Has Habbo become too feminine or strict?

[Akiba]

When i'm playing the game basic human interaction seems to be hindered for fear of giving a wrong opinion or hurting someone's feelings, both of which will gain you a mute. I have a few friends I talk freely with in private and I enjoy the game but if I say something mildly controversial in an 18+ room and someone doesn't agree they just secretly report you and you're muted in 5 seconds flat. I've gotten so sick of it, once I went to Gay Bi Les wonderland and just reported anything bad people said sort of eavesdropping and got them muted visibly seeing it happen, it was pretty funny, even though I wasn't even in danger at all. So i'm wondering if Habbo's gotten too strict now after a Channel 4 journalist basically said it was full of weirdoes.

[Lex]

To be fair, as controversial as that Channel 4 report was, it wasn't dishonest. There are some bloody weirdos on that site. It's also crammed to the brim with horny teenagers doing their damnedest while they can. A quick trip to the Club XS or whatever it's called will quickly illuminate that. As far as stringency is concerned? Yes, definitely, they can be very *****ly about mutes and even bans lately, especially when comments are taken out of context and just reported solely for it being 'bobbaed' and things like that.

I get your frustration at being muted for comments in an 18+ room (you're an adult, why wouldn't you want to finally have a conversation with people in your age group, like?) but Habbo and Sulake at large emphatically will not cater any more than they have to yours and my age bracket. Bearing in mind that they took great steps to keep their target market at 13+, even so much as making gambling against the rules, and removing gang role playing to avoid a different rating for their app on the App Store, we've still got it pretty well in terms of what you can and can't say. Way back when there was no chill on the chat filter, you could get banned for saying shit etc, and that's not even filtered anymore. Okay, some still are, but it's a lot more lax than it ever used to be.

With regards to your mute, I guess it largely depends on what you were saying, or more pressingly, who you were saying it to. I can have mega and rather rough banter with a lot of people on Habbo, a huge majority of them are people from this site. A lot of the time, some people can report your comments made in jest to a friend that has absolutely nothing to do with them. - even if the person you made the comments to definitely want you reported or muted in the first place, and that drives absolutely bonkers. It only takes one crusader to ruin your otherwise harmless fun and banter with a friend and you'll be muted. I explicitly think bully reports can only be used by the person who has been the victim of bullying - i.e, you made comments to a friend and someone else thought you were bullying said friend and filed a bully report, I would set that aflame and toss it in the bin. However, contradicting myself, depending on the comments said in the LGBT lounge, I'd report the shit out of everyone.

Has it become to 'feminine' though? No, I don't know what you mean by that in the slightest. Habbo has a huge female audience that have long been the crux of Habbo, so it makes a massive amount of sense to me if things it does are geared only for the ladies. Feminine is never a distasteful adjective in my books anyway, especially not when paired with 'strict' in the title (which totally is). If by it you mean, everyone gets accused of being sexist or whatever, than I disagree again - I'm surprised at how many boys do play it. Not sure entirely what you mean though, might have to clarify.

[Matt]

Feminine is an interesting word to use in the type of situation described.

It's a well known fact that since the Channel 4 story everything has been changed drastically on-client. Habbo is definitely not as fun as it used to be and that combined with the many changes having already been made (eg. banning casinos) has severely impacted the type of people that now play. Being of an older age, I definitely find the older rooms more entertaining but you can literally get banned for anything so I tend to just stay away from Habbo altogether.

Reporting people who have done relatively minor things wrong and exploiting the automatic filter/bully system for your own amusement is definitely an interesting thing to spend your time doing. I'm sure if people found out you'd be popular among the community!

[Kyle]

When you put moderation in the hands of a generation who have been educated to be victims it's only natural that things are going to get more and more strict. Though it is a bit bothersome to be muted or banned for an "out of context" comment, it's not too difficult to bear rules in mind either and avoid making comments that might break them. In law there is what is called a thin skull rule, where any defendant must take a victim as they find them, acting under the assumption that though their crime may not reasonably cause harm, their victim could be particularly susceptible and thus they would still be liable for any harm caused. It's a bit long winded but it's an important legal doctrine and is something that is often overlooked in everyday interactions, particularly online. Though you may not see comments as particularly offensive, you have no idea how others are going to interpret them, so should always try to be aware of what's being said and how it might be received. It's a particularly prominent problem amongst some members here. If you don't want to be muted, be nice, follow the rules and consider that there are more ways to interpret things.

feminine-- no.

[Attached]

Feminine lol?

[Yawn]

gay hater

Post edited by :Cerys (Trialist Forum Moderator) Please do not post pointlessly!

[iJim.]

I think Habo does attract a certain type of people, not necessarily "weirdo's". I agree with others that people are more cautious on what they say online as there is an obsession to be different and interesting. However, I don't think Habo's become more feminine, just different. If we were all the same that would be boring!

[Joe]

Everything I've wanted to say the above posters have said, but feminine was poor choice of word for this thread.

[Samantha]

It's definitely not too feminine, if anything it has become more equal in what they produce as in clothing wise if that's what you mean? Yeah it has been stricter, but it's bound to be with everything that happened.