Hello Kitty Online
| Hello Kitty Online | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer(s) |
Sanrio Digital Typhoon Games |
| Publisher(s) |
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| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Fantasy MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer, Online |
Hello Kitty Online (HKO) is a free-to-playmassively multiplayer online role playing game developed by Sanrio Digital and Typhoon Games. The game is tied to the SanrioTown website, where players are required to register a free account.
The game tells the story of a hero (the player) helping Hello Kitty and her friends wake up from eternal slumber and defeat a "mysterious and malevolent power".
SanrioDigital hosted three phases of testing.
The closed beta application was announced on February 13, 2008 running through February 21, 2008. More than 50,000 applications were submitted.
Due to the limited number of testing accounts available, applicants were instructed to create a video explaining why the applicant should be chosen to participate in the closed beta test. This submission process ran until March 10, 2008 with selected applications being announced on March 18, 2008.
The Closed Beta phase began on April 23, 2008, and ran through June 1, 2008.
During this Closed Beta period, Sanrio Digital joined with the game community MMOSite to give away more accounts to beta testers.
On September 12, 2008, news was posted on the Official Blog announcing a Beta stage called "Founders' Beta" scheduled to run from October 8, 2008 to November 8, 2008. Players who are selected for the Founder's Beta will be given special rewards, and will be able to keep characters and possessions at the end of the Founder's Beta. The announcement stated that there would be improvements to the client and game systems. A press release was also posted on the Sanrio Digital blog. Applications to participate in the Founders' Beta were accepted through email, through which 20,000 accounts were issued.
From November 3 to 6, 2008, Sanrio ran Food for Friends, a charity event where guilds crafted in-game food for donation UNICEF and the Asian Youth Orchestra. Based on the distribution of crafted food (quantity, difficulty, etc.), Sanrio Digital made a cash donation to those charities. During the event, guilds produced a total of 344,965 items which were donated to the Game Masters. This was in turn calculated at a value of $12,273, to be donated to UNICEF and the Asian Youth Orchestra.
Announced on February 2, 2009, was a public stress test which ran from February 14 though February 17. All SanrioTown members, excepting those located in Europe, were invited to participate in the public stress test. The public stress test was extended until February 22, during which a new charity event was announced, allowing players to craft in-game items. Similar to the previous Food for Friends event, the actual in-game items were used as a conversion rate to real-world goods which were donated to the Po Leung Kuk residential child care unit.
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Wikipedia