Online detective game blog

This really is disheartening

2024-01-20
This really is disheartening - some user sent his (or hers) first solution in the game, he (or she) put some effort into it, the solution was well written, it was 100% correct and... moments later, the account was shut down due to a simple fact that this account was created using a throw-away e-mail account. So, to put it in other words, this user wasted about 30 minutes of his or hers life, and it all ended up in the trashcan. Unfortunately it was one of several such cases in recent weeks.

It is explained in several places on the website and now also in the register form - we need a VALID e-mail address, so the notifications can be delivered when your solution is reviewed by the Game Master. Apart from those notifications and the e-mail verification code, we do not use those addresses for any other purpose, nor we share them with any other party.

We simply need to have a form of contacting the user in case there is a problem with their account, in case there is a technical problem with the website, allow reset of the forgotten password, assign Premium Tokens or verify ownership of the account when users inform us about a problem. If you use a throw-away address, we cannot do any of those things.

So, for the umpteenth time - DO NOT use a throw-away e-mail address to create the account, you WILL WASTE YOUR TIME AND OURS. If you do not trust us with a real e-mail address, do not create an account. We do not sell anything, we do not send any off-topic messages, we do not advertise anything via e-mail. We do not care if it is your backup account hiding in a dark corner of a server, if it is an account where you send potential spam, if it is an old account that you normally do not use - we just need a channel of communication, where we can send notifications. That is it. Your e-mail address is basically worthless to us, we just need to make sure that you are a human being and so you could verify the ownership of the account while f.e. resetting the password that you forgot.

If the in-game notification bounces and informs us that the address does not exist any more, or it is a throw-away e-mail service, your account will be shot down immediately and without warning, so you will be just wasting your time, your progress in the game will end up in the trashcan. So again, please, do not use throw-away e-mail addresses, if you feel you need to, do not create an account on our website.