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2004 video game
Roblox
Developer(s)Roblox Corporation
Publisher(s)Roblox Corporation
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, OS X, iOS, Android, Xbox One
Release2004
Genre(s)MMORPG, sandbox game
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Roblox (stylized as RŌBLOX) is a massively multiplayer online game developed and published by Roblox Corporation. In the game, players are able to create their own virtual world and design their own games. Games on Roblox can be scripted using a sandboxed edition of Lua to affect events that occur in-game and create different scenarios. The company's main source of revenue comes from players buying Robux, the main virtual currency in the game, and from players buying "Builders Club" access, a status which gives virtual benefits to users.

History and development

Roblox was created by founder and co-founder David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and officially launched into its beta version, titled "Dynablocks" in 2004. Soon, "Dynablocks" was renamed to ROBLOX in 2005 and the website was officially launched in 2006. It was named after a portmanteau of the words robots and blocks.

After a year of development, Dynablocks was renamed ROBLOX and was launched into beta in 2005. In 2005, people could gain the currency at that time, Roblox Points, by completing single-player mini games developed by Roblox admins. As the game was released publicly in 2006, people came to the game slowly, but eventually the game started growing exponentially to its 6 million account base.

Early history (2006–2009)

In early 2006, Roblox had one currency, known as Roblox Points, first used like the Player Points, then as an upgrade to one's avatar, which was subsequently discontinued and replaced with "Robux". In mid-2007, Roblox added more customization to user characters to allow items such as caps to be worn. Roblox badges were first introduced on 22 December 2006. Meshes were added, and so were the abilities of sending friend requests to other players, and sending messages. Other things accomplished in 2006 were searching through players, places, and items, multiplayer places, stats, and inventories.

In 2007, character customization became possible. In late January, the abuse report queue was introduced, with the ability for any user to report content as inappropriate through the "Report Abuse" buttons disseminated throughout the site. In March 2007, Roblox became compliant with COPPA, with the addition of safe chat, a change which made users who indicated to be under the age of 13 at registration only able to communicate by selecting predefined messages from a menu. In August 2007, Roblox added Builders Club, a premium membership, and applied server improvements.

Exclusive features and game features (2010–2012)

In 2010, Roblox began creating body shapes which Builders Club members could purchase using virtual currency. These body shapes were available in the catalog as packages, which included many items that were all obtained when the package was bought. These packages varied in size and price and occasionally went on sale.

In 2011, more than 5.4 million games were created by users.

At the Roblox Game Conference, Roblox released a system that allowed members with a premium membership to trade collectible items with other users who have Builders Club. Over time, other features have been added to the system such as increasing the value of a trade, adding Robux to a trade, and owning and trading multiple copies of the same collectible item.

On 13 January 2012, Roblox announced on the blog that their first Hack Week had been held. The post announcing it described it as a week where developers worked on projects they chose that they then had to present to the company and that, if considered interesting, could be put further work on. Projects worked on by developers were later described by blog posts during the rest of the year. They included the implementation of the possibility for user interface elements to rotate, which was later added to the game engine, the exploration of a system for crafting items, the suggestion of a system that would allow game developers to connect many games together, which was also later added to the engine and the creation of a mobile website to replace the normal website for tablets and cell phones.

On 5 June 2012, Roblox announced that a new water material was released to add to the existing collection of "high scalability" terrain cell materials.

On 11 December 2012, Roblox released the ability to play games on iOS. The current iOS devices compatible are the iPad 2 and newer devices including mini, iPhone 4 or newer, and the iPod touch 5th generation. The mobile Roblox application gives users the ability to customize their character, shop in the virtual catalog, play games, view their profile, and respond to messages. Previous to the release of the mobile Roblox application, the company created 20 virtual Roblox tablets. Players who purchased one received a brand new iPad 3.

On 21 December 2012, featherweight parts were introduced. This feature enhanced game performance greatly by decreasing the usage of file space for each part in a place.

Contemporary history (2012–present)

On April 1, 2012, Roblox suffered site issues that caused players to get incorrect amounts of Robux. Some assets were uploaded without being reviewed by the moderators, and a user hacked the forums. ROBLOX staff brought the site offline, fixed the currency issues, and banned the users responsible for the hacking.

The co-founder of Roblox, Erik Cassel, died on the morning of 11 February 2013 after a three-year battle with cancer at his home located in Silicon Valley, California.

The lighting system was improved with the addition of dynamic lights implemented in a voxel-based fashion. Dynamic lights were later added to the mobile version of Roblox. On 2 October 2013, animations made a debut in Roblox, with an overhaul of the default Roblox character animations along with user made animations allowed.

On 1 October 2013, Roblox released a feature called Developer's Exchange. The feature allows users to exchange their Robux into real world money. The requirements to use the program are a minimum threshold of 100,000 Robux, Outrageous Builders Club, and a valid Paypal account. The current trade ratio is 500 to 1.

On 11 October 2013, body packages became available to all members of Roblox, including those who did not have a premium membership.

On 31 May 2015, a feature named Smooth Terrain was added, increasing the graphical fidelity and changing the physics engine from a blocky style to a smoother, more photorealistic, style

On August 4, 2015, Roblox discontinued purchases for lifetime and 6 months Builders Club, Turbo Builders Club, and Outrageous Builders Club.

On March 15, 2016, Roblox announced that the currency called "Tickets" is planned to be removed after 30 days of the announcement because ROBLOX deemed the said currency useless. During the 30 days, Roblox released hats that can only be bought with Tickets as exclusive, commemorative items. Additionally, the Trade Currency system will be removed. Roblox also announced they will lower the ROBUX price floors to 5 ROBUX minimum as in means of currency. They will also allow users to upload their hats, gear, and more, similar to how players can do Models.

Gameplay

Players can customize their virtual characters with hundreds of different hats, head shapes, body shapes, clothing, and gear. Players may create their own articles of clothing, which allows for a more personalized in-game experience. However, selling player-created articles of clothing and collectible items require Builders Club, but non-premium players may still create T-shirts, which are decals attached to the front of a player's torso.

One of the default character model
A fourth generation (4.0) ROBLOX character, a common typical package.

Mobile gameplay

Roblox can be played on many Android devices, as well as the iPad 2, the iPhone 4, the iPod touch 5th generation or any successor to one of those Apple devices. This is done with the Roblox application which can be obtained from the application store. The application allows purchasing items from the catalog that are not available for users not using the mobile application using the currency system of iTunes. The application can be used to view the user's inventory, friends, groups, and messages. It can also be used to purchase upgrades (premium memberships or Robux) with the currency system provided by iTunes and Google Play.

During the alpha period, only selected places such as Crossroads, Paintball!, ROBLOX Snowmobiling, Dodgeball!, etc. could be played from the application. The application is now stable and allows any place to be played. However, many places are not adapted to be played on the mobiles, which can result in games being too slow or some games being impossible to play because of the controls that are not available on mobile. Additionally, some games are simply unable to load due to size and complexity, for example the popular and leading tactical shooter

Social interaction

Players can add other people they meet in the game to their friends list. Since 2011, this can be done while playing. On 4 February 2015, a new update to replace the Friends and Best Friends system, named Friends and Followers, was introduced. This allows more personal game play if wanted. This update also allows 200 Friends and infinite Followers. Players also have the option join community groups. After joining, players can then advertise their group, participate in group relations, and set their primary group. On the website and in game, users who are under 13 years old can only use specific words that are part of a whitelist maintained by the Roblox moderators. In contrast, users who are over 13 years old can use any word except words that are part of a blacklist.

Game development

What's shown here is ROBLOX Studio 2016, an image of a car on the road passing a government building
Editing using ROBLOX Studio 2016

The game development and building is done via an application calledROBLOX Studio. It is a free program that comes with ROBLOX.

Building

Players use ROBLOX Studio's built-in building system to construct places with bricks from varying colors and shapes. Players also are able to use user made plugins and tools to build. Players also have the ability to scroll through the ROBLOX Library and find free models and scripts. ROBLOX also created a "Official Model Maker" system where talented model makers are able to create and make their creations visible on the front page of the ROBLOX Library model section.

Programming

Players can use the programming language Lua to dynamically change the environment of the game. Also, plugins can be developed with Lua to be used in Roblox Studio. The exact version of Lua that is used in ROBLOX Studio is Lua 5.1. It is sometimes however, referred to as ROBLOX Lua.

Website

Roblox
File:Roblox Home Screenshot.pngThe Login page for Roblox.com as of November 2016.
Type of siteOnline videogame platform
Available inEnglish
OwnerROBLOX Corporation
URLhttp://www.roblox.com/
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional but required for most features
LaunchedJanuary 30, 2004

The Roblox website contains all of the Roblox features, with the exception of the ability to play the games. The Roblox client must be downloaded to play the games.

Economy and currency

Roblox currently has just one virtual currency: Robux. Robux was originally released alongside with another currency called Tickets until on March 15, 2016, when ROBLOX announced that the currency called "Tickets" was planned to be removed after 30 days of the announcement and the Trade Currency system would also be removed. They can be converted from one to the other with the currency exchange. Tickets were earned for a variety of activities, such as when places are visited, as a daily login bonus, or for item sales including clothing. The announcement of their removal sparked a major campaign against it, both on Roblox forums and social media. In-game items can be sold for either a set price in currently just Robux, it formerly used Tickets as another currency option before its removal. Robux is earned daily by premium members in varying amounts depending on the user's type of membership. Robux can also be earned through sale of virtual goods, such as clothing or developer products, or can be purchased directly with money.

Developer Exchange

The developer exchange, widely known in the game as DevEx, is a feature that exchanges the game currency, Robux, to real cash. This option is only available to users that hold Outrageous Builders Club and at least 100,000 Robux. Users of the developer exchange can make from (100,000 Robux) to (20,000,000 Robux) in a month.

Builders Club

Roblox is free to play, although members may purchase monthly memberships to enhance their game experience. One membership option, Builders Club, grants players multiple amenities, including a daily virtual currency stipend of 15 Robux per day. Other membership options include Turbo Builders Club and Outrageous Builders Club; each option is more expensive than the last. Depending on the tier of Builders Club a player buys, the player can unlock more places to build in, more money to spend, more groups to join, and the ability to create and sell clothing. Recently, ROBLOX has given non-upgraded users a severe disadvantage which has been subject to criticism. In August 2015, ROBLOX discontinued the 6 month and lifetime versions of Builders Club, Turbo Builders Club, and Outrageous Builders Club.

Relief funds

In 2010, Roblox published two hats in the virtual catalog that players could purchase to fund for earthquake relief for the Haiti earthquake. They were named the "Blue Hat for Haiti", and the "Red Hat for Haiti". For every player who bought the blue hat, Roblox had donated 10 cents to the Red Cross Relief Fund to help Haiti recover. For every player who bought the Red Hat, Roblox had donated 65 cents to the Red Cross Roblox donated at least $5479 to the Red Cross Relief Fund because of this, after a week of the hats being on sale. In 2011, Roblox also published two hats that players could purchase to raise money for Japan after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The Rising Sun Cap and the Japanese Baseball Cap were put into the catalog for players to buy. For every Rising Sun Cap that players bought, Roblox had donated $1.00 to the Red Cross. For every Japanese Baseball Cap that players bought, Roblox had donated 10 cents to the Red Cross. After only two days of the hats being on sale, $10,445.80 was raised, from 23935 hats being sold.

In 2013, Roblox published a hat after the death of their co-founder, Erik Cassel. Every time the hat was bought, Roblox had donated money toward cancer research, which was the cause of Cassel's death.

Again in 2013, Roblox published two hats after Typhoon Haiyan. For every hat that a player bought, Roblox had either donated 10 cents or 65 cents depending on the hat. A total of $3,330.30 was raised from players buying the hats.

In Summer of 2014, Roblox released a gear of which it represented a bucket of ice cold water during the Ice Bucket Challenge trend to spread awareness of ALS. For each time a player bought the gear, Roblox donated to ALS research garnering up to about $6,200 at the end.

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