Hi Habbos!

 I’m super excited to be joining the Articles Team as a Trialist, and even more excited to introduce myself, and what a better way to do that than by telling you a bit about me, myself and my Habbo. In this introduction, I’ll be focussing on two things; “Am I too old to “play” Habbo?” and “Why do we visit Habbo”.

So if you happen to search for me on Habbo, you’ll see I joined on July 31st, 2001. 15 years ago… I’ll let you do the Math! The worst thing is, that was my second Habbo, after I locked myself out of my first account! It’s fair to say I’ve been through practically every change Habbo has seen, from the introduction of private rooms (yes, we didn’t always have them), to waving goodbye to the “BIG HAND”. I’ve seen it all, which I feel puts me in great stead to write a nostalgic article about the Hotel!

Who remembers when Habbo Hotel, was in fact, a hotel? Well that’s the first reason I used to visit. This idea of escaping to a virtual chat room, and spending my days perfecting my own hotel room, so that I could bring around friends and show it off. Furni back then was very typical of a hotel, I had a budget bed, a cheap sink and toilet, a pizza box sitting in front of my ever so cool “pod” chair – it really was the place to be.

I wouldn’t dare tell my school friends though – even when I was young, it still sounded childish! But I loved it – the community was small, but I felt at home! You’d see the same names again and again – all brought together through the Habbo homepage – there used to be a room browser telling you who was where – great for tracking down staff members too!

I’ve always been quite articulate, and love playing by the rules! Sad, I know! I got to know a very special Habbo, ione, and she spent a lot of time telling me about the Habbo Way. I became an apprentice in some ways, shadowing her as she policed the corridors of Habbo Hotel. It was quite different then – looking for people abusing the word “bobba” more so than scammers and “hackers” but the moderation tactics were the same. In time I became a trainee Hobba, and eventually earned my Gold Badge! All Hobbas had a “Handbook” and a special forum online to chat. I really felt a part of something big!

Tragedy struck – the age limit for Hobbas was raised and I was demoted as I had no proof of my date of birth. I was devastated to say the least. Back then, there were 2 badges – Hobba and Silver Hobba. (Not even a staff badge until later!) You could turn your badge on/off. It was really an exciting and exclusive feature. Bye bye badge! And there I was once again…. Neonebis.

Snewsbox – an evolved “newsbox” and the place to be!

We hung out with “wenders” – the article writer who had an amazing room called snewsbox. It was the place to be – and if the room hit it’s maximum of 20 people, there were some sad times!! But snewsbox gave everyone a chance to chill out and chat about anything!! There was no attention seeking – everyone just chatted away like old friends. Around the same time, the exclusive “Typewriter” furni was released – how I desperately wanted a type writer!!!

As time went on, games became a more prominent feature of Habbo Hotel – and I wasn’t a big player! I never understood “Falling Furni” and I wasn’t rich enough to bet in the casinos! Sure, I had a few rares kicking about, a cool “Britney Spears” poster, and an awesome scripted “Aloe Vera” plant (before they were actually released) but I wasn’t going to risk those gambling in a casino! So I felt like I missed out on some of the community aspects of what was now becoming more of a game, and less of a chat room.

Eventually, I wasn’t visiting Habbo Hotel every second of every day. It was more like every other second.. Of every other day. I was becoming less and less a part of the community that I loved, and contributed to!

Flash forward a few years, the hotels have merged. Hobba’s are no more. The big mute has happened. The big hand is gone. Games – everywhere! And every line of every chat can be heard from the other side of the room!

DID YOU KNOW? that “back in the day” if someone was talking to another Habbo more than a “few feet” from you, you only got half the conversation? A bit more real life, you couldn’t hear what they were saying. Instead it came up a b.t li.. thi. (A bit like this!) One of my favourite features, and that to was gone!

Now I login to the hotel, and hit my favourite public room, a very revamped Welcome Lounge.  People are shouting, there’s a whole lot going on, nobody really wants to TALK, and I wouldn’t even know where to start if I did find someone!

So I asked myself, “Am I too old to play Habbo”? That’s when I found Habbox again. I always came here to check the latest news, but I never really engaged in the community. A bit of prodding around and I found other people, in their, ahem mid-twenties. I wasn’t alone any more!

Phew! I should probably wrap this one up! And I’ve still so much to “remember” – the Lido, the introduction of HC, Habbo Helpers!! I’m sure we’ll get a chance to talk about it! So here I am, ready to get involved in the community once again! I hope to bring interesting articles, great laughs and hopefully, some great nights chilling in my “hotel room” in Habbo”. It won’t be a beach room, or a forest room, or a airport. It’ll probably just be my old hotel room! So I’m going to get to building that hotel room, the best I can! And I’d welcome all of you to stop back for a bit of a chat, about “the good old days” and I look forward to embracing the “new days” with everyone here!

Until Next Time….!

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