Otaku closed down

[Michael]

I heard on Habbo today that there was protests on Habbo.fr something about Otaku getting taken to court and forced to close down by Sulake(?).

Anyway Otaku I believe sold emulators for Habbo retros and part of its forum went into the development of Habbo retros. If anyone knows anymore feel free to add, as I really don't know that much about them.

Could this mean Habbo is finally taking action on retros?

http://oi38.tinypic.com/2v1nh9e.jpg

http://ragezone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Va5zsIK.png

http://ragezone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/XRiREOw.png

Heres an article I found on google:

Phoenix, the most popular Habbo Hotel emulator has finally closed their doors after founder and head developer Aaron ‘Sojobo’ Marshall was issued with a court order several days ago. The court order ceased company assets that linked to the developers car. With the closing of Otaku , community members have voiced their concerns and support via the RaGEZONE forums. We contacted Sojobo about the matter and he the following statement;

I’d like to thank everyone who helped and supported Otaku Studios over the years, it’s been a fun learning experience for me and it’s a real shame it had to end this way. I don’t want to say anything more specific at this point as the case is open and I’m not really sure what happens next as the documents I was served with aren’t even in English – it took me a few days just to work out that I had to turn off my websites and the papers themselves are.. lengthy.

What the future holds for the Habbo Hotel development scene remains a mystery but one thing is for certain, Sulake is out for blood.

[Psyduck]

They've been taking action on retros for a while...

[sexpot]

an article I read that was posted on TH said that they came to his house

[Michael]

an article I read that was posted on TH said that they came to his house

Yeah i've been reading his Twitter. https://twitter.com/SojoboOtaku

[xxMATTGxx]

Took Sulake quite a while then as I assume they must have got a number of notices about copyright beforehand? But this time it seems they have gone in with full force.

[Aiden]

WOW ACTION IS BEING MADE! :D

[xxMATTGxx]

"They came to my door, gave me some letters (none of them english -.-) and asked for the car. I refused. The police was called."

One of the tweets - Good luck to him I guess. As I assume they will be asking for quite a bit of money which he probably doesn't have by the looks of what he is saying on twitter.

[Michael]

One of the tweets

Makes me wonder what car it was, and how much he actually made from selling retro emulators.

[lemons]

ahhaha the song on their website

http://otaku.cm/

[xxMATTGxx]

Makes me wonder what car it was, and how much he actually made from selling retro emulators.

I think he had a Mini.

[lemons]

all those french wanting it to reopen plzzz

[Aiden]

i think it was a mini:

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/6555/890cfb02adb843daa91266d.png

and what would happen if he doesnt pay? :L

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/4512/1f51691d1cce442ea31f7ec.png

[HabboSwat]

I am glad they have done this! I for one think the retros are taking Habbo's Population! Less People on = Less Room Population! Like when that one big retro closed! Habbo.com had like twice what they usually run!

[Michael]

i think it was a mini:

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/6555/890cfb02adb843daa91266d.png

and what would happen if he doesnt pay? :L

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/4512/1f51691d1cce442ea31f7ec.png

Hopefully people will learn a lesson from this, though.

[xxMATTGxx]

i think it was a mini:

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/6555/890cfb02adb843daa91266d.png

and what would happen if he doesnt pay? :L

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/4512/1f51691d1cce442ea31f7ec.png

Probably depends on the legal system in the country he is in. Not sure what they will do specifically.

[Aiden]

Hopefully people will learn a lesson from this, though.

Yeah, it's pretty unfair and as well known illegal. I would feel sorry for him but he brought it on himself. :|

[sexpot]

I am glad they have done this! I for one think the retros are taking Habbo's Population! Less People on = Less Room Population! Like when that one big retro closed! Habbo.com had like twice what they usually run!

Habbo won't get population back from this, if anything it will create more retros

[Aiden]

Probably depends on the legal system in the country he is in. Not sure what they will do specifically.

Yeah I guess, well at least somethings happening and maybe other people who run/develop retros will back off? Maybe... not a great place to me in the first place. :P

[Abdicators]

For those that are properly interested in Aaron, or are pretending not to know him so they don't give away the fact that they too have run a retro, here is a little bit of a low-down.

In around 2005, a server that emulated the "first" version of Habbo was released, various people took it up and began to play with it. Out of those people, a few of us grouped together (people such as ThuGiE, Myrax, USA111, Flex, Genaga) and started to build a server that emulated Habbo's current version (which at the time was version 9).

After we achieved a reasonable level of emulation, Aaron Marshal (then just 'Sojobo'), started developing a version of his own named 'Otaku Hotel', and began to sell it at around £20 a pop. This was in 2006. Fast forward a few years, he renames the forum he ran (then hw-forum) to 'Otaku', and rebrands the server as 'Phoenix'.

He made enough money off of it to purchase a house in another country, move there and set-up shop. The house he bought wasn't especially pretty, but after living there for about 2 years now he had sort of made it his home.

Jump to today, as of writing this post it is now my belief that not only has his car been taken, but his house too. Sulake are seeking over half a million in damages (or so his lawyers tell him).

I think it's important to note, that this could have happened due to funding from Elisa, over the years he has received literally hundreds of DMCA notices to stop what he was doing, he just ignored them all. What has happened really is pretty tragic, but I hold no sympathy for the guy.

[MKR&*42]

Saw all this drama go down on another forum last night, he ultimately deserved it. A lot of inexperienced retro owners who simply used Phoenix are a tad screwed now.

But yes, this won't stop retros - it's a wonderful start though Sulake.

[Abdicators]

Saw all this drama go down on another forum last night, he ultimately deserved it. A lot of inexperienced retro owners who simply used Phoenix are a tad screwed now.

But yes, this won't stop retros - it's a wonderful start though Sulake.

Sort of does, if they set a precedence in this case based on him making money on retros that he managed, then they can essentially go after any other retro on almost exactly the same grounds.

[Aiden]

For those that are properly interested in Aaron, or are pretending not to know him so they don't give away the fact that they too have run a retro, here is a little bit of a low-down.

In around 2005, a server that emulated the "first" version of Habbo was released, various people took it up and began to play with it. Out of those people, a few of us grouped together (people such as ThuGiE, Myrax, USA111, Flex, Genaga) and started to build a server that emulated Habbo's current version (which at the time was version 9).

After we achieved a reasonable level of emulation, Aaron Marshal (then just 'Sojobo'), started developing a version of his own named 'Otaku Hotel', and began to sell it at around £20 a pop. This was in 2006. Fast forward a few years, he renames the forum he ran (then hw-forum) to 'Otaku', and rebrands the server as 'Phoenix'.

He made enough money off of it to purchase a house in another country, move there and set-up shop. The house he bought wasn't especially pretty, but after living there for about 2 years now he had sort of made it his home.

Jump to today, as of writing this post it is now my belief that not only has his car been taken, but his house too. Sulake are seeking over half a million in damages (or so his lawyers tell him).

I think it's important to note, that this could have happened due to funding from Elisa, over the years he has received literally hundreds of DMCA notices to stop what he was doing, he just ignored them all. What has happened really is pretty tragic, but I hold no sympathy for the guy.

That was rather interesting to read and thanks for the details... he kinda deserves it but yeahhhh. :(

[edible]

Essentially the biggest development in Habbo, ever. Sulake have won the case if they have reclaimed his house and car. Now they have won one case, it will be referred to in future cases. If I was anything to do with retros I'd sever my links immediately which is exactly what most of us and Sulake want.

Good move hope to see more.

[MKR&*42]

Sort of does, if they set a precedence in this case based on him making money on retros that he managed, then they can essentially go after any other retro on almost exactly the same grounds.

Sorry I phrased that incorrectly. I meant that there will still be a few people determined to try and own/run/manage a retro regardless of this case (now that Phoenix one of the 'bigger' competitors is out of the way) - so retros will probably be here for a good few months still, but yes this has probably scared a large percentage of them into "shutting up shop".

Lmao I just read that his documents weren't in English, bet that was fun.

[edible]

Sorry I phrased that incorrectly. I meant that there will still be a few people determined to try and own/run/manage a retro regardless of this case (now that Phoenix one of the 'bigger' competitors is out of the way) - so retros will probably be here for a good few months still, but yes this has probably scared a large percentage of them into "shutting up shop".

Lmao I just read that his documents weren't in English, bet that was fun.

I found that bit a bit disturbing really. I agree with them taking action against him. For them to take it this far they must have some background information on him and would subsequently know he was English speaking. From his Twitter he made it sound like he asked for help and they said he has to translate it himself. So essentially, he can't make sense of the documentation and has no idea what exactly has gone on.

Seeing as you have to be fluent in English to work for Sulake it's a bit low.

[Michael]

I found that bit a bit disturbing really. I agree with them taking action against him. For them to take it this far they must have some background information on him and would subsequently know he was English speaking. From his Twitter he made it sound like he asked for help and they said he has to translate it himself. So essentially, he can't make sense of the documentation and has no idea what exactly has gone on.

Seeing as you have to be fluent in English to work for Sulake it's a bit low.

Maybe he got the language of the country of which he lives in, so they expected him to know it

[Aaron]

About time Sulake cracked down on Retro hotels, it's a step in the right direction.

[Abdicators]

I found that bit a bit disturbing really. I agree with them taking action against him. For them to take it this far they must have some background information on him and would subsequently know he was English speaking. From his Twitter he made it sound like he asked for help and they said he has to translate it himself. So essentially, he can't make sense of the documentation and has no idea what exactly has gone on.

Seeing as you have to be fluent in English to work for Sulake it's a bit low.

The reason he received the papers in bulgarian is because that is where he lives! Terribly harsh considering he doesn't speak it, but they're complying with the law and that is all.

[Scotland]

Meh, I'm sad and happy at the closure. I used this emu time-to-time for personal things.

[GommeInc]

Deserves it. He seems a bit of a moron to think nothing would come of it. He gets no sympathy from me and shouldn't get it from others.

Also, how the hell could afford a house and a car from the sale of retros (and why on earth did people buy them)? It doesn't seem like it was that popular to of made that much money.

[edible]

Maybe he got the language of the country of which he lives in, so they expected him to know it


The reason he received the papers in bulgarian is because that is where he lives! Terribly harsh considering he doesn't speak it, but they're complying with the law and that is all.

Yeah I know it's well within the law but the fact some was in Finnish is inexcusable. They would know exactly who he is to take it this far and I think they've done it on purpose probably out of frustration.

[Abdicators]

Deserves it. He seems a bit of a moron to think nothing would come of it. He gets no sympathy from me and shouldn't get it from others.

Also, how the hell could afford a house and a car from the sale of retros (and why on earth did people buy them)? It doesn't seem like it was that popular to of made that much money.

Actually, he made a rather hefty sum of money to be fair. There are retros that actively make thousands per month from advertisements alone.

---------- Post added 24-04-2013 at 09:10 PM ----------


Yeah I know it's well within the law but the fact some was in Finnish is inexcusable. They would know exactly who he is to take it this far and I think they've done it on purpose probably out of frustration.

Well, knowing who he is doesn't immediately say that they know he doesn't speak Bulgarian. As he lives in Bulgaria it's an easy assumption. I do agree though that when he asked for translation help, that it was very harsh to say "do it yourself".

[GommeInc]

Actually, he made a rather hefty sum of money to be fair. There are retros that actively make thousands per month from advertisements alone.
Seriously? That's quite interesting :P It's incredibly risky though, so you can't be all that surprised when and if they are caught.

[sex]

the french are revolting again lol

but o/t i'm glad, some people actually spent money on retros and some of them reached a ridiculous number of users online

[Abdicators]

Seriously? That's quite interesting :P It's incredibly risky though, so you can't be all that surprised when and if they are caught.

Yep, really. At the time I guess it seemed to alot of people not to be so scary, Sulake were sending out constant DMCA notices and trying their best to balls rolling (despite what some of this forums users may think). Like I said though, I think after Elisa came in, they put their foot down and said enough.

[MKR&*42]

Also, how the hell could afford a house and a car from the sale of retros (and why on earth did people buy them)? It doesn't seem like it was that popular to of made that much money.

Phoenix was incredibly popular. That plus the advertisements mentioned below it was incredibly easy to become very rich via that method. Also (this may not necessarily apply to Aaron) but if a person happens to own one of the popular retros that get a couple of hundred+ on at peak times, they're going to gain a lot of income via selling VIP/Other premium subs. and stuff like customs via paypal.

It's a silly risk to take for the money really :P

[Mr-Trainor]

Felt sorry for him at first, but if he really was sent that many notices/warnings to take it down, then it's his own fault for not using that chance to just stop what he was doing.

[lemons]

don't feel sorry for him at all he had enough warnings and off topic but - why move to a country where you can't speak its language?

[Stephen]

lol gutted. Anyone who spends years developing and selling something that is obviously gonna get you in the end is stupid

it's common sense that doing what he did would result in this but it seems he got lost in the money and now has been ****** harder in the arse than ever before

[JHER]

Well if he doesnt have the money to pay it i guess they do as they have done and seize all assets to make up as much of the value as possible, then he will have to declare bankruptcy which will essentially knock off the rest of what he owes (providing he can prove he is truly at 0 or below)

community service may also be applied

It may seem petty to some people but clearly this guy isn't just some kid in his room messing around with files if he was able to buy a house and car from this.

[Explorator]

Took Sulake a long time. I know people enjoy retros but i think it's better for habbo now that they are starting to bring a stop to them a little more.

[e5]

Never even heard of Otaku so no loss for me. 500k is a bit much though.

[Kyle]

Surprised they allowed him to get away with it for so long tbh. Otakustudios has been at the forefront of the retro community for many years so it's good that they're making an example of him but frankly I doubt it's going to stop others developing similar but not-for-profit products and continuing to draw users away from the original hotel.

[Plucked]

an article I read that was posted on TH said that they came to his house
His house was raided, his car and other assets seized - he's now facing charges of upto $500,000. Aaron was/is an old friend of mine, we go years back, it's his own fault - at any point in time he could've stopped developing Phoenix but he chose not to. Through 2008 and 2009, he earned £19,000 from sales of his emulator, which is absolutely insane.

He had it coming. We all know this.

R.I.P Sojobo.

---------- Post added 25-04-2013 at 12:33 AM ----------


Felt sorry for him at first, but if he really was sent that many notices/warnings to take it down, then it's his own fault for not using that chance to just stop what he was doing.
He's been receiving letters since 2007, and now they've caught up. He moved from Scotland to Bulgaria early last year to 'escape' it all - it was a good run while it lasted.

[A]

habbo are now tighting on retros and battling against them, imo if they can take Otaku down, then it won't be long till everyone else is gone.

[Daltron]

500k is like nothing for a law suit that size, he got lucky. I'm glad to see Sulake finally taking action.

[Kardan]

Good job. Similar things happened with Jagex and botting programs. They sued a pair of brothers that sold bot programs, got their $800,000 house in America...

[Zak]

500k is like nothing for a law suit that size, he got lucky. I'm glad to see Sulake finally taking action.

Completely agree


Took Sulake a long time. I know people enjoy retros but i think it's better for habbo now that they are starting to bring a stop to them a little more.

Court proceedings always take ages

[GoldenMerc]

Think I only used the site once, bit of a shame mind

[Agnostic Bear]

Welp, that sucks, he's an irl friend and a bro. Doesn't deserve this crap. Big ol' company ******** on the little guy. Maybe an open source clean-room emulator would work.

Maybe I'll have to have a look into that.

[cameron354]

Welp, that sucks, he's an irl friend and a bro. Doesn't deserve this crap. Big ol' company ******** on the little guy. Maybe an open source clean-room emulator would work.

Maybe I'll have to have a look into that.

Of course he deserved it, he broke copyright laws and repeatedly ignored warnings.

[Kardan]

Welp, that sucks, he's an irl friend and a bro. Doesn't deserve this crap. Big ol' company ******** on the little guy. Maybe an open source clean-room emulator would work.

Maybe I'll have to have a look into that.

A company taking action on some person for stealing their content and selling it as his own so he makes money? Yeah, don't see anything wrong there :P

[Yawn]

so wat retros have been closed so far then

[Pigperson]

It's a bit late to be taking action now, retros have been around for years.

Will

[Kardan]

It's a bit late to be taking action now, retros have been around for years.

Will

It's not about closing retros, it's about punishing the person that's been making money off of them...

[GommeInc]

Hopefully Sulake are learning lessons from retros - if Habbo was a successful brand then these sorts of things wouldn't exist in such large numbers and be so popular. They ought to take this as a warning that maybe they should look inwards at why people are more interested in using retros and adapt their services accordingly. There's no doubt that this all links together with their poor service and dodgy version builds in recent years.

[October]

It's interesting seeing this happening now rather than before. Is it because more people are using retros now? If so then Sulake should take a look at what they're doing wrong on their own servers.

Which hotel was it that had a retro with more active users than the real hotel did?

[MKR&*42]

It's interesting seeing this happening now rather than before. Is it because more people are using retros now? If so then Sulake should take a look at what they're doing wrong on their own servers.

Which hotel was it that had a retro with more active users than the real hotel did?

I think that's a .dk hotel (because they can't gamble on .dk anymore) but I didn't know the name of the hotel. I have seen 1/2 english hotels get 1200+ before which beats .se and .no usercounts sometimes.

[LiquidLuck.]

About time, but maybe they are taking it a bit too far? Depends on how much they earn from retros...

[xxMATTGxx]

About time, but maybe they are taking it a bit too far? Depends on how much they earn from retros...

I guess it depends on what you class as too far. If someone ignored a number of notices to take down whatever you were doing. Then you have to take a step forward and take more drastic actions which is what has happened.

[LiquidLuck.]

I guess it depends on what you class as too far. If someone ignored a number of notices to take down whatever you were doing. Then you have to take a step forward and take more drastic actions which is what has happened.

Yeah, but taking their cars.. I don't know, they could find a midterm. S:

[Kardan]

Yeah, but taking their cars.. I don't know, they could find a midterm. S:

He's gained thousands of pounds from selling something that wasn't his, not many ways Sulake can get the money back...

[Since]

As he lives in Bulgaria it's an easy assumption. I do agree though that when he asked for translation help, that it was very harsh to say "do it yourself".

It is also harsh to steal what a company has developed for over a decade and re-sell it cheaply.


Never even heard of Otaku so no loss for me. 500k is a bit much though.

Not really. Sulake will work out the spending of an average Habbo user, times it by the number of users his retros got and add interest lost on that money.
Then when they win, they will claim their legal costs too - so as insurance, they took his car.


It's a bit late to be taking action now, retros have been around for years.

Will

Never too late. Gotta start sometime.


Yeah, but taking their cars.. I don't know, they could find a midterm. S:

Then when they win, they will claim their legal costs too - so as insurance, they took his car.

Btw, can someone explain how these retros worked? How do they manage to copy thousands of Sulake files which are most likely needed to run the retros?

[e5]

Bit silly since most users that use retro's also use Habbo and wouldn't necessarily purchase coins.

It is also harsh to steal what a company has developed for over a decade and re-sell it cheaply.



Not really. Sulake will work out the spending of an average Habbo user, times it by the number of users his retros got and add interest lost on that money.
Then when they win, they will claim their legal costs too - so as insurance, they took his car.



Never too late. Gotta start sometime.



Then when they win, they will claim their legal costs too - so as insurance, they took his car.

Btw, can someone explain how these retros worked? How do they manage to copy thousands of Sulake files which are most likely needed to run the retros?

[Emz]

It's interesting seeing this happening now rather than before. Is it because more people are using retros now? If so then Sulake should take a look at what they're doing wrong on their own servers.

Which hotel was it that had a retro with more active users than the real hotel did?

.no, .se and .dk :) Im on .no, and the norwegian retro has twice as many online. Sometimes three times as many.
Sad but true....

[Since]

Bit silly since most users that use retro's also use Habbo and wouldn't necessarily purchase coins.

For Sulake it matters very little if the users use both the retro and the real Habbo. This is just how they will calculate the loss of damages as it is the more appropriate way.

If anyone has any Habbo retros and doesn't immediately shut them down because they will get more users due to this big one shutting are idiots. Short term gain, long term loss for retro owners.

[Adam]

Hopefully Sulake are learning lessons from retros - if Habbo was a successful brand then these sorts of things wouldn't exist in such large numbers and be so popular. They ought to take this as a warning that maybe they should look inwards at why people are more interested in using retros and adapt their services accordingly. There's no doubt that this all links together with their poor service and dodgy version builds in recent years.
I disagree. Using a fairly recent example: Minecraft was being pirated during it's alpha stage so this has nothing to do with 'big company mentality'.

[LiquidLuck.]

He's gained thousands of pounds from selling something that wasn't his, not many ways Sulake can get the money back...

But how do you win so much owning a retro? Like it was said, most people that use retros do it also because of the free coins they give. They won't purchase coins.. I understand they are probably taking profit from Sulake, but I can't see how they can get profit from having a retro..


Then when they win, they will claim their legal costs too - so as insurance, they took his car.

Not really as insurance, or will they give it back..?

[Since]

But how do you win so much owning a retro? Like it was said, most people that use retros do it also because of the free coins they give. They won't purchase coins.. I understand they are probably taking profit from Sulake, but I can't see how they can get profit from having a retro..



Not really as insurance, or will they give it back..?

Profit from potential adverts etc. Basically they are claiming for loss of earnings and breach of copyright. They must have presented a strong case to a Judge to have him/her agree to freeze his assets/hand them over. It's done so the defendant can't make himself bankrupt before/during the case as this would mean that he would have nothing to give to Sulake if they win - which means they lose heavily overall (legal costs which they won't be able to recover which are expensive!). So the car - and possibly house if they come after it - will be used as insurance.

[Adam]

But how do you win so much owning a retro? Like it was said, most people that use retros do it also because of the free coins they give. They won't purchase coins.. I understand they are probably taking profit from Sulake, but I can't see how they can get profit from having a retro..



Not really as insurance, or will they give it back..?
They won't give it back, it's called ceasing assets and they're legally entitled to do so. Also, people do sell credits on retros that's how they make money. Or 'rares'.

[e5]

I wouldn't spend any money on retro's anyway haha.

For Sulake it matters very little if the users use both the retro and the real Habbo. This is just how they will calculate the loss of damages as it is the more appropriate way.

If anyone has any Habbo retros and doesn't immediately shut them down because they will get more users due to this big one shutting are idiots. Short term gain, long term loss for retro owners.

[LiquidLuck.]

Profit from potential adverts etc. Basically they are claiming for loss of earnings and breach of copyright. They must have presented a strong case to a Judge to have him/her agree to freeze his assets/hand them over. It's done so the defendant can't make himself bankrupt before/during the case as this would mean that he would have nothing to give to Sulake if they win - which means they lose heavily overall (legal costs which they won't be able to recover which are expensive!). So the car - and possibly house if they come after it - will be used as insurance.

Oh, right didn't think about adverts, makes sense. For me insurance is when you take something like ''just in case'' and then give it back. S: Guess not in this case.


They won't give it back, it's called ceasing assets and they're legally entitled to do so. Also, people do sell credits on retros that's how they make money. Or 'rares'.

Exactly, (check what I replied to the post ^). And then I don't see why people use retros instead of Habbo if they are going to buy credits anyway.

[Since]

Oh, right didn't think about adverts, makes sense. For me insurance is when you take something like ''just in case'' and then give it back. S: Guess not in this case.



Exactly, (check what I replied to the post ^). And then I don't see why people use retros instead of Habbo if they are going to buy credits anyway.

If by some miracle Sulake lose, yes then they will give it back. Until then, it will be used as insurance for legal costs.

[LiquidLuck.]

If by some miracle Sulake lose, yes then they will give it back. Until then, it will be used as insurance for legal costs.

Oh, right that makes sense now. Thanks for explaining :P

[Adam]

Sulake won't lose and nor should they.

[GommeInc]

I disagree. Using a fairly recent example: Minecraft was being pirated during it's alpha stage so this has nothing to do with 'big company mentality'.
Quite different examples. As you said, Minecraft was being pirated during the alpha stages. Habbo wasn't pirated in the alpha stages but a few years into its life cycle. So there are different time frames in the Mojang and Sulake examples - also, Mojang wasn't a big company back when Minecraft was in Alpha, so they didn't have that mentality and still do not have it. Sulake was similar, but they adopted a big company mentality when they shied away from being community driven to profit driven :P The two also operate very differently, with Minecraft being a sandbox type game and Habbo is a social network with role-playing abilities.

Minecraft lay all the buildable assets on the table for their customers to use, while Habbo release furniture as and when they want to - Mojang also like people pirating and modding the game, as they see it as "development" and they often add features from these mods .I believe Pistons came from a mod originally. Plus, the people who pirate are not necessarily seen as a problem as they've made a considerable amount of money from people who either bought into the Alpha and Beta, or from the full game that it's not considered an issue. Not forgetting there are few location and language problems facing Mojang - Sulake have to adapt services to different countries through different servers, when Mojang just has the one system.

Habbo simply do not want to learn from retro servers, which are considerably harmful to their business model. They do not like community based ideas or give credit where credit is due, while Mojang is a successful company because they're open to new ideas and are customer focused and open to discussions. It's been increasingly noticeable for some time now that Habbo have lost their touch when it comes to being community driven. They're quite an anti-social company for a company that has a social based business :P They way each are financed is different too - Minecraft get a one off "over the counter" payment from customers, while Habbo rely on people buying in-game currency to buy furniture and other features. Secondary funding comes in the form of merchandising for both businesses, but primarily funding comes from a one-off payment as with Minecraft and in-store currency with Habbo. Habbo also have advertising, but that's slumped since they became a paedo haven. This works to Mojang's advantage as they make the funds immediately and are free to develop, Habbo can't do anything similar as the funds have to come from smaller payments from customers when they feel like it as the game is free to play right from the start.

Lessons could be learnt from retros, although the damage has already been done that it wouldn't be a surprised if Habbo ever recovers properly. Their downsizing plans were atrocious with mergers, that it doesn't seem that surprising people used Otaku because there was some stability :P

tl;dr - Habbo didn't have many problems when it was new with pirating as there wasn't anything to pirate. Minecraft had a downloadable client open to abuse. Both operate differently. Where one succeeds in learning from community projects, the other fails because it only seeks to punish than to learn and solve problems.

[Since]

Quite different examples. As you said, Minecraft was being pirated during the alpha stages. Habbo wasn't pirated in the alpha stages but a few years into its life cycle. So there are different time frames in the Mojang and Sulake examples - also, Mojang wasn't a big company back when Minecraft was in Alpha, so they didn't have that mentality and still do not have it. Sulake was similar, but they adopted a big company mentality when they shied away from being community driven to profit driven :P The two also operate very differently, with Minecraft being a sandbox type game and Habbo is a social network with role-playing abilities.

Minecraft lay all the buildable assets on the table for their customers to use, while Habbo release furniture as and when they want to - Mojang also like people pirating and modding the game, as they see it as "development" and they often add features from these mods .I believe Pistons came from a mod originally. Plus, the people who pirate are not necessarily seen as a problem as they've made a considerable amount of money from people who either bought into the Alpha and Beta, or from the full game that it's not considered an issue. Not forgetting there are few location and language problems facing Mojang - Sulake have to adapt services to different countries through different servers, when Mojang just has the one system.

Habbo simply do not want to learn from retro servers, which are considerably harmful to their business model. They do not like community based ideas or give credit where credit is due, while Mojang is a successful company because they're open to new ideas and are customer focused and open to discussions. It's been increasingly noticeable for some time now that Habbo have lost their touch when it comes to being community driven. They're quite an anti-social company for a company that has a social based business :P They way each are financed is different too - Minecraft get a one off "over the counter" payment from customers, while Habbo rely on people buying in-game currency to buy furniture and other features. Secondary funding comes in the form of merchandising for both businesses, but primarily funding comes from a one-off payment as with Minecraft and in-store currency with Habbo. Habbo also have advertising, but that's slumped since they became a paedo haven. This works to Mojang's advantage as they make the funds immediately and are free to develop, Habbo can't do anything similar as the funds have to come from smaller payments from customers when they feel like it as the game is free to play right from the start.

Lessons could be learnt from retros, although the damage has already been done that it wouldn't be a surprised if Habbo ever recovers properly. Their downsizing plans were atrocious with mergers, that it doesn't seem that surprising people used Otaku because there was some stability :P

tl;dr - Habbo didn't have many problems when it was new with pirating as there wasn't anything to pirate. Minecraft had a downloadable client open to abuse. Both operate differently. Where one succeeds in learning from community projects, the other fails because it only seeks to punish than to learn and solve problems.

Not only have poor interaction on part of the staff members and shunting themselves from the community harmed Habbo, but also the decision to install things such as wired and especially the marketplace.

Pre-marketplace, when you needed a furni for a room, you had to search for ages to find it, increasing the amount of time you spend on Habbo. Now, you go on marketplace and it will most likely be there - saving you potentially hours.

Wired has also automated games and killed off games such as ff, bingo, races. It's mainly mazes and wired related games - many of which do not require a host. A game can now run without a host, so why should the owner sit there and spend time?

Habbo had a bad few years where they lost their roots and like you said, adopted a big company behaviour. I find it shocking that Habbo still fails to realise the importance of good customer service. They outsourced etc and downgraded the quality of their customer service, also shunting their customers. Good customer service is vital for the existence of any business in the long run. Fail at customer service and you will fail at business.

I loved playing Habbo and hopefully the new CEO will make dramatic changes and invest in customer service and proper hotel managers etc again. If not, then he too will fail like others.

[Kardan]

But how do you win so much owning a retro? Like it was said, most people that use retros do it also because of the free coins they give. They won't purchase coins.. I understand they are probably taking profit from Sulake, but I can't see how they can get profit from having a retro..



Not really as insurance, or will they give it back..?

This guy didn't own a retro and make money from it, he sold the stuff needed to make retros to other people. E.g: Pay £20, get basic retro package. Pay £30, get retro and website etc.

[LiquidLuck.]

This guy didn't own a retro and make money from it, he sold the stuff needed to make retros to other people. E.g: Pay £20, get basic retro package. Pay £30, get retro and website etc.

Couldn't someone just get that themselves?

[MKR&*42]

Couldn't someone just get that themselves?

To develop emulators and stuff for retros, you would either have to pay, develop your own or find a cracked link. Developing your own is time consuming for some people so quite a few just buy/get cracked links.

[LiquidLuck.]

To develop emulators and stuff for retros, you would either have to pay, develop your own or find a cracked link. Developing your own is time consuming for some people so quite a few just buy/get cracked links.

Oh, alright.

[CaptainAce]

I suppose Sulake are starting to get serious.

[Scotland]

sulake's say on this.
http://www.sulake.com/press/releases/sulake-shuts-down-a-pirate-habbo-software-distributor/

also they started the new safety campaign.