Panfu
| Panfu - Be a Panda! | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publisher(s) | goodbeans GmbH |
| Platform(s) | Online |
| Release date(s) |
 July 2008 |
| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Panfu was a MMORPG for kids aged between 6 and 13. Each player could create their own panda. With this avatar the players could chat with each other, play games, learn in a playful atmosphere and complete quests in the different places of the island Panfu.
Panfu was shut down in November 2016 after years of decline.
History
The two founders of goodbeans, Kay Kühne and Moritz Hohl, started Panfu in December 2007. Panfu is an artificial term composed of the words "panda" and the Chinese word for happiness, "fu".[1] In June 2009 the website had 11 million users worldwide and became the biggest children's virtual world in Europe.[2] In the meantime, according to the owners, the amount of users has grown to 15 million and the service has been translated to 9 languages. [Young Internet GmbH later Goodbeans GmbH][3] Panfu has been declining in the last two years or so. In 2015 someone contacted one of Panfu's upper bosses, Verena Delius. She said "There isn't enough money to maintain Panfu anymore" which obviously explains the rapidly declining player base.
Panfu was shut down in November 2016.
Security in Panfu
According to the developers, security is the biggest priority in Panfu, you cannot write anything in the chat box for a long period of time. A word filter prevents verbal attacks and warns the players when they aren’t following the rules. At the same time the chat is internationally moderated by adults who watch over the chat, proof-read every word and can ban players who aggravate others. With a high-security chat the players can pick pre-written messages.[4] Besides verbal aggravation, asking for or giving private information is also forbidden. Users cannot say the names of other games such as Club Penguin, drawing a lot of criticism. As of 2014, the chat feature was closed due to the lack of moderators, which made a lot of players mad and sad at the same time. If they try to chat, they will get a message saying that chat has been discontinued. Players are still able to say phrases from the suggested chat.[5]
The world
The player can go to different parts of the island of Panfu. Hidden all over are minigames which children can play alone or with others. The players can communicate and help each other in the quests through the moderated chat. Players obtain "panda coins" from the minigames with which the members can buy items and clothes. You can not buy clothes or items if you aren't a "Gold Panda". Every avatar has a tree house which is a room that they can decorate themselves, and other pandas can visit.
Members
The basic features of Panfu are free of charge. Some special features could be used after buying a membership called "Gold Membership". The membership allowed a game free of advertisement. The membership could be ordered for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months at a time. Every month, on a Friday, there was a "Gold Panda Day". On that day you could do everything that you were able to do with the Gold Membership, such as buying clothes, furniture and more. In 2012, Panfu introduced a feature to become a gold panda forever. This was originally a limited offer but it is still available as of 2015.[6]
As of 2016, the membership system is discontinued and when you go to the membership page you will get a screen saying, "The payment system is not available right now. Please try again later."
References
- ↑ Documentary about Panfu on German television
- ↑ Article about Panfu - German
- ↑ Panfu About Us
- ↑ German Newspaper "Die Welt" about security on the internet
- ↑ http://www.welt.de/welt_print/finanzen/article4727378/So-behalten-Eltern-den-Ueberblick.html
- ↑ http://www.panfu.com/membership/index.html