Some Perspective on API News from Paulwalla
I was reading some fansite forums and saw comments on recent blog posts talking about our announcement of the games API. The discussion was about how we are trying to change Habbo. First tip for Habbos, never believe what you read on a blog. Unless it is this blog of course! But even then read everything with a very careful eye.
The reason we built the API is that we hear very clearly how popular Snowstorm, Wobble Squabble & Battle Ball are in the Habbo lore and imagination. We all know that putting games into the Habbo universe is fun if they fit they play style that Habbos enjoy. Witness Fast Food. Very straightforward game, still gets a lot of play and it works well. Habbos enjoy it, the numbers show it.
We also know that it would be better to have 15 games as popular as Wobble Squabble in the Hotel. As not all games made are as good as a game like that we have to introduce 100 games to the site and Habbos pick the 15 great ones. Expecting anyone to build a perfect game every time is not how the world works.
So like any problem we asked ourselves how we could introduce 100 games to the service, and the only answer that made sense was to partner with 3rd parties to allow them to introduce games via an API. The major well known social networks do this and the app stores on your smart phones are built on this. This is how content is made in sufficient volume to allow users to pick and choose the winners. So we are doing that.
There are two points to consider, first about Habbo Hotel, and next about very creative Habbos who may want to program their own games. In Habbo Hotel the staff are going to focus on Community, Friending Tools and getting the spirit of Habbo back in “Old Habbo” top form. We’re not going to be building games. As for creative Habbos who aspire to be game designers, now the API is open to YOU. That means a few of you can get together, rebuild Wobble Squabble and put in on Habbo. And you can take advantage of our agreement with developers meaning you make the majority of the money that the game creates. Not a bad deal.
Which brings me to a final thing to consider. Habbo is about friendships. Playing games together is part of making friendships richer and more long lasting. So more games means more chance to share experiences. As we try more of the 100 games and you see one that is not to your taste, pass it by. Try the next one. In the meantime the Staff will be working with developers and more importantly spending the majority of their time in Hotel and with you to bring back Old Habbo.
UPDATED Testing a new feature in .COM – Messaging offline friends
This weekend we’re testing another feature which came highly requested on User Voice – offline messaging. This feature allows you to message offline friends, provided that they have a VIP membership. Just open your friend list, find an offline friend who displays the chat bubble icon next to their name and send them a message. They’ll receive a chat notification with the message once they login.
NOTE: The VIP requirement allows us to manage load and prevent lag. Once we understand the demand on this feature we can asses the possibility of expansion.
The pilot is starting in .COM hotel and if all goes well we’ll expand to other hotels soon. We hope you enjoy this new feature!
UPDATE: The pilot went well and we decided to add extra capacity to support this feature for all. No VIP required to send or receive offline messages. Enjoy!
Loads of Cool New Features!
If you’ve been following along in Habbo lately you’ll notice that we’ve recently rolled out a round of new features and changes with the latest update. Many of these features are directly requested and voted up by Habbos in our User Voice forum (www.habbo.com/feedback). We thought it would be helpful to list them all in one place so that you don’t need to go hunting all over the Habbo interface to find them.
Wired is Now Tradable
This one is by popular demand. Wired is now tradable so that you can get exactly the right pieces you need.
Purchasable Bots
Our new Bots come in two flavors. The Casual Bot is anything but standard. It can be programmed to walk, talk, dance and copy your looks. Bot names can be changed as many times as you like. The Waiter / Serving Bot is a step up from the casual bot. They can do everything the Casual Bot does and on top of that they’ll serve beverages that you ask for. Try it out. Ask a waiter bot for a coffee next time you see one.
Dance Tiles
These new furni items will make your Habbo dance when you step on them. We’ve launched the “Mars Walk” and “Habnam” tiles so far. So far the response is positive and we’re looking forward to more dance moves in the future.
Sound FX Furni
These furni make noise when activated and the sounds are specifically designed to be mixed and matched. You can create live music in your room alone or with friends. If you’re a fan of our Wired furni, you can also trigger the sounds periodically to make custom beats. Combine these items to make a virtual beat machine with made of furni. *Tip: Sounds will change pitch if they are stacked based on height. One single sound effect can yield a variety of sounds. As usual, if you have fun with it we’ll be happy to bring more sound FX.
Sound Settings
Its a shame that you might miss out on all the sounds of Habbo just because of a few that you prefer not to hear. For that reason we’ve developed separate volume settings so that you can adjust to exactly your liking. Make sure to turn on the Furni sounds if you’re planning to make music with our new Sound FX.
We hope you enjoy these updates. If you’d like to see more features come to life, make sure to visit our User Voice site at http://www.habbo.com/feedback (or just add /feedback to your local Habbo site if you’re not from COM)
Dress Up For Habboween!
- Translate:
Finnish, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, French, Portuguese.
Some translations are still missing.
Get Dressed!
For Habboween this year, we’ve got plenty of new costumes for you to enjoy, some pretty scary ones, if you ask me… However, we’ve received a few questions about them, so here is a quick FAQ!
Where do I find the costumes?
You can find the costumes in the Shop, in the Habboween category. There are 20 to choose from!
It says I need Pumpkins, how do I get those?
You get Pumpkins whenever you by Credits. For every 1 Credit, you get 5 Pumpkins. This goes for all the payment methods.
I bought a costume, now what?
Click your own Habbo to get to the quick menu, choose “Change Looks” and
select the far right tab (with the magic wand picture) to see your
costumes and effects. Now, dress up!
How long does a costume last for?
It will last for a whole month!
Can I mix masks and costumes?
Yep, go wild!
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Cloudy With a Chance of New Furni!
We’re excited to introduce a whole new way to spruce up your room… by changing the infamous, black background! Now you can add a special scenery, some floating clouds, or even change the color to whatever shade and hue fits your mood.
The new backgrounds are available in the Shop right now, but you can only buy them using our celebratory currency: Clouds!
Starting today, and during next week, you will get a Cloud for free. The Clouds can be used to buy most every Furni item in the Shop, as well as the new, cool backgrounds – so basically this offer means you get double value for your money!
Some Cloudy FAQs to answer your questions:
- Translate:
Italian, Finnish, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Turkish, French.
Norwegian, Danish and Swedish translations are still to come.
How many Clouds will I get?
You will get one Cloud for each Credit you buy. So in a way, you will
get double value for your money if you buy Credits while this promotion
lasts!
Where do I get Clouds?
You will receive Clouds when you buy Habbo Credits with whatever payment methods are available in your Hotel.
If you do the “Earn Credits” thing (aka ‘Offers’) will you get Clouds?
Yes.
If I have a Credits Subscription, do I get Clouds, too?
Yes, if you receive Credits during this campaign you will also receive Clouds.
Say I have a Goldbar and I redeem it for Credits in my purse will I get Clouds, too?
The Habbo Exchange items won’t yield Clouds when redeemed during this campaign. Sorry!
How do I see how many Clouds I have?
You will see the number of Clouds available to spend in the upper right corner of the Hotel View.
What items can I buy with Clouds?
We just launched three very exclusive, never-before-seen, backgrounds
for your rooms and they can only be bought with Clouds! Apart from
those, you can spend your Clouds on pretty much anything in the
Shop! In fact, there are only a few thing Clouds can’t buy you, like
VIP membership, Habbo Groups, LTD Rares and Credit Furni.
Will Clouds expire?
Yes, Clouds will expire after this campaign is over, we will let you know when.
Can we do Quests to earn Clouds?
Unfortunately, no. You will get Clouds only when you buy or earn Credits.
Can I earn Clouds by selling stuff in the Marketplace?
No, sorry, the Marketplace will function as usual.
Currently Piloting: Habbo Guardians
Good news everybody! The Habbo Guardians are currently being piloted in Habbo.com. There’s been a lot of rumors and speculation about the Guardians in the last few weeks, and in this article we hope to put your questions to rest.
What Are The Guardians?
Habbo Guardian is the new level on the Habbo Helpers Talent Track. As
Guardians, Habbos will be able to help us moderate and keep safe the
Habbo community, making it easier and faster to deal with bullying and
other situations, while at the same time enabling moderators to focus on
the most severe problem users. The Guardians lets Habbos create a
safer, more positive and active community.
How Does It All Work?
This week we’ve introduced a new feature to Habbo, the Report A Bully
button. Whenever a Habbo feels they’re being bullied, harassed or made
to feel uncomfortable in Habbo, they can use this reporting tool to let
the Guardians know about it. The bully report is then reviewed by 5
Guardians who then vote as to whether or not the Habbo in question is
being rude or a bully. If the Guardians agree that the Habbo is being
badly behaved the bullying Habbo is muted for 15 minutes and banned from
the room. If the Guardians believe that the Habbo is doing worse than
bullying, and is endangering other Habbos and more drastic action is
required they can vote to forward the issue to the moderators.
Who Can Become A Guardian?
The role of Guardian is open to all Habbos who have completed levels one
to six in the Helper Talent Track. Once a Habbo has achieved Guardian
or Novice Guardian rank, once they go on-duty as a Helper in the Hotel,
they will be asked if they want to accept/ decline to look at the bully
report. If they accept a report they can then vote on the issue. If they
decline, then another Guardian will be chosen.
What are the options available to Guardians while reviewing bully reports?
There are three options available to Guardians while reviewing a report,
not counting “doing nothing” which will lead to the report being timed
out and sent to another group of Guardians to vote on.
OK- No problems here, Habbos are acting normally and no
action taken. If a Habbo makes too many reports that are classed as OK
they will be prevented from using the bully reporting tool for a short
period of time.
Bad- For anti-social Habbos. A Habbo is being rude, nasty or disruptive to other Habbos. Fifteen minute mute and a room ban.
Severe- This report should have been a call for help to
a moderator. A Habbo is asking other Habbos about webcam, using strong
sexual language or threats, or threatening a Habbo in real life. Issues
marked severe are sent to moderators who will then decide on the correct
course of action.
Can you tell us more about how the voting works? What if the Guardians cannot decide how to vote on a bully report?
If the Guardians cannot agree with what action should be taken, or take
too long to decide, then the report is sent on to the moderators to take
a look.
Who/ how are Guardians selected for a specific bully report?
The Guardians chosen to look into a specific report are random, being
selected from the Habbo Guardians that are currently on duty. Guardians
cannot be picked for cases that have/ are occurring in the room they are
currently in.
What if I don’t want to be a Guardian?
If you don’t want to be a Habbo Guardian then don’t pick up bully
reports or go on duty after you have signed into the Hotel. However,
this also means you won’t be able to progress further in the Helper
Talent Track.
Will Guardians be able to read chat logs?
The Bully report the Guardians see will be a chat log, but the usernames
of the Habbos involved will be censored, and the room name will not be
displayed, so the Guardians will not know whose report they are
reviewing, or what room it is taking place in.
What If there are no Guardians online?
The report will be automatically sent to moderators if no Guardians pick it up.
Can I complain/ report a Guardian if I don’t agree with their decision?
No. If the majority of Guardians don’t find the reported Habbo to be
bullying or harassing you, then you’ll just have to ignore the other
Habbo.
Will you be checking up on the Guardians? Reviewing cases to make sure some Guardians aren’t doing it wrong?
We will monitor the Guardians for suspicious activities and if we find
Guardians abusing their powers, then these Guardians will be suspended
from the Guardian program for a short time.
When will Guardians be available in other Habbo countries?
We’re hoping to have the Guardians rolled out to all Habbo countries at
the end of this week. However, this is still tentative and plans may
change as the week progresses.
Habbo.com Rumour Control
Note: This article only applies to Habbo.com users.
Two pieces of news everybody! First up, some of you in Habbo.com may have noticed the recent Guardians addition to the Helper Talent Track, but there’s something you should know- If you complete the Habbo Helper level this weekend you will not be able to become a Novice Guardian, as we’re waiting until early next week to turn the feature on, to make sure there are enough Guardians available to help with issues. Check back here next week to find out more about the Guardian system.
Secondly, if you’re concerned about the Credit Furni/ Gold Bar issue in Habbo.com please check out our Help desk piece here
Go For Gold In The Habbo-lympix
It seems like the Olympics have been going on forever doesn’t it? If I had a million pounds every time someone asked me “Hey, did you watch the games yesterday?” then I would have two million pounds. I guess an Olympics without Eric Moussambani just isn’t worth watching to some people. But in Habbo we’re not so apathetic, perish the thought! We love the games, and this week the Habbo-lympix celebration and competitions continue. The Habbo-lympix quests are still ongoing, with awesome Habbo-lympix badges up for grabs- the more quests you complete, the higher level you achieve.
We’ve also got some great Habbo-lympix Rares coming on sale this week. A Limited Edition Rare, a statue of an angry-looking Habbo throwing a javelin, and a traditional (non-numbered) Rare Union Jack Sofa. Yes, now you can sit on a sofa decorated with the flag of Great Britain. A dream come true for those of you who have dreamed of sitting on a sofa decorated with the British flag. The Sofa is available only for a limited time, so get yours while you can!
Tomorrow begins our latest room building competition- Habbos will have to design a relaxing room fit for a Queen. Habbos will have from Thursday to Saturday to build their room, and then the voting will be open from Sunday to Monday. The top ten Habbos in the competition will each win a Medal case/ Trophy Furni.
Chat Is Back
Fantastic news everybody! Full chat has now been restored to all Habbo sites. The safe chat has been turned off and Habbos can now talk freely like before, however we’ve added several new moderation filters and checks to ensure the safety of Habbos. Habbos should know that even though the safe chat has been removed, the Habbo Way, Safety Policy is still in effect and our commitment to the safety of Habbo remains paramount. A huge thank you goes out to all our Habbos who have supported us through this trying time, and we look forward to welcoming you back to the Hotel and being able to talk with you once again :)
To celebrate we’ve been throwing some parties in the various Habbo sites. The next parties will be held on Monday for Habbo.com and our Nordic sites, the times are below in EEST, and Staff will be in attendance, visiting rooms through the Hotel and hanging out with their fellow Habbos. Even Kitano’s going to be there, even though he’s just back from Holiday and has no idea what’s going on… No change there then.
Event times per Hotel:
Denmark – 11:30 EEST
Norway – 10:00 EEST
Sweden – 13:00 EEST
Habbo.com – 18:00 EEST (that’s 16:00 UK time, 11:00 in New York and
Toronto, 6:00 in Los Angeles, 22:00 in Singapore, and 01:00 in Sydney
the next morning)
What’s more we’ve got a brand new community challenge live in these Hotels- if enough Habbos log into the site at the same time (500 for Norway, 650 for Denmark, 600 for Sweden and 6000 for .com) , all Habbos that have signed in since the challenge started on Wednesday 1st August until the challenge has been completed will receive a week of Habbo VIP free and a nifty Frank trophy, so this is the perfect time to let your Habbo friends know the good news- the chat is back. Huzzah!
Habbo-lympix 2012
- Translate:
Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, Danish, French, Portuguese, German, Finnish, Dutch, Swedish.
Today
marks the start of our campaign, celebrating the spirit of togetherness
and our ability to reach for the stars and make it happen!
We just launched a quest that will take you around the Habbo world, see the sights and hopefully meet some new friends. The quest will earn you achievements and who knows, maybe even a surprise or two!
To give you the full Habbo-lympix experience, there are also some new Furni available in the Shop (and more new stuff will follow next week!) – podiums and trophies and pretty much everything you’d need to create your own awesome stadiums.
And speaking of awesome stadiums — with the help of some very talented Habbos from various Fansites, we’ve launched some really cool Habbo-lympix Villages in all the Hotels – a place to hang out, answer quizzes and maybe even take home a prize or two! If you want to be a part of it all, simply add the tag ‘Habbo-lympix‘ to your room! It’s the same tag in every Hotel.
So what are you waiting for – come on over and help us celebrate the Habbo-lympix spirit! It’s all happening in your Hotel right now :)
