Kotaku: Habbo Hotel

'Why User Generated Content Matters' (For Some)

Maggie Greene — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:30:00 MDT

User generated content is something of a hot issue, with even universities like Stanford getting in on the game of how to make it easier and more intuitive for people to make their own stuff for games. At the recent Social Gaming Summit, a couple of industry types got together to talk about user generated content in virtual worlds, and why the model works for their games (such as Habbo Hotel or Puzzle Pirates):

"The more tools that you provide can lead to richer behavior, but often it's the simpler things that people enjoy most," began Daniel James, CEO of Three Rings. "As designing games constraints can lead you to designing better games, constrained environments can lead to more fun."

"The simplest games are the ones everybody can join in and play," expanded Ted Rheingold, founder of Dogster and Catster.

The panel also went on to discuss why we should think of 'virtual spaces' instead of 'virtual worlds' when looking at game design — design from the avatar up, not the 'world' down. Clearly this would not work for everything, but with casual MMOGs getting ever more popular, probably not a bad idea to go forward from for some developers.

Why User-Generated Content Matters For Games

How Casual MMOGs Are Making Money

Maggie Greene — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:30:00 MDT

Lightspeed, a venture capital firm, checked out the average revenue per user for some casual, free to play MMOGs (Club Penguin, Habbo Hotel, Runescape, and Second Life), establishing that other that SL - which pulls in a little over $9 a month in ARPU, thanks mostly to virtual land upkeep - these sorts of casual MMOGs pull in around $1.25 ARPU per month. Which, until one considers the user bases of games like Club Penguin, seems like a damn hard way to make some money:

Second Life: $9.30/mthly user/mth
Club Penguin: $1.62/mthly user/mth
Habbo: $1.30/mthly user/mth
Runescape: $0.84/mthly user/mth

Having spoken to many other MMOGs and virtual worlds on a private basis, this estimate seems to be a good gauge for what a well performing MMOG can aspire to from a free to play business model.

Left out are a number of other popular MMOGs like MapleStory; I'd be curious to see firmer statistics for a wider spread of games, though the comments section does include some speculative numbers for a few other games.

Successful MMOGs can see $1-2 in monthly ARPU [Lightspeed via Worlds In Motion]

Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom Closing, Fans Hysterical

Maggie Greene — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:30:00 MDT

Once upon a time, Disney had this virtual world called (creatively enough) Virtual Magic Kingdom:

As with Habbo Hotel, Virtual Magic Kingdom was developed by Finnish studio Sulake and shared many similarities with the social networking site. Players with registered accounts are able to decorate their personal rooms, earn and spend in-game credits, and participate in a variety of online events and activities with their customized avatars, all in a "safe, non-threatening environment."

The interesting thing here is that Disney announced they'd be shuttering this particular virtual world and people freaked out. When I first read the comments on the Worlds In Motion post, I was sure the posts were made in jest — such a visceral outpouring of emotion for one Disney virtual world out of a whole stable? Raph Koster's blog picked up on it, and Steve at PlayNoEvil speculates that it's an end-of-contract thing (and reminds us that developers and operators need to think carefully about their exit strategies). Legions of fans have mobilized and trotted out gut-wrenching stories of how much the game means to them (and started a petition to stave off the inevitable). People have a tendency to brush off these sorts of virtual worlds, so it's fascinating to see how fired up fans are regarding its fate.

Disney Closes Gates To Virtual Magic Kingdom [Worlds In Motion]

Should Virtual Item Loss Be Classed As Real Life Theft?

Maggie Greene — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:30:38 MST

A short and sweet and mildly thought provoking piece over at Terra Nova asks the question: "Why not qualify the taking away of virtual objects as theft?" The author speaks in reference to Dutch law specifically, but a few cases have cropped up in recent months (Shanda getting sued after forgetting to return some virtual items; the case that this post was based on, where virtual theft in Habbo Hotel led to a real life arrest) that raise the question of what do you do with virtual items when they're stolen? Slap a pair of real life cuffs on the thief's wrists? Ignore it, since the items never left the virtual space they inhabited?

Is it relevant for the qualification as theft whether the stolen fortune stays officially in game? Well, not to me. I see no reason for distinguishing between virtual and physical theft. The original owners of the stolen Habbo furniture obtained the items after they bought credits with real money, and do attach value to those items. As long as the original owner looses something of value (such as virtual items) due to the act of another individual who gains possession over the item, it should in my opinion be qualified as theft, no matter whether the locus delicti is in the physical or the virtual world.

I love this virtual law stuff, so many areas are so vague - I do wonder what sort of changes are going to be going on the books in the next decade or so.

Why not qualify the taking away of virtual objects as theft? [Terra Nova]

Dutch Teen Arrested For Virtual Furniture Thievery

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:40:00 MST

Normally, sentences that start with "Dutch teen" are cause for excitement—or at the very least, a Fleshbot post—but this one is nothing short of depressing. According the BBC, six teenagers are suspected of stealing some 4,000 euros (about $5800 US) worth of virtual furniture in a phishing scam directed at Habbo Hotel users. One has been arrested, a 17-year old, after police contacted the service's owners.

For those unaware of the Habbo Hotel phenomenon, the virtual online community features a strong "teen" contingent with some 80-million avatars created over the course of its seven year lifespan. Users can deck out rooms with "furni" bought with real-life money, chat with others and play simple games.

I may not take part in hanging out with teens online in Habbo Hotel, but I'll be damned if I you won't find me defending by virtual space in Home with a virtual shotgun. Anyone who even looks at my virtual Herman Miller Aeron knock-off is gonna get a belly full of shot.

'Virtual theft' leads to arrest [BBC]

Habbo Hotel Has 80 Million Avatars

Mark Wilson — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:20:28 MDT

Confession: I have never frequented Habbo Hotel. Should I feel ashamed? (Note: Given an over-inflated sense of esteem, anything that I or any other members of the Kotaku staff have failed to experienced is immediately considered worthless and below us when encountered, so the question is rhetorical...if you could even give it that much credit). But a lot of people have tried it out, teens and "teens," producing a total 80 million avatars since the site launched in 2000. Quick division tells us that roughly 10 million avatars have been created per year, or just shy of a million per month. We'd keep spouting off numbers, but you've already stopped reading, continuing your search of import DS titles featuring pantsu and jubblies.

"Hobby project" not originally targeted to teens [gameindustry]

Raph Koster On Game Grammar and Creating Fun

Maggie Greene — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 16:00:41 MDT

Gamasutra has a long (long) interview up with Raph Koster (lead designer of Ultima Online and founder of Areae). It's long. But Koster touches on a ton of stuff - the shift in game design, the ultra-casual market like Habbo Hotel vs. WoW, this idea of 'game grammar', why patents are a necessary evil, and is 'single-player gaming dead'? - and it's an interesting read. Even some interesting ideas on the us vs. them mentality present in the industry (or is it?):

I love when you chided everyone [at GDC Austin]. I watched Sulka Haro [of Habbo Hotel] talk, and ... I could feel this slightly electric vibe of tension between the MMO guys in the audience and Haro. I don't want to overgeneralize, but... I got this "We don't like you, and you don't like us," kind of feeling, because they feel like he's doing something different.
RK: Sulka has been coming to GDCs for years! He's a guy who has been bridging the gap all along. Honestly, it's more cases like... Nexon never comes out and talks, because they really do think that they're just a different industry, as far as they're concerned. I don't want to ascribe motives — I don't really know — but they just don't do the talks! Because honestly, how relevant would many of the talks here this year be to them? Not very! I think it's really, really, really important that people in any industry get out of their village and go anywhere else and check out what's going on. Travel is broadening.

It's an enjoyable interview to read with some different ideas on a number of aspects of the industry.

Defining Games: Raph Koster's Game Grammar [Gamasutra]

'Designing a Gameless Game' - Habbo Hotel's Sulka Haro

Maggie Greene — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:30:12 MDT

There's a number of wildly popular 'games' (online worlds?) that fly under the radar in terms of press (unless, like Club Penguin, they get purchased for a lot of money), and Habbo Hotel is one of those - some of this is a demographic issue, and some of it is that games like this don't fit into our idea of what a 'game' is or should be. Gamasutra has an interesting interview with Habbo's lead designer, Sulka Haro. It's an enlightening look at those virtual worlds that fall into the part virtual networking site, part 'game' (depending on your definition), both in terms of design and actual implementation. And how we should be defining 'games' in the first place:

Some people have been saying that while we don't look at products like yours essentially as games straight out, we probably should be expanding what our definition of "game" is. That's because Habbo Hotel is the sort of thing that people are playing. What do you think about that?
Sulka Haro: I guess I really don't look so much at the definition of "game" as much as I look at the definition of "play." If you look at Habbo, nobody can say that people aren't playing in there. People really do play in all of these environments, so I would use that as the unifying metaphor for discussing the different environments and products you can use to play. It's more clear.

Obviously there's products that are more "game," and they define gameplay, and the algorithms, as Raph [Koster] put it, where the meshing actually has a way to compute the thing that's going to happen next. As opposed to the purely social play, like Habbo. But people are still spending time doing something that could be really said to be "play."

It's a lengthy interview that hits a lot of points, but well worth a read through.

Designing a Gameless Game: Sulka Haro On Habbo Hotel [Gamasutra]

Top 10 MMOs

Kim Phu — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:40:00 MDT

In news outside of the console industry, the top ten most popular MMO games have been listed. Not surprisingly, World of Warcraft is sitting pretty at number one, but the rest of the list is a bit of a head scratcher. Habbo Hotel, that Finnish playable MySpace to the youth, comes in second, which begs the question,"How old do you have to be to own a credit card these days?!":

1. World of Warcraft, released 2004 - 8.5 million subscribers.
2. Habbo Hotel, released 2000 - 7.5 million active users.

3. RuneScape, released 2001 - 5 million active users.

4. Club Penguin, released 2006 - 4 million active users.

5. Webkinz, released 2005 - 3.8 million active users.

6. Gaia Online, released 2003 - 2 million active users.

7. Guild Wars, released 2005 - 2 million active users.

8. Puzzle Pirates, released 2003 - 1.5 million active users.

9. Lineage I/II, released 1998 - 1 million subscribers.

10. Second Life, released 2003 - 500,000 active users.

Both Habbo Hotel and Webkinz are for kids. When I say kids, I mean the kind that enjoy eating Ling Ling potstickers from Costco while watching Kim Possible and Gilmore Girls (yes, we're all sad it's been cancelled). I'm all for kids playing video games, but I do think it's weird that they pay to be exposed to everyone in the world. Maybe my maternal instincts are starting to kick in, but it's probably more likely that I've been watching too much "To Catch a Predator". Kim Phu

Top 10 Most Popular MMO Games List [Videogames Blogger]

Blizzard Pres to Keynote Austin GDC

Brian Crecente — Thu, 31 May 2007 16:00:47 MDT

Blizzard president and co-founder Michael Morhaime will be presenting a keynote at this year's Austin Game Developers Conference.

The keynote is for the Online Games Track of the GDC, so there's a good chance that the talk will be more focused on World of Warcraft than anything StarCraft II related. Though, it would be interesting to hear what sorts of plans they have for SC2's online gaming, since it has such a huge and hardcore following. I'd think that one of the difficulties they face is making sure they keep their hardcore fans and still attract neophytes to the game.

Sulka Haro, the creative leader behind Habbo Hotel, will also present a keynote lecture at the September show.

I keep meaning to go to this, maybe this will be the year. Brian Crecente

ONLINE GAME VISIONARIES
MICHAEL MORHAIME AND SULKA HARO TO PRESENT KEYNOTES
AT CMP TECHNOLOGY'S 2007 AUSTIN GAME DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE

President and Co-Founder of Blizzard Entertainment and Sulake Corporation Lead Designer
to Give Talks Meant to Inspire Online Game Developers

SAN FRANCISCO — May 30, 2007 — World of Warcraft father Michael Morhaime and creative leader behind Habbo Hotel Sulka Haro will each present a keynote lecture for the Online Games Track at the 2007 Austin Game Developers Conference. The two online entertainment innovators will draw on their experiences revolutionizing the way people interact in virtual worlds to motivate the online game development community to break boundaries and strive to create better games. The three-day event, presented by the CMP Game Group, host of the industry-leading Game Developers Conference (GDC), will take place September 5-7, 2007 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. Visit www.austingdc.net for more information.

Michael Morhaime and Sulka Haro are both uniquely positioned to share their wisdom with the online game development community. As president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, Morhaime has ushered World of Warcraft to its status as the most successful MMO in history, with more than 8.5 million subscribers worldwide. The game's global rollout has not only proven that it is possible to overcome the technical challenges of administering a game of its size and the cultural challenges related to localization and implementation, but has also shown how deeply online gaming can impact popular culture, as it has inspired references on shows including "The Colbert Report" and an entire "South Park" storyline.

Similarly, Haro has overseen the creative development of Sulake's globally operated virtual world Habbo into an online destination which has attracted millions of teenagers every month since launching in 2000, expanding into 29 countries. Like World of Warcraft, Habbo has enjoyed much success with audiences outside of the core gamer audience. The Habbo virtual world also provides an example of the various revenue streams and business models available to the online game community, as most of its users participate in the world's economy of acquiring virtual property through micro-transactions, with purchases accessible in a number of ways — through SMS, home phone, pre-paid cards, credit cards, and money orders. Habbo Hotel's design supports open play and user creativity, supplying customers with furniture, clothing, pets, and accessories to customize their experiences.

"The GDC has long served the game development community by providing opportunities to learn directly from both the legends of our industry," says Jane Pinckard, Content Manager for Austin GDC. "For online games and virtual worlds, Blizzard's World of Warcraft and Sulake's Habbo Hotel have pioneered the way and set precedence on how MMOs can transcend into real communities as well as establish new e-commerce models. We can't wait to hear what the men behind these iconic games have to say regarding the future of online gaming."

The Austin GDC will feature more than 90 lectures, panels, tutorials and round-table discussions on game development across four tracks: online games, audio for games, writing for games and a new People's Choice track featuring the sessions community members want to see most. Austin GDC will also feature a Game Career Seminar for students and job-changers researching entry into the game industry, and a new event, PC Game On, focusing on the PC game enthusiast.

For more information, please visit www.austingdc.net. The deadline for early rate pricing is June 13.