Habbox is sponsored by...

[Richie]

Kazopark
I'm sure sulake aren't too happy that you are letting similar rival online games sponsor you. I'm just really confused is it just for the money? You are basically advertising another similar online virtual game like habbo and its obvious you know habbo users that use habbox may be tempted to join.

Is habbox trying to get their users to hop ships? I'm just really confused thats like facebook advertising myspace it just makes no sense, other than the money involved.

[.iNova.]

I was a bit concerned on how sulake would take a gold tier official advertising a competetor, but, until there is any trouble, why not go with it.

[Richie]

I was a bit concerned on how sulake would take a gold tier official advertising a competetor, but, until there is any trouble, why not go with it.


My thoughts are that they clearly don't know yet, I reckon habbox are just putting their status at risk. Sure sulake aren't going to care about losing habbox as a fansite anymore considering they will have bigger American fansites anyway.


Habbox are starting to take sulakes footsteps by just wanting money money money.

[.iNova.]

American fansites may be big, but eating " donuts " on air is sooooo un-pro. Habbox FTW !

[Blinger$]

My thoughts are that they clearly don't know yet, I reckon habbox are just putting their status at risk. Sure sulake aren't going to care about losing habbox as a fansite anymore considering they will have bigger American fansites anyway.


Habbox are starting to take sulakes footsteps by just wanting money money money.
TBH i think it COULD be good if we do get more money, it means bigger and better servers.

[Richie]

TBH i think it COULD be good if we do get more money, it means bigger and better servers.

The servers are fine atm so why would jin bother spending money on somethiing thats not needed lol but yh bud i get were u getin at

[Blinger$]

The servers are fine atm so why would jin bother spending money on somethiing thats not needed lol but yh bud i get were u getin at
mm, perhaps. i mean, we could always upgrade IF needed. you got the quote in my pm btw.. yah?

[Richie]

mm, perhaps. i mean, we could always upgrade IF needed. you got the quote in my pm btw.. yah?

Yeah bud I did

[Nixt]

Habbox is and will remain an official Habbo fansite. Our adverts our how we gain our revenue to ensure we are able to run all of the Habbox sites effectively. The sponsorship is our way of gaining revenue and is ultimately irrelevant to our status as a fansite.

[myke]

Habbox is and will remain an official Habbo fansite. Our adverts our how we gain our revenue to ensure we are able to run all of the Habbox sites effectively. The sponsorship is our way of gaining revenue and is ultimately irrelevant to our status as a fansite.

You just dodged everything Richie said lol

You saying that it will remain an official fansite, cant be sure because like Richie said, the forum is being sponsored by a rival and they may not taje lightly to this, I think we are forgetting that sulake is a company and rivalry is a big thing in the business world, there may also be affiliation and sponsorship procedures that need to be carried out.

And the title bit looks ugly now lol, its like IE when it says Provided by Windows or Microsoft lol

just my opinion

[Nixt]

I haven't really dodged it. Advertisements have been on the forum and Habbox.com for a while and they will remain there, simply because this is an important source of revenue for Habbox. Kazopark are sponsoring Habbox in order to advertise their new 'virtual game', the same way the Google ads you used to see were trying to advertise their services, which were occasionally similar services for example IMVU or Gaia Online.

When a company attempts to advertise their service they do so by attempting to appeal to their target audience and thus Habbox and the forum is a perfect way for Kazopark to advertise their service. We are not part of Sulake and therefore Richie's analogy of "Facebook advertising Myspace" is, in fact, incorrect - that would be the case if Kazopark was advertised on the Habbo homepage but not the case with a fansite.

We are not in violation of the fansite way and have done nothing wrong. If you want to see Habbox remain open then you will have to accept the fact we need revenue and this was one way of getting it :). Nevertheless if Sulake do have a problem, they do now how to contact us.

[Recursion]

I've seen this advert like 10 times in the past 10 minutes, not once have I wanted to view their website.

Do donators have to see this rubbish?

[myke]

We're just pointing out a different way of seeing it ;)

[Nixt]

I've seen this advert like 10 times in the past 10 minutes, not once have I wanted to view their website.

Do donators have to see this rubbish?

The advert is fixed and does not change, to my knowledge.


We're just pointing out a different way of seeing it ;)

Which is fair enough, but we are still a Habbo fansite forum and that will always be the case :D!

[ihatehash]

Habbox are starting to take sulakes footsteps by just wanting money money money.

What a dumb comment.
if the habbox owners were just wanting money don't you think they would be better off having a different sort of site that could actually make profit. from what i hear and see habbox is a very expensive site to run with the servers/shoutcast/licencing fees etc. i say good on them with finding a good way to earn a little bit of cash to improve the site.

[Jahova]

Been interested in the development of Kazopark for sometime, can't wait for the beta :)

[Moh]

Once Sulake staff find out, they will be requesting it to be removed. We tried to make money from sponsorship but because it wasn't a Sulake approved website they asked us to remove it or else they would revoke our official status.

Hopefully when they fire a load of staff after the merge, they wont care.

[Inseriousity.]

Personally, not having 'official fansite' status wouldn't bother me but I'm sure a newbie would look more favourably towards the official fansites.

As for Kazopark itself, when I first heard about it, I thought 'what's the point' and even asked Matt (I got a rude answer hehe) but I think it's just a finanical thing tbh, so I'm fine with it. :)

[Tintinnabulate]

Its really the same as Kazopark using the Google ads. Only difference is they get their own forum.

[hah]

sold your souls to kazopark lol
but i suppose jin doesnt really care about habbox... its more about the money he can get from it :L

[Blob]

sold your souls to kazopark lol
but i suppose jin doesnt really care about habbox... its more about the money he can get from it :L

He doesn't get any money - infact, he puts money into it.

[hah]

He doesn't get any money - infact, he puts money into it.

usually with a sponsorship you get money?

[xxMATTGxx]

usually with a sponsorship you get money?

Which helps fund the sites. You probably don't even know how much a month it costs to keep us going? It's not £5 a month.

[hah]

Which helps fund the sites. You probably don't even know how much a month it costs to keep us going? It's not £5 a month.

i never said it costs £5, but maybe if you got out of you strop and read what was posted you would understand.... blob said habbox didnt get money, infact money was being put in.... :rolleyes:
and thats why i said "but usually with a sponsorship you get money?"

[xxMATTGxx]

i never said it costs £5, but maybe if you got out of you strop and read what was posted you would understand.... blob said habbox didnt get money, infact money was being put in.... :rolleyes:
and thats why i said "usually with a sponsorship you get money?"

I'm not in a mood, I was replying to your comment obviously thinking Jin runs away with all of the money in his back pocket.


sold your souls to kazopark lol
but i suppose jin doesnt really care about habbox... its more about the money he can get from it :L

[Blob]

i never said it costs £5, but maybe if you got out of you strop and read what was posted you would understand.... blob said habbox didnt get money, infact money was being put in.... :rolleyes:
and thats why i said "but usually with a sponsorship you get money?"

You said Jin doesn't care about money because he wants to get money out of it - which he doesn't.

[Inseriousity.]

I think what they're trying to say is that "even with a sponsorship, it still doesn't cover the costs that go into it"? It might just make it less money from jin that has to go into it. :D

[Grig]

You never know, Kazopark could be the next big thing and we could be on the forefront of something big. It actually never states anywhere in the fansite way that this is not allowed, therefore I don't really see the issue here.

[hah]

I'm not in a mood, I was replying to your comment obviously thinking Jin runs away with all of the money in his back pocket.

then quote the right post next time
and it was a joke hence the ":L"... or are they still banned here?

[xxMATTGxx]

then quote the right post next time
and it was a joke hence the ":L"... or are they still banned here?

Well sometimes Graham its hard to see whether you are joking or not. (Even with that face)

[Catzsy]

sold your souls to kazopark lol
but i suppose jin doesnt really care about habbox... its more about the money he can get from it :L

This is quite illogical and quite nonsensical in my view. How can you make assumptions that Jin doesn't care about the site and has 'sold it's soul to kazopark'? You have no more inside knowledge of Habbox to back up what you say is true than I do. It would be like me saying Habbox has sold it's soul to 'Plenty of Fish' or any other of the advertisers that Habbox has. This forum has a Runescape section as do many other habbo fansites so what's the difference?

[hah]

go read what i just said and stop picking on me like always |-)

[Catzsy]

go read what i just said and stop picking on me like always |-)

I have read it and if you have any complaints about me please get in touch with Oli, Matt or Garion.

[hah]

I have read it and if you have any complaints about me please get in touch with Oli, Matt or Garion.

:rolleyes:


ontopic... yeah im sure habbo arent happy

[Grig]

What does it matter, they can't do anything and it's against the faniste way. So what's the point in this thread, sure they may not be happy but they can't do anything about it.

[DAMI3N]

To be quite honest, why is it such a big deal, it isn't as if anybody moaned when IMVU was being advertised?

[Catzsy]

What does it matter, they can't do anything and it's against the faniste way. So what's the point in this thread, sure they may not be happy but they can't do anything about it.

I think you mean it's not against the 'fansite way'? Totally agreed. This is pretty much a fuss about nothing in my opinion and It's up to the owners what they want to do as it's their site.

[N!ck]

Personally I don't see Habbo being particularly approving of this for one of their official fansites, but they can't really do anything because ads like this would pop up naturally from things like adsense anyway.

Presumably this sponsorship deal is worth more than Habbox bring in from adsense otherwise they wouldn't have done it, so this can only be a positive thing.

Plus I don't think people quite understand the costs of running something like this ;).

[immense]

I think General Management need to remember Habbo banned us from having a ClubTropica section and threatened Habbox with all sorts. That was when ---MAD--- was GM so you've all probably forgotten. Personally, I don't care. If the revenue is helping the forum, which it must be else I'm sure Jin (who has Habbox at heart) wouldn't have agreed such a deal.

[FlyingJesus]

How far does £500 get you in terms of running this site? Obviously I can't predict what Sulake might say about the sponsorship when it gets to them but if they did actually revoke official status I can see that as being pretty damaging in the long run, especially with the merge. Would be good to know an estimate of what it costs to keep Hx going before coming to any decision as to whether we agree with the sponsorship or not. On a completely non-commercial level, I think the game itself looks quite good.

[Calvin]

I actually don't blame Habbox. As Grig said, theres nothing in the fansite way about it and after all the years Habbox supported Sulake/Habbo, they just threw it back in their face with the no VIP rule, so this is the new way to make money to keep the Habbox up I guess. :)

[Jahova]

Are we allowed to discuss what knowledge the original 10 (or so) know about Kazopark or is our knowledge still off limits?

[Catzsy]

I think General Management need to remember Habbo banned us from having a ClubTropica section and threatened Habbox with all sorts. That was when ---MAD--- was GM so you've all probably forgotten. Personally, I don't care. If the revenue is helping the forum, which it must be else I'm sure Jin (who has Habbox at heart) wouldn't have agreed such a deal.

Club Tropica was never banned:
http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=461195&highlight=tropica
There was a specific section I think but then it was moved to online games as ---MAD--- said it would have to prove itself popular and the Beta was taking ages.
http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=410962&highlight=club+tropica
I also don't remember any talk of Habbo threatening Habbox with anything. You would probably have more insight into this as you were an AGM at the time but my guess is that if that was true then there may have been a copyright issue as Callie was one of the main people behind it.

[immense]

Club Tropica was never banned:
http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=461195&highlight=tropica
There was a specific section I think but then it was moved to online games as ---MAD--- said it would have to prove itself popular and the Beta was taking ages.
http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=410962&highlight=club+tropica
I also don't remember any talk of Habbo threatening Habbox with anything. You would probably have more insight into this as you were an AGM at the time but my guess is that if that was true then there may have been a copyright issue as Callie was one of the main people behind it.

Jin will probably remember. They wanted it removed and spoke to ---MAD--- directly. I probably still have the email somewhere. It was the UK Advertising Manager, UKChaserAl rather than the fansite representative for the UK Hotel. They saw it as a threat and they didn't want us to advertise it. We only advertised it as a favour to Just-One who specifically asked for a forum to be created and therefore we didn't remove it.

and has anyone been on CT lately lol? i just signed in

[Hecktix]

It costs a lot of money to run this site - and extra money is what we need.

Sulake may have an issue with it, but I am sure they can take that up with Jin :)

[Black_Apalachi]

... Is habbox trying to get their users to hop ships? I'm just really confused thats like facebook advertising myspace it just makes no sense, other than the money involved.

It's not like that at all. Sulake doesn't own Habbox.


... Habbox are starting to take sulakes footsteps by just wanting money money money.

Do you think running a website, a forum and a radio is free or something? :S I know for a fact that Jin along with one or two others maybe, pretty much fund most of Habbox's costs by themselves. A small portion is generated from adverts and the sale of Donator but a lot still needs to be contributed by the people at the top (I believe Sierk even throws a few pennies in now and again). Would be nice if people got their facts right before spouting nonsense.

If anyone is interested in being a sponsor of Habbox, then Habbox has no reason to decline their offer. As long as it's nothing that breaks the Habbo Way (sexually explicit etc) then it is quite frankly none of Sulake's business.

[N!ck]

How far does £500 get you in terms of running this site? Obviously I can't predict what Sulake might say about the sponsorship when it gets to them but if they did actually revoke official status I can see that as being pretty damaging in the long run, especially with the merge. Would be good to know an estimate of what it costs to keep Hx going before coming to any decision as to whether we agree with the sponsorship or not. On a completely non-commercial level, I think the game itself looks quite good.

Server costs will be something around $250-300 per month. Add on top of that software/licensing costs it could be $350+ per month.

Just estimates of course, I don't know what kind d of deals they got hold of.

[Catzsy]

Jin will probably remember. They wanted it removed and spoke to ---MAD--- directly. I probably still have the email somewhere. It was the UK Advertising Manager, UKChaserAl rather than the fansite representative for the UK Hotel. They saw it as a threat and they didn't want us to advertise it. We only advertised it as a favour to Just-One who specifically asked for a forum to be created and therefore we didn't remove it.

and has anyone been on CT lately lol? i just signed in

Interesting so it was the advert they banned - not sure if they would have the same influence now. I thought CT nevr got off the ground?

[Black_Apalachi]

Wasn't CT just down to bitterness with ex-staff or something anyway?

[alv4]

Easy, Habbox have to pay servers... This help this, I don't see any problem with this.

[Jordy]

I think ClubTropica's still trying to get off the ground? They basically used HabboRemix's CMS and renamed it.

While I've no real objection to Kazopark sponsorship, infact it's rather good for HabboxForum, I think it's a bit much that when you now google "HabboxForum" it now comes up with "Habbox Forum sponsored by Kazakow" - That's going to be off putting to new visitors and is a step too far IMO.

[Robbie]

Technically HabboxForum isn't official is it? Only Habbox.com?

[immense]

Interesting so it was the advert they banned - not sure if they would have the same influence now. I thought CT nevr got off the ground?

Nah CT was a fail of epic proportions :L

Anyway, the man who knows the figures are Jin and maybe Matt/Garion. Jin wouldn't have done this if it was bad for Habbox and through the process of elimination... that means it's good for Habbox :P and therefore I support it as I trust the owner and think everyone else should too :)

[Catzsy]

Nah CT was a fail of epic proportions :L

Anyway, the man who knows the figures are Jin and maybe Matt/Garion. Jin wouldn't have done this if it was bad for Habbox and through the process of elimination... that means it's good for Habbox :P and therefore I support it as I trust the owner and think everyone else should too :)


Sound post. You have hit the nail on the head there. :)

[GoldenMerc]

They want £300 a month for full advertisement so i guess thats how much KazoPark are paying

[Robbie]

Yeah they're probably paying more though cos their name is in the title bar aswell.

[GommeInc]

Looks like another waste of space online game that Habbox gets involved with and never takes off. Anyone remember that other game that was supposedly going to be released at one point, then as a BETA, then the date was pushed back and it NEVER came out? It caused so many arguments are was a pointless decision :/

I wouldn't hold my breath, and honestly don't see why Habbox are being sponsored by an MMORPG that has nothing to do with the theme of the fansite. Seems like a poor decision on both sides :/

[and I purposely logged in just to make this comment, it required a password change :'(]

[immense]

Looks like another waste of space online game that Habbox gets involved with and never takes off. Anyone remember that other game that was supposedly going to be released at one point, then as a BETA, then the date was pushed back and it NEVER came out? It caused so many arguments are was a pointless decision :/

I wouldn't hold my breath, and honestly don't see why Habbox are being sponsored by an MMORPG that has nothing to do with the theme of the fansite. Seems like a poor decision on both sides :/

ClubTropica, Ryan? Sure it has nothing to do with Habbo itself but I assume Jin was approached. He weighed up the pros and cons and determined it'd be worthwhile for Habbox. I can only assume it's giving Habbox more money which helps it stay open and eases the burden on sierk/Jin. Sure it doesn't benefit us but we have to look at the bigger picture. If it's helping them keep the site open then it is benefiting us in a round about way. I think we just need to embrace the fact that it's helping Habbox :)

[FlyingJesus]

If it's paying more than Google ads (which I'm guessing it must be or it wouldn't have been taken on) then it's a good thing. It's not like the ads we've had before are especially useful to us for anything other than revenue, so really whether the project itself succeeds or not is only of financial matter to the site as a whole - and who knows, the game might be fun for a few members anyway. I know I certainly plan to make treehouses this summer.

[Catzsy]

If it's paying more than Google ads (which I'm guessing it must be or it wouldn't have been taken on) then it's a good thing. It's not like the ads we've had before are especially useful to us for anything other than revenue, so really whether the project itself succeeds or not is only of financial matter to the site as a whole - and who knows, the game might be fun for a few members anyway. I know I certainly plan to make treehouses this summer.

Well it appears to be a pretty serious venture so I am with you on this one.

[GommeInc]

ClubTropica, Ryan? Sure it has nothing to do with Habbo itself but I assume Jin was approached. He weighed up the pros and cons and determined it'd be worthwhile for Habbox. I can only assume it's giving Habbox more money which helps it stay open and eases the burden on sierk/Jin. Sure it doesn't benefit us but we have to look at the bigger picture. If it's helping them keep the site open then it is benefiting us in a round about way. I think we just need to embrace the fact that it's helping Habbox :)
That's the one, the one that made the GM at the time a laughing stock.

I can only see it putting off new and current users. It seems a bit much chucking "is sponsored by" on the forum, when you could just force it into the GoogleAds by-passing AdBlock :/ That's if it actually takes off - the pictures on the website so far look disappointing and ugly.

[Nixt]

Looks like another waste of space online game that Habbox gets involved with and never takes off. Anyone remember that other game that was supposedly going to be released at one point, then as a BETA, then the date was pushed back and it NEVER came out? It caused so many arguments are was a pointless decision :/

I wouldn't hold my breath, and honestly don't see why Habbox are being sponsored by an MMORPG that has nothing to do with the theme of the fansite. Seems like a poor decision on both sides :/

You'd be surprised about how serious the Kazopark endeavour is on their part. It is actually very big and having spoken to the director on numerous occasions am aware that he is very committed to lifting this project off the ground. This is on a whole different level to ClubTropica, from my knowledge of that project anyway (which is I will admit, is comparatively minimal). Nevertheless Habbox are making considerable revenue from this sponsorship and of course, when the decision was made this was the deciding factor. The sponsorship will ensure that Habbox and its sites are able to run smoothly and efficiently and this is a very secure way of making sure this happens - adsense and donator in particular, were somewhat unpredictable in terms of the monthly revenue they produce.

In my opinion, totally non-related to the Habbox side of things, Kazopark will be a success. I am not expecting it (and neither do I think Kazopark staff are expecting it) to immediately rival Sulake or Habbo, nevertheless it has potential and may well surprise a lot of you. From a selfish point of view, Habbox will benefit from this sponsorship in the form of revenue whether Kazopark is successful or not - so we lose nothing.

It is not explicitly against the fansite way to be sponsored by a virtual game, neither is it against the fansite way to advertise them. I will reiterate however, that Habbo staff do have the contact details of members of General Management and can, therefore, get into contact if this new sponsorship troubles them.

[GommeInc]

No-one cares about Habbo anyway, though you should probably ask for special benefits if Habbox is suffering from a lack of revenue. Seeing as the fansite way seems to not exist anymore (though that may change when the websites/communities merge), there is no mention of premium services. The only mention is in an old News Article dating back to Feb 2010, and seeing as it's news article it's not an official document - like Habbox posting rare values in the news rather than on the rare values section of the site :P

Habbo should at least have some sort of backbone to allow websites that are struggling to offer some sort of support, especially as Habbox has been advertising Habbo - free of charge - for many years now.

And that doesn't excuse the terrible drawings I've seen, hopefully it would look better :/

[Nixt]

I am not quite sure how much I can give away but I can say Kazo is quite impressive and is good to look at and play.

The likelihood of Habbo helping us financially is zero, I would say. Sulake would suffer little financial damage, if any, if Habbox ceased to exist and therefore it will not benefit them to help us. We plan to open up communication regarding premium services, and other issues, following the merge.

[Blinger$]

Hmm, maybe you get special privliges garion but so far all kimber has said effectivly is that the alpha client has a lot of bugs and doesn't run very good yet. AND the alpha has been pushed back about a month or so now..

[Nixt]

I have now clarified what I am allowed to say :P. Having used the alpha client I will admit it is far from completion and there are still a lot of bugs that need addressing. What I am saying is, that in it's simplest form, Kazopark is looking good and appears to be on track to look even better :).

[Blinger$]

Can we show people the hand sketches that THE PUBLIC could find? :S

[Nixt]

If you are referring to the items on the Facebook group, you may, yes.

[Blinger$]

Okay good.

[Tintinnabulate]

To the person who asked the figures on Habbox:

The running cost on average is £300 per month, Google advertising revenue (when it is used) brings in about £225 per month.

[Dinosaurawrr]

I personally don't see what the big deal is. there is no rules in the fansite way that says you cannot do this.
and as for those saying Jin dont care... then more fool you because in all fairness he puts a hell of alot into habbox including money he gets nothing in return.. he gets no money in return. and he would not take anything even if he was allowed to. out of everyone here he has habbox at heart.
if he didnt think this was a good decision he wouldent of done it as to why im 100% sure its a good decision.

[Nixt]

Posting just so I can see above post. Server error.

[GommeInc]

I have now clarified what I am allowed to say :P. Having used the alpha client I will admit it is far from completion and there are still a lot of bugs that need addressing. What I am saying is, that in it's simplest form, Kazopark is looking good and appears to be on track to look even better :).
You would say that though, if you didn't you'd be fired :P

[immense]

You would say that though, if you didn't you'd be fired :P

Pretty sure he wouldn't.

[Hecktix]

You would say that though, if you didn't you'd be fired :P

Hmmm.. they may be paying Habbox but they aren't paying us enough to be their puppets, or promotional staff :P

I have tried out the Kazopark alpha too and from what I have seen it is a project that is making tremendous progress - of course with any new release of something there will be various setbacks, I mean just look how long it took vBulletin to release this version of vB4 we were awaiting for so long, I have a lot of faith in the project and I think it'll grow into something quite big - although as Garion said that's not really the priority of Habbox - Habbox's priority is to keep running and to keep running we need to pay a lot of money, as Saurav highlighted our monthly running costs are a lot and this money needs to come from somewhere and Kazopark are offering us this for simply showing a few ads and putting "Sponsored by Kazopark". Whether they fail or are a huge success - whilst their ads are on our sites they are paying Habbox money and whilst they are paying Habbox money I don't think anybody should be moaning - as they are helping us to stay open.

[MrPinkPanther]

Habbo prevented fansites from generating revenue from VIP. They need to stay up somehow, advertising is the only logicial solution. If Habbo don't like it then it is their own fault. Why should the Administrators of this forum have to lose hundreds of pounds on it every month just to keep it running? Habbo forced them to take advertisers like this, blame Habbo, not Habbox.

[GommeInc]

Seems a bit rude to change the title of the forum when a small mention in the GoogleAd section would be fine :/

Also, £300 - £225 = £75. Where's the donator? :P Surely the owners should dip in with personal costs, which other fansites no doubt do? :P

Meh, if Habbo don't like it then tough, their fault :P Maybe it'll make them reconsider their premium services? Even though that rule appears to not exist anymore :P

[Nixt]

Donator does not bring in that much per month. Certainly not £75. The owners do dip into their own pockets, not only for monthly costs but when a new feature is implemented or we upgrade servers etc. The Kazo sponsorship will cover general running costs but there are plenty of other costs that occur sporadically across the year that comes out of the pockets of Jin and sierk. I see no reason why we should not be trying to increase revenue by other methods, yes, they are the owners but nevertheless that doesn't mean they should have to pour loads of money into something that isn't at all profitable. If they can find a way of increasing revenue, why the hell shouldn't they do it?

[flatface]

Nice to see that Catzsy and Nixt are moderators on this Kazopark :P

Anyway if it's doing good for Habbox then I don't really care

[Hecktix]

Seems a bit rude to change the title of the forum when a small mention in the GoogleAd section would be fine :/

Also, £300 - £225 = £75. Where's the donator? :P Surely the owners should dip in with personal costs, which other fansites no doubt do? :P

Meh, if Habbo don't like it then tough, their fault :P Maybe it'll make them reconsider their premium services? Even though that rule appears to not exist anymore :P

Habbox's running costs are a lot more than most fansites though due to our sheer size and how much data we hold - it's a lot for Jin and sierk to do. I mean sierk still puts money into Habbox and he doesn't use it - so we do have some pretty good owners.

However, if you are running a "company" (where money goes in and out) then if that "company" (I use the term loosely) then you will be expected to float that company yourself, however if someone comes along and offers to sponsor you and pay X amount of money - you'd be a fool to say no.

[Martin]

Nice to see that Catzsy and Nixt are moderators on this Kazopark :P

Anyway if it's doing good for Habbox then I don't really care

:O Yay! Well done Rosie and Garion! :D x


I don't think being sponsoered by Kazopark is going to do us any harm. I think the pros outweigh the cons, in terms of revenue, and It will also be something nice to follow the success of.

[GommeInc]

Even when it defaces Habbox? It'll be fine if it didn't make Habbox look like it was owned by some unrelated site. Kazopark would of got better advertisement making an advert to go into the GoogleAd section, it's much more effective. Having it in the title of a forum seems a bit useless and a bit rude :/

[immense]

I don't understand why people are opposing this:

+ It's helping keep Habbox open
+ From what I gather for the first time in a long time sales from donor will actually be small profit (that can be spent on costs throughout the year)
+ It replaces the ads we had anyway - some of the ads caused issues anyway, won't be any with this.
+ Two fingers up at Habbo after the way they have treated their fansites.
+ Letting us try something new which we wouldn't have been aware of otherwise
+ It's helping someone who has aspirations for their game to succeed
+ It's only one forum, not going to kill us
+ Who cares if it says sponsored by Kazopark - how is this in any way detrimental? Admittedly, it isn't beneficial but at the same time it doesn't cause any negative effects.

[GommeInc]

+ Who cares if it says sponsored by Kazopark - how is this in any way detrimental? Admittedly, it isn't beneficial but at the same time it doesn't cause any negative effects.

Looks stupid and ruins the way Habbox is advertised :/ "Habbox, sponsored by Kazopark" looks tacky and unprofessional, like Habbox is admittedly showing off it has financial issues. It'll be beneficial for both parties to either change the logo at the top or have a mention in GoogleAds as a long running advert. Have the GoogleAds, then the Kazopark advert, then the GoogleAds - have the adverts revolve. Having the title change isn't beneficial for either, it means nothing for Habbox, and doesn't tell you what Kazopark is.

The rest of what you said is fine, anything to stick fingers up at Habbo but it does come off as tacky and admitting to financial issues for no reason :/

[immense]

Looks stupid and ruins the way Habbox is advertised :/ "Habbox, sponsored by Kazopark" looks tacky and unprofessional, like Habbox is admittedly showing off it has financial issues. It'll be beneficial for both parties to either change the logo at the top or have a mention in GoogleAds as a long running advert. Have the GoogleAds, then the Kazopark advert, then the GoogleAds - have the adverts revolve. Having the title change isn't beneficial for either, it means nothing for Habbox, and doesn't tell you what Kazopark is.

The rest of what you said is fine, anything to stick fingers up at Habbo but it does come off as tacky and admitting to financial issues for no reason :/

I don't know if the situation has changed but when nvrspk4 was GM he said if the site continued to run at the loss it was then it'd have to close. The post is in feedback somewhere. The fact this 'deal' covers all of the monthly running costs will hopefully mean sierk and Jin don't have to dip into their own pockets as much as they would have otherwise. Habbox does/did have financial struggles, there is no shame in admitting that. I don't see how it looks tacky? All companies have sponsorship deals, Manchester City, the richest club in the world have a shirt sponsor - is that tacky or admitting to financial issues? No.

Also, something I didn't add but I have just thought of. Although I'm unsure of how Kazopark operates maybe when it opens people from HxF will go on there to see the fuss. Well they certainly will and they'll mention HxF, it could even attract people who know Kazopark from other advertisements to see what HxF is and give it a run.

[GommeInc]

Lol, fail. These places don't deface their companies to satisfy another :rolleyes: These places that sponsor these companies e.g. Powergen for the news WILL mention they sponsor these places, as it's a give/give situation. The Kaiserpark sponship just appears to deface Habbox (Google search for example) making it come off as tacky. And you seem to not have anything to say on the fact changing the forum name doesn't benefit both Kazerpark and Habbox :P A change to the forum logo like "Sponsored by Katerpark" in the corner would look a little bit nicer and wouldn't make Habbox look tacky for new visitors.

And why would a company advertise that they sponsor a fansite? They so wouldn't do that when it opens, it'll make them look stupid.

[immense]

Lol, fail. These places don't deface their companies to satisfy another :rolleyes: These places that sponsor these companies e.g. Powergen for the news WILL mention they sponsor these places, as it's a give/give situation. The Kaiserpark sponship just appears to deface Habbox (Google search for example) making it come off as tacky. And you seem to not have anything to say on the fact changing the forum name doesn't benefit both Kazerpark and Habbox :P A change to the forum logo like "Sponsored by Katerpark" in the corner would look a little bit nicer and wouldn't make Habbox look tacky for new visitors.

Fail? :S

Also, the tacky argument you keep persisting with is irrelevant because it's your opinion. You think it looks tacky, I think it looks fine. I'm sure having "sponsored by..." isn't going to affect a potential users decision on whether to sign up. It will have no influence whatsoever. I don't think "right, i'm not watching BGT because it's sponsored by a pizza company and I don't like pizza". It's completely irrelevant - sponsorship deals are everywhere. Why? Because they help both parties. The fact the forum name has changed might not benefit Habbox but the money Kazopark has paid to have the name like it is, does. Therefore, it is beneficial to Habbox. Habbox needs to do anything to increase revenue to ensure they can update as and when they need too which again will benefit us, as users. I see no downside in ensuring Habbox remains open. Clearly you see it differently. Although, it's unclear as to why you can't see this opportunity was far too good to turn down.

[Nixt]

Rather than it being tacky, I think it's massively beneficial. If Kazopark takes off, or even generates a tiny minority of the interest I expect it to, a Google search of Kazopark brings up Habbox.com and the Forum, too which is great for us.

[GommeInc]

It's not just tacky, it's pointless which you seem to keep avoiding :S It has no benefits and is over-stepping the mark. For a Habbo Fansite, something that is so worthless, all they would need to do is to change the logo and obviously the GoogleAd section, although judging by my Habbox Forum homepage, someone's stupidly put it down as an advertisement when it should just be an image with a link on top. It's a sponsorship, not an advertisement deal, so that would need changing as again, Kazopark are not getting ANY benefits from that (unless the image hasn't been added yet, then ignore this) :P

So you'd rather Habbox deface themselves? Yeah, the money is fine, but Kazopark are definitely over-stepping the mark. A website name should just be the name, not the sponsor, not for an online community. Last time I checked, Facebook/Myspace didn't list EVERY sponsor, they just have non-blockable adverts which is what should be going on here, but for some reason Kazopark have somehow taken over Habbox, rather than sponsored them. I'm amazed you can't see this? :S The sponsorship is fine, but having to deface basic things like the website title/name is a bit rude and unnecessary - it's only a sponsorship deal, not a take over which is looks like it is becoming.

EDIT: Also, what happened to gaining new members? Do you really just want people visiting the website? Yeah, a search for Kazopark brings up Habbox (though it most likely won't when it takes off, as bigger websites will push Habbox down the page), but it wouldn't bring in the right people. Searchers will find Habbox and go "Oh, this seems irrelevant", so it goes against the plans Habbox set a while ago, it seems :S Especially when it's advertising another rival MMORPG, especially one that is huge = Sulake/Habbo.

[N!ck]

I do think it looks horrible in the title, but this negative is easily outweighed by the $$$.

Also if it takes off you have what Garion mentioned above.

This is a good thing for Habbox. The fact that another company is willing to put some cash upfront for Habbox means there is some value in it.

[immense]

It's not just tacky, it's pointless which you seem to keep avoiding :S It has no benefits and is over-stepping the mark. For a Habbo Fansite, something that is so worthless, all they would need to do is to change the logo and obviously the GoogleAd section, although judging by my Habbox Forum homepage, someone's stupidly put it down as an advertisement when it should just be an image with a link on top. It's a sponsorship, not an advertisement deal, so that would need changing as again, Kazopark are not getting ANY benefits from that (unless the image hasn't been added yet, then ignore this) :P


Rather than it being tacky, I think it's massively beneficial. If Kazopark takes off, or even generates a tiny minority of the interest I expect it to, a Google search of Kazopark brings up Habbox.com and the Forum, too which is great for us.

touche.


So you'd rather Habbox deface themselves? Yeah, the money is fine, but Kazopark are definitely over-stepping the mark. A website name should just be the name, not the sponsor, not for an online community. Last time I checked, Facebook/Myspace didn't list EVERY sponsor, they just have non-blockable adverts which is what should be going on here, but for some reason Kazopark have somehow taken over Habbox, rather than sponsored them. I'm amazed you can't see this? :S The sponsorship is fine, but having to deface basic things like the website title/name is a bit rude and unnecessary - it's only a sponsorship deal, not a take over which is looks like it is becoming.

Over-stepping the mark?! What on Earth - you're looking way too deep into this. They're not at all. They want to succeed, they're paying Habbox (LET ME STRESS AGAIN MONEY KEEPS HABBOX OPEN. MONEY KEEPS HABBOX OPEN. MONEY KEEPS HABBOX OPEN) to do so. They have no power on the forum. They don't dictate anything on here. They have a coloured username so they can be differentiated from other users in their Kazopark forum. That is all. They have no powers and won't be exercising any power (fundamentally because they don't have any) to the detriment of Habbox.

[Jordy]

It's not just tacky, it's pointless which you seem to keep avoiding :S It has no benefits and is over-stepping the mark. For a Habbo Fansite, something that is so worthless, all they would need to do is to change the logo and obviously the GoogleAd section, although judging by my Habbox Forum homepage, someone's stupidly put it down as an advertisement when it should just be an image with a link on top. It's a sponsorship, not an advertisement deal, so that would need changing as again, Kazopark are not getting ANY benefits from that (unless the image hasn't been added yet, then ignore this) :P

So you'd rather Habbox deface themselves? Yeah, the money is fine, but Kazopark are definitely over-stepping the mark. A website name should just be the name, not the sponsor, not for an online community. Last time I checked, Facebook/Myspace didn't list EVERY sponsor, they just have non-blockable adverts which is what should be going on here, but for some reason Kazopark have somehow taken over Habbox, rather than sponsored them. I'm amazed you can't see this? :S The sponsorship is fine, but having to deface basic things like the website title/name is a bit rude and unnecessary - it's only a sponsorship deal, not a take over which is looks like it is becoming.

EDIT: Also, what happened to gaining new members? Do you really just want people visiting the website? Yeah, a search for Kazopark brings up Habbox (though it most likely won't when it takes off, as bigger websites will push Habbox down the page), but it wouldn't bring in the right people. Searchers will find Habbox and go "Oh, this seems irrelevant", so it goes against the plans Habbox set a while ago, it seems :SWhile I'm not too fussed about them actually being sponsored by Kazopark they have gone a bit too far in some areas such as changing the title I totally have to agree, the site seems a bit too closely linked with Kazakow now it even comes up on Google Searches (Which is totally unheard of for me). I think there is definitely a risk of confusing new users and even putting them off, right now is not a time to put people off. In the next few days HabboxForum is going to have it's biggest ever opportunity to expand and it will never happen again, it has the chance to dominate not just the UK Fansite community but the whole English speaking community which opens it up to so many more people. I don't wish to go on a sub-rant about how more should be done but I don't think linking up with some unheard of website is going to encourage new people to sign up. People like a close knit and personal community when it comes to forums, not a commercial money-making scheme where the users are cattle clicking adverts.

[xxMATTGxx]

I'm not a big fan of it in the title but if that's part of the deal, then that's part of the deal. It reminds me of IE in some aspects but I'm not hugely bothered about it. I doubt it will be changing to be honest, unless they change their minds regarding it. The whole thing will benefit both websites if Kazopark does good, which I'm sure it will.

[GommeInc]

They've changed the website name dear, it's over-stepping the mark ;) A sponsor doesn't usually force the sponsored to change the name of their website. The money is fine, I'm not disagreeing dear, I'm disagreeing with the take-over bid, especially when it will not benefit Kazopark once open - Habbox is one big Habbo advert :P


While I'm not too fussed about them actually being sponsored by Kazopark they have gone a bit too far in some areas such as changing the title I totally have to agree, the site seems a bit too closely linked with Kazakow now it even comes up on Google Searches (Which is totally unheard of for me). I think there is definitely a risk of confusing new users and even putting them off, right now is not a time to put people off. In the next few days HabboxForum is going to have it's bigger ever opportunity to expand it and it will never happen again, it has the chance to dominate not just the UK Fansite community but the whole English speaking community which opens it up to so many more people. I don't wish to go on a sub-rant about how more should be done but I don't think linking up with some unheard of website is going to encourage new people to sign up. People like a close knit and personal community when it comes to forums, not a commercial money-making scheme where the users are cattle clicking adverts.
Finally, someone else who noticed it now contradicts the plans for Habbox to gain new Habbo members and knows that sponsors do not usually change the name of websites, especially fansites of a rival company.

[immense]

They've changed the website name dear, it's over-stepping the mark ;)

You're right, people are going to stop calling this forum HxF and call it sponsored by Kazo...

[GommeInc]

You're right, people are going to stop calling this forum HxF and call it sponsored by Kazo...
Nice pointless post dear ;) It's not that people will call it something different, that's stupid, it's the fact that for some reason, Habbox think it's fine to deface themselves for a website that is already a laughing stock for sponsoring the website of a rival MMORPG, they're effectively paying you to advertise for a rival company, aren't Kazopark clever :P

It won't advertise Habbox very well, Kazopark users will wonder why Kazopark are advertising/sponsoring a Habbo fansite and Habbo users will wonder why a fansite has defected to a rival company.

Also, it's pointless and quite rude, as again, sponsors do not usually ask the sponsored to change their name. But as you're desperate... :P

[immense]

Nice pointless post dear ;) It's not that people will call it something different, that's stupid, it's the fact that for some reason, Habbox think it's fine to deface themselves for a website that is already a laughing stock for sponsoring the website of a rival MMORPG, they're effectively paying you to advertise for a rival company, aren't Kazopark clever :P

It won't advertise Habbox very well, Kazopark users will wonder why Kazopark are advertising/sponsoring a Habbo fansite and Habbo users will wonder why a fansite has defected to a rival company.

Also, it's pointless and quite rude, as again, sponsors do not usually ask the sponsored to change their name. But as you're desperate... :P

Kazopark are advertising an MMORPG? Your point? MMORPGs aren't rivals with Habbox like you suggested. If HxF was sponsored by ClubHabbo I'd accept your posts. The changing of the forum name, although not detrimental, isn't beneficial either. I have acknowledged your point far too many times but your desperation has led to you increasing it time and time again. Also, to label Kazopark as a laughing stock is silly, you can't determine that having known about it for 24 hours. Sponsors don't usually ask the sponsored to change their name - yes :S They have however so we have to build a bridge and get over it. The pros to Habbox outweigh the cons you have mentioned. Jin would have weighed them up against one another and seeing as he himself owns Habbox we should trust his judgement.

[xxMATTGxx]

Nice pointless post dear ;) It's not that people will call it something different, that's stupid, it's the fact that for some reason, Habbox think it's fine to deface themselves for a website that is already a laughing stock for sponsoring the website of a rival MMORPG, they're effectively paying you to advertise for a rival company, aren't Kazopark clever :P

It won't advertise Habbox very well, Kazopark users will wonder why Kazopark are advertising/sponsoring a Habbo fansite and Habbo users will wonder why a fansite has defected to a rival company.

Also, it's pointless and quite rude, as again, sponsors do not usually ask the sponsored to change their name. But as you're desperate... :P

Maybe they wanted to be different? Just because you and others may of never seen such sponsorships before. Doesn't mean it is not possible and not allowed!

[GommeInc]

Maybe they wanted to be different? Just because you and others may of never seen such sponsorships before. Doesn't mean it is not possible and not allowed!
It's not different, it just unusual :P It comes off as desperate, sponsorships happen all the time and usually the results are a few unblockable ads and a change in the logos. Not changing the name, especially not on a community website that is blatantly advertising the rival company.


Kazopark are advertising an MMORPG? Your point? MMORPGs aren't rivals with Habbox like you suggested. If HxF was sponsored by ClubHabbo I'd accept your posts. The changing of the forum name, although not detrimental, isn't beneficial either. I have acknowledged your point far too many times but your desperation has led to you increasing it time and time again. Also, to label Kazopark as a laughing stock is silly, you can't determine that having known about it for 24 hours. Sponsors don't usually ask the sponsored to change their name - yes They have however so we have to build a bridge and get over it. The pros to Habbox outweigh the cons you have mentioned. Jin would have weighed them up against one another and seeing as he himself owns Habbox we should trust his judgement.
Kazopark are advertising a rival MMORPG ;) Habbox is a Habbo fansite correct? Habbox is advertising a rival MMORPG, so it contradicts the point of the website. I can't honestly believe that Kazopark isn't an attempt of an MMORPG to rival Habbo that isn't from someone within Habbo or Habbox like with ClubTropica, as I cannot honestly believe a company would contact (or allowed to be contacted) by a fansite that blatantly advertises a rival company.

Google search Kazopark = Habbox Sponsored by Kazopark *click* No mention of what Kazopark is and the forum is blatantly advertising Habbo as there are loads of links to it.

Like Apple sponsoring a Windows fansite, makes no sense :P

[hah]

no offense or anything, but if the website was run properly... maybe staff wouldn't need to dip into their pockets. for some reason every manager has vip.... take that away and make them buy it if they want to have a different colour name.... they signed up for the job, not to receive vip. so what if its a reward for service. I could list loads more other things lol thats just one :P

but the thing up the top doesn't really bother me
http://ragezone.com/ use to be sponsored by a site every now and thats real popular

[Hecktix]

no offense or anything, but if the website was run properly... maybe staff wouldn't need to dip into their pockets. for some reason every manager has vip.... take that away and make them buy it if they want to have a different colour name.... they signed up for the job, not to receive vip. so what if its a reward for service. I could list loads more other things lol thats just one :P

but the thing up the top doesn't really bother me
http://ragezone.com/ use to be sponsored by a site every now and thats real popular

If Managers had to buy donator (which some actually do) then that'd be an extra £10(ish idk how many managers there are) to the monthly fund, which is peanuts in comparison to what kazopark pay us.

[FlyingJesus]

In my (expert) opinion, having a sponsor while other sites merely have Google ads like commoners makes us look like something worth investing in, rather than sellouts who've been "defaced".

[hah]

its still £10 less the owners dont have to rake from their own money :rolleyes:
an since you think its peanuts im sure you wouldn't mind giving it monthly to habbox when kazo end their sponsorship :rolleyes:

[Hecktix]

its still £10 less the owners dont have to rake from their own money :rolleyes:
an since you think its peanuts im sure you wouldn't mind giving it monthly to habbox when kazo end their sponsorship :rolleyes:

I already donate quite a bit to Habbox each month :)

[xxMATTGxx]

Regarding Managers. I know quite a lot of them buy donator for other users, so it isn't all that bad you may think it is.

[FlyingJesus]

Oh yeah how long is this sponsorship for I don't recall that having been said yet my bad if it has

[Black_Apalachi]

I don't understand why people are opposing this:

+ It's helping keep Habbox open
+ From what I gather for the first time in a long time sales from donor will actually be small profit (that can be spent on costs throughout the year)
+ It replaces the ads we had anyway - some of the ads caused issues anyway, won't be any with this.
+ Two fingers up at Habbo after the way they have treated their fansites.
+ Letting us try something new which we wouldn't have been aware of otherwise
+ It's helping someone who has aspirations for their game to succeed
+ It's only one forum, not going to kill us
+ Who cares if it says sponsored by Kazopark - how is this in any way detrimental? Admittedly, it isn't beneficial but at the same time it doesn't cause any negative effects.

Summed it up pretty well. I don't get the tacky argument either - surely having a sponsor who feel Habbox is worth investing in is far superior to being Google's ***** like all the other fansites?

Anyway is it even any of our business? I mean Habbox's management will only do what is best for Habbox so let them get on with it and you never know, it just might have positive effects in the future.

[Blinger$]

Habbox's running costs are a lot more than most fansites though due to our sheer size and how much data we hold - it's a lot for Jin and sierk to do. I mean sierk still puts money into Habbox and he doesn't use it - so we do have some pretty good owners.

However, if you are running a "company" (where money goes in and out) then if that "company" (I use the term loosely) then you will be expected to float that company yourself, however if someone comes along and offers to sponsor you and pay X amount of money - you'd be a fool to say no.
... its his site, of course he should still pay money.

[Tintinnabulate]

Why the hell are people still flaming the fact that Habbox is being sponsored? If you bloody hate the title so much, use a different skin such as Non-Habbo Light for a while where the title hasn't been altered. People on this forum seem to moan way too much about any change.

Lets get this straight: Habbox as a whole needs a lot of money per month to run.

Kazopark are providing that money, thus helping Habbox. If I go on a forum and see that it says "BlahBlah is sponsored by..." I wouldn't give a crap as I know its just advertisement. What I care about on any forum is the content and quality of posts. If someone is truly bothered by the fact it says "Sponsored by Kazopark" in the title, then they have some serious issues.

Its not going to put off new users.

Habbox users should feel lucky that Jin even pays out of his own pocket when even he now rarely uses it. Yes he owns it, but for him and sierk, if they only care about money, they would have sold it a long time ago instead of constantly putting their own money onto something which they now rarely use.
Many people would close a site down if it was making a loss. I know I would. I let RapidLinks make a loss for the first few months when I started it, then it made me thousands of pounds per month so I continued it. I know if it had continued to make a loss, I wouldn't have kept it open. It had pop unders, yet the hits increased - shows majority of the people dont care about the ads, but about the content.

A lot of money for:
* Just a change in title for the main skin
* A banner
* A new forum

Why not?

And how the hell is this sponsor deal rude :S Wth...

[GommeInc]

And how the hell is this sponsor deal rude :S Wth...
Sponsors do not usually, if at all, request the sponsored website to change the name of the website, unless they are literally owning the website or have sponsored a lot of money. Last I looked it wasn't a lot, and it still makes no sense for Kazopark, but if they want to waste their money advertising a rival company then fair play :P Kick in the teeth for Habbo and Kazopark :P

[W00TZEH]

Hi, just so you know. Kids of today aren't interested in crappy little chat rooms, they're more interested in xbox live and PSN. Advertising on a forum with 200-400users, most of which no longer play Habbo, these will just try the game for a day and never go back to it. The only way to get users is to advertise on TV or in Magazine or even on Facebook. Seems like a waste of money and the project will fail because you're advertising in the wrong places.

[GommeInc]

They're already on Facebook :) Ideally, they should of gone to social websites with a wide audience and maybe paid agencies to advertise. I'm not entirely sure who got in contact with who either, it would be odd of Habbox to do it and Kazopark getting in a contact with a fansite of a rival MMORPG is so bizarre, but then again Habbox has always taken a unique way of looking at things :

It does seem like negotiation went out the window with common sense when this deal with Kazopark went through though, it'll be interesting to see if another ClubTropica comes out of this, but with an actual product that was close to, or is, completed.

[W00TZEH]

I wouldn't be surprised if part of their staff were from ClubTropica. and when you say they're on facebook do you mean ads on the right of the page? or a fan page?

[Eckuii]

Who is it that decides that changing the forum name is over stepping any mark? At the end of the day I don't come on HabboxForum and spend my day looking at the top of this webpage to see that "Habbox is sponsored by" whoever.

I see Habbox as a business. to run any business successfully, you need low costs which leads to high revenue. The cost to run this fansite is over £3000 a year, which sierk once discussed in confidence some years back. When sierk took over the running of this site, he put money in to the site as any business person does when they start up a new business. After a while, the business makes money and then operates at a profit, which at one point Habbox certainly did. This is evident as sierk used to pay the main managers for working for this fansite. Although this was only a small amount it was clear that Habbox was making a profit. VIP helped immensely towards this. When Habbo made the decision to get rid of VIP status's on fansites, it must have being expected that fansites would have to make their money elsewhere. I don't see any problem with Habbox going elsewhere, even to a rival site, to get money for the running of this site. Why should it come out of people's pockets at the expense of Habbo's decision which had no effect on them at all? If Habbo wants to shoot themselves in the foot, then let them crack on. They make enough money anyway judging by their statement about quarterly figures.

This new "rival" to habbo is just getting of the ground. Habbo, I am sure has had many websites try, and fail to compete with them. Im sure at this moment they are unconcerned about the prospect of where this site could go as it is only in the small stages. Something like this isn't a huge competition to Habbo, as of yet. Users of this forum will undoubtably be interesting in this new website, I already want to give it a visit from all this speculation. Its therefore profitable for Krazopark to advertise their business on a fansite which has the ideal target audience. Alternatively, if Krazopark become big, it will obviously still have to improve to be better than Habbo. If this site is still advertising Krazopark, members from their may decide to use Habbo.

This could be a step in a different direction for Habbox, like many people have said, Habbo has never done anything for Habbox. If Krazopark does become big, it may remember where it got help from to begin with and repay Habbox in a positive way, perhaps seeing Habbox changing to Krazox and leaving the Habbo community. Who actually knows what will happen? The thing I like is that Habbo has ultimately forced Habbox's hand in to making this decision and it could come round to them losing members from Habbo to another fansite. Habbo should remember what made Habbo UK good for its members, and that was a fansite.

[hah]

Why the hell are people still flaming the fact that Habbox is being sponsored? If you bloody hate the title so much, use a different skin such as Non-Habbo Light for a while where the title hasn't been altered. People on this forum seem to moan way too much about any change.

Lets get this straight: Habbox as a whole needs a lot of money per month to run.

Kazopark are providing that money, thus helping Habbox. If I go on a forum and see that it says "BlahBlah is sponsored by..." I wouldn't give a crap as I know its just advertisement. What I care about on any forum is the content and quality of posts. If someone is truly bothered by the fact it says "Sponsored by Kazopark" in the title, then they have some serious issues.

Its not going to put off new users.

Habbox users should feel lucky that Jin even pays out of his own pocket when even he now rarely uses it. Yes he owns it, but for him and sierk, if they only care about money, they would have sold it a long time ago instead of constantly putting their own money onto something which they now rarely use.
Many people would close a site down if it was making a loss. I know I would. I let RapidLinks make a loss for the first few months when I started it, then it made me thousands of pounds per month so I continued it. I know if it had continued to make a loss, I wouldn't have kept it open. It had pop unders, yet the hits increased - shows majority of the people dont care about the ads, but about the content.

A lot of money for:
* Just a change in title for the main skin
* A banner
* A new forum

Why not?

And how the hell is this sponsor deal rude :S Wth...

oh how ironic

[xxMATTGxx]

Why Habbox:

They did research before even approaching any of the habbo fansites and seeing what comes up poplar when you google “Habbo”. After they found Habbox, they monitored it and checked the forum/site and see if it was the right thing for them and most importantly appropriate for their advertising/sponsorship scheme. They want to attract attention and possible members when they are ready for them, which a Habbo fansite is a perfect example. Either way it's good for both parties and everyone should realise that.

You may not like the title that says it is sponsored by Kazopark, but you will get used to it. It isn't the end of the world.

[Tintinnabulate]

Sponsors do not usually, if at all, request the sponsored website to change the name of the website, unless they are literally owning the website or have sponsored a lot of money. Last I looked it wasn't a lot, and it still makes no sense for Kazopark, but if they want to waste their money advertising a rival company then fair play :P Kick in the teeth for Habbo and Kazopark :P

All it is, is kazopark paying Habbox a amount to get a banner, title changed on main skin and forum. Sponsor is just a word they are using.

To sponsor something is to support an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. A sponsor is the individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor.


Hi, just so you know. Kids of today aren't interested in crappy little chat rooms, they're more interested in xbox live and PSN. Advertising on a forum with 200-400users, most of which no longer play Habbo, these will just try the game for a day and never go back to it. The only way to get users is to advertise on TV or in Magazine or even on Facebook. Seems like a waste of money and the project will fail because you're advertising in the wrong places.

Actually majority of the forum users do still play Habbo. This is backed up by a poll done by HabboxForum a while ago.

[Martin]

I think it looks a lot better than the google adds, and as others have said, it's more professional in a way, having an official sponsor, and not a load of random adds invading the page anymore. These guys are creating a brand new game, which is quite unique and already seems quite popular with beta signups. This can only be a good thing for our site/forum, as they should drive traffic into each other I think. I think we should be happy they chose us for this sponsorship, and I really don't think it's a huge issue at all replacing the google adds banner with the kazopark one. It's something which will be interesting to follow, and It's also a great financial boost to Habbox.

[Tintinnabulate]

They're already on Facebook :) Ideally, they should of gone to social websites with a wide audience and maybe paid agencies to advertise. I'm not entirely sure who got in contact with who either, it would be odd of Habbox to do it and Kazopark getting in a contact with a fansite of a rival MMORPG is so bizarre, but then again Habbox has always taken a unique way of looking at things :

It does seem like negotiation went out the window with common sense when this deal with Kazopark went through though, it'll be interesting to see if another ClubTropica comes out of this, but with an actual product that was close to, or is, completed.

HabboxForum's members are kazopark is aimed at - so for them it was a good place to advertise - people who are interested (or were) in these types of games.

[hah]

All it is, is kazopark paying Habbox a amount to get a banner, title changed on main skin and forum. Sponsor is just a word they are using.

To sponsor something is to support an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. A sponsor is the individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor.




Actually majority of the forum users do still play Habbo. This is backed up by a poll done by HabboxForum a while ago.


a while ago isnt when mad was gm lol

[W00TZEH]

All it is, is kazopark paying Habbox a amount to get a banner, title changed on main skin and forum. Sponsor is just a word they are using.

To sponsor something is to support an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. A sponsor is the individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor.



Actually majority of the forum users do still play Habbo. This is backed up by a poll done by HabboxForum a while ago.
All it is, is Samsung paying Chelsea FC an amount of money to get their brand on the kit and around the stadium, sponsor is just a word they are using???

[Axel]

I've not seen the advert at all, love adblock.

[Tintinnabulate]

Who is it that decides that changing the forum name is over stepping any mark? At the end of the day I don't come on HabboxForum and spend my day looking at the top of this webpage to see that "Habbox is sponsored by" whoever.

I see Habbox as a business. to run any business successfully, you need low costs which leads to high revenue. The cost to run this fansite is over £3000 a year, which sierk once discussed in confidence some years back. When sierk took over the running of this site, he put money in to the site as any business person does when they start up a new business. After a while, the business makes money and then operates at a profit, which at one point Habbox certainly did. This is evident as sierk used to pay the main managers for working for this fansite. Although this was only a small amount it was clear that Habbox was making a profit. VIP helped immensely towards this. When Habbo made the decision to get rid of VIP status's on fansites, it must have being expected that fansites would have to make their money elsewhere. I don't see any problem with Habbox going elsewhere, even to a rival site, to get money for the running of this site. Why should it come out of people's pockets at the expense of Habbo's decision which had no effect on them at all? If Habbo wants to shoot themselves in the foot, then let them crack on. They make enough money anyway judging by their statement about quarterly figures.

This new "rival" to habbo is just getting of the ground. Habbo, I am sure has had many websites try, and fail to compete with them. Im sure at this moment they are unconcerned about the prospect of where this site could go as it is only in the small stages. Something like this isn't a huge competition to Habbo, as of yet. Users of this forum will undoubtably be interesting in this new website, I already want to give it a visit from all this speculation. Its therefore profitable for Krazopark to advertise their business on a fansite which has the ideal target audience. Alternatively, if Krazopark become big, it will obviously still have to improve to be better than Habbo. If this site is still advertising Krazopark, members from their may decide to use Habbo.

This could be a step in a different direction for Habbox, like many people have said, Habbo has never done anything for Habbox. If Krazopark does become big, it may remember where it got help from to begin with and repay Habbox in a positive way, perhaps seeing Habbox changing to Krazox and leaving the Habbo community. Who actually knows what will happen? The thing I like is that Habbo has ultimately forced Habbox's hand in to making this decision and it could come round to them losing members from Habbo to another fansite. Habbo should remember what made Habbo UK good for its members, and that was a fansite.

Welcome back Eckuii, not seen you in a long time. Great post. Sums it all up nicely.


oh how ironic

A majority of my posts are actually suggestions and feedback :rolleyes:

[immense]

I agree though it's a misconception the majority of us don't play Habbo. I've seen the majority of people in this thread on Habbo lol :S Just because we don't post in Habbo or Trading, there is a huge Habbo fanbase on here.

[Tintinnabulate]

a while ago isnt when mad was gm lol

No, a while ago is this year. Maybe you should ask for clarification before presuming silly things. There have been 3 ex-GMs since MAD left ...

---------- Post added 07-06-2010 at 12:23 PM ----------


All it is, is Samsung paying Chelsea FC an amount of money to get their brand on the kit and around the stadium, sponsor is just a word they are using???

But they dont get Chelsea to change their titles etc. I guess I used the wrong phrase/line or whatever to get my point across. Basically all it seems is they have asked Habbox how much it will cost to get blah blah and got a quote and most likely negotiated it.

[GommeInc]

But they dont get Chelsea to change their titles etc. I guess I used the wrong phrase/line or whatever to get my point across. Basically all it seems is they have asked Habbox how much it will cost to get blah blah and got a quote and most likely negotiated it.
Quite poorly too, seeing as the sponsored by line doesn't really tell you anything about Kazabian. Usually sponsorships that have such lines are websites that replicate or show off the services, yet, as I keep saying, Habbox is a walking talking Habbo advert, so it comes off as pointless having it. It's interesting that a website/business like Kasberkistan has got in contact with Habbox, a website that has limited users AND advertises the enemy, did it in the first place. Mass-advertising on Facebook, Myspace, Bebo and any related media sites would of been wiser. I'm still getting over the shock that Kerzbaco isn't just people from Habbox/Habbo/ClubTropica trying again :/

[Tintinnabulate]

Quite poorly too, seeing as the sponsored by line doesn't really tell you anything about Kazabian. Usually sponsorships that have such lines are websites that replicate or show off the services, yet, as I keep saying, Habbox is a walking talking Habbo advert, so it comes off as pointless having it. It's interesting that a website/business like Kasberkistan has got in contact with Habbox, a website that has limited users AND advertises the enemy, did it in the first place. Mass-advertising on Facebook, Myspace, Bebo and any related media sites would of been wiser. I'm still getting over the shock that Kerzbaco isn't just people from Habbox/Habbo/ClubTropica trying again :/

Depends on how much they have to advertise really.

[GommeInc]

It's a sponsorship, you should be able to negotiate away from having to put a "sponsored by", especially when the title tag in a website (which effectively is the name) is an important part of advertising a business. Besides, if they gave Habbox alot of money, they probably should of done the smart thing like Wootzeh said and gone elsewhere where the userbase is larger and the website/company can outreach to a large audience. Either way, this sponsorship seems a bit dodgy, but it's their money they're wasting. It's worth asking to remove the sponsored by line, it's a bit stupid when it serves little purpose. They'd have more luck asking for the logo having a small mention and non-removable advert in the advert area (one that isn't a GoogleAd or equivilent that can be blocked through AdBockers), even though you can block them through other means :P

[FlyingJesus]

Quite poorly too, seeing as the sponsored by line doesn't really tell you anything about Kazabian. Usually sponsorships that have such lines are websites that replicate or show off the services, yet, as I keep saying, Habbox is a walking talking Habbo advert, so it comes off as pointless having it. It's interesting that a website/business like Kasberkistan has got in contact with Habbox, a website that has limited users AND advertises the enemy, did it in the first place. Mass-advertising on Facebook, Myspace, Bebo and any related media sites would of been wiser. I'm still getting over the shock that Kerzbaco isn't just people from Habbox/Habbo/ClubTropica trying again :/

So have you now switched your opinion from Habbox having made a bad deal to Kazopark having done so? You seem to be suggesting in more recent posts that they're getting the raw end, which would be giving us the upper hand and therefore not being anything to complain about.

Personally I see it as win-win (as the owners of each obviously do too) - Habbox gets a far higher revenue than we usually would have with just Google ads, and Kazopark get the biggest Habbo fansite userbase seeing their advertisement. I'm not sure if you know how advertising works but going for your specific target audience is generally seen as a good thing rather than pointless, and it's almost certainly a few hundred percent cheaper than trying to advertise on social networking sites, which they can maybe move onto once they have the initial userbase set up but would be of no benefit whatsoever right now.

[GommeInc]

Habbox is a tiny userbase, they could get a wider userbase by focusing their attention to Facebook and/or other large multi-media social websites, maybe even expanding into advertising in GoogleAds or going straight to news websites and/or magazines with the idea, which is technically how effective advertising goes - advertising on a tiny website (in comparison to many out there) is a waste of money, especially when it is technically a rival website seeing as fansites are just adverts. It's quite worrying if they are so happy to waste their money on poor advertising, gives off a strange impression especially when sponsors usually mention what they are sponsoring on their own websites, especially when they seem to be asking for websites to add it to the title of the website, the bit that appears in search engines. Habbox's only poor decision was putting the sponsored by line which just comes off as pointless whereby it says nothing of Kazopo - Habbox obviously links more to and talking about Habbo, so you'd expect to read something about Kazopo, but you don't :P You could have it as a notice or advert in the area, with may be adjusting the banner, which Habbo do when they get sponsored, and it could well effect any new users coming from Habbo which was the intention not long ago in past discussions about declining numbers, though unlikely :/

[FlyingJesus]

A "tiny" userbase of people who are here (or were originally) specifically because of Habbo would appear to be the perfect small platform for starting up such a site. Considering the huge number of companies and sites that advertise on Facebook, most of whom would likely have a lot more money (and therefore have their ads come up far more frequently) I can't see that as a financially viable option for starting out - especially taking into account the fact that the client isn't even open yet and there is currently nothing keeping anyone there. Having a stepping stone from pre-opening to the humble beginnings is really quite a good idea rather than a waste of money, which spending far more to get adverts up on Facebook would definitely be at this time.

Consider: nearly everyone here has at some point been interested in Habbo, and a huge amount still are. A similar site is bound to spark at least some interest (as has been shown already anyway) whereas no-one clicks on Facebook ads in the first place and for the Kazopark advert to even show regularly enough to match Hx numbers among the thousands of other similar ads on there would require some very specific keywording and a lot of money.

[Nixt]

Can I also clarify that it's not only our "tiny" user base to which this will appeal. Advertisements and the new "Sponsored by" is viewable to those that browse the site as a guest or go onto Habbox.com each day. That in my opinion, is not all tiny. We get a massive amount of unique hits each day and they are all the target audience Kazo are going for. That makes perfect sense to me.

Habbox is still one of the biggest Habbo fansites, if something happens here, it spills over to Habbo and other fansites. We're not just talking the 500 or so different users we get log on to the forum each day, we're talking about a massive proportion of those who visit most fansites and Habbo itself.

[Tintinnabulate]

And thousands of people who go on habbox.com
People seem to think here that Habbox is just HabboxForum.

[GommeInc]

And out of those that will actually care? Chances are they will just go on, get bored and go back to Habbo where they're established or be indifferent. Virtual communities died out when consoles turned to online gaming, the only thing keeping Habbo alive are the people loyal to it, or the ones that see the advert or come across it and get hooked - alongside those still playing it. It would be interesting to see how it pans out, it won't flop as bad as ClubTropica if there is actually an Alpha out :P

[Black_Apalachi]

This thread alone is probably generating loads of 'Kazopark' related search results on Google which is probably helping them greatly as it is

[Blinger$]

This thread alone is probably generating loads of 'Kazopark' related search results on Google which is probably helping them greatly as it is

I dunno, a lot of the posts seem to be hate posts on habbox so far

[GommeInc]

I only support the "... supported by Kazopark" if it can be used after thread titles. Imagine the fun you could have with threads called "Habbox condoms"
"Habbox condoms, supported by Kazopark.com!" :P

[FlyingJesus]

And out of those that will actually care? Chances are they will just go on, get bored and go back to Habbo where they're established or be indifferent. Virtual communities died out when consoles turned to online gaming, the only thing keeping Habbo alive are the people loyal to it, or the ones that see the advert or come across it and get hooked - alongside those still playing it. It would be interesting to see how it pans out, it won't flop as bad as ClubTropica if there is actually an Alpha out :P

Quite likely, as with any new site of any type. However, people milling around these parts are far more likely to be interested in the first place (and then of course, may stick about) than the average Facebooker who just ignores all adverts there. Also I'm fairly sure they're not trying to be the next Habbo - that was and remains a ridiculously big hit requiring huge teams to work on various aspects of it, whereas Kazopark has around 10 members of staff last I saw and couldn't possibly take such a large userbase anyway.

And yeah, "slave market" would be a good thread under that change :P

[GommeInc]

Quite likely, as with any new site of any type. However, people milling around these parts are far more likely to be interested in the first place (and then of course, may stick about) than the average Facebooker who just ignores all adverts there. Also I'm fairly sure they're not trying to be the next Habbo - that was and remains a ridiculously big hit requiring huge teams to work on various aspects of it, whereas Kazopark has around 10 members of staff last I saw and couldn't possibly take such a large userbase anyway.

And yeah, "slave market" would be a good thread under that change :P
Surely with all businesses they aim high? At the moment they have 10 members of staff, that would obviously grow. It would be suicide hiring hundreds of people and setting it up for thousands/millions of users immediately :P

Imagine if it was "Nazism" or "Bringing Back Hitler"? Many laughs :D Do it do it.