Paedophile Haven; Habbo don't care

[AgnesIO]

Obviously after the C4 paedophile scandal, Sulake/Habbo must have really wanted to clean up the hotel. Over the past two weeks I have logged on more times to Habbo than I have in around a year - so I guess all publicity is good publicity, right?

But a user "friend requested" me called "Ib@ngh0es". Obviously this is the sort of username Habbo shouldn't want on the hotel, especially after all the media events in recent weeks. I therefore used the report tool (why has that moved lol), and stated the users name pointing out the recent events. This is a screenshot of the response.



Sorry if that is too small. However, if you can read it you will see the moderator intelligently told me there is so evidence in the chat logs. I mean, who DO Sulake hire?! I have circled the users name in the bottom of the screenshot.

Whilst it does not particularly bother me about the old dating rooms as no one had to use them, you would have thought this would be the sort of thing where Habbo could show they do know how to protect young teenagers.

Does anyone actually think Habbo will change in the long run?

[Empired]

This is standard Sulake. Habbo will never truly change. They're achieving nothing by doing this "Habbo Mute" thing anyway because as soon as we're all unmuted we'll be back to how we were before.

About the name problem, Habbo does have a filter but there are hundreds of new accounts every day. They should really have somebody checking this out but it costs them money which they don't want to spend. So we're back where we started again.

[PiippBB]

Firstly; silly Mod! Of course there's no evidence in the chat logs... the hotel is muted. Secondly, I do think they care, but I completely agree in that this is the sort of thing they should be tackling right now. The mods should look this up, see the name, and ban the user. Taking care of the rooms, adding a filter, etc, is all well and good, but users with inappropriate names certainly need dealing with too.

EDIT:

This is standard Sulake. Habbo will never truly change. They're achieving nothing by doing this "Habbo Mute" thing anyway because as soon as we're all unmuted we'll be back to how we were before.

About the name problem, Habbo does have a filter but there are hundreds of new accounts every day. They should really have somebody checking this out but it costs them money which they don't want to spend. So we're back where we started again.

Maybe they should introduce a system whereby a user isn't accepted into the hotel until their chosen username has been cleared. They could easily have one of the mods doing this in the background. Yes, it may mean new users have to wait a few hours to actually use the hotel, but in the long run it would save them time looking into these type of queries once in client, and would certainly improve the safety of users, as I feel a lot of people who were doing things they shouldn't have been doing before will probably start using these sort of names to get their point across.

EDIT AGAIN:

Maybe someone could do me the honour of suggesting this to Paul via Twitter? I feel it's actually a really good idea. (I would do it myself, but I'm too embarrassed about using Habbo to associate myself with it via Twitter, lol)

[notahabbo]

Firstly; silly Mod! Of course there's no evidence in the chat logs... the hotel is muted. Secondly, I do think they care, but I completely agree in that this is the sort of thing they should be tackling right now. The mods should look this up, see the name, and ban the user. Taking care of the rooms, adding a filter, etc, is all well and good, but users with inappropriate names certainly need dealing with too.

EDIT:



Maybe they should introduce a system whereby a user isn't accepted into the hotel until their chosen username has been cleared. They could easily have one of the mods doing this in the background. Yes, it may mean new users have to wait a few hours to actually use the hotel, but in the long run it would save them time looking into these type of queries once in client, and would certainly improve the safety of users, as I feel a lot of people who were doing things they shouldn't have been doing before will probably start using these sort of names to get their point across.

EDIT AGAIN:

Maybe someone could do me the honour of suggesting this to Paul via Twitter? I feel it's actually a really good idea. (I would do it myself, but I'm too embarrassed about using Habbo to associate myself with it via Twitter, lol)

Rewrite

There could be a system for users to moderate each other. These exist elsewhere but are very hard to get right, and when they are programmed sloppily and not thought-through they can cause trouble. When they work though they are very effective.

Each habbo has a level of power based upon their experience (e.g. based upon their hours logged in, achievement level or some sort of formulae that factors in many things). For argument sake lets say that each habbo has a power level of 0 - 10. If a habbo is spotted with a bad username, another user can click their avatar > moderate > bad username and some bad points will be added to their account with respect to their username. If their points reach a certain level two things could happen: one, a moderator is alerted, or two an action is forced upon them (e.g. in this example, they may be made to change their username, and until they do/contact player support due to an error their username can be something like ~habbo-0001).

Another example could be during bad chats, other users can select the chatter's avatar > moderate > bad chat. Recall that each habbo has a 'reporting level' of 0 - 10, and assume it takes 20 points from at least 3 habbos to mute someone for 5 mins. Habbos who see someone taking bad can simply press a button to moderate them. If they get muted again after, say, 1 hour a mod will be automatically notified. In an extreme emergency, CFH will be used, so the mod will not be notified in the first instance.

Points against a habbo wouldn't necessary build up against them and last forever, for example if a habbo is user-moderated for bad chat and gets 8 points against them (and to mute them takes 20 points from at least 3 people, for example) over the next 8 minis (again, random number) their 'bad chat points' level falls at one point a min.

Anyone found to be abusing the system of self-moderation can have their ability to self-moderate suspended or removed.

The advantage of this system is two fold: one, save moderation costs by not needing new paid staff and two, letting the community decide what is appropriate. Again it may not work in practice but there we go.

Hope that made sense!

[PiippBB]

Wouldn't it be better for habbos moderate each other?
Each habbo has a weighting of authority, lets call it power and assume it is equal to their achievement.
To report inappropriate username, a habbo could click them > moderate > Bad Username ; when the report points are reached by a aggregate level of reports being made weighted for power (e.g. 10 new users report or 5 old ones and 1 new one), then a mod is alerted. Same for bad chats. If a habbo gets a certain amount of bad chat reports (weighted for power) they are muted for 10 mins. If they get muted again after a mod will be automatically notified. (In an extreme emergency, CFH will be used, so the mod will not be notified in the first instance). A system like this is open to abuse unless it is structured very well... so it probably won't work but there we go...

I hope the above is clear.

But by clearing all names before they're allowed on the hotel, it will mean the mods actually on the client can spend their time moderating the hotel, not looking at usernames. It would prevent these type of names from ever appearing. Yes, it would take time, but they could juggle it between just four moderators quite easily. It would mean all the mods on the hotel are available for actual emergencies. Having a system whereby Habbos use call to help is open to abuse, as you've said, and I just personally think it would be easier for them to prevent these names ever entering the hotel; I've seen it in use on other websites and it's very effective. I can appreciate what you're saying though.

[Fifty-Six]

MODs barely read the Calls for Help, unless they're serious, and the staff is mainly outsourced too, which doesn't help. I don't think they look at usernames/mottos directly, only chat logs. If that person wasn't in the same room as you or hadn't spoken (which they couldn't have), then there wouldn't be any record.

[sex]

this user f/r me but are you serious? its a username get over it
its 99% a silly teen most likely not a peado

[Rottentroll]

What a lowlife scumbag.

Ban him! Ban him now!

[PiippBB]

this user f/r me but are you serious? its a username get over it
its 99% a silly teen most likely not a peado

But that's beyond the point when Habbo are facing the current allegations. You don't know who made that Habbo anymore than I, or Sulake do, and for the purposes of safety, especially considering the current state of affairs regarding the safety of the hotel, they need to show zero tolerance to users who create accounts with names such as this. They can't be seen to be allowing this sort of behaviour.

[Camcorder]

Firstly; silly Mod! Of course there's no evidence in the chat logs... the hotel is muted. Secondly, I do think they care, but I completely agree in that this is the sort of thing they should be tackling right now. The mods should look this up, see the name, and ban the user. Taking care of the rooms, adding a filter, etc, is all well and good, but users with inappropriate names certainly need dealing with too.

EDIT:



Maybe they should introduce a system whereby a user isn't accepted into the hotel until their chosen username has been cleared. They could easily have one of the mods doing this in the background. Yes, it may mean new users have to wait a few hours to actually use the hotel, but in the long run it would save them time looking into these type of queries once in client, and would certainly improve the safety of users, as I feel a lot of people who were doing things they shouldn't have been doing before will probably start using these sort of names to get their point across.

EDIT AGAIN:

Maybe someone could do me the honour of suggesting this to Paul via Twitter? I feel it's actually a really good idea. (I would do it myself, but I'm too embarrassed about using Habbo to associate myself with it via Twitter, lol)

We can become like Pottermore and everyone will use pre-determined names... this they are already doing actually, and new accounts take on usernames generated with your email address. New Habbos can change their name once afterwards, so maybe they can still be in the hotel after signing up, but their preferred usernames will have to be clarified.

"Habbo helpers" or other Habbos can help determine what username is appropriate, and these can periodically chow up to us, and when a username has enough votes from different helpers, it can be approved. No paid work.