Welcome Committee

[Tintinnabulate]

I think its fair to say its failed. People said it will fail, Oli didn't listen but did try his best to keep it alive. It was slightly active when he was manager as he regularly posted but even since he resigned, new forum management have neglected it and its dead.

I mean the current forum management haven't even bothered updating the threads in there and only one person has made a thread in the New members forum this month.

Its useless and just isn't working and new members aren't posting there and those who do usually never reply back to our replies.

You always moan about "too many forums, we can't have any more", well get rid of WC and it will get rid of two forums.

[Phil]

Yeah to be honest I actually forgot they were there. What are they currently up to? I think they need some promoting so new people know they are there. Maybe a banner on habbox.com or their own tab on the forum?

[Tintinnabulate]

Yeah to be honest I actually forgot they were there. What are they currently up to? I think they need some promoting so new people know they are there. Maybe a banner on habbox.com or their own tab on the forum?

Its the very top forum for new members yet they don't post in them. We do nothing but reply to new members threads, and currently there has only been on this month ...

[Cosmic]

Probably just needs a bit of a kick or something to get it active again, but in theory I like the whole idea of it.

[Tintinnabulate]

Probably just needs a bit of a kick or something to get it active again, but in theory I like the whole idea of it.

New members just don't reply back. I doubt they even check back.

[Nixt]

As I am sure you can appreciate when someone newly comes into Management, especially in regard to the Forum, things can be quite overwhelming and there is an awful lot to do in order to ensure that you are on top of everything. On top of that, James recently lost his Assistant and has been asked to code a Halloween skin. Not forgetting he has A Levels to focus on, he's awfully busy and as such the Welcome Committee (which was supposed to run independently after its creation) was not neglected but left to manage itself as was the original plan.

Clearly, self management was not successful and as such myself and James recently discussed methods to change it and reform it to make it more effective in its mandate. The committee has great potential and has shown it can work in the past, but of course this requires certain changes we aim to bring into effect in the very near future.

In order to improve this we aim to appoint a chairman of the committee who will centre a team around him / her and have them manage it, independently. We hope this direction will lead members of the committee in the right direction. We will also be looking at ensuring appropriate people are in the position of committee members. In addition to this, we aim to maximise exposure of the new members forums to... new members. For example adding a link into the Welcome PM, and having members of the committee spot and talk to new members through PMs / VMs. We hope for them to become "new member ambassadors" rather than just people who reply to a couple of threads in a forum.

@ Dilusionate, the reason you will have forgotten is mainly because we focus their exposure to new members.

[FlyingJesus]

While it's (obviously) done more than the council ever did either time its montrous form was spliced together, I can't say I've noticed much going on with the welcoming committee, and even if it is meant to be aimed at new members specifically I don't see how that will help them integrate with the main forum. I'm sure this isn't the fault of the members or even of management (after all, how much managing does saying hello take?) but as Saurav's said, new people just don't care, which somewhat dampens the use of such a team. Can't see how adding a chairman would be any different to when a couple of us were appointed leaders of the council - that is to say, nothing changed except I got to look extra cool for a couple of weeks

[Tintinnabulate]

As I am sure you can appreciate when someone newly comes into Management, especially in regard to the Forum, things can be quite overwhelming and there is an awful lot to do in order to ensure that you are on top of everything. On top of that, James recently lost his Assistant and has been asked to code a Halloween skin. Not forgetting he has A Levels to focus on, he's awfully busy and as such the Welcome Committee (which was supposed to run independently after its creation) was not neglected but left to manage itself as was the original plan.

Clearly, self management was not successful and as such myself and James recently discussed methods to change it and reform it to make it more effective in its mandate. The committee has great potential and has shown it can work in the past, but of course this requires certain changes we aim to bring into effect in the very near future.

In order to improve this we aim to appoint a chairman of the committee who will centre a team around him / her and have them manage it, independently. We hope this direction will lead members of the committee in the right direction. We will also be looking at ensuring appropriate people are in the position of committee members. In addition to this, we aim to maximise exposure of the new members forums to... new members. For example adding a link into the Welcome PM, and having members of the committee spot and talk to new members through PMs / VMs. We hope for them to become "new member ambassadors" rather than just people who reply to a couple of threads in a forum.

@ Dilusionate, the reason you will have forgotten is mainly because we focus their exposure to new members.

Thats all good but out of the 8 people, I think only 2 sent in the votes and no one bothered replying to my post.

Anyway, which committee has worked in the past as I was under the impression they have all failed...

[rnix]

If i was new to the forum and someone was like "Hello, how are you. Hope you enjoy the forum. Don't forget.. blah blah blah" i would be annoyed and be like :S:S and probs leave the forum cause i would be pissed off the moment i joined. I think the committee might of been nice for a little while but it's flopped like many "implemented ideas" i think you need to get the forums opinion. maybe a poll or something.

[Yupt]

Is it the forum management who run the committee?

Maybe one of the committee should be put as 'leader' to run it, kinda like a department manager.

[Tintinnabulate]

If i was new to the forum and someone was like "Hello, how are you. Hope you enjoy the forum. Don't forget.. blah blah blah" i would be annoyed and be like :S:S and probs leave the forum cause i would be pissed off the moment i joined. I think the committee might of been nice for a little while but it's flopped like many "implemented ideas" i think you need to get the forums opinion. maybe a poll or something.

Well this is the typical replies in the committee, well here is the latest thread in full:


Hey guys. Just stopping by to say hi and hope to see you guys around on Habbo.


Hey there! Welcome to HxF (HabboxForum) hope you enjoy being here!
Need any help, Personal messege me or drop a messege on my profile.
Check out www.habboxlive.com (http://www.habboxlive.com) and www.habbox.com (http://www.habbox.com) :')
Stay active around the forum, look at all the different sections and have fun!


Hiyaa welcome to the forum :)
If you search xxMATTGxx on habbo alot of people hang round in the help desk so I hope to see you in there ;D
My habbo name is Biscuitss so feel free to add me!
Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions/problems :)
Hope you decide to stick around!


Welcome to Habboxforum! Feel free to add me on Habbo (habbo = molly.22, hard guess). Hope to see you around the forum. :)


Heyyyy! Whats your name? Welcome to the forums and I hope you enjoy it =].

[Nixt]

Thats all good but out of the 8 people, I think only 2 sent in the votes and no one bothered replying to my post.

Anyway, which committee has worked in the past as I was under the impression they have all failed...

Well, we're certainly keen to give it a go and if it fails we'll accept defeat and move on. The thing is we're trying to look at ways to make new members feel less daunted and more welcome when they come to the forum and the Welcome Committee is supposed to do this - by more than saying Hello (@ Tom). That's why we're going to stress the idea of them becoming Ambassadors rather than just "Helloers" and that may mean shifting people around a bit, as you have highlighted above there is some disinterest by members that really isn't good enough.

The only real "committee" of the past was the council, which a much broader mandate than making new members feel welcome. The chairman we appoint will hopefully give the committee some direction, they have much more of a free reign than the council ever did and we hope that the chairman will harness this and really get something going. Success or failure, we tried at least :).

[rnix]

I would log off straight away or hide that forum. That seems so annoying :L
I just don't think there is a need for the committee. The Welcome to habbox hello and goodbye thread is welcoming enough. Heck i don't even think i used it when i signed up.

[Tintinnabulate]

Well, we're certainly keen to give it a go and if it fails we'll accept defeat and move on. The thing is we're trying to look at ways to make new members feel less daunted and more welcome when they come to the forum and the Welcome Committee is supposed to do this - by more than saying Hello (@ Tom). That's why we're going to stress the idea of them becoming Ambassadors rather than just "Helloers" and that may mean shifting people around a bit, as you have highlighted above there is some disinterest by members that really isn't good enough.

The only real "committee" of the past was the council, which a much broader mandate than making new members feel welcome. The chairman we appoint will hopefully give the committee some direction, they have much more of a free reign than the council ever did and we hope that the chairman will harness this and really get something going. Success or failure, we tried at least :).

I don't think there are many people who bully new members now.

---------- Post added 07-10-2010 at 12:33 AM ----------

Lol I love how I posted that the WC should be removed and instantly I get removed from it ;).

[rnix]

WC just lost their potential leader :'(

I say a forum vote. TBH

[FlyingJesus]

we're trying to look at ways to make new members feel less daunted and more welcome when they come to the forum and the Welcome Committee is supposed to do this - by more than saying Hello

In what way can this be done? If a member - new or old - doesn't know how to do something around here or has some sort of problem they can and do post about it either in spam if it's not something serious or in this sort of area if it requires staff contact. I might be missing something but I can't see what really needs doing for new members other than a hello and maybe a couple of useful links, which if they want to make a welcome thread they'll get anyway.

[Tintinnabulate]

In what way can this be done? If a member - new or old - doesn't know how to do something around here or has some sort of problem they can and do post about it either in spam if it's not something serious or in this sort of area if it requires staff contact. I might be missing something but I can't see what really needs doing for new members other than a hello and maybe a couple of useful links, which if they want to make a welcome thread they'll get anyway.

Like my example of a full thread shows, its just people posting standard replies. Its failed and when people do post proper replies which can leave to conversations, the new members just never reply back so it feels useless. They seem to prefer the public welcome forums.

[Nixt]

In what way can this be done? If a member - new or old - doesn't know how to do something around here or has some sort of problem they can and do post about it either in spam if it's not something serious or in this sort of area if it requires staff contact. I might be missing something but I can't see what really needs doing for new members other than a hello and maybe a couple of useful links, which if they want to make a welcome thread they'll get anyway.

As I said before, I am hoping that committee members become general ambassadors. They should not be restricted to the welcome forum but should actively be looking out for new members threads / posts and replying to them, sending new members visitor messages and saying hi etc. Basically, doing things that repeatedly come up in feedback threads as things that would be good to happen. By having a dedicated team doing this we can make sure it happens and continues to happen, as they will not be burdened with anything else but this task.

[rnix]

As I said before, I am hoping that committee members become general ambassadors. They should not be restricted to the welcome forum but should actively be looking out for new members threads / posts and replying to them, sending new members visitor messages and saying hi etc. Basically, doing things that repeatedly come up in feedback threads as things that would be good to happen. By having a dedicated team doing this we can make sure it happens and continues to happen, as they will not be burdened with anything else but this task.

I highly doubt people will be thrilled to work as "welcoming" new people as they don't get respected for it. If it was a more important role then i think people will be more willing to do the job.

[Nixt]

I highly doubt people will be thrilled to work as "welcoming" new people as they don't get respected for it. If it was a more important role then i think people will be more willing to do the job.

I'm not interested in giving people the job on the basis that they will feel important. We want people who are keen to be there for new members and further the forums popularity in doing that. In fact, these are the people we need - people in it for the "importance" aren't going to be truly dedicated to the task and will ultimately be unsuccessful.

[rnix]

I'm not interested in giving people the job on the basis that they will feel important. We want people who are keen to be there for new members and further the forums popularity in doing that.

I know it is not meant to be a habbo department because it will be a pointless department addition. I'm just saying maybe if they had more things to do then people would respect the position. Cause at the moment it doesn't seem that nice to do. Obviously i don't know what goes on behind closed doors.

[Tintinnabulate]

I'm not interested in giving people the job on the basis that they will feel important. We want people who are keen to be there for new members and further the forums popularity in doing that. In fact, these are the people we need - people in it for the "importance" aren't going to be truly dedicated to the task and will ultimately be unsuccessful.

I think its more important to allow mods to do this and make it a job criteria that they need to post more.

[HotelUser]

Since day one with the committee I've been curious why managers haven't had access, actually. I would have thought it would have enabled us to give a good push towards letting new users know about our departments, job applications and so on because it's very intimidating being a newcomer and not knowing where to find this information. As the gist of the committee seems to make new users feel welcome and to guide them to an extent, I think it would be very reputable if managers--especially those of us who don't particularly get involved on the forum much--welcomed new users.


I don't think there are many people who bully new members now.

---------- Post added 07-10-2010 at 12:33 AM ----------

Lol I love how I posted that the WC should be removed and instantly I get removed from it ;).

I can assure you that if you were removed from the welcome committee, it was on the basis of other circumstances in which I'm sure Garion or James would be more than happy to divulge if you sent either one a PM :)

[Inseriousity.]

I wasn't really a fan of the welcome committee when it started tbh. You could have the welcome committee but remove the new member's forum so that they have to post in the Welcome to Habbox/Goodbye forum. This means they're not segregated but they're still being 'helped' by a number of select people. Also I'm not really sure on the label as being 'new'. Yeah sure, they signed up recently but when I signed up, I didn't think 'oh I'm new here, I better ask for help', I just posted around and learnt these things gradually.

The whole idea of a welcome committee just seems patronizing to me but maybe that's because I'm older and probably wouldn't want to be welcomed by people who had to post the usual cliches rather than people who post because they want to.

[Tintinnabulate]

Since day one with the committee I've been curious why managers haven't had access, actually. I would have thought it would have enabled us to give a good push towards letting new users know about our departments, job applications and so on because it's very intimidating being a newcomer and not knowing where to find this information. As the gist of the committee seems to make new users feel welcome and to guide them to an extent, I think it would be very reputable if managers--especially those of us who don't particularly get involved on the forum much--welcomed new users.



I can assure you that if you were removed from the welcome committee, it was on the basis of other circumstances in which I'm sure Garion or James would be more than happy to divulge if you sent either one a PM :)

Lol stop trying to act clever and trying to be patronising. You are only making yourself look foolish. I was removed because of this thread and it was said in the PM too ...


Let me quote Garion's PM

"Your obvious lack of faith in the ability of the committee to successfully achieve its aims suggests to me that you are no longer entirely suitable to the position." and the whole line had a hyper link to the PM.
Well done on making yourself look like a complete idiot by trying to act clever.

And wow, complete lack of faith? I suggested ideas to which neither James and Garion bothered replying to in the WC forums. Lack of faith? I think its them who cannot be bothered, not me. Oh what a surprise, most people are agreeing that its useless so remember if you are staff, never say a negative word or they will get rid of you.

[HotelUser]

I wasn't really a fan of the welcome committee when it started tbh. You could have the welcome committee but remove the new member's forum so that they have to post in the Welcome to Habbox/Goodbye forum. This means they're not segregated but they're still being 'helped' by a number of select people. Also I'm not really sure on the label as being 'new'. Yeah sure, they signed up recently but when I signed up, I didn't think 'oh I'm new here, I better ask for help', I just posted around and learnt these things gradually.

The whole idea of a welcome committee just seems patronizing to me but maybe that's because I'm older and probably wouldn't want to be welcomed by people who had to post the usual cliches rather than people who post because they want to.

I agree that I think it might be better to just have one welcome forum, although if Habbox stuck with the public welcome forum I think it would make the job of welcome committee staff somewhat redundant.


Lol stop trying to act clever and trying to be patronising. You are only making yourself look foolish. I was removed because of this thread and it was said in the PM too ...


Let me quote Garion's PM

"Your obvious lack of faith in the ability of the committee to successfully achieve its aims suggests to me that you are no longer entirely suitable to the position." and the whole line had a hyper link to the PM.
Well done on making yourself look like a complete idiot by trying to act clever.

And wow, complete lack of faith? I suggested ideas to which neither James and Garion bothered replying to in the WC forums. Lack of faith? I think its them who cannot be bothered, not me. Oh what a surprise, most people are agreeing that its useless so remember if you are staff, never say a negative word or they will get rid of you.

I think what might have happened was a number of your posts around the forum were just extremely rude and not welcoming for a member of the welcome committee. As such a staff member the gist of your attitude around the forum in general should be quite friendly and welcoming. Certainly breaking forum rules is firstly something no staff member should do but especially something a forum moderator or welcome committee staffmembere should look out for as their jobs are of courses based around the forum.

Believe it or not, Garion has many priorities, and none of which include conspiring against welcome committee staff who disagree with him :P

[GommeInc]

I'm guessing it's a hidden forum? What was wrong with the Welcome / Goodbye Forum? You pretty much got people replying in there - either for personal benefit or to actually welcome people, and the concept worked well. You don't need a pointless, restrictive system to command it either so there's quite a bit of freedom revolving around it.

Also why do we need a welcome committee? No other forum needs one unless you're the "Granny Society" or "Young Mums Living Like Bums Committee". I'm not sure what the purpose is, seeing as people join a forum to see what it's like, and welcoming them may become off putting. If anything, you just need an automated welcome message to direct them to the rules, who to talk to if there's a problem, what forums are which etc etc. I'd be annoyed by being spammed, and it's pretty rude to suggest that ALL registered users must use the forum, when quite alot of forums just have members register to see what the fuss is about, and leave if it's not for them - give them that freedom, don't force something else down their necks ;) Might explain why old members aren't deleted, as it would appear someone assumes they will come back and use the forum, even though the likelihood is that they won't.

[Tintinnabulate]

I agree that I think it might be better to just have one welcome forum, although if Habbox stuck with the public welcome forum I think it would make the job of welcome committee staff somewhat redundant.



I think what might have happened was a number of your posts around the forum were just extremely rude and not welcoming for a member of the welcome committee. As such a staff member the gist of your attitude around the forum in general should be quite friendly and welcoming. Certainly breaking forum rules is firstly something no staff member should do but especially something a forum moderator or welcome committee staffmembere should look out for as their jobs are of courses based around the forum.

Believe it or not, Garion has many priorities, and none of which include conspiring against welcome committee staff who disagree with him :P

If you have a problem with my posts, use the report button. As a member of moderation you should know but as a trialist maybe the concept isn't too familiar :rolleyes: I showed you the PM and wow negatives? I post more positive ideas than you have even considered.

You clearly are a terrible manage with a awful attitude.
Lets see:

You -rep me, Shar -reps me 5 minutes later (x5 last month). Garion removed every single one of them, showing how awful you attitude is. Makes me wonder how you even become a moderator, probably a lack of applications.
Shar sends me a PM and you -rep me two minutes later.
Pathetic.

[Apple]

I think that we have been doing fine considering the lack of management. Jamesy is extremely busy so it would be wrong to say that it is his fault, he is actually in the middle of selecting a Chairman to in a sense manage the Welcome Committee. With this we will have someone that is active/up to date with the Welcome Committee so can clear things up and make any internal changes they deem necessary. The most important issue we are having is getting people to post in the first place. I'm not sure if the Welcome Committee is mentioned in the new member auto PM but I would assume it is. Maybe a banner at the top which only new members can see that encourages them to post in the Welcome Committee section?

[Tintinnabulate]

I think that we have been doing fine considering the lack of management. Jamesy is extremely busy so it would be wrong to say that it is his fault, he is actually in the middle of selecting a Chairman to in a sense manage the Welcome Committee. With this we will have someone that is active/up to date with the Welcome Committee so can clear things up and make any internal changes they deem necessary. The most important issue we are having is getting people to post in the first place. I'm not sure if the Welcome Committee is mentioned in the new member auto PM but I would assume it is. Maybe a banner at the top which only new members can see that encourages them to post in the Welcome Committee section?

You already cannot see the first forum when you load the index (well just about see the first one) so another banner would make it uglier.

[Josh]

When registering, you should restrict all forums except the welcome thread. Then, to progress onto the full forum, you have to post twice. Then encourage them to post a hello thread and then also an interest thread. And then, as a "new level" introduce the public welcome thread. idk

Yes... restricting; but at least they know you're there and will later lead to better retainment (is that the word) of the users when they see a few members warmly greeting them to the forum.

[FlyingJesus]

Believe it or not, Garion has many priorities, and none of which include conspiring against welcome committee staff who disagree with him :P

Upper management's changed a lot since I was involved then lol

[myke]

Well this is the typical replies in the committee, well here is the latest thread in full:

it seems wayyy too robotic and would put me off

[Calvin]

To be honest, I don't think there is any need for this. If anyone was a new member and needed help they would go to http://habboxforum.com/help which is posted somewhere or PM a member of management. And I would hate creating a thread and a bunch of users posting the same thing, something like "Hello, welcome to HabboxForum. Check out the welcome forums if you need any help". It's like having a bunch of programmed robots but each saying the sentence in a different way, it's pointless.

[Sarah]

I would agree that it needs a bit of a revamp and needs to be manage so that it can work more effectively. Jamesy has plans to do this, but as everyone knows he is very busy. I dont think it would be fair to restrict users from all forums so they can only see the welcome forums (I think wiizz said this?) as they should be free to post where ever. Better advertisement of the system may also help in its advantage.

[Mathew]

Well this is the typical replies in the committee, well here is the latest thread in full:
Sounds like exactly what's said in the Hello / Goodbye Section. It's intention was to be personal (like you did, asking for their name) yet it seems to have reverted to the generic "Hi, read the rules, enjoy"

I don't want to sound amazing by predicting it's future before it even started but hey, I did!

[Tintinnabulate]

Forum has done fine without a WC for like 6 years. Management need to stop wasting time on silly things like WC and concentrate more on how to get more members and with the current mod team, its not helping.

[Apple]

Forum has done fine without a WC for like 6 years. Management need to stop wasting time on silly things like WC and concentrate more on how to get more members and with the current mod team, its not helping.

"with the current mod team, its not helping"

What do you mean by that?

[Recursion]

Merge it with HxHD. Simples.

[Tintinnabulate]

"with the current mod team, its not helping"

What do you mean by that?

There are silly rules which has pushed a lot of the active members away. Just compare this forums activity with CHF. Last night at midnight, CHF spam went back 3 hrs, Hxf spam went back 27 hours.

[Calvin]

There are silly rules which has pushed a lot of the active members away. Just compare this forums activity with CHF. Last night at midnight, CHF spam went back 3 hrs, Hxf spam went back 27 hours.I have to agree with this, ClubHabbo is laid back which is better but HabboxForum is like going to prison without committing the crime.

[Tintinnabulate]

I have to agree with this, ClubHabbo is laid back which is better but HabboxForum is like going to prison without committing the crime.

And when you hire people like HU as mods, you know there is going to be trouble.

[Sarah]

This topic is discussing the Welcome committee, not the Moderation team - you know what to do if you want to make a complaint/suggestion. FYI: Moderators don't choose the rules, we enforce them - so I fail to see your argument that the department is failing by saying that the you don't like the rules. You clearly dislike the rules and maybe a specific Moderator (from what comes across anyway).

ontopic:
The welcome committee is getting revamped - surely it is better to try than to not try at all? It's obvious there we some flaws in the previous way it was run and it will be dealt with by (Forum) Management.

[Jamesy]

And when you hire people like HU as mods, you know there is going to be trouble.

The only trouble is that of which you are making. This is a discussion about the welcome committee. I welcome everyones feedback on it, when it devolves into simply ******** about the moderators who are doing their jobs and have received no complaints other than those made by yourself we are not going to tolerate it - calling it power hungry management, whatever you like it's no skin off my nose.

Post about the WC, by all means. I respect all constructive feedback.

Any further posts whining about the mod team in this thread will be treated as spam.

---

My plans involve taking the WC away from being a cut off team into opening up the forums into a place where new members can find information relevant to them. Perhaps they don't want to ask the staff a question, they can ask questions in there. I view it more as the helpdesk of the forum rather than a designated "hello" robot society and thus the changes will reflect that.

A chairman who can take care of it so neglection wont be an issue. Any major decisions will need to come via myself or Garion but I don't see that being an issue.

Allowing department managers access (give it 5 minutes before Mike posts something about the comps forum).

stripping away the bureaucracy such as 5 staff, 5 normal and such limitations. If you want to be a part there shouldn't be any stopping you.

Adding a link and explanation of this to the Welcome PM will also be done :).

Those are my proposed plans, and fall into line with ones Garion has suggested to me too. Hopefully this will give it a more potent effect rather than being a wishy washy idea left to run itself into the ground.

[Tintinnabulate]

Its a waste of time and a fail attempt at trying to make it a success when it will just fail like the Groups. Its better to use the effort and energy elsewhere. Like I said, forums done well for 6 years without one, all members are against it, yet only the mods, jamesy and garion are for it ...
Clearly shows you do not listen to your members.

[Inseriousity.]

Allowing department managers access (give it 5 minutes before Mike posts something about the comps forum).

hehe 15 minutes, not bad. Anyway, a poll on Habbox says people join a forum for prizes so yeah, it's all for their own good :)

[Tintinnabulate]

FYI: Moderators don't choose the rules, we enforce them

Oh really? I didn't know that.

Edited by Sarah (Forum Super Moderator): Please do not post pointlessly, thanks.

[Calvin]

I can't really comment much as I can't see the forums but looking at Saurav's quote, it looks as if that's the only conversation there, all acting like robots. Example;


Hey, I'm new to HabboxForum. My name is Bob and I like playing Habbo


Hey Bob, welcome to HabboxForum. I'm Welcome Committee member one! If you need help, feel free to PM me or post in these forums! :D


Yoooo Bob, glad you joined! If you need help then simply drop me a PM by clicking here.


Hey, welcome to HxF! Looks like you're new here, I'm WC 3 and I'm a member of the welcome committee - nice to meet you!


are these robots or something?

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.

[Chippiewill]

Lol stop trying to act clever and trying to be patronising. You are only making yourself look foolish. I was removed because of this thread and it was said in the PM too ...


Let me quote Garion's PM

"Your obvious lack of faith in the ability of the committee to successfully achieve its aims suggests to me that you are no longer entirely suitable to the position." and the whole line had a hyper link to the PM.
Well done on making yourself look like a complete idiot by trying to act clever.

And wow, complete lack of faith? I suggested ideas to which neither James and Garion bothered replying to in the WC forums. Lack of faith? I think its them who cannot be bothered, not me. Oh what a surprise, most people are agreeing that its useless so remember if you are staff, never say a negative word or they will get rid of you.
If that's true then management needs to sort itself out, removing someone because they think it's ineffective is not reason enough, it's just calling for improvement.


Merge it with HxHD. Simples.
Because HU doesn't have enough responsibilities and titles in his userbit?



The only trouble is that of which you are making. This is a discussion about the welcome committee. I welcome everyones feedback on it, when it devolves into simply ******** about the moderators who are doing their jobs and have received no complaints other than those made by yourself we are not going to tolerate it - calling it power hungry management, whatever you like it's no skin off my nose.

Post about the WC, by all means. I respect all constructive feedback.

Any further posts whining about the mod team in this thread will be treated as spam.

Calm down?

Management needs to learn that whilst it's policy is not to have staff up to review by the forum users, users will leave due to bad decisions and for not being listened to, past management has had this view that they can ignore users on certain issues when they like and wont lose out from it and in some cases it must be done but, over do it and you end up with the draconian system that Habbox has become today where Management place power in those of their choosing regardless of public opinion. It has rubbed many users up the wrong way and leaves the forum in it's state today, declining.

[Jessicrawrr]

Im sorry guys, but the wc isn't actually effecting you at all, your not new members so it's not harming you.
Would you like to explain to us how we could not 'act like robots'?

[Matthew]

Im sorry guys, but the wc isn't actually effecting you at all, your not new members so it's not harming you.
Would you like to explain to us how we could not 'act like robots'?
Thats the whole point. There's no way that you can avoid 'acting like robots'. The Welcome To Habbox Forum / Goodbye section is perfect for welcoming new members, and by the sounds of it more new members post in there than in the WC section.

Hopefully management will find a way to improve the WC but for now it just seems a little unnecessary?

[Tintinnabulate]

Im sorry guys, but the wc isn't actually effecting you at all, your not new members so it's not harming you.
Would you like to explain to us how we could not 'act like robots'?

By trying to strike a conversation. Its a pointless forum and a copy of Welcome to habboxforum. Most questions can be answered in Welcome to Habbox forum section anyway. WC is useless and the forum did well without it. Like I said, its a waste of time and effort and two extra forums slows the site down - especially when management are so against adding forums.

---------- Post added 07-10-2010 at 10:12 PM ----------

This is how dead the forum is:

http://i51.tinypic.com/29dcy6r.png

That last reply in the second forum in the screenshot was my suggestions on how to improve WC yet Jamesy and Nixt decided they cba replying as WC is a failure and then they accuse me of losing faith lol.

http://i55.tinypic.com/25aptu9.jpg

1-2 replies with the new member never replying.

Btw moderators even though you cannot, none of that is confidential as new members can see it all anyway...

[Tintinnabulate]

Management needs to learn that whilst it's policy is not to have staff up to review by the forum users, users will leave due to bad decisions and for not being listened to.

I tried explaining that to them but they never listen. They jump at every chance to hand out warnings which is a shame. Its all about usernotes now.
I mean they have made so many active members leave or made them inactive.
Lemme quote Richie:


Richard says:
*moderation sucks because a mods job is to look for fault in a post
*and even the slightest
*they'll warn u for
*yh forums dying now


100% guarantee that Jamesy will warn me as he has said I cant say anything negative about his dept in my thread in feedback.

[Chippiewill]

100% guarantee that Jamesy will warn me as he has said I cant say anything negative about his dept in my thread in feedback.
Just like when staff break rules Jamesy shouldn't have the authority to close something that puts him and his department under review and it should require matt's authorisation to close.

However perhaps a seperate thread may be more suitable to address this issue of Management not allowing users to state opinions on their behaviour and decisions.


Richard says:
*moderation sucks because a mods job is to look for fault in a post
*and even the slightest
*they'll warn u for
*yh forums dying now
In Jamesy's defence he did state that the Pointless posting rule needed review


However, I do believe that portion of the rule to be draconian and will be looking to revise it to avoid this sort of thing occurring again.

[GommeInc]

When registering, you should restrict all forums except the welcome thread. Then, to progress onto the full forum, you have to post twice. Then encourage them to post a hello thread and then also an interest thread. And then, as a "new level" introduce the public welcome thread. idk

Yes... restricting; but at least they know you're there and will later lead to better retainment (is that the word) of the users when they see a few members warmly greeting them to the forum.
How can you make such a conclusion? I can see that putting people off. You join a forum to discuss similar ideas, not be forced to say hello to people. I'd sooner leave a forum if I was forced to post a thread welcoming myself. Just send them a PM with all the details and encourage them to post a thread, but not make it necessary.

So why do we need a welcome committee? I'm amazed how much people seem to care about this, when it just seems to me to be a total waste of time! Direct 'em to the Welcome / Goodbye Forum, they're going to have to see other forum members eventually, not a bunch of "carefully" selected robots, which is what you're effectively making the Welcome Committee :P Still not sure what's wrong with a PM, or a banner that states "Welcome, why not say hello and see what monsters you're joining in the Welcome Forum?"

[Tintinnabulate]

How can you make such a conclusion? I can see that putting people off. You join a forum to discuss similar ideas, not be forced to say hello to people. I'd sooner leave a forum if I was forced to post a thread welcoming myself. Just send them a PM with all the details and encourage them to post a thread, but not make it necessary.

So why do we need a welcome committee? I'm amazed how much people seem to care about this, when it just seems to me to be a total waste of time! Direct 'em to the Welcome / Goodbye Forum, they're going to have to see other forum members eventually, not a bunch of "carefully" selected robots, which is what you're effectively making the Welcome Committee :P Still not sure what's wrong with a PM, or a banner that states "Welcome, why not say hello and see what monsters you're joining in the Welcome Forum?"

Indeed, its just a waste of time and is only slowing the forum down. Its patronising for new members.

[Agnostic Bear]

Gonna try and put this out without it seeming like I'm attempting to coerce some sort of argument:

Isn't the welcome committee just for people addicted to hxf / "popular"? I'm pretty the welcome forum has served this function for the past trillion years and will continue to do so even when these silly ideas (which are out in force quite recently) die out.

I shall quite soon be jumping ship to CHF I think, with the recent appointment to the moderator position of someone who knows absolutely nothing about technology to the technology forum, it appears clear to me that the management of this forum lack the competency to perform a fair and rational job.

Begin post about the state of this forum:

But hey, at least I get to **** about on CHF without having to worry what users are getting moderators spying on me trying to get me on something.

I shall be foruming as hard as always, putting my views and advice across as HxF crashes and burns as it is already slowly starting to do. Before it was just speculation and people getting laughed at for suggesting it. Now it's actually happening and it's quite fun to watch the users complain and nothing get done, so I'm gonna go ahead and throw my complaints in.

The server is a joke, nice 500 errors and timeouts, those optimisations SURE HELPED. Looks like it's boosting activity and uptime so much.

OThe staff, atmosphere of a nigh on totalitarian dictatorship and activity are all destroying this forum. And when you and your tiny views on how to manage a community finally widen enough to see what's going on, it'll be too late and everything you think it has been such a fantastic idea to have done will have all been for naught. You wont have anybody but the very few randomers coming in here, no regulars, no dedicated posters, nothing.

I don't have any responsibility, I have no addiction and no ties to this forum. You will criticise me and probably force upon me some sort of ridiculous post that attempts to debate what I have said.

Time and time again I have been right and this time is no different. I just like to do my research before posting things like this. So go ahead, criticise, flame and punish me, you'll only be re-enforcing what I've just said.

Quite the double-edged sword, running a forum. I have done all I can to attempt to open your eyes. It's your move, and I suspect you'll end up stumbling blind as always.

tl;dr:
server sucks, forum sucks, community is dying, forum is dying, activity is dying, management are blind and loving it.

[Nixt]

I'll start off with the server which we all agree is in a complete state at the moment and certainly not to a standard we believe is acceptable. Unfortunately the only individual with access and the ability to appropriately optimise it is Jin and I am of the understanding that he will be banging heads together with some friends in order to ensure it is fixed as soon as possible, as will the HabboxLive Radio. Unfortunately, the server is completely out of the hands of Forum and General Management and as much as I would like to say it will be fixed, I can't because it is not within my power to do so.

Regarding our "totalitarian dictatorship". I'd urge you to check the development announcements forum, and read each set of Sunday updates introduced. I'd urge you also to look toward this Sunday where we are implementing numerous things on the basis of members suggestions. The Sunday updates are almost exclusively the product of member suggestions, adjusted appropriately by Management - this has been the case for a while now, and is in stark contrast with the system that was in place under previous General Managers. I would ask you to justify how you believe we are a totalitarian dictatorship? We are constantly looking for feedback and always respond to it. Yes, we reject things, but this isn't often and not if we thought it would outright damage the forum. In the case of the Welcome Committee, we accept and admit it hasn't met its full capacity thus far but we would like to try our new system - it certainly won't damage anything by trying. In fact, the Welcome Committee was implemented after it was suggested by forum members.

As I say, if you have any specific feedback on what we're doing wrong, I'll welcome it with open arms.

[Agnostic Bear]

OOPS THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE IN A DIFFERENT THREAD -- IGNORE THIS MY BAD

[Tintinnabulate]

Gonna try and put this out without it seeming like I'm attempting to coerce some sort of argument:

Isn't the welcome committee just for people addicted to hxf / "popular"? I'm pretty the welcome forum has served this function for the past trillion years and will continue to do so even when these silly ideas (which are out in force quite recently) die out.

I shall quite soon be jumping ship to CHF I think, with the recent appointment to the moderator position of someone who knows absolutely nothing about technology to the technology forum, it appears clear to me that the management of this forum lack the competency to perform a fair and rational job.

Begin post about the state of this forum:

But hey, at least I get to **** about on CHF without having to worry what users are getting moderators spying on me trying to get me on something.

I shall be foruming as hard as always, putting my views and advice across as HxF crashes and burns as it is already slowly starting to do. Before it was just speculation and people getting laughed at for suggesting it. Now it's actually happening and it's quite fun to watch the users complain and nothing get done, so I'm gonna go ahead and throw my complaints in.

The server is a joke, nice 500 errors and timeouts, those optimisations SURE HELPED. Looks like it's boosting activity and uptime so much.

OThe staff, atmosphere of a nigh on totalitarian dictatorship and activity are all destroying this forum. And when you and your tiny views on how to manage a community finally widen enough to see what's going on, it'll be too late and everything you think it has been such a fantastic idea to have done will have all been for naught. You wont have anybody but the very few randomers coming in here, no regulars, no dedicated posters, nothing.

I don't have any responsibility, I have no addiction and no ties to this forum. You will criticise me and probably force upon me some sort of ridiculous post that attempts to debate what I have said.

Time and time again I have been right and this time is no different. I just like to do my research before posting things like this. So go ahead, criticise, flame and punish me, you'll only be re-enforcing what I've just said.

Quite the double-edged sword, running a forum. I have done all I can to attempt to open your eyes. It's your move, and I suspect you'll end up stumbling blind as always.

tl;dr:
server sucks, forum sucks, community is dying, forum is dying, activity is dying, management are blind and loving it.

Excellent post. And to prove your points, every member is against the WC yet management want to do it, make more crappy forums for it, and then go NO MORE FORUMS AS IT SLOWS IT DOWN BUT WE WILL MAKE MORE COS WE CAN AS ITS OUR IDEA.

---------- Post added 08-10-2010 at 09:15 PM ----------


I'll start off with the server which we all agree is in a complete state at the moment and certainly not to a standard we believe is acceptable. Unfortunately the only individual with access and the ability to appropriately optimise it is Jin and I am of the understanding that he will be banging heads together with some friends in order to ensure it is fixed as soon as possible, as will the HabboxLive Radio. Unfortunately, the server is completely out of the hands of Forum and General Management and as much as I would like to say it will be fixed, I can't because it is not within my power to do so.

Regarding our "totalitarian dictatorship". I'd urge you to check the development announcements forum, and read each set of Sunday updates introduced. I'd urge you also to look toward this Sunday where we are implementing numerous things on the basis of members suggestions. The Sunday updates are almost exclusively the product of member suggestions, adjusted appropriately by Management - this has been the case for a while now, and is in stark contrast with the system that was in place under previous General Managers. I would ask you to justify how you believe we are a totalitarian dictatorship? We are constantly looking for feedback and always respond to it. Yes, we reject things, but this isn't often and not if we thought it would outright damage the forum. In the case of the Welcome Committee, we accept and admit it hasn't met its full capacity thus far but we would like to try our new system - it certainly won't damage anything by trying. In fact, the Welcome Committee was implemented after it was suggested by forum members.

As I say, if you have any specific feedback on what we're doing wrong, I'll welcome it with open arms.

Actually WC was suggested by a very few members with majority being against it.