Habbo
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| File:HabboAUGuestRoom.png | |
Type of site | Massively multiplayer online game |
|---|---|
| Owner | Sulake Corporation |
| Created by | Sulake Corporation |
| URL | Multiple |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Required |
Habbo Hotel is a virtual community, owned and operated by Sulake Corporation, that 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 young Finnish men: Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä. It was intended to promote a rock band called Mobiles. The pair later sold their project to the Finnish telecoms giant Elisa Oyj.
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 bought via a variety of methods, including SMS, home phone, and money order. This furniture can also be traded between users.
The service began in 2000 and as of October 2006 has expanded to 26 countries, the latest Hotel opening in Russia.
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.
Features
To play Habbo Hotel, one must first create an avatar. The sign up process includes the selection of a desired Habbo Name and 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 mission option can all be modified at any time.
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 customizations 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.
Habbos can send messages with each other via use of the Console. The console also allows them to keep track of who is and who isn't online. A Navigator allows Habbos to choose between a public or guest room. The navigator 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 the room owner's name.
Furniture for guest rooms can be purchased from the Catalogue. Catalogue items can either be purchased with credits or traded between Habbos. Credits must be purchased with real currency. Habbo Hotel offers various payment methods that differ between countries. The Catalogue contains a wide selection of items. Every so often, expensive, 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, on Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, Olympics and Christmas.
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, three extra dances, and more. There have been many cases of discrimination against non-HCs, mainly because HCs are stereotyped as being rich and powerful.
Two very useful 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 (usually 1 week). 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 there in efforts to win more furniture. Although these casinos are discouraged by hotel staff 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, with a modified version of blackjack being the most common type of game played.
Some Habbo fansites also produce lists of rares known as rare values, which are used by some Habbos to gauge the supply and demand and hence value of each individual rare.
Games in Habbo Hotel are typically games of skill and chance. Since most games in the hotel offer prizes such as virtual furniture, they tend to attract many people who unwilling, or are unable to pay for furniture in real currency. Most of these games are legitimate and fairly operated, while others are run by scammers with ulterior motives.
Moderation
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.
Moderator staff
Habbo Hotel's moderation is covered by paid moderator staff. Moderators are police vetted Sulake employees who work from home. Office staff moderate the hotel during local office hours, and are relieved by moderator staff outside these times. Moderators will always have the prefix "MOD-" in their account name and have a Habbo Staff badge.
Moderators utilise in-game commands as well as a separate web based tool known as Housekeeping. These tools allow moderator staff to send messages to Habbos in the hotel, which appear as in-game popups. These prove to be effective in preventing minor infringments of the Habbo Way, the guidelines that govern the community. 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. Bans are placed on individual Habbo accounts, however, many more serious offences are punished by a Macromedia Shockwave ID or IP address ban.
Hobbas
Hobbas were volunteer Habbo users who assisted with moderation of the hotel. Hobbas were split into three groups - silver, gold, and super - each of which had different levels of powers. Hobbas received many of the same commands as moderators use, as well as access to a limited section of Housekeeping. Hobbas applied for their voluntary position through the Hotel websites, and had to meet selection criteria, including a minimum age of 16 (which was changed to 18 in early 2004) in order to file a valid application. The application process also involved telephone interviews, as well as a written contract between the individuals and Sulake Corporation.
Due to staff concerns, the Hobba system was removed permanently, worldwide on December 31, 2005. All Hobbas and ex-Hobbas were given a special Hobba Memorial badge in memory of their services to the hotel. They also recived a feature that does not allow them to be kicked.
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,[1] Gorillaz,[2]Skye Sweetnam[3] and Evermore), as well as corporations (such as Lego, Garnier and Starburst).
External links
Current Hotels
There are currently 26 Habbo Hotels in operation[4]:
In The Press
On Saturday 21st October, an in-depth article in the Daily Telegraph's Telegraph Magazine was published about Habbo Hotel[5], by British travel writer Tim Moore (writer).
Other links
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ Habbo Atlas (Finnish). Accessed 7th October 2006.
- ^ http://habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=247025