Habbo
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| Habbo Hotel | |
|---|---|
| File:HabboAUGuestRoom.png | |
| Developer(s) | Sulake Corporation |
| Publisher(s) | Sulake Corporation |
| Platform(s) | Cross-platform |
| Release |  2000 January 2001 September 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Massively multiplayer online game |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Habbo Hotel is a virtual community owned and operated by Sulake Corporation, the 12th fastest growing technology company in Europe[1]. It combines the two concepts of a chat room and an online game. The original conception of Habbo Hotel, Mobiles Disco, was created as a small project by two Finnish men, Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä.[citation needed]
The game is centered around Habbos, virtual representations of its members. Habbos can be dressed by each user individually using pre-supplied virtual clothing. Each character has a different name, and is identified solely by this name. The service's other focus point is virtual furni, which can be bought by Habbos using credits via a variety of payment methods, including, but not limited to, SMS, home phone, pre-paid cards, credit card and money order. This furniture can also be traded between users.
The game also is centered around The Habbo Way, which are the standards and rules which all Habbo users are expected to follow. Users are urged to report any breach of it.
The service began in 2000 and has expanded to 29 countries[2], the latest community opening in Russia. As of December 2006, over 66 million Habbos have been created worldwide and there are 7 million unique visitors to the virtual hotels around the world every week[3].
History
The major launch of the service in Finland was in August 2000. At the time, it was dubbed Hotelli Kultakala, Finnish for Hotel Goldfish. The company soon decided that a more neutral name for the service would be required to attract larger recognition. The word Habbo was chosen following the submission of a team member.
The second member of the Habbo brand was launched in the United Kingdom in January of 2001. Since then, the Hotel chain along with its user base has continued to grow.
Hotel Versions
The hotels in their time have gone through many different versions (or updates). Each update (although is very debatable) improves the hotel sometimes with new public rooms, virtual furniture or security updates. Currently most of the hotels are on Version 10 or 11 (although some hotels got both these versions in one go). The latest release is version 12 which has already been released on the Finnish hotel and is expected to be released throughout the rest of the hotels in due course.
Features
To play Habbo Hotel, one must first create an avatar. The sign up process includes the selection of a desired Habbo Name and Motto (Formerly a Mission - a brief description of the user, displayed underneath the Habbo's avatar). The newly registered Habbo now has the option to choose from a variety of clothing, shoes, hair and skin colour. Once the person is finished registering, he/she is transported to a screen known as hotel view. These options, and the motto option can all be modified at any time.
Habbo Home
Habbo Home is a new feature currently appearing in almost all Habbo Hotels across the globe. Notes, stickers and other little gadgets such as their friends list and Guestbooks to sign are available on player's personal Habbo Homes. Many players believe that Habbo Home is just like a Habbo Hotel version of the popular teen network site MySpace. Habbo Homes can be accessed in the Hotel easily and inappropriate sections of player's Habbo Homes can be reported by other Habbos to the Moderators for immediate removal.
In the Hotel
The chatrooms that make up each Hotel are large, computer-generated graphics that use isometric projection. There are two main types of rooms: Public Rooms and Guest Rooms. Public Rooms are rooms common to a normal hotel, including lobbies, a kitchen, pools, lounges and a theatre. The selection of public rooms differs from hotel to hotel. Guest Rooms are fully customisable rooms made by Habbos. The variety of customisations are endless; many examples include nightclubs, gaming rooms, trading rooms and even whole houses. There are templates for the size and shape of the rooms, which can be painted and filled with virtual furniture.
The possibilities for construction in a Guest Room are endless. Movie theatres, jail cells, rollercoasters and theme parks, hospitals and even landmarks can be built. Even the most simple room can be built on Habbo Hotel.
Habbos can send messages to each other by way of the Console. The console also allows users to keep track of who is and who isn't online. A Navigator allows Habbos to choose between a public or guest room. It holds lists for a Habbo's own rooms and his/her list of favourite rooms, as well as a search feature enabling searches by room or a room owner's Habbo name.
Furniture for guest rooms can be purchased from the Catalogue. Catalogue items can either be purchased with credits or traded between Habbos. The Catalogue contains a wide selection of items. Every so often, rare items are offered for sale in the catalogue for a short period of time. There are also seasonal items available at respective times throughout the year; for example, Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, Olympics and Christmas.In the latest version of Habbo Hotel Finland, credit can be bought from the catalogue and is tradeable between the player itself.
Virtual pets are also a part of Habbo Hotel. The things that you can do with virtual pets on Habbo Hotel don't compete with other online virtual pet giants such as Neopets, but there are the basics such as feeding and playing with the pet, as well as building homes with furniture purchased with Credits. Pets are customizable by colour and breed, also. Crocodiles are also available on the Finland Hotel. [1]
Habbo Club
Habbo Club is a popular subscription in Habbo Hotel that offers additional benefits unavailable to non-members. Some examples include a wider array of hairstyles and clothing, a special rare piece of furniture for each month of subscription, additional guest room layouts, member-only Public Rooms, and three extra dance moves.
Two features of Habbo Club include the Chooser (accessed by typing ":chooser"), which lists all occupants of a room, and the Furni command (":furni"), which lists all the furniture within a guest room. Members of Habbo Club are also able to turn their badges on and off at their own discretion. There are two badges available - one is for those who have been a member for under 12 months and one for those who have been a member for 12 months or more.
Activities
Many Habbos engage in the collection of rare furniture. This furniture is originally sold in the Catalogue for a limited time. However, this furniture can also be obtained by winning competitions, both official and those run by fansites. Habbos also attempt to collect as much furniture as they can, by way of trading with others. As demand increases or decreases, certain pieces of furniture increase or decrease in value, and this enables Habbos to profit from the sale of particular furniture at particular times.
Habbos also build virtual casinos and bet their furniture in efforts to win more furniture. Although these casinos are discouraged by hotel staff[4] due to the potential for Habbos to be scammed, most hotels have not explicitly banned them and hence many Habbos engage in the practice anyway. Methods that a casino can scam a customer include providing vague rules and instructions (for instance, in Blackjack, not specifying whether the house wins ties, or if there is a limit to how many "cards" one can draw), or by kicking customers out after they pay furniture to the house (but before they receive payout). The casinos operate by way of virtual dice furniture.
Another activity pursued on Habbo is roleplay. Roleplay centres around several different storylines/movies/videogames etc. which are all seperate from each other. Popular "universes" for role play scenarios include the Star Wars Universe or the World of Darkness Universe. Other roleplay universes include Mafia, Underworld, Gangs, Grand Theft Auto etc.
Moderation and management
Each branch of Habbo Hotel has an office associated with it. Operated by Sulake employees, this office is the workplace of the respective hotel's senior staff. These staff generally include a 'Hotel Manager', or Content Manager, who oversees the hotel as a whole by communicating with the players through newsletters, creating competitions, and managing the content of the website; a Community Manager, who is responsible for moderation and guidance throughout the virtual community by managing in-game Moderators and Habbo eXperts; and a Country Manager, who manages the business side of the community such as sales, finance and administration.
Office staff may also consist of player support staff, who respond to queries sent via contact forms by players; and pixel artists who create the vast amounts of imagery used both in-game and on the community's website.
Automatic moderation exists in Habbo's language filter, the "Bobba Filter", which replaces offensive text with the simple word "bobba". Replacement applies anywhere from mild to highly offensive words, phrases, and even websites. The filter also stops people from giving out personal information about themselves, for example, their email address. The filter varies from hotel to hotel, and is applied discretely: for example, words such as "harbl" and "mantrain", while seemingly meaningless, are censored for their association to, and usage by, Habbo trolls. In this way, the filter assists in moderation of Habbo Hotel.
Moderator staff
Habbo Hotel's moderation is covered by paid moderator staff. Moderators are police vetted Sulake employees who work from home.[5] Moderators can be recognised by the prefix "MOD-" in front of their account name and by a Habbo Staff badge.
Tools utilised by moderator staff allow them to send messages to individual Habbos in the hotel, which appear as in-game popups. As well as this ability, moderator staff can also kick Habbos from any room, mute them (prevent them from talking), and ban them from the hotel entirely.[5]
Habbo X
"Habbo Xs" (short for "Habbo eXpert") are Habbos who volunteer to welcome new Habbos to the hotel and explain its features.[6] They are not employees of Sulake and have no powers or abilities except for being able to enter rooms which have reached their occupant limit.[7] They are given a badge (a blue bubble with a yellow "X" in the middle) to enable newer users to identify them easily. Habbo X's also host a series of games and activities. An example of this is "Carnival X" found in the US hotel, however the name of the event tends to vary on each hotel.
Sponsorship
As a website geared towards teenagers, Habbos Hotel often attracts sponsorship from outside entities. This sponsorship includes visits by musicians and bands (such as The Veronicas,[8] Gorillaz,[9]Skye Sweetnam,[10] Little Birdy, Stephanie McIntosh and Evermore), as well as corporations (such as Lego, Garnier, Nintendo, Virgin Mobile and Starburst).
External links
Current Hotels
There are currently 29 Habbo Hotels in operation[2]:
Press releases
On Saturday, October 21, 2006, an in-depth article in the Daily Telegraph's Telegraph Magazine was published about Habbo Hotel[11], by British travel writer Tim Moore.
Other links
References
- ^ "Sulake Press Release".
- ^ a b Sulake: "Habbo". Accessed 21 December 2006.
- ^ "Sulake Press Release".
- ^ Game Room Scams - Habbo UK
- ^ a b Habbo Hotel Australia - FAQs - "Moderating". Retrieved 17 December 2006.
- ^ Habbo Hotel Australia - FAQs - "Habbo X". Retrieved 17 December 2006.
- ^ Habbo Hotel Singapore - FAQs - "Habbo X". Retrieved 17 December 2006.
- ^ Frontier Touring - "The Veronicas Habbo Hotel Appearance". Retrieved 3rd July 2006.
- ^ Sulake.com - "Gorillaz live at Habbo Hotel". Retrieved 3rd July 2006.
- ^ SkyeSweetnam.com - "Skye Chats LIVE on Habbo Hotel". Retrieved 3rd July 2006.
- ^ http://habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=247025