New Year, New Habbox

[nvrspk4]

Hey everyone,

You were forced to read this thread, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What you really need to see is this next line.


DO NOT BUY ANY MORE V.I.P

It is no longer offered for sale. Now, if you want to, you could scamper away, but this information is going to be very informative about how Habbox will be changing over the next few weeks.

Originally we were going to just issue a bunch of changes on the first and fewer after that, but it doesn't make sense to flood them. However, myself and the other members of General Management have come to the decision (ok well it wasn't much of a decision to make) that Habbox has become a teensy bit inefficient, and lots of changes can be made to make Habbox better. And some changes can be made to make good programs even better.

Thus, throughout the month of January, many many changes will be made to Habbox to try and improve the service we offer. They may even spill over into February!! Currently we have a list of 18 PROPOSED major changes, and the list is ever growing. But its not just us. We want YOU to give us suggestions for things we can change at Habbox, to make it better. Just post them in the Feedback forum! We're also going to be gauging your opinion on things in the new Feedback Polls subforum of Feedback. Its a great way to have your say on General Management decisions. People have always said that members should have some say in some of the decisions made, well there's your opportunity! Also give us new ideas for any changes you want made, once again in the Feedback Forum! We will look at all ideas and evaluate them!

All changes that are made will be announced, but a copy of the announcement will also be included in a reply to this thread to keep you up to date on all the changes!

Hope you all had a great new year!

[nvrspk4]

Hey,

So the sale of VIP has officially ended and you can no longer purchase VIP due to Sulake rules that we may not offer a "premium" service or level of access. Reason for this rule still goes unknown and we remain in contact with Sulake staff with regards to the rule but as per their wishes we have removed VIP for sale.

However, you can still support your favorite fansite with Donations, a system for which will come into play shortly, it has temporarily been removed (it will occupy the place of the previous Buy VIP Page) due to technical issues but the donation area will be available again shortly. You will be able to make donations of one pound automatically or a set of easy steps will be given for those who want to donate larger sums at once. Donators will get a colored name for a month each time they donate to recognize their generosity and will get a permanant "Habbox Donators" userrank if they choose to display it, as well as having their name on the site.

As for VIP, it will still be used (there are still plenty of people with VIP that are waiting for it to run out!) but the only way to get VIP now is to win it! VIP is given out currently for the Member of the Month competition. It will also be given out by some departments and as a prize in certain Competitions. Limited amounts will be given out by departments and in the MoM competition each month and that will be the only way to get it, until next Christmas when we hope to allow you to purchase it once again to support the Christmas Charity Fundraiser which we will do our best to continue.

Thanks!

[nvrspk4]

As of January 2nd 2009 the Community Support Department is officially closed. Though the staff and managers made a valiant attempt to keep the department going, the fact of the matter is that Community Support from its creation a while ago never really had a defined role. Although it was intended to split the role of the forum manager, it did not accurately split the duties of an FM. The rest of the duties were assumed by the General Manager. However the Community Support Department was not given the tools to do its job.

However, the CS department in its short existance especially under FlyingJesus did devote itself to many projects, the most significant one being an effort to revive the chat, and its members did make significant contributions behind the scenes and making HabboxForum a better place, little by little. So though they were not here for too long, we thank all of them for their work. We will look forward to seeing some of them in other job positions and those with only jobs in CS we are looking to place elsewhere within Habbox, else we will say our fond farewells to them. So thank you to the following staff for their work:

FlyingJesus
Catzsy
CHA!NGANG
lAscend
Smiddy

Your work and dedication was appreciated :)

Thanks!

[nvrspk4]

As of January 2nd, 2009, the Articles Department is officially closed.

The articles department has been with us many years and its truly a sad thing to close the department. However, after much discussion with my AGMs and Articles Management we have decided that we can't always cling to the past. Unfortunately, the demand for Articles is way, way down. Also, we have trouble finding new staff, for not only do people not want to read articles, they do not want to write articles.

Though we do our best to provide some of the best staff available, people no longer come to fansites to read articles. Therefore, we felt it was in the best interests of Habbox to invest the time and resources of our staff in our other remaining departments. We thank ALL of our Articles Staff over the many years, and especially our current staff who have stuck with us, who will now be resigning. However, we hope to see them in other positions at Habbox, and we are also looking to place all of them in new positions, particularly in the Content Team to utilize their writing skills.

Thank you to the following who now officially resign:

Professor-Alex
-Eyeless-
Apeel
Chantellehugs
FlyingJesus
Hayd93
Inseriousity.
LucyRAWRR
Mayyte
Sabra
Sulai

Thank you too to all the managers and staff that have been with us over the years! Its been a great run for articles!

[nvrspk4]

Many moons ago, the Forum Manager role was discontinued and replaced with the roles of Moderation Manager and Community Support Manager along with their various staff. Although Community Support departing really doesn't change the running of the forum, we felt it appropriate to make the Forum Manager change now as well. For details on the switch from FM to CM and MM click here (http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=488757).

The members of General Management after careful consideration and discussion with the members of Moderation Management have decided that it is in the best interests of Habbox for the role of Forum Manager to return. We believe that while the seperation of the roles of Forum Manager were well intentioned, the role of making changes on the forum itself fell to the General Manager instead of dividing some of the responsibilities over to the Community Manager. Therefore, the General Management became focused on the Forum while that was only half the offering. We believe that it will be much more efficient to dedicate a manager to the forum and allow the General Management team to truly be the General Management team of all of Habbox.

General Management will still have the final say on important suggestions as they do in all departments, however we feel that things such as the simple addition and removal of forums takes time away from improving other services.

Therefore, Professor-Alex is promoted from his position as Moderation Manager to Forum Manager.

lAscend is promoted from his position as Assistant Moderation Manager to Assistant Forum Manager.

What do these changes mean for the average user? It means that someone other than the greenies can actually make changes to the forum, which is always a good thing! However the moderation department will remain unchanged, simply the FM and AFM will have larger ability to do things such as resolve member issues if there are problems with permissions or general forum use issues that need to be handled by administrators, or addition of forums, the list goes on. The general job of the Forum Manager is to keep the Forum running smoothly, both from a moderation standpoint and an administrative standpoint (forums, usergroups, ranks, etc.)

I apologize if this is not clear, its kind of four in the morning, however most of you remember what a Forum Manager is :P

We are certain this will be a change for the better :)

[nvrspk4]

Professor-Alex is now a Senior Content Designer, fresh from his Articles position. He will now work as the Senior Content Designer (Content) while Alkaz moves over to Senior Content Designer (Design).

Since the Content Design Department has become about more than just designing the content - they also write guides, Professor-Alex will focus more on the Content while Alkaz focuses on site presentation and technical issues.

Also, Professor-Alex will be taking submissions for anyone who wishes to put an article or editorial up on the Articles Page.

More change may come in the Content Department structure, only time will tell!

[nvrspk4]

Intro

Yes, the rumors have gone round and round that HxHD is closing. Well, the rumors were not technically correct. I would like to add, just quickly as a sidenote, that all of this was originally planned and we didn't change our plans because of feedback. People just started assuming certain things and rumors got out of hand. There will be massive changes to Habbox Help Desk, but it will still be the Habbox Help Desk, because although the minority of people come in for help, with the abolishment of the Habbo X Program and the ineffective replacement of the Guide Program, there still is a small demand for Help Desks.

However, the fact remains that the demand for Help Desks has fallen dramatically and many of the changes we have made this January have been geared towards making Habbox competitive in a changing environment. Much of the demand has been for a chill area and much of the problem has been a lack of staff interaction.


Changes

Downsizing staff area to four spots - This will mean that staff will spend more time out and about hanging out with users and chatting it up making friends and making it a fun place to hang out.

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Staff Cuts - Also, with the downsize in staff area there will be a downsize in staff. We are probably going to aim for a target number of 12-14 but now we have about 15-16 staff members after staff cuts. We hope to form a core of dedicated staff members who are in a lot and friendly and easy to speak to. By forming a small group we hope to control quality and make HxHD staff a more exclusive position, meaning that people will work harder to get and keep it. Staff will also be spending more time in and around the desk.

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Staff Roles and Numbers - Super Staff will essentially be room moderators in addition to Staff and Help Desk Staff (there will be equal numbers of SS and normal staff) will be providing help as well as hanging around the room. With the system, once we hit our target number of twelve a member of staff will have to leave or be fired for a new member of staff to be hired. Also, a SS member will have to leave for a normal member of staff to be promoted to Super Staff (this may be revised depending on turnover rates). By doing this we hope to stop our staff numbers from becoming unmanageable.

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Room Owner - Originally I only owned the desk because nobody else could, it meant the closure of HxHD or me owning it, and I didn't want it to go down. With me having increased responsibilities I've spent less and less time on Habbo, and I've been looking to move the help desk for a while. However a manager owning it simply is not plausible because name recognition is huge and it also has to stay under a certain name for a period of time. A long period of time. But with Sammeth. now on the team, he will own the new Help Desk! Hopefully this will allow the Help Desk and events to function more smoothly.

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Management - In terms of Management, Jaiisun will still manage it joined by his Assistant Manager LeahRAWRR

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Look - And finally, it comes with a brand new layout! WOOO!



Grand Re-Opening Details

Now, onto the details everyone wants, when its going to open. Quick Facts:

What: Habbox Help Desk Grand Reopening
When: 6 PM (18:00) GMT
Where: Habbox Help Desk owned by Sammeth. (that's SammethDOT)
Who: The Habbox Help Desk Team and YOU!
Why: To see the new desk and participate in the competitions and HAVE FUN!


Now, a little bit more. The SS will enter the room a little bit before forum members. At 6 PM (18:00) GMT, Sammeth. will post a reply to this thread with a password to allow Forum Members to enter before anyone else! Also, the first forum member in the door will recieve a prize!

Throughout the night we will be holding competitions and quizzes so its going to be a lot of fun!! Drop by and check out the New HxHD!

[nvrspk4]

As another part of New Habbox (What? That's still going on??) the position of Features Manager has been introduced!! This position combines VIP Manager (previously called VIP Editor) with the new positions of Donations Manager and Arcade Manager.

Heading up the new position will be brandon, the VIPs Manager and our new Features Manager, Yoshimitsui! The position of Features Manager will include:

Managing Donators and any related issues
Setting up those who Donate in a Friend's Name
Setting up SMS Donations (when we activate this)
Setting up VIP requests from managers in accordance with quotas
Adding VIP Features
Dealing with VIP Name Changes
Sorting out VIP Issues
VIP/Donator Cleanup
Dealing with the Report Reputation Thread
Watching over any arcade issues
Setting up occasional tournaments and brackets
Any other issues with regards to Donations, VIP, or the Arcade.

Many things to do but I'm confident they will both be able to handle the challenge!

Good luck to the both of them and hope everyone enjoys this new change!

[nvrspk4]

Hey everyone,

Based on recent user feedback and problems we've been observing with moderation of the Help Desk, we've enacted a few major changes in the HxHD Banning and Moderation policy that should hopefully contribute to the Help Desk environment.

As of now, permanant bans will no longer be issued. Bans will be for temporary periods, usually from one day to one week. However, we will be extending bans for those who choose to continually come in despite their ban. This doesn't mean come in once not realizing they're banned but a consistent effort to enter the Help Desk despite the fact that they are banned and kicked repeatedly.

Through this system we hope to prevent long-term bans since we acknowledge that its hard to make it effective, if someone is permanantly banned we cannot autokick them from the room, so they have nothing to lose by entering.

However shorter bans should be easier to enforce and more tolerable for visitors. If you're only banned for a day, you're better off leaving HxHD alone for the day and being able to return the next day then having to deal with being kicked for several days because you keep violating the terms of your ban.

We also understand that moderation has been fairly harsh lately so for the most part ban terms will be toned down in an effort to shorten the lengths of bans and making even the harsher bans have less of a negative impact on users. We will also be discussing with our staff when to take action and when not to to prevent unecessary moderation in response to trollers.

Finally, in an effort to truly initiate this radical change to HxHD banning policy we are clearing all ban lists and giving everyone a second chance, especially because perm bans will no longer exist. Just as a side note, no this will never happen on the forum :P

Hopefully these changes make HxHD a lot more enjoyable for everyone!