What could Habbox do with/without?

[Kyle]

There are currently ~9 departments of habbox:-
- Forum
- Comps
- Articles
- Help Desk
- Radio
- Content
- Rare Values
- Graphics
- Events

Over the years some have changed drastically and some have remained relatively still in areas in terms of any kind of remodeling. Are there any aspects of any of the above departments that you feel have grown stagnant? Any that have been removed in the past but would be welcome back with open arms? And of course, since feedback shouldn't always be negative, are there any current features that you absolutely love? Show some appreciation!

Choose a department or two... or three... or all of them, and say what you think works, what you think doesn't, and what could be added or removed to improve them from your own perspective.

+rep to all useful suggestions!

[Lewis]

There are currently ~8 departments of habbox:-
- Forum
- Comps
- Articles
- Help Desk
- Radio
- Content
- Rare Values
- Graphics

Over the years some have changed drastically and some have remained relatively still in areas in terms of any kind of remodeling. Are there any aspects of any of the above departments that you feel have grown stagnant? Any that have been removed in the past but would be welcome back with open arms? And of course, since feedback shouldn't always be negative, are there any current features that you absolutely love? Show some appreciation!

Choose a department or two... or three... or all of them, and say what you think works, what you think doesn't, and what could be added or removed to improve them from your own perspective.

you're forgetting events

[Kyle]

you're forgetting events
not hard to do.
fixed.

[The Don]

Merge rare values with content

[lawrawrrr]

Merge rare values with content
how?! they're completely different!

[scottish]

There are currently ~9 departments of habbox:-
- Forum
- Comps
- Articles
- Help Desk
- Radio
- Content
- Rare Values
- Graphics
- Events


I would scrap articles and merge it with content. Scrap RV and merge it with content.

So within Content people would be assigned a role (posting crap on hx.com, updating wiki, updating rare values).

At a push, scrap graphics and merge it with content.

There's more depts now than there were a few years ago lol, and some depts are just becoming ridiculous like HxHD on what 18 staff or something? at it's peak I don't think we even had that many...

[Samantha]

I would scrap articles and merge it with content. Scrap RV and merge it with content.

So within Content people would be assigned a role (posting crap on hx.com, updating wiki, updating rare values).

At a push, scrap graphics and merge it with content.

There's more depts now than there were a few years ago lol, and some depts are just becoming ridiculous like HxHD on what 18 staff or something? at it's peak I don't think we even had that many...

Articles, Content and Graphics were merged a few years ago - it didn't work as News Reporters were forced to do Content Design work and vice versa. Although I don't think a merge is really necessary anymore (nor was it back then) as it wasn't believed that there are different ways to write depending on what department you work for.

If it went ahead and all content side departments were merged you might as well merge Competitions and Events like some other fansites, as one does forum events the other does client.

[The Don]

Articles, Content and Graphics were merged a few years ago - it didn't work as News Reporters were forced to do Content Design work and vice versa. Although I don't think a merge is really necessary anymore (nor was it back then) as it wasn't believed that there are different ways to write depending on what department you work for.

If it went ahead and all content side departments were merged you might as well merge Competitions and Events like some other fansites, as one does forum events the other does client.

You could keep the separate roles but just have them under one department.

[lawrawrrr]

People have been saying merge News and Content for ages, but really it's such a different writing style it'd just get confusing! A lot of people in Content aren't creative enough to write in articles style and Articles staff are very creative and the Wiki ends up like a big story rather than a fact encyclopaedia. Graphics just doesn't work merged at all as designing graphics is a very specific skill that not a lot of people have. Seems a bit pointless to merge just for the sake of it, I don't really see much point!

I know in the past it was thought of because of a lack of managers (and managers with multiple skills), not 100% on Skynus' reasoning for the actual merge as I wasn't really around then IIRC, but we've got 3 dedicated, good managers now!

[scottish]

Articles, Content and Graphics were merged a few years ago - it didn't work as News Reporters were forced to do Content Design work and vice versa. Although I don't think a merge is really necessary anymore (nor was it back then) as it wasn't believed that there are different ways to write depending on what department you work for.

If it went ahead and all content side departments were merged you might as well merge Competitions and Events like some other fansites, as one does forum events the other does client.

Simple, don't.

Articles, Content and Graphics are all 'content' in a sense and there's no need for 3 different departments when it could be 1 department with different roles. So if you join as a graphics person you won't be forced to do articles or content design.

Problem with comp/events is different perms. Articles Content and Graphics won't have different perms on the forum I wouldn't imagine as they do nothing on the forum (aside from staff forum perms)

[FlyingJesus]

Get rid of RV since the only person who ever pretended to care about them is now gone, merge comps and events as was rightly suggested years ago (although oddly enough the dept that deserves to be folded is the opposite to back then), help desk not made ugly, articles get forum integration done not half-arsed and on-site commenting removed, have some sort of backup plan for when the radio goes for hours without a live DJ, ban Intersocial because it'll be funny

[lawrawrrr]

Simple, don't.

Articles, Content and Graphics are all 'content' in a sense and there's no need for 3 different departments when it could be 1 department with different roles. So if you join as a graphics person you won't be forced to do articles or content design.

Problem with comp/events is different perms. Articles Content and Graphics won't have different perms on the forum I wouldn't imagine as they do nothing on the forum (aside from staff forum perms)
Why don't we just make Habbox staff 1 role and have all the separate roles doing different things? I don't see any benefit in merging?

[Empired]

I've given feedback about Articles before and think the department is greatly improving and Brad has been absolutely fantastic for the whole dept. I'd be seriously opposed to it merging with any other departments because they have such room for potential and only seem to be getting better at the moment.

Rare Values needs some serious TLC if it wants to survive and I just don't know if anyone can dedicate themselves to the dept as much as it needs. I wasn't there for the General Management takeover on Tuesday so I don't know what was said about it sorry.

[Kyle]

merging departments becomes a problem when the management of volunteers comes into play and would only result in people not getting the feedback they needed. if you want to merge departments but have separate branches then what is the need to have them all in the same department anyway? I can't really see any real rational reason for department merges, aside from perhaps rv but I know that that is under revision right now.
scottish; merging aside, are there any features or management styles from the past that you miss, being a 10 year veteran?

[The Don]

Why don't we just make Habbox staff 1 role and have all the separate roles doing different things? I don't see any benefit in merging?

It's useless having rare values as an individual department with a separate manager when it has like 2 staff members. Some of its duties could be delegated into other roles if the departments were merged.

[scottish]

merging departments becomes a problem when the management of volunteers comes into play and would only result in people not getting the feedback they needed. if you want to merge departments but have separate branches then what is the need to have them all in the same department anyway? I can't really see any real rational reason for department merges, aside from perhaps rv but I know that that is under revision right now.
scottish; merging aside, are there any features or management styles from the past that you miss, being a 10 year veteran?

The only management I notice these days is the forum and it's disappointing to say the least.

Something should have been done to resolve that month ago but seems like that's not going to happen any time soon unfortunately.

[Inseriousity.]

"in terms of any kind of remodeling."

I'm not against change but this idea that creating structural tinkering to departments will solve problems is personally I think what managers do to avoid actually tackling the harder solutions (which are usually harder to control). Also implies that change itself is progress but change is only progress if it sticks. If it's reversed a couple of weeks down the line because the old system was better then it's not change, it was just a waste of time and actually inhibits change more long-term.

Just a few thoughts more generally about that lmaoooo.
Onto the actual thread itself:

Habbox
Achievements system. lmao won't go into this again. I've already explained it lots before. A better prize and task structure than what was presented.
More Habbo presence. Honestly, the amount of excuses from management at all levels is just dire.
On plus side, more willingness to respond to feedback. GM team is probably most like a 'team' for the first time in god knows how long.

Forum
A most interesting thread award. like member of the month but deliberately designed to reward interesting threads rather than spamming ones.
More community events
On the plus side, good improvements introducing new things to the shop.

Comps
is perfect. Nah, I'm biased against this one because most of how it's structured is what I put in place back when I was manager (see above re: change).
As usual, more Habbo presence. Often regarded as a forum dept because it's based on the forum but it's target audience is on Habbo.

Articles
More investigative reports. I'll talk about this further down in 'revived' departments.
Community interaction. A news-based weekly event for instance.
On plus side, it's improved tenfold and some interesting discussion has been created on the forum as a result.

Help Desk
I know it's common to want to scrap it but lots of people come in for help. With the increase of Ipads and iphones, a guide to help staff answer these questions on a different layout.
More weekly events throughout the week.
On the plus side, being in the department, I know that these things are in the works.

Radio
An official party room.
More fun activities on Habbo with listeners.
A Habbox Podcast, pre-recorded, so that we can invite non-DJs to participate in Habbo(x) debate. I talked about this with Jade but she was confused with the concept but the thread should still be there if General/HxL management want to see it unless there was a clearout lmao. Some managers get totally stupid with the spring cleaning.
On the plus side, I haven't been paying much attention so I've got nothing.

Content
I like the Habbox Wiki so keep working on that, I suppose.
Update the guides and include more modern ones. Wired guides, for instance.
On the plus side, I haven't paid any attention at all. Please carry on with your blissful obscurity.

Rare Values
I know people say to scrap it but I actually think it's one of the departments with potential. I would broaden it out to be more about trading and tap into that trading subculture on Habbo.
Auction Room maybe.
Habbox Trade Team (with adjustments).
On the plus side, they've finally got rid of that highly unpopular (http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=819915) rare values manager.

Graphics
Pixel artists. wtf. yeah as a graphics noob, I don't get this change at all lmao.
On the plus side, the most improved department at Habbox and seems to be more creative than (sadly) supposedly-community departments. Even taking out Draw my Thing (it was a collaboration), every single event that graphics have taken part in, they've tried to do something different, mostly positive.

Events
More weekly events added (work with other departments as well to see how they can boost these).
Scrap the guest role
Make event rooms (done)
Funding system (done)
More flexibility perhaps on when to host. half hour slots?
Probably bring back events screenies. I know regulars hated them but we moan all the time anyway and it did seem to boost that community feeling.
On the plus side, I've seen improvement in number of events hosted.

Revived departments
HABBOX TV. We need something to stand out again and I think this is our best bet. I don't necessarily think it has to be corny dramas either. For instance, as I was saying about articles, perhaps some investigative "journalism" with an "undercover reporter" for instance looking into the blackmarket gambling, has anything changed since the Channel 4 pedophilia investigation (maybe not lmao don't want another mute!) or more light-hearted things like 'Being a Habbo bwaby' or 'Being a Habbox noob'
I would also include HabboxLive to record some 'voiceovers' (like my idea of radio plays but with Habbox TV) instead of just reading the lines.
So a Habbox youtube channel that would host all of these.

[lawrawrrr]

It's useless having rare values as an individual department with a separate manager when it has like 2 staff members. Some of its duties could be delegated into other roles if the departments were merged.
USUALLY it does have more than 2 members of staff though! It's not really fair to "delegate roles" because I know if I was a Content Designer and was told "you have to update Rare values now" then I wouldn't be very happy about it as I probably wouldn't do it right!

Plus, if I was Rare Values staff and suddenly told that I'd lose any dedicated manager (because what we have right now isn't permanent!!!!) and expertise from a senior member then I wouldn't be very happy then either!

[The Don]

USUALLY it does have more than 2 members of staff though! It's not really fair to "delegate roles" because I know if I was a Content Designer and was told "you have to update Rare values now" then I wouldn't be very happy about it as I probably wouldn't do it right!

Plus, if I was Rare Values staff and suddenly told that I'd lose any dedicated manager (because what we have right now isn't permanent!!!!) and expertise from a senior member then I wouldn't be very happy then either!

Didn't you do exactly that by telling rare values staff they had to write articles?

[FlyingJesus]

Mike how about an action plan

But 4real how does RV have potential? Literally everyone just uses MP to find values and anything not on there tends to be only traded between a small group of the ultra-rich who all know each other and each other's prices regardless of what 2 or 3 people might have witnessed happen once a year

[Inseriousity.]

lmao oh yeah action plan

because you're using rare values in its more narrow definition. if you broaden out its role to be more about trading generally and get involved with the trading subculture via the department (who in theory should have some interest in that side of things) I think it has potential there.

[lawrawrrr]

Didn't you do exactly that by telling rare values staff they had to write articles?
When did I ever tell RV staff they had to write articles??

- - - Updated - - -


lmao oh yeah action plan

because you're using rare values in its more narrow definition. if you broaden out its role to be more about trading generally and get involved with the trading subculture via the department (who in theory should have some interest in that side of things) I think it has potential there.
Basically, this

[FlyingJesus]

Doing what? Other than having a trade room which doesn't need an actual staff anything involving auctions or whatever can be handled by events (if they ever get back on their feet), and articles on the subject would obviously be under the domain of the articles chaps

[Lewis]

I agree, RV isn't as useful as it used to be all those years ago. If anything at all should be merged, it's content and rare values.

[Empired]

Probably bring back events screenies. I know regulars hated them but we moan all the time anyway and it did seem to boost that community feeling.
NO
NO NO NO


NO

I hated this so much. My laptop sucks and my Prnt Scrn button doesn't work very well and it was just so difficult UGH.

[Kyle]

The RV team has the potential to become a community-based department.

[Martin]

"in terms of any kind of remodeling."

Events
More weekly events added (work with other departments as well to see how they can boost these).
Scrap the guest role
Make event rooms (done)
Funding system (done)
More flexibility perhaps on when to host. half hour slots?
Probably bring back events screenies. I know regulars hated them but we moan all the time anyway and it did seem to boost that community feeling.
On the plus side, I've seen improvement in number of events hosted.



Thanks for the feedback Mike! :)

Funnily enough, the majority of these things are actually things we are working on at the moment, and I'll quickly post a brief description of each so people know where we are at.



More weekly events added (work with other departments as well to see how they can boost these).
There's a few of us currently working on a weekly event room (unfortunately me getting banned has put a bit of a halt to mine at the moment), and I've also been told that a member of general management is keen to make a weekly event too. The helpdesk department have informed me they are also working on another weekly event, so things are definitely looking up on this front! I think having more weekly events would definitely be a positive thing as people will come to expect them at a certain date/time and providing they're interesting/fun enough should encourage good numbers of regulars.

Scrap the guest role
Under previous management, the guest role was made far too easy to obtain, and the department ended up with heaps of people who were essentially 'full staff with a shockingly low minimum'. Guest roles do little to help a department significantly when used in this way, and is often seen as a way of people taking the easy route out of a department in a way. It also enourages others to follow suit and derails the point of having full staff at all really. I aim to keep the guest role purely for previous management, and it will be used rarely, until being phased out altogether.

Make event rooms (done)
We currently have a few pre-made events rooms set up for people to host events in as they wish and a system in place for this. I've just recently today had quite a bit of interest regarding people returning and making use of these rooms so we could be onto a winner here finally! I aim to do my best and all I can to help people host, and this is a step in the right direction for that. I'm hoping to get some more specific event rooms set up (i.e wired games etc) that will provide some much needed variety too and will be easy for anyone to host in.

Funding system (done)
This is also now in place, and Shonly is currently overlooking this. It's being used and seems to be okay so far! I'm also trying to encourage staff to host by offering credits myself in order to help those who host above the minimum and go out of their way to help habbox.

More flexibility perhaps on when to host. half hour slots?
I was actually having a discussion about this with you last night Mike (stealing my ideas pfft! - although it has been discussed before I believe). This is something I'm currently trying to gauge opinion on and see the feasibility of how well it would work. I know a lot of people are put off hosting by the commitment of an hour at a time purely to Habbo, but then would half hour slots be too small? I can see the positives and the negatives really.

Probably bring back events screenies. I know regulars hated them but we moan all the time anyway and it did seem to boost that community feeling.
On the plus side, I've seen improvement in number of events hosted.
I actually have something planned for the end of the month which will showcase events and boost the community feeling. I'll be posting a roundup containing statistics about events, all of the features that have been won during events this month, as well as some fun little bits I've been preparing. I've been taking screenshots myself throughout the month (kind of like an events roving reporter I guess haha ;) and it's been really good to see how successful some of them have been!)


Whilst this week hasn't been great, I do think that the previous two weeks were stronger in terms of the amounts of events held. I have a fair bit of interest in people wanting to return to the department at the moment, so hopefully we'll see a good increase in numbers soon, as well as a lot more variety of events on the client! I'll certainly do my best!



Thanks again for any feedback! :)

- - - Updated - - -


NO
NO NO NO


NO

I hated this so much. My laptop sucks and my Prnt Scrn button doesn't work very well and it was just so difficult UGH.


Don't worry, I'm going to be doing that for people ;)


REMEMBER THIS!!!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3865423/eventsscreenshot.png

[FlyingJesus]

I have a feeling that image may have been edited

[dbgtz]

Scrao RV, it is no longer a USP and has basically been replaced by the Marketplace. The only thing the department could do that I can't look in the MP for is bundles, but it's not hard to work out what I can get 2 of for 1c etc.
Bring back Habbox mini games and HXTV!!!1!

Radio should focus more on quality than quantity. No offence to "DJ's" who stream, but I don't tune in to listen to music I don't like without something else to go with it. I also feel this was evident with the awards night show which seemed rather messy.

Graphics. My main issue with graphics isn't that big of an issue, but they never really seem to do anything in the graphics section by which I mean staff posting things they have done. Though, the actual department is probably as good as it has been generally speaking.

[scottish]

"Achievements system. lmao won't go into this again. I've already explained it lots before. A better prize and task structure than what was presented."

looking at the plugin everything seems VERY easy to implement and I don't see how they could have even failed that in the first place?

"A most interesting thread award. like member of the month but deliberately designed to reward interesting threads rather than spamming ones. "

surely a reworking MOTM would be a better idea, rather than yet another award thats similar to an already existing system (MOTM)?

"I know it's common to want to scrap it but lots of people come in for help. With the increase of Ipads and iphones, a guide to help staff answer these questions on a different layout."

if I got 1c every time I seen a staff member respond "I don't have x (device) so I have no idea"..

"Habbox TV"

if you're talking about the thing that we have in like 2007? no, it failed when habbox was at a peak.. why would it work now

- - - Updated - - -


USUALLY it does have more than 2 members of staff though! It's not really fair to "delegate roles" because I know if I was a Content Designer and was told "you have to update Rare values now" then I wouldn't be very happy about it as I probably wouldn't do it right!

Plus, if I was Rare Values staff and suddenly told that I'd lose any dedicated manager (because what we have right now isn't permanent!!!!) and expertise from a senior member then I wouldn't be very happy then either!

there's no-one suitable to manage the RV department, so a drastic change needs to happen to rv.

- - - Updated - - -


Mike how about an action plan

But 4real how does RV have potential? Literally everyone just uses MP to find values and anything not on there tends to be only traded between a small group of the ultra-rich who all know each other and each other's prices regardless of what 2 or 3 people might have witnessed happen once a year

the only time people use RV is for items that aren't on the MP (which is like teles, and that's pretty much it.. except very rare items (i.e. very limited in the hotel) and even then their price is based on whatever the person who has it asks for it.

- - - Updated - - -


lmao oh yeah action plan

because you're using rare values in its more narrow definition. if you broaden out its role to be more about trading generally and get involved with the trading subculture via the department (who in theory should have some interest in that side of things) I think it has potential there.

init

2015 action plan, what you hope to achieve this year and a general outline of what you'll be doing to aid that each month

go Shonly; Wispur; sierk; lawrawrrr; and @habiba

[Inseriousity.]

well motm is more general, putting a spotlight on actual threads rather than members could improve thread creation or will at the very least reward people who are making that effort.

[scottish]

well motm is more general, putting a spotlight on actual threads rather than members could improve thread creation or will at the very least reward people who are making that effort.

That's what MOTM is for though.

There'd be no point having SOTM then 'Staff member who done their job the best of the month' as well.

If they make good popular threads then that should have a major impact on their eligibility for MOTM award.

Obviously it's all at the discretion of the mods picking them.

[Inseriousity.]

but motm doesnt highlight that. motm has always been more general contribution rather than simply creating threads and I think we should do more to highlight those threads.

it's not like that example at all. it'd be more like saying:

x got SOTM
x got heavily involved with the dept event.
y had a good idea, we're going to go with this next month.

so x won the overall, general contribution but y is highlighted. similar principle but with interesting threads as the focal point.

[scottish]

but motm doesnt highlight that. motm has always been more general contribution rather than simply creating threads and I think we should do more to highlight those threads.

it's not like that example at all. it'd be more like saying:

x got SOTM
x got heavily involved with the dept event.
y had a good idea, we're going to go with this next month.

so x won the overall, general contribution but y is highlighted. similar principle but with interesting threads as the focal point.

MOTM is meant to encompass everything though.

I don't see the point in having an individual award for most interesting (most interesting to whom?) why stop there, may as well give out the most viewed thread, most active (posts) thread, funniest thread, and so on.

my other post got updated when I multiple posted btw.

[FlyingJesus]

Bring back Habbox mini games and HXTV!!!1!

What's mini games? And HxTV would be great if there were people dedicated to doing it. A group of us were going to do it independently a few years back to show Habbox what they're missing out on but it fell apart because people couldn't be bothered, and considering that was a group who had a personal interest in that specifically and no other roles I can't see it being a success with the current set of staff and their... dedication


Radio should focus more on quality than quantity. No offence to "DJ's" who stream, but I don't tune in to listen to music I don't like without something else to go with it. I also feel this was evident with the awards night show which seemed rather messy.

Yeah the awards show was a total shambles lol and I agree that normal shows should have people talking to make it more interactive and interesting, but for blank slots I think streaming is useful just so that we avoid hours and hours of silence


That's what MOTM is for though.

There'd be no point having SOTM then 'Staff member who done their job the best of the month' as well.

If they make good popular threads then that should have a major impact on their eligibility for MOTM award.

Obviously it's all at the discretion of the mods picking them.

Thread creation =/= good interaction or overall worth though, someone could make a great thread with loads of discussion but not be actually taking part themselves past creation, which shouldn't then make them eligible for MOTM really. I'm not convinced that we really need an extra award added for making "interesting" threads, but there is a definite difference between that idea and MOTM. That aside, would be nice to see MOTM taking more things than post count into consideration :P

[scottish]

Thread creation =/= good interaction or overall worth though, someone could make a great thread with loads of discussion but not be actually taking part themselves past creation, which shouldn't then make them eligible for MOTM really. I'm not convinced that we really need an extra award added for making "interesting" threads, but there is a definite difference between that idea and MOTM. That aside, would be nice to see MOTM taking more things than post count into consideration :P

God knows how (when they rarely actually do) they come up with MOTM but I doubt post count is a large part of that or I'd win 98% of MOTM's for the past 6 months.

There's definitely is no need for more awards though.

I wonder how much months of VIP were given out per month in 2014

[FlyingJesus]

RNG for the top 5 posters, after taking out anyone they don't like

[Inseriousity.]

I never said anything about a VIP reward for it. It's just recognising the threads that create a discussion. as you say with MOTM there is no clear guidance as to why winners have been chosen (for instance ive never won it once and im amazing). and yes you could create a reward for all of those examples you mentioned but as the forum is more about thread creation and discussion I'd use that as the most important that we should give extra credit for.

[scottish]

I never said anything about a VIP reward for it. It's just recognising the threads that create a discussion. as you say with MOTM there is no clear guidance as to why winners have been chosen (for instance ive never won it once and im amazing). and yes you could create a reward for all of those examples you mentioned but as the forum is more about thread creation and discussion I'd use that as the most important that we should give extra credit for.

or we could rework the MOTM system so that it takes that into account and there's an actual reason behind people winning MOTM? :P

[Inseriousity.]

still wouldnt be highlighting them though. the whole purpose of the idea was to shine a spotlight onto these threads.
lmao if you want to delay motm further by making them give a reason then dont complain when its late ;)

[dbgtz]

What's mini games? And HxTV would be great if there were people dedicated to doing it. A group of us were going to do it independently a few years back to show Habbox what they're missing out on but it fell apart because people couldn't be bothered, and considering that was a group who had a personal interest in that specifically and no other roles I can't see it being a success with the current set of staff and their... dedication



Yeah the awards show was a total shambles lol and I agree that normal shows should have people talking to make it more interactive and interesting, but for blank slots I think streaming is useful just so that we avoid hours and hours of silence



Thread creation =/= good interaction or overall worth though, someone could make a great thread with loads of discussion but not be actually taking part themselves past creation, which shouldn't then make them eligible for MOTM really. I'm not convinced that we really need an extra award added for making "interesting" threads, but there is a definite difference between that idea and MOTM. That aside, would be nice to see MOTM taking more things than post count into consideration :P

To be honest, I wasn't really serious about HxTV or the mini games.
One of the two games I remember was a dressing up a Habbo (so not much of a game) and the other was going around the beach outside the hotel collecting credits and avoiding crabs (or something along those lines). They were pretty bad.

[scottish]

still wouldnt be highlighting them though. the whole purpose of the idea was to shine a spotlight onto these threads.
lmao if you want to delay motm further by making them give a reason then dont complain when its late ;)

shouldn't be taking week to come up with a few names anyway lol.

only reason anyone should be delaying is if they're new to moderating that section and haven't seen majority of the posts.

[Inseriousity.]

What's mini games? And HxTV would be great if there were people dedicated to doing it. A group of us were going to do it independently a few years back to show Habbox what they're missing out on but it fell apart because people couldn't be bothered, and considering that was a group who had a personal interest in that specifically and no other roles I can't see it being a success with the current set of staff and their... dedication



Yeah the awards show was a total shambles lol and I agree that normal shows should have people talking to make it more interactive and interesting, but for blank slots I think streaming is useful just so that we avoid hours and hours of silence



Thread creation =/= good interaction or overall worth though, someone could make a great thread with loads of discussion but not be actually taking part themselves past creation, which shouldn't then make them eligible for MOTM really. I'm not convinced that we really need an extra award added for making "interesting" threads, but there is a definite difference between that idea and MOTM. That aside, would be nice to see MOTM taking more things than post count into consideration :P

I know it was revived under Sammeth cos I signed up for it then but the vast quantity of work that goes into it (writing, producing, editing) does make it a challenge. I see it as a costs: benefit ratio. if its hard work but the benefits of it would make that worth it then its worth trying. There's a tendency at Habbox to just shift difficult projects under the carpet and because there's no action plan they can just be all ladedadeda leave it alone. As Habbox has lost its main USP (rare values), it needs something else and I think HabboxTV would manage that and might even create some community spirit (I remember how interested everyone got over new editions of that teenage lives thing Mrs.McCall did).

[FlyingJesus]

Teenage Lives was never recorded as an HxTV thing was it? I thought it was just a script that he wrote and updated, but even things like that are hard to come by these days :( hardly anyone seems to want to put in the work, and those who do always appear to be overly ambitious and attempt things that require others to pull their weight and then it all falls to pieces. It's not that we have a lack of ideas floating around, just a hideous lack of support from those who can/should actually be putting them in place

[Inseriousity.]

yeah it was just an article but hopefully we could get that sort of response over a HabboxTV thing too

[Jssy]

To be honest, I wasn't really serious about HxTV or the mini games.
One of the two games I remember was a dressing up a Habbo (so not much of a game) and the other was going around the beach outside the hotel collecting credits and avoiding crabs (or something along those lines). They were pretty bad.
omg i remember the habbo dress up game, that takes me back haha

[Nick]

Regarding the most interesting threads, I thought it was a good idea to make a new category under motm and have things like Mike suggested but in the same thread.

[Drew]

Graphics
Pixel artists. wtf. yeah as a graphics noob, I don't get this change at all lmao.
On the plus side, the most improved department at Habbox and seems to be more creative than (sadly) supposedly-community departments. Even taking out Draw my Thing (it was a collaboration), every single event that graphics have taken part in, they've tried to do something different, mostly positive.

Thanks for the feedback, Mike!

There are people who can do graphics design (designing banners) but can't draw (drawing a pixel object). Likewise there are people who can draw but can't design graphics. The Pixel Art branch was specifically introduced to encourage people from the latter group to apply and to have a dedicated group of people working on pixel art competitions and events for Habbox. Hayden and I have made good progress in that regard :)



Graphics. My main issue with graphics isn't that big of an issue, but they never really seem to do anything in the graphics section by which I mean staff posting things they have done. Though, the actual department is probably as good as it has been generally speaking.
I like that you've pointed this out because it's something that I've been wanting to do. The Photography Competitions were introduced to encourage activity in the Pictures and Photography forum, but I know more could be done so I agree with you there. Do you have any concrete ideas or are you just suggesting staff portfolio type threads in the Graphics section?

[Kardan]

Comps and Graphics are probably the best departments at the moment.

Forum and RV need a lot of change imo. RV just seems outdated, and if there is any relevance in today's community - there doesn't seem to be any people interested in doing it.

Forum just needs new ideas - how often do we get forum events from management? And even then, are they forum events that everyone can take part in? (And even then, does it essentially revert back to a popularity system?).

[-:Undertaker:-]

I keep hearing of merging departments especially Rare Values with Content, as well as attempts to make RVs a Content Department: and i've said time and time again how there have been various rare values staff over my time in the department who are absolutely fine if not the best at what they do (trading and knowing values) but who wouldn't write an article or a guide if their lives depended on it. The Rare Values Department isn't the Content Department and people should stop confusing the two. HxRV has a purpose, and that is to display as up to date values as possible in times whenever an item on MP is being manipulated, the averages of numbered items as well as the price history of super rares. That's it.

Let's be honest too, there's not much guidance you can give to trading other than the bleeding obvious.

[Chippiewill]

People like the notion of merging departments to simplify things. What people fail to realise is if you do that you just end up with sub-departments doing the same things or just the people who don't mind doing both.

[-:Undertaker:-]

People like the notion of merging departments to simplify things. What people fail to realise is if you do that you just end up with sub-departments doing the same things or just the people who don't mind doing both.

Exactly and then you'll have a manager incharge of something they are not remotely interested in/have no clue about.

It's perfectly true that Habbox Rare Values has declined massively from what it was: it used to be the prime department on Habbox without a doubt considering the pull of it and the importance of what it did. Marketplace has hugely put a foot into that sure, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still serve a purpose albeit a much reduced one. And merging Rare Values into Content makes as much sense as merging Forum Moderation into HabboxLive.

[lawrawrrr]

I can assure you that there is zero chance of any kind of merge happening with my departments for those exact reasons.


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[Inseriousity.]

one more thing I forgot, it's hard to get people to join Habbox cos of the stupid registration system there (number in motto really?) and the approval system on HxF (they don't realise and wonder why their posts aren't showing up). is there something else we could use instead?

[Kyle]

one more thing I forgot, it's hard to get people to join Habbox cos of the stupid registration system there (number in motto really?) and the approval system on HxF (they don't realise and wonder why their posts aren't showing up). is there something else we could use instead?

What's wrong with the registration on the habbox site? Kieran coded it to be fully automated as far as I remember, though a lot of current members don't seem to be aware of that still.

As for forum registration yes the approval system is very dumb and discourages people from posting. Would rather have a few bots and more members than members that post but get no replies so leave


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[Inseriousity.]

There was someone in HxHD the other day saying they'd put the numbers in their motto to sign up to Habbox and what did they have to do next? So they were either confused or it's still set up to be a total pain in the ass

[FlyingJesus]

Spambots are fun they always generate some nice sarcastic discussions. But yeah idk why people keep saying that RV has a purpose and then completely failing to state what that purpose is... reflecting slowly what MP is already saying in real time is not something that 1) is useful or 2) requires a team of staff with a manager

[lawrawrrr]

A lot of people have asked us for furni values while some stuff was taken off the site temporarily so if literally nothing else it has a purpose in fulfilling a role of having the values for less frequently traded / unmarketplaceable items (although people in hxhd were even asking for normal furni prices!)

But the idea is to evolve RV so it does more than just value furni, which is what I think they're getting at.


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[-:Undertaker:-]

Spambots are fun they always generate some nice sarcastic discussions. But yeah idk why people keep saying that RV has a purpose and then completely failing to state what that purpose is... reflecting slowly what MP is already saying in real time is not something that 1) is useful or 2) requires a team of staff with a manager

Marketplace doesn't -

* Display rare items which are hardly ever sold.
* Record super rare prices at which they are genuinely sold.
* Keep an accurate record of values (it's prone to price manipuation).


There was someone in HxHD the other day saying they'd put the numbers in their motto to sign up to Habbox and what did they have to do next? So they were either confused or it's still set up to be a total pain in the ass

You need to put a number in your motto on Client to be able to sign up to this forum? What!?

Open it up so that you can post immediately. If there's spammers then hire more moderators to deal with it as in the past.

[Inseriousity.]

Not the forum, Habbox. I actually tell people not to bother because of it and to sign up to the forum because it's easier but even then as they have to wait for posts to be approved that makes it more difficult for them. I would either remove it and mods get rid of spambot or at least a captcha thing maybe for first 5 posts

[Kyle]

I'd suggest that as Hxhd staff you should create a habbox account yourself if you want to be able to assist people properly. What they have to do next is all outlined on the page and is essentially nothing. Though signing up to habbox does seem a little pointless unless you're asked to do so as a staff member.


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[Inseriousity.]

So I gave good advice. thank you kyle, just doing my job ;)

[Kyle]

Phil; can there be an award for having a habbox account I need more


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[scottish]

Why do people even use a habbox account? :P

[David]

Why do people even use a habbox account? :P

isn't it just a staff thing lol
and the rare person who posts on an article

[scottish]

Would imagine so, don't see any reason why people would need an account

last I remember registration was disabled for like 3 years

[Kyle]

will contribute briefly

- Forum
- could do with dedicated staff members that are capable and display initiative. moderators should participate within the community more, this department has gone from the best to the worst in a few years after a few successive managers have refused to bother doing anything other than administration or get involved only where they are told to do so. when forum is dead (which it is almost always these days) the arcade is where people go to - put some more effort into that.

- Comps
not a department that interests me. competitions are babyish and replies to them mirror that. nice to have there.

- Articles
getting better, need proper proofreading that isn't just correcting spelling - hire an editor or something capable of rewriting articles with a good premise that are incoherent. conversation starters are a nice addition, hope to see more.

- Help Desk
too many staff that don't know what they're doing or how to entertain community. single most asked question is how do i become a citizen and outside of that many staff are out of their depth. needs more ipad support and some knowledge of furniture. also noticed that lately staff are technologically incompetent, don't know how to do basic wired things and don't know rare values other than "i'll just check habbox". need more hxhd staff with their fingers on the pulse and less with their thumbs up their arses.

game area in hxhd would be nice, same as dj area. design is too dark.

- Radio
hours are low, djs are becoming more and more incompetent. awards show was unplanned and a mess. miss weekly shows, would like more themed shows and more interdepartmental work.

- Content
no comment as i have literally no idea what this dept contributes to habbox other than writing wiki pages but not keeping them updated

- Rare Values
could be dispersed into various other departments. trading and furni experts in hxhd, content writers with passion for history in content/articles. slightly redundant but not completely if the reforms go well.

- Graphics
great department, agree with dbgtz about staff not doing anything in forum. back when we were active in the graphics forums we would see staff and lots of other users who made things almost weekly in order to improve their craft. would like to see some pixel art or photoshop guides that aren't the classic how to draw a sphere - how to enlarge a habbo is one that i made a while ago and it inspired a lot of people to give it a go. think the image i posted was of a Lert enlarged, that tutorial is long lost tho. image packs would be cool too, different facial features or hand positions etc.


- Events
advertise outside of habbox. weekly events r kwl.

[scottish]

will contribute briefly

- Forum
- could do with dedicated staff members that are capable and display initiative. moderators should participate within the community more, this department has gone from the best to the worst in a few years after a few successive managers have refused to bother doing anything other than administration or get involved only where they are told to do so. when forum is dead (which it is almost always these days) the arcade is where people go to - put some more effort into that.

Agree 100%, the staff members atm are not dedicated and either cba doing their jobs or don't have the time to do their jobs effectively and it makes the forum one of the worst run departments on Habbox when it's by far the most used and community-facing departments.

Moderators should (if not already) be given the option of which section to moderate and pick one that they're actually interested in. Having moderators who don't actually post in the section is a bit silly. They should also be encouraged to post some threads etc to keep their section popular.

Arcade - at least game wise - is down to Wispur but they still have every opportunity to host tournaments, offer rewards for various different criteria and actually organise the categories.

- Comps
not a department that interests me. competitions are babyish and replies to them mirror that. nice to have there.

Similarly I don't use competitions, but it's nice they're actually putting their neck into the Arcades and recently had a competition for a game. More forum events please!!

- Articles
getting better, need proper proofreading that isn't just correcting spelling - hire an editor or something capable of rewriting articles with a good premise that are incoherent. conversation starters are a nice addition, hope to see more.

Agreed with proofreading, I've noticed quite a few mistakes and I don't look for them it's just something you come across (don't hate @lawrawrrr; I just have a keen eye for detail).

Would be nice if articles staff actually replied to their threads though, it just seems a case of Post and bail from what I've seen.

- Help Desk
too many staff that don't know what they're doing or how to entertain community. single most asked question is how do i become a citizen and outside of that many staff are out of their depth. needs more ipad support and some knowledge of furniture. also noticed that lately staff are technologically incompetent, don't know how to do basic wired things and don't know rare values other than "i'll just check habbox". need more hxhd staff with their fingers on the pulse and less with their thumbs up their arses.

game area in hxhd would be nice, same as dj area. design is too dark.

Too many staff in general, why do they need 18 staff members?!?!

They do seem to be younger people or fakes (act about 12 claim to be 28) who have no idea what they're doing if I'm being honest, surely as help desk staff it would be better to hire older people who have experience on the hotel. Not people who have accounts created a month or so ago..

I'd completely agree with the new iOS Apps, it's a commonly asked question 'how do I do x on iPad/iPhone' and the answer is always I don't know I don't have an x device.

I remember when people used to have to actually answer questions to get a job and have thorough understanding of at least basic safety. Now even that's rare to find amongst staff.

- Radio
hours are low, djs are becoming more and more incompetent. awards show was unplanned and a mess. miss weekly shows, would like more themed shows and more interdepartmental work.

Awards show was just disgusting, but I don't listen to the radio other than that so no idea.

- Content
no comment as i have literally no idea what this dept contributes to habbox other than writing wiki pages but not keeping them updated

That is what they contribute, editing wiki.

- Rare Values
could be dispersed into various other departments. trading and furni experts in hxhd, content writers with passion for history in content/articles. slightly redundant but not completely if the reforms go well.

Seems unlikely given laura just posted job openings for RV dept.

- Graphics
great department, agree with dbgtz about staff not doing anything in forum. back when we were active in the graphics forums we would see staff and lots of other users who made things almost weekly in order to improve their craft. would like to see some pixel art or photoshop guides that aren't the classic how to draw a sphere - how to enlarge a habbo is one that i made a while ago and it inspired a lot of people to give it a go. think the image i posted was of a Lert enlarged, that tutorial is long lost tho. image packs would be cool too, different facial features or hand positions etc.


Have no interest in graphics or the section but seems like a department that needs to calm down as it was only them who got riled up over the Content Week.

- Events
advertise outside of habbox. weekly events r kwl.

I don't do events.

red

[scottish]

also, with regards to HxHD

Since when were staff so actively allowed to break the rules?

Over the past few weeks I've seen countless Senior staff members as well as Manager and others avoiding the filter. Surely they should be setting an example...

[Yupt]

- Comps
not a department that interests me. competitions are babyish and replies to them mirror that. nice to have there.



Don't worry this isn't one of those immature manager moments, taking offence and responding accordingly - just wanted to ask what you mean by babyish? If you mean the competitions themselves, some of which being somewhat basic - we do have more complex competitions where more thought-out entries are required too. We have to try and accommodate for both new, young members and those older ones who have been here a while, that's why we do also have competitions which are admittedly sometimes cringingly basic and silly.

Genuinely interested to know what you think as any feedback can be used to better the department.

scottish in reply to you wanting forum events - something larger scale will be taking place soon which I think lots of people will be getting involved with. I am also in the stage of planning another graphics based forum event with Drew, we are in the midst of working out the details at the moment. There is also an experimental event (quite excited/nervous about this one) aimed towards the current community that I will be doing when an appropriate period of time opens up! There's a lot planned for the next few months and it's all just a matter of finalising and then working out just when we can fit it all in.

[Kyle]

Don't worry this isn't one of those immature manager moments, taking offence and responding accordingly - just wanted to ask what you mean by babyish? If you mean the competitions themselves, some of which being somewhat basic - we do have more complex competitions where more thought-out entries are required too. We have to try and accommodate for both new, young members and those older ones who have been here a while, that's why we do also have competitions which are admittedly sometimes cringingly basic and silly.

Genuinely interested to know what you think as any feedback can be used to better the department.

honestly I'm not the greatest person to ask for feedback on comps as it's never really been something that has interested me unless other elements (namely drawing (http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=749466&p=7582445#post7582445) or a chance to have a pop at habbox (http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=630949&page=2)) have been involved. I didn't mean any offense, I think it's a great department and it caters to who it needs to in different ways, just that the alliteration and general theme of competitions aren't my bag.

[Yupt]

honestly I'm not the greatest person to ask for feedback on comps as it's never really been something that has interested me unless other elements (namely drawing (http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=749466&p=7582445#post7582445) or a chance to have a pop at habbox (http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=630949&page=2)) have been involved. I didn't mean any offense, I think it's a great department and it caters to who it needs to in different ways, just that the alliteration and general theme of competitions aren't my bag.

No I haven't taken offence don't worry hahaha, I just enjoy feedback because obviously it gives me something to aim towards. You would have really enjoyed my University of Habbox competition, asked you to create a course all about habbox, I know a few people used it as an opportunity to rinse a few people and departments. I enjoy controversy. You might enjoy the current Habbox Awards competition too which is out at the moment.

Also if you love being able to have a "pop at habbox" or its users, you're REALLY GOING TO ENJOY an event I have planned for the next month or so.

[Drew]

- Graphics
great department, agree with dbgtz about staff not doing anything in forum. back when we were active in the graphics forums we would see staff and lots of other users who made things almost weekly in order to improve their craft. would like to see some pixel art or photoshop guides that aren't the classic how to draw a sphere - how to enlarge a habbo is one that i made a while ago and it inspired a lot of people to give it a go. think the image i posted was of a Lert enlarged, that tutorial is long lost tho. image packs would be cool too, different facial features or hand positions etc.

Thanks for the suggestions :)



Have no interest in graphics or the section but seems like a department that needs to calm down as it was only them who got riled up over the Content Week.
I take that as a compliment :P

[Felix]

To be honest, I think Articles, Graphics and Content should all fall under 'Content'.

[David]

To be honest, I think Articles, Graphics and Content should all fall under 'Content'.

they tried that before and everyone complained so they separated again

[Yupt]

One of the things with merging departments I find is that how would the poor management run it? It'd practically double the work load.

[FlyingJesus]

Not if you merge events into comps since no-one hosts events anyway and comps staff always seem to be at the few that are put on

[Kyle]

comps and events require different skillsets

[Yupt]

comps and events require different skillsets

Indeed, and I think people always forget this. The only reason it works in other fansites is because they're "forum events" department is far, far smaller than our Competitions Department.

[dbgtz]

- Graphics
great department, agree with dbgtz about staff not doing anything in forum. back when we were active in the graphics forums we would see staff and lots of other users who made things almost weekly in order to improve their craft. would like to see some pixel art or photoshop guides that aren't the classic how to draw a sphere - how to enlarge a habbo is one that i made a while ago and it inspired a lot of people to give it a go. think the image i posted was of a Lert enlarged, that tutorial is long lost tho. image packs would be cool too, different facial features or hand positions etc.

Oh yes, guides would be a great idea. I've had a few people come up to me in the past asking how to do xyz, but it's hard for me to say since I basically learned by trial and error over the course of what, 9 years now? I know that the staff aren't experts, but creating basic guides (enlarging, recolouring, putting your Habbo in an official image, basic shading and texturing) would be a good way to get people to be interested. Perhaps even try and get oftenMiceElf; to assist since he clearly has an interest in assisting and has http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=819786&p=8321692#post8321692. Or perhaps even other people who post graphics, like MakeBelieve..; GregSegesi; etc.

[Sureall]

Not too sure why I'm putting my thoughts in here but hey ho! I came back to habbox after a few years off from habbo(x) and I can see how things have changed and things haven't.

The thing I see as one of the biggest problems not just habbox but habbo in general now is popularity... (I know you can't do much about it) I came back thinking it'll be mainly new people but not guna lie I recognise so many peoples names even the guys on the forum. If you look at the community especially on the client, its the people I'm guna call the oldies (no offense!). They've been around for a while and are known, and then they're staff. Other than these people I dont tend to see many people at events or in the helpdesk. This compared to when I last had DJ/Events/HD/RV jobs a few years ago where you use to see many others who werent staff and barely knew anything about the site but still tuned in and went to all the events.

As for departments, I've only been around a month again but I have noticed a few things, however tbh I haven't looked at many other departments other than the three on the client so Im just guna comment on them!

Events: As I mentioned above somethings gotta be done with getting people who are'nt staff turning up. I know it can be hard and Its getting better now with a higher number of events. I wasn't keen on the any staff can host events and I felt bad for the likes of Matt and Cassie when this happened because it sorta made the department redundent as anybody could do it! However this has encouraged people to apply because of the funding scheme. PS reward cassie!! She does the most work by far and deserved manager in my eyes!!

Help Desk: Again community is mainly staff again or the people have been around a while. I know it can be hard in the room since people tend to leave as soon theyre questions been answered. I like the fact the Saturday Night Quiz is still around and when I have managed to get on for it it's always the busiest I see the HD so I agree with maybe doing more weekly events but trying to find a way to branch out so its not just staff winning all the time!

HxL: I'm not guna lie I haven't listened that much so can't say much but clearly the whole
Of habbox has dropped in numbers since its peak (no longer days of 150 listeners!!) some of the djs I have listened to however some have been alright I guess, the ones who have been around the longest but then some don't seem to know how to entertain people without sounding rude!! I dunno if theres weekly shows or not but if theyre is bring them back!!!

I can't comment on any other departments really but I will say i think Rv should be kept as yes the MP is there but those values can never be trusted too much as theres so much variation there but the RV have to be done by people who genuinly have an interest and know what theyre doing. From a staff person point of view I'm still not sure if I agree with thigs like the staff rewards schemes. It can make people think of the jobs as easy ways to get rewards and I know its monitered closely so its not abused. But surely if you got rid of it then you'd only get the staff that genuinely had an interest in the job theyve applied for.

If I'm honest I couldn't really care if people agree with me or not but wanted to put the views of a returning person out there! Feel free to pick them apart all you like.

[Brad]

- Articles
getting better, need proper proofreading that isn't just correcting spelling - hire an editor or something capable of rewriting articles with a good premise that are incoherent. conversation starters are a nice addition, hope to see more.

Thanks for this feedback. Proofreading is definitely one of those things that it is a learning process... and not everyone is going to be 100%, and since this is all on a volunteer basis I can't force people to do more than they can.

I do hope that the conversation starter blossoms and grows.. I know there's only been three out so far in the past seven days that it's been released, but I am hoping that it may draw people into Articles to help bring activity to the forum through "conversation starting" and have an incentive to do so through the Articles Department.

[Richie]

- Articles
- Content
- Rare Values

Pretty sure rare values died as soon as the marketplace was introduced, the other two i don't pay attention to.


All the rest of the departments are fine but they all lack in the same thing, trying to bring in new members. As I suggested before but it never happened was for all departments to take one specific day to focus solely on advertising. There's plenty of ways to advertise, I think we forget there's other ways to inform people about the site other than the client. Open a new small department for advertising and have staff constantly brainstorm and execute plans, to keep us alive.

@xxMATTGxx (http://www.habboxforum.com/member.php?u=1020); @Wispur (http://www.habboxforum.com/member.php?u=55895); @lawrawrrr (http://www.habboxforum.com/member.php?u=61966); @Shonly (http://www.habboxforum.com/member.php?u=81650); download fling and spam www.habboxforum.com (http://www.habboxforum.com) lmao

Na but in all seriousness, I don't see why the site would have all these departments but not have a department to figure out ways to bring in new members to use said features.