TuneHabbo - Habbo History

Before Habbo got to where it is today they have experimented many different ideas which led to some of the fantastic features we have today. Believe it or not, Habbo didn't originally have Guest Rooms and a Catalogue, how boring is that!

Cinema Costumes

Back in the early days Habbo were running a sponsorship with Orange, oddly this had nothing to do with phones or communications but set around a movie theme! The old Habbo Cinema featured a rather dull mountain background surrounding the room and some rather funky costumes. The cinema has now changed to how it is today, though many Habbos still argue the old style should be brought back. The costumes are shown below and certain aspects of them can be achieved with the new accessories! This had been removed due to the sponsorship expiring!

Ye Olde Console

When Habbo first began it was a small community and therefore was not too much of a problem to keep in order, as the Habbo Empire expanded it came apparent that professional help was needed, this introduced the Moderation Team! This team was full of professionals who knew exactly what they were doing in their vital role. In 2001, when Habbo started Staff used the account 'HobbaContact'. Since this took a short while to type it was then shortened to 'HC'. This caused many problems when the exclusive Habbo Club came out as people were getting confused about the Habbo Club badge (says HC) and the 'HobbaContact'. After this confusion Habbo replaced 'HobbaContact' with the account 'Moderator', in 2004 another account was created called 'Moderator-2' which was for work on weekends when two moderators were required.

After a few months of this the Habbo Empire was still growing rapidly and so more moderators were required, instead of creating a mass of accounts called Moderator-3, Moderator-4, Habbo gave all moderators a name linked to their usual Habbo name, for example moosemaster's moderator name is MOD-Moose. This system is still in use. The Moderator powers were not added to the Habbo's usual account for security reasons, these members of staff work in shifts and are paid for their

Hobbas

To accompany the Habbo Moderators mentioned above, Habbo realised just how quickly it was growing. To try and keep costs low they introduced the 'Hobba', these were ordinary Habbos who worked for free to keep the hotel in control and aid the Moderator's hard work. These members of the community were given either a Silver or Gold Hobba badge to show their dedications. Click here to see a list of all the Hobba's

These 'Hobbas' could do simple operations such as banning users for breaking the Habbo Way, kick users from rooms, edit room names and entry status, rights priviledges in every room and a few other simple commands, not quite as many as Moderators though! A number of these powers were removed as more professional moderators were hired and had more time to conduct simple operations, meaning Hobbas no longer needed these powers. One of the priviledges removed was having the ability to edit room names and having rights in every room, they did however gain access to a room regardless of it's entry settings. Why the team was called Hobbas is unknown, I believe it has something to do with the 'Habbo' name and the 'Bobba' filter. Put these together and you get Hobba, they were Habbos who dealt with people breaking the rules, such as avoiding the Bobba filter.

Becoming a Hobba has changed alot through the Habbo timeline. At the start you could apply to be a Hobba at any age, this was a very bad move on behalf of Habbo as there were many young people taking control of the hotel and abusing their powers. Habbo took this error very seriously and bumped the age limit up to 16, where members of the team had a fair amount of knowledge and were mature enough to understand their role. This system was working fine but in 2003 the age limit was taken up to 18, people thought this was to do with law requirements, this theory was entirely wrong. This is something to take into account, though we do not know if this is true, it is thought that Habbo may get bad reports if they cannot confirm that all of their moderators are adults. Hobbas were not officially moderators but took on that role with much less power. The Hobba team was unfortunately removed in late 2005 for 'security reasons', and 'safety reasons'. However, many felt that the true reason was the fact that is wasn't a viable of effective option anymore.

Habbo eXperts

The next step after Hobbas was to introduce the new scheme for helping Habbos. Anyone, of any age could apply to become a Habbo eXpert when applications were opened by the team manager. Habbo eXperts, more often known as X's, would be mainly based in the Welcome Lounge(s) and would welcome new Habbos and answer any questions they may have. To identify these Habbos they had a special badge, which later in the X project evolved into sub-teams such as gaming, welcoming and technical eXperts. After 2 years of the eXperts project it was time for a change, and the X team was removed in 2008 and replaced with a new Habbo Guides scheme which anyone can use, without applying! This marked the end of an era where normal Habbo players had some chance to help with moderation. Former Habbo X's are identified by a badge on Habbo.

The Catalogue

A long time ago the Habbo Catalogue was very different to how it is today, I personally prefer the old stlye but it is understood why it had to change. Since there were alot of new furni sets and categories being added to the catalogue it was beginning to get annoying having to scroll sideways to find what you wanted, to solve this Habbo redesigned the catalogue to make it easier and to house all of the new items. You can see the current catalogue at the top right, the older version is below it. Click these images to see the full thing. In a recent update, the purse was merged into the catalogue to make it easier for you to keep track of your credit balance whilst browsing the catalogue!

Habbo Toolbar

Believe it or not, the toolbar has undergone many changes, not only additions but also graphic updates. The menu hasn't been changed in a few years so many Habbos are expecting something new to join the selection or some funky new images to fit in with the new Habbo. Listed below are the changes which have happened and a short description of what changed written below them.

This is the first version, a simple console and access to the navigator which only displayed Public Rooms

A few new features have arrived now, guest rooms. There wouldn't be much point in having your own room if you couldn't decorate it with furniture available from the catalogue, and a place to store unused items in the giant hand.

In this version of the toolbar the console has had a small facelift, as has the catalogue, navigator and giant hand. Two new features have been produced, the Help Tool which provides you with instant help or lets you send a message to an online moderator, and the Habbo Purse, which allows you to keep track of your credits, gaming tickets and photo film.

No new features here, just another few facelifts. In this style the console no longer has stripes running through it, the navigator icon has changed due to Habbo going global, and the giant hand has had a shadow change.

There is now a mute button which allows you to turn Habbo sounds off but still hear any other noises on your computer, along with the new bouncing console!

This is the current version of the toolbar we have. With the introduction of Habbo Events, the new button for that has been added, meaning the Mute button and the Call for Help button have had to be shrunk.

With the introduction of Instant Messaging a new icon was due for easy access, the purse and catalogue have also been merged together, meaning another new icon. The final new installment is the joystick icon, for quick access to free games of Battleball and Snow Storm. The remaining icons have all been given a slight face lift too!

After the new Habbo client was released, the navigation system was flipped to the left hand side of the screen. Much of the features remained the same, except there was now a picture of your Habbo to where you could edit settings, change clothes- quite like the earlier versions of the hotel.

Stickie Notes

As with many of the other things that have changed in the years of Habbo, stickie notes haven't gone untouched. Many people prefer the colour changer button style than the new ones but hey, what can we do about it? At least we can close or delete them easier now!

Habbo Cameras

They've been around for a long time, but everything has to come to an end at some point, right? Well even if they don't, these did!There were a number of problems surrounding the, such as scripting which had been around since the early days of the camera, but it eventually got more serious and Habbo took the action to remove the feature completely. They were available for 10 credits each, and 6 rolls of film would cost you 5 credits. Once you had taken your picture using the special popup screen representing a camera with various zoom buttons, you could then enter a description and publish the photo if you wished to appear in your hand, which could then be placed on your Habbo wall!

Trading

A few years ago it was actually possible to trade presents. This led to many Habbos being scammed, another thing which drove people away from the hotel was that you could only enter 6 items into the trade box since if you entered more than one item the same, it wouldn't just merge with the existing one and have the number above, it would take up another box! You never used to get the popup box asking you if you were sure you wanted to give an item away either. This was then changed so you could enter 6 different items into the trade box and identical items would go in the same space with a new number around them. In a recent update, we are now able to trade 9 items at a time!

Bobba you!

This isn't really relevant anymore since this feature has been added back to the hotel. Back in the early days of Habbo you could switch the Bobba Filter off in Guest Rooms, but harsh words were still Bobba'd. Within recent versions of Habbo this feature has been brought back. Why was it taken away in the first place only to return in the future? No one really knows.

Weekly Competition

In Habbo's early days there was a weekly competition entitled 'Wacky Wednesday'. This competition was free to enter and there was a guaranteed prize of 100 credits to one lucky winner! After running this competition for a while Habbo realised there was potential for money making. Wacky Wednesday was replace with 'Magic Monday' which maintained Wacky Wednesday's prizes and weekly occurrence, but you were made to pay 25p to enter via your phone! This competition then went under another change, giving us what we have now. This was 'Funky Friday' in which the way to enter stayed the same but the prize changed every week. After running this for a long time Habbo decided it was time to change it, so they allowed Habbos to submit a Funky Friday containing an opening paragrah(s), the prize and the question. In this version of Funky Friday not only would the winner get the prize, but also the person who submitted it. Since then, Funky Friday has departed and it was said that a new weekly competition would take it's place, which we're yet to see! After a while, it is now assumed that the era of weekly competitions, which had brought joy to many has ended.

Scam Busters

This was an extremely old feature which was operated by a team of Habbos who investigated reports of scammings. This team would follow the Habbo Records to find exactly what had happened and if the case was found to be true, the furni would be returned and the offender would have been banned. All submissions to Scam Busters were dealt with manually, meaning there was more chance of them finding your furni. Why this feature was removed is unknown, though it is probably because it took alot of time to follow the records and Habbo would have had to employ people to continue this service and this also posed a security threat by giving more users access to the Habbo Records.

Polls

Habbo seemed to be turning more and more money orientated as it expanded. Money is vital in running a successful business such as what Habbo was becoming so they needed more of it to pay their staff and pay the bills. One way they tried to do this was making Habbos ring a number to vote in a poll. This, of course, wasn't free so earnt them a little to invest in the business. You didn't even get anything from phoning these numbers, probably why it no longer exists today and there are now polls operated in the hotel, on the homepage and even on exterior sites!

Newsletter

One of the most missed things from the past has to be the Habbo Newsie. Every week a new edition would be released, including articles written by the staff and by normal, every day Habbos! Those Habbos who got their articles published in the newsletter would get a free typo on the hotel! The majority of the newsletter was written by the Hotel Manager, these were various articles on things like new Official Fansite Competitions and Furni Facts. Some of the pieces written by Habbos were poems and safety tips, some of which came from the Tech Team and Hobbas. There was also a Safety Newsletter released weekly, written by Wenders. The newsletter brought a number of interesting facts and even the odd competition! The newsletter often entitled the 'newsie' was funny and witty, with may Habbos finding it an enjoyable read. Later on in the newsletter's life it was only available by email, but the newsletter has now ceased to exist in Habbo. All there is now is the occasional email from Habbo with the latest events and the like, no articles to read!

Habbo have though recently introduced the Hotel Manager's Newsletter, which is proving successful. How long will this last? It proved to be not very long.

Habbo Gaming

Habbo Games were a fun and interesting part of Habbo. The games Battle Ball, Snowstorm, Wobble Squable and Diving were scrapped on the release of BETA. The Habbo team pledged they would return, but it never happened!

Habbo Guides

Habbo Guides replaced the Habbo Welcoming Part (which previously replaced Habbo eXperts). Habbo Guides were tasked with the task of welcoming new players to the Hotel. They were assisted with their role with a special guides console feature - which alerted them when new players entered the Hotel (it allowed them to stalk the new player and offer guidance). Guides were issued achievement badges every time they helped a set number of new players and befriended them. The Guides System was deactivated on the launch of BETA.

Set Habbo Club Gifts

Habbo Club Members benefit from monthly gifts which are chosen by the Habbo Club Member, out of a series of options on a monthly basis (more are unlocked the longer you are a Habbo Club Member). This hasn't always been the case. Before March 2010 Habbo Club Members were given a set gift for every month they subscribed.