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Habbo Loot Boxes....
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EcPrgTPW...png&name=small
Habbo "Loot" Boxes
Sulake are no stranger where it comes to releasing desirable clothing and furniture on Habbo and Hotel Hideaway where you require to buy a item (common known as a loot box, but normally named and disguised otherwise) with real money to be in a chance to win the most rarest piece of clothing/furniture.
This to me comes across a level of gambling that is currently a bannable offence on Habbo (unknown for Hotel Hideaway) where both games target audience are teenagers.
According to Online Gambling Law in the UK: "Gambling laws are vague and oftentimes contradictory in other parts of the world... The only thing you need is a player is to be 18 years or older"
To read Online Gambling Law in more detail please click here.
Additionally, users who plays Habbo on Twitter have recently spoken up and put the following:
Where Mr Churchley from Habbo posts an interesting academic journal article called "Adolescents and loot boxes: links with problem gambling and motivations for purchase" that can be read by clicking here.
Additionally, a user on twitter by the name of Mr. Fellsing goes on about his annoyance at casinos being banned yet Habbo go along and do this style of marketing:
It is worth mentioning that people who play Habbo and Hotel Hideaway are not "forced" to take part and buy these lootboxes and most users who play will need parents permission to even purchase habbo credits in the first place.
For this debate:
Do you believing this could be causing teens to start to have a gambling addiction/fulling addition?
Or do you believe this is just an innocent way for a company to make money from those willing to pay?
Do you think Habbo should promote some kind of campaign where once the 'fun stops, stop!' in regards to buying loot boxes (as there is a few who buy quite a few in one go!)
Or something else?
Post your reply below!
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I think Sulake is being a bit hypocritical. Gambling is a Bannable offense to on the hotel, and this is a form of gambling. I have witnessed Habbos spending all of their coins on Crackable items and then selling off Furni to buy more. If Sulake was to take notice to this and decide to stop doing these crackables, I think it would be a great opportunity for campaign.
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Yes, I think it is causing teenagers to gamble, most of them won't have a job and are using pocket money to buy credits and then buy a crackable piece of furni that they don't know what they will get if they open it. In a way I think it is away for habbo to make more money as they will probably go back for more. They should be encouraging young children how not to gamble not to buy pixelated items with real money as I said before they won't know what they are getting. Teenagers are under 18 and it is against the law for people in that age rage to gamble. They will be encouraged to try again, then they will be disappointed and keep trying. My last comment will be, If habbo are banning people for gambling why are they selling loot boxes to a young audience(yes adults play aswell but majority are under 18) why can't casino's be open?
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Habbox's resident child psychology student swoopin' in
Do you believing this could be causing teens to start to have a gambling addiction/fulling addition?
A psychological study released last this year on the topic of loot boxes and problem gambling looked at adolescent gamers and whether or not there is a correlation between their degree of involvement with loot boxes and displaying signs of problem gambling issues. This study essentially found that the more "engaged" the gamer is in the loot boxes, the higher prevalence they had for signs of problem gambling.
The study also found that the participants who were at higher-risk for problem gambling were the ones who took part in the game's marketplace system. For example, a game such as CS:GO has a system in place where gamers can sell loot box items for either real life or in-game currency. This loot box design has a strong correlation with problem gambling.
Basically, the empirical evidence exists that loot boxes in video games have a direct correlation with problem gambling in teens (especially if the video game has a marketplace system). Habbo (and groups within Habbo such as fansites, ambassadors, etc.) actively promote the marketplace and the ability to buy and sell furni and clothing for a profit. For individuals still within their adolescent development years, this provides them with a sense of gratification that they realistically are unable to obtain elsewhere. This cycle continues and ultimately leads to the teen developing issues around problem gambling.
Personally, I feel that Habbo should do away with promotions such as the Balloons, Icicle Boxes, etc., because these are the exact systems that most studies on problem gambling and loot boxes look towards. Habbo is a community that has always advertised itself towards teens. This means that gambling, something that has always been heavily regulated away from minors, shouldn't be a part of Habbo.
Edit: Here is the citation to the particular article I am referencing
Kristiansen, S., & Severin, M. C. (2020). Loot box engagement and problem gambling among adolescent gamers: Findings from a national survey. Addictive Behaviors, 103.
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Do you believing this could be causing teens to start to have a gambling addiction/fulling addition? - Yes and No / Yes because they always want the best of the best furni that can come out of the box, and if they run out of credits they just buy more
No - eventually they will see the worth of trading, and will no longer be excited about those balloons
* Or do you believe this is just an innocent way for a company to make money from those willing to pay? Yes, they already let us pay for the credits and diamonds (cuz without credits no diamonds) and make the rare balloons extra high with diamonds and credits for a low 1% to get the dragon or any other valueble furni (elephant or fountain)
* Do you think Habbo should promote some kind of campaign where once the 'fun stops, stop!' in regards to buying loot boxes (as there is a few who buy quite a few in one go!) They really need to pay attention to the real players out there which are no longer TEENAGERS but 20+. Kids these days dont like to play habbo anymore, its way too complicated they want fast and easy games like Roblox or Starstable etc
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Is buying and selling/trading furni not just another form a gambling though? And what happens when the next brand new, shiny form of habbo loot boxes appears and teenagers start buying heaps of them in the hope of maybe getting a piece of furni worth 100+ credits
Also there is (to my knowledge) no way to confirm or deny that the general age of habbo players is getting older. However, in 2014, Sulake did say themselves that approximately 90% of habbo players were between the ages of 13-18 and while yes I will admit that number of probably inaccurate 6 years later, its wrong to assume that the number of underage individuals still player habbo is insignificant.
Also in my opinion, the actual age division shouldn't matter because Habbo still brands itself as a social network for teenagers and young adults. They have personally prohibited gambling within the site and there is significant evidence that shows connections between loot boxes and problem gambling.
Here is the link for the 2014 Sulake habbo age information;
[QUOTE][https://web.archive.org/web/20140719...ake.com/habbo//QUOTE]
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As a medium ruled by many things mainly its economy, expect a lot of convenient Habbo-officialism, yo! If we bring this subject to Sulake's tables, they most likely will choose postponing any changes of providing themselves with some humanistic reasoning and respond you that "As an virtual-world-game, Habbo cannot become responsible for any psychological and behavioral complications caused by any of its components, including its active role in the development of a potential addiction to gambling, because the purposes of use constitutionally established for our Hotel are various BUT that of development of beings humans' critical sense as we low-key expect everyone to be previously-aware of the risks of losing their own money there, so hold yourself accountable next time and thanks for giving us money etc lol!."... or similar!
We could assume the Loot-Boxes pass through the rules filters without being scratched precisely because the rules tend to be weakened when the aesthetics of the infraction are diffuse and passive in relation to what is considered the reference of what is wrong. Loot Boxes, although we, as old and probably a bit more experienced users, can almost automatically come to the conclusion that they are clearly problematic for youngsters as much as the extinct casinos, they may not immediately be seen as "dangerous" because the connotation of "gambling", for many, is generally limited to slots, roulette and playing cards. It works and stays alive because it is a very, very smartly disguised betting system! And, of course, Casinos, unlike the diamond-paid items and everything, would most likely "only" cause a MOVEMENT the game's economy rather than expanding it, so of course they haven't shed a tear before cogitating their abolition
This post has no conclusions
