A system status message regarding "staff only" items was sent in world on April 1st, 2008.  This was an official company message but in no way meant to alarm or dismay members. We apologize for our timing of the message as many believed it was an April Fools joke from the company.  While the message was indeed sent at an inopportune time, it was meant to inform members of the unauthorized use of “staff items” in There.com, and we were taking swift action to have them removed in world.

Beginning today, we will be contacting members proactively who had “staff items” removed from their inventories.  While we would like to say that all members will be getting refunds, it actually depends on each individual case and the following variables:

a) Was the staff item purchased, bartered or given
b)  How many times was it exchanged before it eventually landed in the most recent avatar's hands
b)  Identifiable billing transaction for the staff item that states what was exchanged and amount paid

Due to the number of variables stated above, we are not guaranteeing refunds for all members involved.  Rather, we are promising to investigate each claim thoroughly and with fairness. 

Thank you for understanding that this is a complicated situation affecting a very small number of our members, and we are doing our best to sort out the individual cases.  Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused. 

This situation with the compromised dormant staff avatars is an isolated event.  We do not expect a repeat of this issue in the future and are changing the way we handle staff avatars accordingly.

Below are a few commonly asked member questions with answers. 

Q: What is a “staff only” item?
A:   “Staff only” items are available only in the Staff Store and are intended for purchase and distribution by the staff of There.com.  These items include (but are not limited to) things that were specially created for celebrity avatars and were intended only for those people to wear (e.g. Korn, Dr. Phil).  None of the items in question are available for purchase by the general membership. 

Q: How was a staff avatar compromised? 
A: The staff avatars in question were 'dormant' accounts and hadn’t been officially accessed for several years.  Unfortunately, the dormant staff avatars had passwords that were chosen poorly and could easily be guessed. 

Rest assured that our system storing your account information has NOT been compromised.  Protecting our members’ privacy is very important to us; therefore we take every precaution in securing your account information and avatar passwords. 
This is a link to our Privacy Policy.

While we take system measures to secure your account information, it is also your responsibility to securely password protect your own account.  For information on how to securely password protect your account, please see this article.

Q: I received a promotional item at the recent Virtual Prom event.  Will that be taken away? 
A: Promotional giveaways at sponsored events are yours to keep and enjoy.