure you have a free shockwave account. Then sign in to Shockwave from the member pod at the top right of any Shockwave page. After you sign in, click the "Manage my Profile" link in the member pod at the top of any Shockwave page, and you will be forwarded to your profile page. On your profile page, click "Create Your Look" and then select up to six images to save and swap as your main profile image.

How do I manage my account settings such as email preferences, community preferences, billing, etc?

Your profile page contains links for managing all of your account settings.

Chat

How do I use chat?

Chat users must have a Shockwave account. Joining Shockwave is quick, easy, and best of all it's FREE. For more information, visit our registration page: http://www.shockwave.com/account/register.jsp

Once you have an account, go to the page you would like to chat on. If you are not signed in you will be prompted to sign in in the Chat area of the page. Once you sign in, or if you come to the page already signed in, you will be dropped into the chat feature and join a room at random. Once in the room, simply enter text in the box labeled "Enter Text Here" and click return to add your comments into the chat room. The message that you send will go to all of the people who are in the list on the left hand side titled "Chatters List."

When you enter your text, it will be added to the top of the chat window and get pushed down as new comments are entered by you or other users. This keeps your latest comment as close to the game window and to the entry area as possible to make it easier for you to play the game and chat at the same time.

Chat is new on Shockwave so if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc... please contact us.

What is the Chatters List?

The Chatters List is a list of people who are in the room with you. Some people may be VERY focused on the game play (it is FUN!) and not paying attention to chat so be patient. If you hover over the screen name in the Chatters List a menu will appear which will allow you to click to see that users profile, or take other actions.

How do I change chat rooms?

Want to find a familiar Screen Name? Feel like a change of subject? You can switch to another room by simply clicking the "Change Room" link at the top of the chat box. Once you click this you will see a list of all available chat rooms and the number of users in each room. If another room doesn't jump out at you and you want to return to your previous room you may do so by clicking the "Back to [Chat Room Name]" at the top of the page next to the Choose a Room text. Otherwise, if you see a new room in the list you would like to view, click on the room you want to enter and voila, you are dropped into a new chat room.

I am not interested in chatting, how do I turn the chat room off?

You can turn chat off by clicking on the text at the bottom of the chat box that says "Turn Chat Off". This will sign you out of the chat application. If you would like to return to Chat you can click the same place which now has the test "Turn Chat On".

How do I report inappropriate conversations happening in a chat room?

Use your mouse to hover over the screen name of the person making the abusive comments in the Chatters List, click "Report Abuse," and then follow the step-by-step instructions to submit a report.

If you no longer have the chat window open, please use this form to report the inappropriate content. When making a report, please tell us the game you were in, what time of day it was and, if possible, the screen name of the user posting the inappropriate content.

How do I get an avatar to represent myself in chat?

First, make sure you have a free Shockwave account. Visit our registration page to open an account or to learn more about free Shockwave memberships. Then sign in to Shockwave from the member pod at the top of any Shockwave page. After you sign in, click the "Manage my Profile" link in the member pod at the top of any Shockwave page, and you will be forwarded to your profile page. Click "Create Your Look" and then select up to six images to save and swap as your main profile image.

I am having technical issues trying to use chat. What should I do?

Please use this form to describe what issues you are having: contact us. Please provide as much detail as possible regarding your computer system, browser etc.

My access to chat or other community module has been deactivated, what do I do?

Please contact us using this form and be sure to give us the valid screen name of the account you are trying to use. After we receive your information, we will investigate why the account has been deactivated and reply accordingly. In the meantime, please see our Shockwave Terms of Service for possible reasons your account may have been deactivated.

Report Abuse

I've noticed some inappropriate statements on another user's profile. What should I do?

Please click the "Report Abuse" link on the user's profile page. This will take you through the report process and will automatically supply us with a link to the user in question's profile. After you've submitted a report, the Shockwave team will investigate and remove the content if we find in our sole discretion that it has violated Shockwave's Terms of Service or the community spirit of the Shockwave site.

Another user is making inappropriate comments in chat. What should I do?

Use your mouse to hover over the screen name of the person making the abusive comments in the Chatters List, click "Report Abuse," and then follow the step-by-step instructions to submit a report.

I've reported offensive content but it remains on your website. Why is this?

Shockwave's goal is to provide a safe environment for our users and will remove any content that does not comply with our Terms of Service interpreted by us in our sole discretion. It's possible that the content you've reported does not violate our Terms of Service.

What are your guidelines for defining what is abusive and constitutes a report of abuse?

We have guidelines which define abusive content on our Terms of Service.

Reviews

My review did not show up after I submitted it. What happened?

It's possible that a word or string of words in your review was found to violate our Terms of Service and your posting was filtered for examination by our staff. If you think this was done erroneously, please try posting your review again. If it still does not appear, please use this form to send your review and we will look into it.

I noticed inappropriate content in a review on your site. What should I do about it?

Please use this form to report the abusive content. Please include the name of the game where you saw the offensive review and the screen name of the user who posted it. The Shockwave team will investigate and remove the review if it is found to be offensive according to the definitions set in the Shockwave Terms of Service.

Jigsaw Photo Submissions

How do I submit a photo for use in the jigsaw puzzles?

To submit a photo for use in the jigsaw puzzles, you'll need a Shockwave account. Joining Shockwave is quick, easy, and best of all FREE. For more information, visit our registration page. After you have a valid Shockwave account, go to the jigsaw submission page, sign in with your account information and follow the instructions. Then check back daily to see if your photo has been selected.