Habbo Hotel
From FAS Virtual Worlds Almanac
| Use and Demographics | |
|---|---|
| Primary use(s) | Community |
| Registered users | 7,500,000 |
| Target Audience(s) | Children, Pre-teens, Teenagers |
| Language(s) | English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish |
| Features | |
|---|---|
| Property/Object Ownership | Yes |
| Private spaces | Yes |
| In-game currency | Yes |
| Graphical and Content Features | |
|---|---|
| Physics-based | No |
| Complex 3-D, such as a realistic human body | No |
| Scripting for objects | No |
| Communication | |
|---|---|
| Text Chat | Yes |
| Private Messages | Yes |
| E-mail Integration | No |
| Voice Chat | No |
| Management and Privacy | |
|---|---|
| Code of Conduct | Yes |
| Moderators | Yes |
| Age Restrictions | Yes |
| Age Verification | No |
Habbo, formerly Habbo Hotel, is a social networking website aimed at teenagers. The website is owned and operated by Sulake Corporation.
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Screenshots
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History
The service began in 2000 and has expanded to include 32 online communities (or "hotels").[1] As of June 2008 over 118 million avatars have been registered. There are an average 8 million unique visitors monthly,[1] and 75,000 avatars are being created every day.[2] The 100 millionth avatar was created on Habbo UK in June 2008.[3]
Habbo's original concept came from Mobiles Disco, a 1999 project by Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä for the band Mobiles. The idea was successful, and so Karjalainen and Kyrölä created Hotelli Kultakala (eng. Hotel Goldfish).[4] That name was scrapped and replaced with Habbo Hotel, which was launched in August 2000 to Finland.[5]
In January 2001, a beta version Habbo Hotel was launched in the United Kingdom as its popularity started to increase amongst the English speaking countries; a central office was also established in London, UK. From 2001, up until 2004, Habbo United Kingdom was effectively the international English service for Habbo and was soon followed in August 2001 by its other European neighbour, Habbo Switzerland.[6] It has since been expanded to over 31 countries in five continents,[1] and has been invested in by venture capitalists.[7]
During the years, Habbo has changed its web design and appearance, the latest change occurred in January 2009.[8]
In May 2006, the service, along with its domain names, were renamed to Habbo. In August 2007, Habbo's China
The Website
Many activities and features are available on Habbo's website, that do not appear on the Hotel itself. The community section of the website features regularly updated news and events regarding the service. Recommended chat rooms, popular group pages and user pages and user interest tags are also accessible from the website. The website has seen over five different versions. Over the past three years, the website has become more involved with the hotel. Before 2006 users logged in on the hotel, now they log in via the website, which links them to the hotel. The website provides information on users' credit balance, groups, rooms and even friends. However, the website's main focus is the following two features:
User pages
This is a feature allowing users to customise their own web page displayed on the website, colloquially named Habbo Home. The web page can be accessed from inside the hotel,[9] and allow for user interaction with the home page of the user, as well as interaction within the Hotel. The web pages are displayed with the user's character appearance and motto. Users can customise their web page with a selection of widgets, stickers and backgrounds. Various widgets, stickers and backgrounds can be purchased with credits to add to the small default range of features.[10] There are also opportunities to win more free features and often branded stickers/backgrounds are offered as part of a marketing campaign.
The Hotel
The virtual Hotel is the chat room of Habbo, and consists of a client made using Adobe Shockwave technologies. The Hotel can be accessed by logged-in users via a popup window on the website. When a user accesses the Hotel they are brought to a screen colloquially known as Hotel View. From this screen, members can contact one another via the Habbo Chat, which acts as the main form of communication throughout all areas of the Hotel, and use the Navigator to navigate their way to a chat room. Originally, communication was conducted through the Habbo Console, which was recently replaced by Habbo Chat and by Habbo Mail, which is accessible via the Habbo Homepage.
Community
Habbo is home to a wide community of people all around the world. By purchasing virtual furniture with SMS, credit cards, or other means, users can design their own Hotel rooms and create a social space for themselves and their friends.
Roleplay
The first groups of roleplayers were "Armys," consisting of Habbos wearing army uniforms. They would parade through various hotel rooms acting as officers of the army, though exerting no true power over other Habbos. There was also a Grand Theft Auto RP in the beginning years of Habbo. The first official RP's (RolePlays) were the Mafia Roleplays, based off of movies and shows like The Godfather and The Sopranos.[citation needed]
The first RP's had very relaxed rules; simple things such as requiring a user to state his or her IC (In Character) name in the "motto." Stating what guns and items carried by one's Habbo was optional, though many did this. Another major unenforced rule in the early years of Habbo was the "Three Word Rule." This required the RPer to type in a minimum of three words into the "Bubble" (text bar) enclosed in asterisks, before hitting enter.
Ex.:
*Takes out Gun*
*Aims to Head*
*Fires It Off*.
The Second Stage of Rp was started in 2006.[citation needed] This generation of RPers strove to look Sophisticated, and so the rules were enforced more heavily. The RPer had to list exactly what weapons they had in their motto, along with any important physical characteristics. The Three Word Rule was also enforced, so many RPers were typing five to eight words per line. It is estimated that 60% of Habbos were RPers at this time.[citation needed] This was before an RP floor was even made. Habbo RPers began making more detailed rooms, charmed with the latest expensive furni.
Navigation
The centre for all navigation within the Hotel is the "Navigator." The Navigator allows users to travel among chat room around the virtual Hotel. As well as being a means of transportation, the Navigator also shows basic information about chat rooms, such as descriptions, current online users, and privacy settings.
Games
Besides the games you can play such as BattleBall or SnowStorm. Many people play what is called HFL or Habbo Football League. This uses a pod as a ball and 2 rugs opposite from each other as endzones. It's taken rather seriously on Habbo.com as legend lists are comprised, hall of fame's and teams challenege each other daily. There are sports like the HHL(Hockey) PHBA(Basketball) and many more.
Habbo Hockey League
Habbo Hockey League is also known as HHL. It involves two teams on a rink that is 4 spaces across and quite a few long. At both ends of the rink, there are couches that are centeres, and in the corners, there are objects to block entrance from the side. There is a wall present in the center of the rink for the faceoff. The objective is to sit down on the couch opposite of your team. The face-off starts when the referee asks "R?" which stands for ready. The players involved in the faceoffs are called fowards. They reply by saying "R". The referee then says "DP" which means drop puck. If a Habbo is found to be on the center spot when the referee says "DP", they call "FS" or false start. If it is a 2 on 2 game, there is a penalty shot, if it's 3 on 3, the offender goes into the penalty box. After DP is called, both players try to stand in the middle spot. Whoever loses the faceoff must move in 5 seconds or a "Camp" is called. In that case, the same penalty applies as a false start. After the faceoff, the goal is to sit on the coach, and the goalie tries to block. Games are usually to 10 points. Leagues have teams from the NHL. Playoffs are usually played with a Stanley Cup Series.
Chat rooms
There are two types of chat rooms within the virtual Hotel. The interface of both chat rooms remains the same, however, the designs portrayed as rooms themselves differ.
- Public Rooms are rooms which are available to all members. They often depict scenes such as restaurants, cinemas, and dance clubs. Most Public Rooms contain automated robots which shout pre-recorded messages and can give members drinks and food items. Public rooms are designed by Sulake and are not customisable by users. There are two types of public rooms: widescreen and regular size. Users with a higher screen resolution will see the widescreen rooms, while users with a smaller screen resolution will see smaller size rooms. The expansion on a widescreen room is unable to be walked into, but is just for scenery.
- Guest Rooms are rooms which users can customise to endless lengths with virtual furniture, wallpaper and floor patterns, and which can be purchased with credits. Users can also choose from a range of room templates that determine what shape the room is. Guest rooms can be created by any member and can be locked to allow access only to specific users or you can put a pass on it.
Currency
There are currently 2 types of Habbo Currency.
Credits
Credits can be purchased using a variety of different services, such as credit card, a telephone service and via Short message service/SMS. Credits are often given out as prizes for competitions held in the community. The Credits are stored in the user's purse, accessible in any public or private room as well as on the Hotel view and while logged in on the website. Credits can also be redeemed into Exchange, which displays the Credits as an item of virtual furniture; the furniture can then be traded among users, and redeemed back into Credits.
Pixels
Pixels were introduced in November 2008. Unlike Credits, they are not purchased with real money, and cannot be traded in any form. They are given out when users satisfy certain conditions (such as: Logging In, Being Friendly, etc.). They can be used to purchase effects for their avatars, rent Virtual Furniture and buy Furniture at a discounted price.
Pixels cannot be bought using Credits.
Scamming or "Hacking"
Scams are known to occur within the website. One such example is the password scam. This occurs by asking a potential victim if they want free furniture. If the victim accepts the offer, the scammer will fool the user into typing their password into the chatbox but not to submit it. The scammer then instructs the victim to press the Control Key while typing a word containing the letter 'm'. The combination of the Control Key and the letter "m" acts as an Enter key on Habbo, causing the victim's password to be communicated.
Another scam is fooling the user into thinking that any entered password will be censored. The scammer instructs the victim to type their password, then press Ctrl+M, or simply enter, on the pretext of it being censored.
There is also a technique known as Keylogging. It is essentially a virus attack on the user's computer. It records the user's keystrokes, without the user's knowledge, letting the attacker find out passwords and other sensitive information.
Effects
Special effects were introduced in December 2008 along with Pixels. "Effects" can be purchased through the catalogue in the "Pixel Shop" section of the Habbo Catalogue. These Pixels can be received by gaining new or higher levelled badges, receiving respect or are freely given every fifteen minutes in a set of 100. Pixels are used to buy effects, such as partial invisibility (ghost, HC Black Clothing is more effective), UFOs, flies, hover boards, a spotlight, twinkle, torch, butterflies, fireflies, and becoming frozen. After an update, several more additions were added, such as a Microphone (making your speech look rigid and spiky), a Jet Pack, and coloured UFOs and Hover boards. However these effects have a time limit of one hour for each effect. Habbos also have the option to rent certain special effects for an hour at a time refunded) like an explosion, bubbles, or flare.
Virtual furniture
Virtual furniture (known as "furni") can be purchased inside the Hotel from the Catalog using Credits. Users then can use the furniture to decorate and furnish their Guest Room. The furniture can be traded among users using a trading dialogue. Many users strive to collect more rare and exclusive furniture. Rare furniture is often sold in the Catalog, but for a limited amount of time, and thus increasing its value after it leaves the Catalogue. Sulake has now scrapped the Rares for a new furniture system called Collectibles. Collectibles are sold for only one month and then never sold on the website again. This increases the value of the Collectible. Users can also now purchase Windows which make their room seem more realistic. Furniture can also be won by competitions held on the website. Users can also win furniture by playing games of skill, similar to traditional video games. The Games Include:
Falling Furniture ( Known as Falling Furni or FF ), Costume Change ( known as Cozzie Change, abbreviated as CC ), **** Find The Black mat, Chair Racing / Pod Racing, Poison Carrot, Last in the Teleport, And many more which users make up.
Habbo Club
Habbo Club (HC) is a premium subscription which can be purchased using Credits. Subscribers are denoted by a badge, displayed next to their avatar. Every month you subscribe for Habbo Club (HC) a new item of virtual furniture is delivered to subscribers. They can also choose from a limited selection of special clothing, colours, accessories and dances.
A Habbo Club subscription gives priority access to busy Public Rooms, in addition to special rooms that are only accessible to subscribers. There are also Guest Room layouts with stairs, to choose from, a larger friend list capacity, special room commands and no advertisements on the main website.[11]
After remaining a Habbo Club member for a year, the subscribers' badge turns golden, denoting over a year as a Habbo Club Member.
Accessories
User and group page accessories can be purchased on the website using the user page interface with Credits. Although there are free accessories available, additional accessories such as stickers, notes, widgets and backgrounds can be dropped from the Inventory onto a drag and drop interface in which users can design and save their page. Accessories cannot be traded among users.
Pets
Virtual pets can be bought and kept in Guest rooms (max 3 per room) Users can interact with the pets (cats, dogs and crocodiles available) which will obey certain commands as long as they are kept happy and fed. Habbo pets never die but do get grumpy if left unattended or hungry.
Moderation and management
There are 18 office branches globally operated by Sulake employees; these office branches are the workplace of the respective Habbo's senior staff.[12] These staff generally include a "Hotel Manager", or Content Manager, who oversees the community as a whole by communicating with users 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, 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 customer support staff, who respond to queries sent via contact forms by users; and graphic designers who create the vast amounts of pixel 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. In this way, the filter assists in moderation of Habbo. A new feature was added on February 27, 2008 that makes users able to turn the Bobba Filter on and off. However, with this feature enabled users cannot report other users to Moderators who are using offensive language. Recently there has been an automatic 10-minute mute-a-thon on.com.au, with players getting banned and muted for saying mildly offensive words. IP Bans are not that common, but are a role in Habbo's popularity to decline. Moderators have started to crack down on repeated offenders by banning them for 1-24 hours at a time. "Perm" bans are extremely popular since Moderators have slapped down the belt. Phrases such as "Sit on my HC sofa", "Ben Dover" "I call myself old school" and others might be attract moderator attention. These phrases usually lead to warnings or 10 minute mutes. Moderators are also known to watch rooms for periods at a time.
Habbo's moderation is covered by paid moderator staff who are police vetted Sulake employees.[13] 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 speaking) and ban them from the hotel entirely.[13]
Moderators & History
From August 2000, up until 31 December 2005, there existed a program for experienced members of each Habbo community to become a 'Hobba'. Hobbas were non-paid, volunteer moderators with limited powers that acted as Hotel Guides. On December 31, 2005, Sulake suspended the Hobba program due to major security issues and the rapidly growing Habbo community. It was decided that Habbo needed a stronger, more professional moderation team, that would be employees of Sulake.[14]
Habbo Guides
Habbo Guides (often shortened to just Guides – although names differ throughout many websites) are users who volunteer to welcome newer users to Habbo and explain its features. They are not employees of Sulake and have no powers or abilities except for the ability to accept 'New User Requests' which notifys the guides of a new user in need of help, the guides will then accept or decline to join the Habbo and help them out. Habbo Guides are the new version of 'Habbo eXperts'. It is a more open group, and anyone who's played longer then one month can join. Habbo Guides receive level badges, the more a habbo helps, the higher level of badge the Habbo receives.[15]
Sponsorship
As a website geared towards teenagers, Habbo often attracts sponsorship from outside entities. This sponsorship includes visits by musicians[16] (such as The Veronicas, Gorillaz,[17] Skye Sweetnam[18], Little Birdy, Stephanie McIntosh, Operator Please, Chingy, Evermore, Avril Lavigne, Ashlee Simpson, Cole and Dylan Sprouse, and more recently The Ting Tings, DJ Ironik, Alesha Dixon, and Same Difference, as well as various corporate giants.
As Habbo is targeted at teenagers, and 90% of its users are between the age of 13 and 18,[1] it receives much attention from youth organizations, who educate players about many topics.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Habbo - Where else? - Sulake", Sulake. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
- ↑ "Habbo's Avatar Count Rises To 80 million", Sulake, October 25, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
- ↑ 100 million Habbos
- ↑ Helsinki (2004-01-30). Making Business with Virtual Furniture. eFinland. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
- ↑ History. Sulake. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
- ↑ Habbo - 2001 & 2002 Information. Habbo Ages. Retrieved on 2008-10-05.
- ↑ Leslie Walker. "Venture Capital Checks In To Habbo Hotel", The Washington Post, 2005-01-27. Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
- ↑ Habbo - Website Design & Changes. Habbo Ages. Retrieved on 2008-10-05.
- ↑ Sulake Press Releases. Sulake (2007-02-01).
- ↑ Habbo Club: For Your Habbo Home. Sulake. Retrieved on 2007-05-13.
- ↑ Habbo Club. Sulake. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
- ↑ Local Offices - Sulake. Sulake. Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Habbo Hotel Australia - FAQs - "Moderating". Sulake. Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
- ↑ Hobba - Information and Archives. Habbo Ages. Retrieved on 2008-10-01.
- ↑ Habbo X Evolves. Sulake. Retrieved on 2008-07-14.
- ↑ Habbo: Celebrity Visits. Sulake. Retrieved on 2007-05-13.
- ↑ Sulake Press Releases - "Gorillaz live at Habbo Hotel". Sulake (2007-08-17). Retrieved on 2006-07-03.
- ↑ SkyeSweetnam.com - "Skye Chats LIVE on Habbo Hotel". Retrieved on 2006-07-03.
