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Innocent looking seeds that grow into monsters with minds of their own, could it be?? Oh yes, and it’s happening all across the Hotels for a couple of days now! Gardeners tending to their pots, hoping perhaps to see a dainty lily or a sweet smelling rose, but alas, no such luck… Monster Plants are what you get!
(…which is pretty cool, if you ask me!)
BE A TOP RANKING GARDENER
Once you look beyond their foul odour, slightly offset eyes and mocking demeanour, one might argue that there is a certain charm to these creatures. You could say that they… grow on you. Yes. Yes, I did shamelessly go there.
Plus, the more you nurture, the more they grow, and the more your standing in our gardener’s ranking will improve. You know, the competition that is ongoing in all the Hotels, the one that might win you an exclusive trophy? Yeah, that one! Check into your Hotel to see how many ranked already.
If you’re not sure how to care for a Monster Plant, you should try out the Monster Quests in the Hotel, and have a look at the video at the bottom of this post!
SPECIAL OFFER
If you’re eager to improve your standings and need more plants to tend to, we’ve got a pretty cool offer going in all Hotels right now, you should probably check it out. I’ve heard that for every 20 Credits you buy, you get 4 seeds and a growing potion for free! So I mean, that’s a pretty great start right there…
Got absolutely no money left over? Worry not. A little guerilla gardening goes a long way, and nurturing untended Plants across the Hotel will still earn you points in the overall standing.
CROSS-BREEDING
Now, let’s talk about cross-breeding for a second. This is my favourite part of the Monster Plants: it allows you to play evil scientist and create your very own mutations! In fact, we did the math and if you cross-bred ALL the various types of Monster Plants, you could end up with 160,000 different variations! Now that would take some serious tending skills…
Between you guys and I, though, I think that with some careful trading and heavy cross-breeding, you could create some pretty rare seeds that in turn might make you some Credits!
…oh, and heads up, your cross-breeding skills will come in handy next week!
A GARDEN VARIETY LIMITED EDITION RARE
Last weekend an unfortunate technical glitch sent our planned LTD Rare out a day early, and because of this, our developers are creating a timer for the future that will start counting down inside the Hotels (most likely) 48 hours before a new LTD Rare is being released. Mistakes like these should not happen, and obviously, we’re improving all routines to make sure it never happens again!
In the mean time, the LTD Rare Team has lined up a brand new mysterious item, and this time they PROMISE (cross their hearts and hope to die ;) that it will indeed be published Saturday!
Last week I listed the launch times on its own page, to make sure that no one would miss out… and these times are still the same for every Hotel EXCEPT Habbo.com. In order to let the Habbos “Down Under” have a fair chance at the LTD Rare, they will be published at noon London time this time aorund. I’ve updated the times for .COM here ››
CARING FOR YOUR LITTLE MONSTERS
Because you always want to make sure they get the best, this video will give you a quick introduction to Monster Plant gardening!
Have fun, and watch those green thumbs… ;)
Stay tuned tomorrow for an elusive interview with a Monster Plant!
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Filed under: Furni, General Info
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Did you feel some mysterious shadow pass you by in the hallways of your Hotel today? Maybe a hint of someone behind you, but when you turned there was nothing at all? An eerie feeling has been creeping into the Hotel, slowly, but surely, and it all started with the latest shipment of new Japanese Furni… Turns out, we had some unexpected stowaways arrive with the Furni. Stowaways that were there in a puff of smoke one second, then gone with the wind the next…
What’s more, it seems our new Japanese Furni is “infected” and if you buy a piece, you will automatically catch this invisibility of the Ninja, in form of an Avatar Effect!
It doesn’t end there, though, oh no…
These Ninjas, of the Dark Dragon Clan, brought with them some Rare goods that also come with their very own surprises.
First off, a Rare Dragon pet that’s been growling in its cage ever since it flapped its wings down into the Shop! If you fear its flammable dangers, you might be a bit more interested when you find out that this pet comes with his very own exclusive badge.
The pinnacle of the Dark Dragon Clan has yet to come, though - The Limited Edition Dragon Of The Dark Flame Lamp (also comes with a badge!) Rumour has it that it will arrive TONIGHT! (Edit: The original information was unfortunately incorrect and changes were made immediately upon finding this out.)
The badge for the Rare will be rewarded by the Dark Ninja Clan on Tuesday, so fret not if you do not see your badge right away.
A Ninja never strays from her word.
EDIT:
To make it easier for everyone to see what time the LTD Rare is published where they live, I created a list of times in all the major countries / cities. Find it in the menu to the right, or by clicking here ››
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Filed under: Furni, General Info
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It’s been a whole week since we last updated you on the progress of the Habbo Helpers test stage and how it’s all going (time flies!), and now we’re back with another update!
Just like last time, I checked in with the project manager to see how everything is going, and to find out if we’re still on schedule. Here’s what he said this week!
So, what’s been happening since we last spoke?
We started testing the first version of the new Guided Tours in Finland. New Habbos have now an option to take a tour with a Helper. Helpers will show them around Hotel and introduce them to Habbo. With the exception of some Habbos wanting too many tours, the touring has received positive feedback. We’re waiting to hear what new Habbos think of the tours they received!
Is the feedback still positive?
Yeah! It also seems that as the novelty of Helpers has started to wear off, most of the requests are now valid, which is great.
Did anything out of the ordinary happen so far?
After releasing the Guided Tours function, it was heart warming to hear Helpers saying that finally they have enough “work” to do! Apparently it’s quite rewarding to show new Habbos what the Hotel is all about.
Did you decide to make any changes based on the Pilot?
We have been adding small improvements based on the feedback we’ve been getting, like showing that the other Habbo is typing, merging speech bubbles when only one side is writing multiple entries, etc. One thing we know we would like to add, but haven’t had a chance to yet, is an alert sound when you get a new help request.
When will Beta be rolled out and how?
Plan is to have Beta first in Finland and Spain as soon as we’re satisfied with the Alpha test. Get some feedback, clean out bugs and then roll it out globally.
Are we still on schedule for a global launch?
Yes, we are still aiming to roll out Helpers by the end of May!
So there you have it, Habbos! We’re still on track… and next week, we’ll be revealing something entirely new – stay tuned!
Read more about the testing of the Habbo Helpers path, and the Talents program here ››
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SOME LIVE ACTION IMAGES:
“Follow me!”
“Help Is Near”
“What Can We Help You With?”
Filed under: Behind-The-Scenes, General Info, Sneak Peek
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In her role as Senior Manager in Social Media Products, Rishell “Rei” Biermann is one of the new faces in our Sulake offices, adding to an impressive roster of game companies such as Electronic Arts, Zynga and Playdom! This week, Mark sat down with her to find out more about her and her new role. Grab a bowl of buttered popcorn and read on! Had you heard about Habbo before you started working here?
Yeah, everyone knows about Habbo! They created the blueprint for virtual worlds and social interactions. I actually had to study it, so to speak, when I first got into social gaming. One of the things that I’ve always been impressed by are the creations players make. Some Habbos are soooo amazing and it’s something I’ve never been truly good at.
What’s your name on Habbo?
Everyone keeps asking me this, but some of the fansites beat me to it! I’m RisBia on most Hotels. :)
How did you come to work for Sulake?
I worked with Paul at Playdom (a little known secret!), but I did play Habbo a while back, so this was not the first time I visited. However, I’m a total newbie now and have to re-learn everything. :)
What’s your role in the company?
I’m acting like the glue between the departments of Marketing, Customer Care and Product. The world is huge and often times we need people who can be flexible and shift priorities quickly. Basically, if there is a great idea that will help the company and the Habbos alike – I want to be its champion!
What’s the most important factor you consider while working?
Seeing the whole picture. Making decisions is difficult, but to do the right thing means you need to really consider all sides of an argument. Also, being able to listen to people and figure out what they need versus what they want. You can please them temporarily if you give them what they want, but you can make them truly happy if you give them what they need.
What are your wants in terms of projects in the near future?
Tools. I can’t say this enough. Really, building better tools so the Habbos can become active participants in the community. Also, improving our tools internally so we can get back to having fun with players, really being able to answer questions or dig into any issue.
How will you be listening to Habbos’ needs and desires in the coming months?
It’s important to have an open channel of communication, but if you really want to be able to hear people, you need more than just one person listening. So it’s a team effort between Product, Customer Care and Marketing departments, using various channels like Twitter, Forums, Facebook, as well as new products and features.
Have you mastered the art of stacking yet?
No, and I probably never will. It takes a certain skill and creative mind to visualize a swirling staircase from a bunch of brown blocks. I admire those that can create things like that, but it’s not a skill I have.
Best movie you’ve seen recently?
I don’t get out too often so I’d have to say that the best movie I saw recently was The Cabin in the Woods. I’m a Lovecraft fan and although the story wasn’t really about the Cthulhu mythos…it was still close enough for me to love it!
Who do you think would win in a fight, Iron Man or Cthulhu?
Cthulhu – no contest.
What’s your favourite video game?
Impossible. I play everything and have everything. I work only to fuel my desire for more games. I played Skyrim and then switched to Mass Effect and then switched to Kingdoms of Amalur and then decided I needed a break to work. I’m looking forward to Diablo III and night of sleeplessness!
What did you think of the ending to Mass Effect 3?
The ending I chose matched my characters’ arc, but I can see how those who were renegades from the start would be upset. The overall story was fantastic and I think personally the series ended on a good note for me. Don’t get me started on Dragon Age II, though… that’s a rant that will last for ages.
Favourite Bruce Springsteen song?
Born in the USA. It’s what they played during my high school football games.
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
42, answer to everything as anyone knows.
You can find Rei on Twitter: @Habbo_Rishell
This post already appeared on official Fansites.
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Filed under: Interviews
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© World Horse Welfare
Remember the horse jumping Community Challenge that we introduced a while back? Maybe you wondered what good it would do? Well, you know how some people raise a lot of money for good causes by doing charity runs? We thought, why don’t we raise money doing charity horse jumping inside the Hotels?
One thing lead to another, and we ended up asking all the Habbo communities to work together in an effort to raise money for a horse related charity.
The promise was that if you could reach the set target of jumps in each Hotel, we would donate $10,000 to a charity of your choice.
And boy did you jump… You guys managed a whopping 98,1 million jumps altogether during the week of the challenge! In our opinion, that shows quite a bit of character, huge determination and a lot of love for horses!!
Once you’d achieved the objective (or in your case, totally obliterated it), we asked you to vote for the charity that you thought the money should be donated to, and World Horse Welfare came out on top!
This week, we received the warmest of thank you’s from the people behind World Horse Welfare, and it is with great pleasure we pass it on to you guys, because you made it all happen!
Great job, everyone!!!
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Filed under: General Info
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Last week,