Hello Kitty Online, being the different MMORPG that incorporates blogs, videos and email into the game client, runs events both within the game and outside of it on SanrioTown.

Therefore, I thought I will write a little about one of the video events I participated in outside of the game. The Frightspinner event encouraged players to make creative use of screenies taken in the game to make horror videos for Halloween. I like that events such as this encourage players to exercise their imagination, beyond just click clicking to "whack" the next monster or mine the next cave.

These are my thoughts behind choosing the screenies in my video "The Witch", which did not make the deadline for the Frightspinner event : (. (Hence I took Starrfire7’s suggestion to reuse it for Blog for Thought :P) Before you read on, do check out the video first ;)

DreamStudio link

On, my first day on HKO Founders’ Beta, I was very glad to see Piriotessa. Piri is in the same guild as Tom, who founded the (0′:’0) guild in Close Beta. Tom is famously known as the guy who answered tons of newbie questions both in Close Beta and also for the longest time in the forum. In Founders’ Beta, he was also one of the most vocal players that triggered the level requirements for making the guild to be lowered down. It’s a pity we didn’t get to see Piri or Tom  more in this beta.

Kev is a fixture that intrigued newbies at Sanrio Harbour. If you are in the vicinity, chances are you will find some newbie wondering if Kev is a bot or a hacker. I do not know what is Kev’s purpose in the game. He is mostly cloned and AFK, but certainly brings a lot of entertainment in Founders’ Beta, especially during events like the Kevent when Kev clones are everywhere!

Players get the option to buy different hairstyles in Founders’ Beta. But woe betide the girlie girls who made a beeline for the pink hair. They ended up bald instead! This caused a lot of upset girl players, but nothing that the game moderators can’t rectify quickly. I think going bald should be an option in the game too, it’s cool - ing :P

Since HKO game avatars do not have espressions, e.g. the way Maplestory avatars have expressions, the in-game emoticons allow players to express some emotions beyond words. Personally, I prefer both sets of default emoticons. They just seem more expressive than the guild mascot-themed ones. Sanrio fans though do get a lot of joy from the guild emoticons.

Once upon a time, when players run out of health points, they sit down and teleport to the town they last visited almost immediately. A few days after Founders’ Beta started, players literally died, read, slump on the ground. One wonders why the creatures only get stunned and see stars for a bit, while the players die.
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Kaito, another well-known player, who started the first big guild in Founders’ Beta - the HKO Founders guild. Much has been discussed and debated on the forums regarding Kaito’s ability to teleport (an ability restricted to GMs) and also the presence of GM-MIckey in his guild. This particular screenie is taken during the furor caused by the LU-001 to Lu-008 (??) avatars that were doling out free cash. Kaito was entertaining his guild members with random speeches inspired by the LUs, while the GMs cater to questions and exhort players to return the money.

The spider was featured as one of the four monsters that will drop event collars in the Monster Wrangler event.  During this event, players queued to take their turns at hitting the monsters. Unfortunately the harmony and order shown during this event did not carry on to the Food for Friends event, where there was much tension between players mining for coal.

That said, while guilds vied with guilds to win the Food for Friends event, individual players are still on friendly terms with  their guild and non-guild buddies. This is Starrfire7, leader of the small little Twin Starrs guild, which won the guild event at Hello Kitty’s birthday party against bigger guilds.

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Most players would have experienced getting stuck at some point in the game. When this particular screenie was taken at Florapolis, there were at least four other players that I was in contact with that were stuck. Luckily Angel helped to get Kev to unstick us all. *I am sorry I turned you into a statue Kev :P* Subsequently, the GMs created the Rescue Team, specificially for unsticking hapless players.

So that’s the story behind the screenies that make "The Witch" video.

Thanks again to all my HKO/blog buddies and GMs for making my in-game life fun and interesting ;) I only wish I could have spent more time with each of you.

Related posts

- all the other Blog for Thought posts
- all the other Frightspinner videos

Search this blog for more posts tagged "HKO event" "HKO friends"