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Massively Multiplayer Hello Kitty
Thanks (I guess) to GameGossip for the news that SanrioWave Software is planning a Hello Kitty Massively Multiplayer Game. From the article: "The game will give players access to up to three characters, each customizable, and will include 15 different occupations, and five shops in which players can make in-game progress. Hello Kitty Online World will carry an subscription fee of sorts when launched throughout Asia later this year." The official game site is also available for perusal.
Combine two popular franchises, and you get...
Hello Kitty 40K
"Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
English is easier said than done.
In the grim future of Hello Kitty there is only war.
Don't blame me, I voted for Durga.
And lest we forget, NeoPets is still insanely popular with younger kids...the demographic of this game.
I wouldn't be caught dead playing it, but if it will make a little girl in Japan happy, it's served its purpose.
Goo goo g'joob.
Al Qaeda has ninjas!
So... the big question is - can Kittys PK each other?
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A Hello Kitty MMORPG?
Role-playing little kids in a sweatshop making pink and white toys and accessories for little girls?
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
From the official page:
Feeding (instruction)
The Player must remember to feed his or her pet every day after the Angel has grown beyond the infancy stage. If this is neglected, the relationship between the Player and the Angel will drop and the Angel would take the Player's life bit by bit until it goes out of control.
I envision a server full of cute, maniacal, life-sucking kittens and frogs.
"Sure, Wiggles may be slowly draining my life essence, but isn't he just the cutesOH MY EYES HE RIPPED OUT MY EYES!"
Hilarity ensues.
(jk)
I'm still waiting for the Hello Cthulhu MMORPG.
Gah, formatting. Hello Preview Button!
...MMORPGs like this just plain out scare me. Speaking as someone who's MUDded and MMOed for entirely too long of a time, I'd never let a kid in my care (not that there are any, but still) anywhere near an online multiplayer game. I've seen far too many chatroom flamewars, seen little 'girls' scream A/S/L, and done my share of trashtalk on games like Counterstrike.
To actively setup a game that's specifically targetting the young and impressionable demographic is just.. not right. Even to market it in Asia, home of the schoolgirl fetish. I'm fairly open-minded in my values, but this sorta thing just disturbs me.
Their TOS specifically prohibits harming minors, but it also has the standard corporate CYA legalese thrown in, probably 'just in case'. I wonder what degree of policing will these folks do on their servers? Or how much involvement will Asian parents have in their kids' use of the service?
It's ultimately the parent's responsibility for their children, of course, but services like these should be held to some sort of standard, should they not?
I know the DEVS made some changes to the game with update patch 6 and I think they finally fixed the Badtz-Maru bug where you could take double cute points from mobs that used Enveloping Cute Shields. That's great and I think the people who play Badtz toons will really appreciate it. I think the DEVS have introduced another problem though.
I finally got my Hello Kitty character up to 21 and I have Cute 3 slotted and Strange Attraction From Asian Girls 4 slotted. We went out Keroppi hunting in the Land of Unholy Pink where I have never had a problem before. We find a huge mob of them gathered around and having a tea party (did they increase mob size as well, 'cause I have never seen them in groups this size!?). So the Pochaccos move in to take agg and we are holding our own when suddenly they drop my Cute Shield and stun me with kisses! How can a +1 mob do stuns and holds now? The DEVS need to seriously reconsider this. I can see Chococat bosses doing these types of mezzes but this is ridiculous. Anyway, I managed to grab about 30k in debt last night from this debacle. Anyone else?