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Roblox' is a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) user-generated virtual playground and workshop designed for children aged 7 and over. Players can create virtual worlds with blocks of various shapes, sizes, and materials.^[1] Lua, a scripting language, allows players to gain more control of their created worlds.^[2]

Players also have the ability to customize their virtual character with hats and clothing and communicate with one another through groups, built-in instant messaging, in-game chatting, "foruming," and private messaging. Like its competitor Minecraft, Roblox has been claimed to be community-driven as virtual worlds are created and hosted by players of the game.^[3]

Roblox is funded by Altos Ventures and First Round Capital.^[4]

History and development[link]

Roblox was created by founder and co-founder David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2005,^[5] named after a portmanteau of the words robots and blocks.^[6]

In mid-2007, Roblox considered a new character concept to allow for more complex clothing such as hairpieces to blend with the character.^[7] This was however rejected later for the minifigure design which was already in use. Since 2010, Roblox started creating body shapes which players could buy using virtual currency.^[8]

Gameplay[link]

Roblox lets its users customize their own world with a sandboxed edition of Lua and also lets them use marketing and commerce with a virtual stock market primarily to convert currencies.^[9]

Character customization[link]

Players can customize their virtual characters with hats, head shapes, body shapes, clothing, and a handheld item known as gear. Although publishing new hats, head shapes, body shapes, or gear is prohibited unless if uploaded by an administrator, clothing in the virtual catalog is made by the players.

Social interaction[link]

Players have been granted the option join community groups.^[10] Since its release many updates to groups have been made, such as group advertising,^[11] group relations.,^[12] and primary groups^[13]

Players can select some of their friends and add them into a category called Best friends. Unlike the friends list with no limits of how many people it can hold, the best friends list is limited to 20 users. Players can set their profile status for their best friends to view on their news feed, and best friends and friends alike can view statuses when going to their profile.^[14]

Game development[link]

Players construct games with building bricks/blocks, varying in size, shape, and color using Roblox Studio, a software resembling Microsoft Visual Studio used for building and Lua. Also Plugins can be developed with Lua to be used in Roblox Studio.^[15]

Economy[link]

Roblox includes two virtual currencies, which are known are Tickets and Robux. They can be converted with the Currency Exchange from one to the other.^[16]

Tickets are earned when places are visited, as a login bonus daily, item sales, including shirts, pants, and t-shirts. They can be sold for either a set price in any type of currency, allowing the buyer to choose which currency they pay with.

Robux is earned daily by premium members, in varying amounts, depending on the user's type of membership. Robux can be earned through sale of virtual goods or can also be purchased with real money.

Other ways to gain money is for players to use the Currency Exchange feature to gain profit, by trading in their Robux for more Tickets, and vice versa.

Upgrades[link]

Roblox is a free to play game and upgrades such as Builders Club (BC), Turbo Builders Club (TBC) and Outrageous Builders Club (OBC) are available to all users.

Game cards[link]

Roblox gives people the option to pay by purchasing game cards,^[17] which can be used for upgrades such as Builders Club or Robux. Currently, the cards are only sold in the US, Canada and the UK.^[18]

References[link]