Habbo is arguably one of the most successful online chat games, with hundreds of millions registered users, and has been for nearly 20 years. However, no game is perfect!
In this article, we look into Habbo’s moderation and the uprising of the bots…
Moderating a game like Habbo is an immense task.
There are thousands of players across multiple hotels, and unfortunately, as moderation became more automated, some players were able to use the chat system for bad purposes.
Habbo was put on the spotlight by allegations from UK news program Channel 4 in June 2012.
As a result, The Great Mute was implemented.
For almost a month, everyone in the hotel was completely muted, and when chat came back, only pre-approved words allowed and anything else censored. This created a rift in the community where Habbos were divided on whether the punishment was justified.
Sulake had made the message clear: Habbo was not a hub for players who engage in explicit and inappropriate behaviour.
Thankfully, there hasn’t been anything like that ever since. However, moderation still relies heavily on an automated system and bots. Socializing is integral for a game like Habbo, and bots taking over and replacing moderators makes it difficult to have a conversation sometimes. Many Habbos are banned every day for saying a word or number in a completely innocent context, which moderators cold have seen and allowed.
With the anticipated arrival of Habbo 2020, is this an opportunity for change? Do you think automated moderation is the right decision or nuisance? Let me know your throughts in the comments below.
I think the automated moderation is a horrific idea! The filter itself is absolutely ridiculous… you can say “f***ing” and “s**t” but not things like “your number” (innocently used for a game?” and “nip” (As in “Going to nip to the toilet” etc.
And MOST ridiculously… I got muted before for saying habbox.com… we are an official fansite, so why can’t we always say habbo.com?
The automatic moderation is absolutely ridiculous… it could at LEAST send the questionable/reported chat to an actual human being to decide on the context/punishment… the “AI” has the IQ of a teaspoon…
I’m sure plenty of people would be willing to volunteer for that or even work for pittance if it’s something you can do at home in your spare time!!
Sort it out Habbo… sort it out!
I would LOVE for Hobbas to make a return <3 I received a sanction not long ago for no reason… thankfully habbo removed it after I contacted them to review it 🙂
@Lucyfaye Yes! spot on with the IQ of a teaspoon.
@YellowBelli That could be possible if Habbo did something similar to the Great Unmute where ideas and feedback can be voiced through there.