Guardian Hobba (modernized helper)

[Bob1]

So, what exactly would the Guardians be doing? And wasn't the Helper program meant to assist the moderators? That said, what left would there be for the moderators to do? Or will the hotel be run by teenagers...

I can imagine it will involve a badge and a few abilities, kick and maybe mute, the title "Guardian" does not suggest any active helping rather a passive presence. I can't imagine this being organised or structured. It will end up being a few select players who do nothing but sit in their help rooms lording it up - worse than the Hobba system.

Although having said this I don't really know that much about the current "helper" progression so I don't know how my perception fits with reality. Helpers to me seem to have been set up as tour guides to reduce the work load generated through player support emails.

Still, knowing Sulake as I do, it'll be phased out within six months - a year

p.s.

Also, I'm pretty sure there are issues with US law regarding volunteer work which is why the Hobba system never ever launched on the US hotel in the same format as the rest of Sulake's portfolio, I'm interested if to work around this Sulake will just not give these positions to US citizens?

Still interested if anyone's from the US who knows if this law is still about?

[Flamedragon3]

I wasn't around when there were Hobbas but I geniunly think it could be a good idea. I mean if it ends up too many abuse their powers and it no longer seems a good idea, its easy enough to just put an end to it. I still think te best idea for them though would be to just employ more moderators. I don't understand why habbo are being so cheap about this, they'll definitely have the money to afford more moderators and it would bring them more positivity from the media if they can see they're trying to improve the security of the site.

[Okeanos]

I can imagine it will involve a badge and a few abilities, kick and maybe mute, the title "Guardian" does not suggest any active helping rather a passive presence. I can't imagine this being organised or structured. It will end up being a few select players who do nothing but sit in their help rooms lording it up - worse than the Hobba system.

Although having said this I don't really know that much about the current "helper" progression so I don't know how my perception fits with reality. Helpers to me seem to have been set up as tour guides to reduce the work load generated through player support emails.

Still, knowing Sulake as I do, it'll be phased out within six months - a year

p.s.

Still interested if anyone's from the US who knows if this law is still about?

It wont fix the problem C4 highlighted but that doesn't mean it's a bad idea. There is no physical presence of moderators anymore, this new programme could fix that. If these new hobbas patrolled rooms and not just sit on HV waiting for calls for help, this could really work. Having someone in a room who can kick/room ban you or refer you to a moderator will be a big deterrent to rule breakers IMO.

[Bob1]

It wont fix the problem C4 highlighted but that doesn't mean it's a bad idea. There is no physical presence of moderators anymore, this new programme could fix that. If these new hobbas patrolled rooms and not just sit on HV waiting for calls for help, this could really work. Having someone in a room who can kick/room ban you or refer you to a moderator will be a big deterrent to rule breakers IMO.

hey bbz. I don't think this is what they're aiming for read this - http://blog.habbo.com/2012/06/06/hab...-qa/#more-1379
their attitude towards helpers will be the same as towards Guardians as I can see Guardians becoming a natural last step on the helper talent tree

A: We are not really looking for the best of the best.

we are not looking at using the “I would not recommend this Helper” to kick anyone out.

Moderators are likely to give you a penalty, which in turn will match the severity of your abuse.

(for helpers who "abuse" their tools/system, they'll be told off in broken english)

we are looking into giving higher level Helpers the ability to create Helper groups

A: You can set yourself on or off-duty whenever you feel like it. There is no online time limitation at all!

perhaps moderate a room with the abilities to mute, kick and room ban others

IMO they're crafting a flawed system rather than learning from previous good/bad points.

[October]

I'm from the US, Bob. Idk anything about volunteer restrictions but I do for labor laws yh.

[Okeanos]

hey bbz. I don't think this is what they're aiming for read this - http://blog.habbo.com/2012/06/06/hab...-qa/#more-1379
their attitude towards helpers will be the same as towards Guardians as I can see Guardians becoming a natural last step on the helper talent tree

hey bbx #2. OOOOhhhh that sounds pants then. I thought they were going to take on a few people and actually train them to help mods.

[Puma!]

hey bbz. I don't think this is what they're aiming for read this - http://blog.habbo.com/2012/06/06/hab...-qa/#more-1379

I don't really agree with you there, Paul L. has already mentioned on twitter that the new guardian system will be like the old Hobba system - they'll presumably have some age limit and restrictions on who'll be able to apply. I'll guess the age requirement being either 18 or 21 (eXperts failed in this department.. they won't give powers to 15/16 year olds).

[MissAlice]

i dont understand why people here are complaining about it - most of you didnt even play habbo when hobbas were around. i hope they do do this, it will be grand. it seems to me the only people who are moaning about it are the ones who know they have no chance of being one



why? why should people who havent used habo for years be given priority? the only former x leader who still bothers to come online is ardl

I quit playing December 2007, because I had enough of it, I was burnt out. I don’t have any intentions or desire to play or support moderation, so you’ve no worries there.

Guardians or whatever they plan to call them, I believe could be a positive move, but they still need to improve moderation overall.

[Cr0n0s]

Lots need to be revamped, from the customer service to the moderation. The Guardian seems to be a way to encourage users to strive for a position through active involvement in the community before it gets phased out.

[PixelWarning]

I read all 10 pages.... phew!

I'm from the USA and I can answer a lot of the questions raised in this thread.

US Laws - There is no regulation on volunteer work that could potentially go against Habbo for the use of Habbo Guardians (Hobbas.) The issue that persists from when Hobbas were first here, and also with today is a law called COPPA (Child Online Privacy Protection Act) There were a lot of reasons as to why the Hobbas were removed. There were security issues (remember, this was back in the early 2000's) the abuse of powers (even though there were supervisory positions called Super Hobbas), age problems, scripting/hacking etc. It wasn't removed for any one particular reason. Keep in mind that it is 2012 and we can already see that Habbo has improved significantly in the sense of protecting users from some of the issues I stated previously. Habbo removed the ability to view pictures because there was such a security flaw that allowed for scripting -- hence why they removed the feature we all loved.

The only barrier I see as of right now is to comply with the US Law, COPPA. If you're too lazy to read the entire thing and understand what it means I'll sum it up for you. Any website that caters to children, and even some that don't, if you have any chance that someone under the age of 13 can register, you MUST comply with this law if part of your audience is from the USA. That being said, if and when someone under the age of 13 registers, their information becomes even more of a priority to keep locked up safely. Hobbas had the ability to review account information provided by users, and many Hobbas weren't of age thus the law was breached. USA Hobbas were never given the ability to achieve gold status or super gold status because of their ability to have even more tools and controls within Housekeeping.

I'd imagine that Sulake would have to put an age limit on Guardians to be that of, a minimum, 18. Should they decide not to do so, don't come back and blame me and say I was wrong. If Sulake does it right, they might not give the same abilities to view account information thus they wouldn't breach the law. If guardians are, lets say 16, but can only kick users; it is not a breach of the COPPA. It all depends on what the position can do and see.

I was around when Hobbas were in the Hotel but my main account was banned and the account I have from '05 I no longer use. My current account is from '06, so I've been around the block. I know the Hobba system, I did a lot of research into it and as a result of Habbo, it's why I am currently getting my degree in this exact field and why I know so much about COPPA.

If any of you are interested, the department of the US government that oversees all of the COPPA is the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov) and you can read about the COPPA by going to www.coppa.org