Sudden drop in posts

[-:Undertaker:-]

Hiya.

It seems the last week or three, there's been a sudden drop of posts around the forum and I wondered as to why that is. The obvious suggestion is that everyone's starting university, secondary school and courses and hence the lower post count... and if that's the case is there anything we can do to boost post counts whilst we're stuck in a lul.

I've started a posting pact in Spam and hopefully it makes a bit of a difference although I wondered if there's any incentives/activities or anything that the departments/forum could put on to tempt people into posting more, say for next two weeks or something everyone who posts over 100 posts gets x amount of rep or whatever.

Just putting it out there.

Dan xx

[lawrawrrr]

I figured it was because most unis start this week and a LOT of our members are that age! I was thinking of doing a community challenge that Chris began about it actually, then I saw your posting pact! Lemme send Matt a message one sec

[xxMATTGxx]

Last month has been the worst for Habbox in terms of post count all year from what I can see.

[scottish]

it's cause I hardly post

[FlyingJesus]

I've been genuinely busy and/or asleep recently but I think it doesn't help that nearly everyone is staff and sticks to staff skypes rather than posting on the forum

[Matthew]

Was gonna say it's time for another happy hour thing but then they're clearly not the long term solution as all they do is make everyone spam utter rubbish for an hour and then the forum goes straight back to empty after :(

[David]

ban the staff spam threads

[FlyingJesus]

Have we still not done that what bloody year is it

[Inseriousity.]

What people think staff spam/skype chats are like:

https://media.giphy.com/media/xTiTnl3G2Rj37WSMwM/giphy.gif


What they actually are like:

https://media.giphy.com/media/FLo0LIBIUeI6c/giphy.gif

[xxMATTGxx]

What people think staff spam/skype chats are like:

https://media.giphy.com/media/xTiTnl3G2Rj37WSMwM/giphy.gif


What they actually are like:

https://media.giphy.com/media/FLo0LIBIUeI6c/giphy.gif

Lol I know right

[FlyingJesus]

Even more reason to get rid of them then

[Phil]

Was gonna say it's time for another happy hour thing but then they're clearly not the long term solution as all they do is make everyone spam utter rubbish for an hour and then the forum goes straight back to empty after :(

They were hardly even ever a short term problem tbh.. posting didn't increase all that much with them even with advanced notice.

[abc]

100 posts a week seems a lot for just rep or tokens?

There are so many things management of this site can do to improve activity but they always seem to turn a deaf ear to me and would rather see the forum lose posts than take risks. And naturally when management lose interest, so do its members.

[-:Undertaker:-]

100 posts a week seems a lot for just rep or tokens?

There are so many things management of this site can do to improve activity but they always seem to turn a deaf ear to me and would rather see the forum lose posts than take risks. And naturally when management lose interest, so do its members.

Well I wouldn't say that, having been in management a few times I always dreaded this time of year because I knew staff were going to fall like flies.

That said, if management can then maybe they should post more and encourage more threads. But I think we can do a lot to increase activity ourselves - especially us older ones - by posting threads and organising posting pacts/schemes amongst ourselves. Last time a pact was done it worked pretty well.

[Kyle]

better token rewards need to be added to the shop. bring back coins and add a limit to them.

I can't post as much as I usually would because I'm at uni but even so I haven't posted a lot over the last month or 2 because nobody else has and it's boring when there's nobody to talk to or nothing interesting to talk about. forum mods should be responsible for bringing conversation topics to the forum imo!

[Alkaz]

What people think staff spam/skype chats are like:

https://media.giphy.com/media/xTiTnl3G2Rj37WSMwM/giphy.gif


What they actually are like:

https://media.giphy.com/media/FLo0LIBIUeI6c/giphy.gif
I always got the staff Skype conversations going. I remember once joining a department and someone was like 'not one message has been sent all week, you join and then bam in one day, 800 messages' 😌

[Kyle]

lol this staff spam thing is still going on how many years after the spam threads died out? Much of the chat on skype is about staff-related issues. I'm in a lot of habbox chats and can tell you that nothing that could be posted in a forum thread is ever really discussed. Bringing those conversations into the open would do nothing. We need incentives for habbos and conversation leaders. Jake, Scott, Tara, Jen, Lewis and all the other big thread creators no longer post threads so nobody has anything to say. As forum staff, mods should pick up this mantle.

[Matt]

I realise now I should have quoted people rather than writing blocks of words.

Posting around the forum has been slowly declining since the end of HxSS and last week was probably the worst week I have seen in a long time. Staff numbers have been dropping a great deal and I know the three moderators that have resigned from the Forum department within the past few weeks have put it down to time management and two of them down to University/education commitments. I know this time of year it tends to happen a lot (as it was the same when I was Events Manager) and I do agree that more could be done to increase posting around the Forum (at least between now and Christmas).

Happy Hours
Having read the comments in this thread, I will be planning a few Happy Hours to get the ball rolling. I know these shouldn't be solely relied upon to generate discussion and posting but it's a start. Due to my timezone and the fact I cannot set up Happy Hours to start/end at particular times, I'm discussing this with Laura so that these can be run at a time where a majority of users are likely to be online. I'm inclined to run two in one day so that users from all timezones will get a fair chance at double tokens/getting a few extra prizes.

Posting Pact
We haven't seen a posting pact in a while and running a pact that is official where VIP and additional prizes are on offer may also increase activity. I'd be more than happy to start that next week and advertise it on the Forum to get as many people signed up and willing to participate as possible. This obviously is only a short-term solution as posting pacts last for a week but I'm more than happy to run one and see if we can do it.

I do admit that I have been focusing on the rule changes and been sorting out new moderators, completing assignments and trying to create a Halloween event - but I have been noticing the decline in posts and I do plan on doing something to increase these statistics.

Moderator posting
Just briefly, one thing I picked up in these replies was the mention of moderators doing more to generate discussion around the forum. Moderators do have a post count requirement they need to meet each week. These are checked when the Weekly Top Posters are released and moderators have been meeting these requirements almost every week (in saying that, we have seen three moderators resign and new people joining) but on the whole, moderators are posting around the forum. I may incorporate threads into this tally as currently it is only posts, but I'll see how things go.

Top Poster prizes
Side note - do people want the prizes changing? I know the shop is bare at the moment but I am working on new icons and trying to think of a few new things to introduce in there. Are tokens a big enough incentive? Has this scheme become boring? - Let me know what you think because if people are happy with how it is, I don't want to go changing it. I know it'll probably be more successful if there's more options in the forum shop and that is on my list of things to do :) Reintroducing creds to buy is a possibility. They seemed to come and go within a few days (weeks, I can't remember) and were quite popular so I'll see if I can try and bring that back.

ALSO - staff spam threads are literally non-existent. The moderator one consists of Nick posting gifs of bands once a month and he's not even a mod.

[Nick]

I realise now I should have quoted people rather than writing blocks of words.

Posting around the forum has been slowly declining since the end of HxSS and last week was probably the worst week I have seen in a long time. Staff numbers have been dropping a great deal and I know the three moderators that have resigned from the Forum department within the past few weeks have put it down to time management and two of them down to University/education commitments. I know this time of year it tends to happen a lot (as it was the same when I was Events Manager) and I do agree that more could be done to increase posting around the Forum (at least between now and Christmas).

Happy Hours
Having read the comments in this thread, I will be planning a few Happy Hours to get the ball rolling. I know these shouldn't be solely relied upon to generate discussion and posting but it's a start. Due to my timezone and the fact I cannot set up Happy Hours to start/end at particular times, I'm discussing this with Laura so that these can be run at a time where a majority of users are likely to be online. I'm inclined to run two in one day so that users from all timezones will get a fair chance at double tokens/getting a few extra prizes.

Posting Pact
We haven't seen a posting pact in a while and running a pact that is official where VIP and additional prizes are on offer may also increase activity. I'd be more than happy to start that next week and advertise it on the Forum to get as many people signed up and willing to participate as possible. This obviously is only a short-term solution as posting pacts last for a week but I'm more than happy to run one and see if we can do it.

I do admit that I have been focusing on the rule changes and been sorting out new moderators, completing assignments and trying to create a Halloween event - but I have been noticing the decline in posts and I do plan on doing something to increase these statistics.

Moderator posting
Just briefly, one thing I picked up in these replies was the mention of moderators doing more to generate discussion around the forum. Moderators do have a post count requirement they need to meet each week. These are checked when the Weekly Top Posters are released and moderators have been meeting these requirements almost every week (in saying that, we have seen three moderators resign and new people joining) but on the whole, moderators are posting around the forum. I may incorporate threads into this tally as currently it is only posts, but I'll see how things go.

Top Poster prizes
Side note - do people want the prizes changing? I know the shop is bare at the moment but I am working on new icons and trying to think of a few new things to introduce in there. Are tokens a big enough incentive? Has this scheme become boring? - Let me know what you think because if people are happy with how it is, I don't want to go changing it. I know it'll probably be more successful if there's more options in the forum shop and that is on my list of things to do :) Reintroducing creds to buy is a possibility. They seemed to come and go within a few days (weeks, I can't remember) and were quite popular so I'll see if I can try and bring that back.

ALSO - staff spam threads are literally non-existent. The moderator one consists of Nick posting gifs of bands once a month and he's not even a mod.

SHUT UP U DON'T UNDERSTAND ME

I havent posted lots coz im working

BUT WAT THE HELL http://i.imgur.com/n96rJ9A.png

[Alysha]

but I am working on new icons
Are you? Are you really?

[Matt]

SHUT UP U DON'T UNDERSTAND ME

I havent posted lots coz im working

BUT WAT THE HELL http://i.imgur.com/n96rJ9A.png

god knows what half that chat is even about ;l


Are you? Are you really?

whoops I meant Graphics :angel:

[Expling]

I sometimes post threads when I have an idea but I'm hopeless for them so...
The activity is sometimes low yeah but it'd be nice to see some new people posting threads and stuff

[David]

whoops I meant Graphics :angel:

hello

[Matt]

hello

oh god, and David.

Did you guys even read anything else in that post other than this one slight mistake :(

Thank you to everyone that contributed icons x

[David]

oh god, and David.

Did you guys even read anything else in that post other than this one slight mistake :(

Thank you to everyone that contributed icons x

sort of

when you're talking about official posting pact isn't that just what the posting scheme usergroup is

[Jglake]

I joined the pact I never was here before it has been like this but I believe it is because of school.

[abc]

Top Poster prizes
Side note - do people want the prizes changing? I know the shop is bare at the moment but I am working on new icons and trying to think of a few new things to introduce in there. Are tokens a big enough incentive? Has this scheme become boring? - Let me know what you think because if people are happy with how it is, I don't want to go changing it. I know it'll probably be more successful if there's more options in the forum shop and that is on my list of things to do :) Reintroducing creds to buy is a possibility. They seemed to come and go within a few days (weeks, I can't remember) and were quite popular so I'll see if I can try and bring that back.

Have you considered offering furni/credits as a prize? This may attract more Habbo users to post. 10 credits a week, 520 per year is not that much from Habbox's kitty.

[Kardan]

Too busy with life.

[Jglake]

I recommend adding the ability to get habbo club or builders club with tokens that would certainly bring in more posts and people who will have to stay active in order to reach that option.

[Matt]

sort of

when you're talking about official posting pact isn't that just what the posting scheme usergroup is

Yes, but the prizes would be something that we don't normally offer just for posting around the forum e.g. a month of VIP or a compilation of different prizes.


Have you considered offering furni/credits as a prize? This may attract more Habbo users to post. 10 credits a week, 520 per year is not that much from Habbox's kitty.

I'm a bit hesitant with Habbo-based prizes as although we are a Habbo forum, quite a large number of our users do not play Habbo anymore (therefore making furni/creds a pointless prize for them). I guess that is easily solved by just converting it into forum-based prizes though. I'll see what I can do! Thanks for your input :)

[Expling]

I recommend adding the ability to get habbo club or builders club with tokens that would certainly bring in more posts and people who will have to stay active in order to reach that option.

Habbox can't give users habbo club or builders club, you need to pay for it yourself (unless you can give it as gifts - but even then the prices would be the same as normal)

[Jglake]

Habbox can't give users habbo club or builders club, you need to pay for it yourself (unless you can give it as gifts - but even then the prices would be the same as normal)

That is what I mean they Admins would need to manually process that stuff and buy it as gifts, or give 20c or 25c to get the membership in game.

[Hannah]

Perhaps some forum events which involve posting could help improve posting activity.

[DPS]

I find that there is nothing to keep me logging into the forum... no1 posts decent stuff

[abc]

Yes, but the prizes would be something that we don't normally offer just for posting around the forum e.g. a month of VIP or a compilation of different prizes.



I'm a bit hesitant with Habbo-based prizes as although we are a Habbo forum, quite a large number of our users do not play Habbo anymore (therefore making furni/creds a pointless prize for them). I guess that is easily solved by just converting it into forum-based prizes though. I'll see what I can do! Thanks for your input :)

You could do what I have seen many comps/events staff do, winner chooses between a Habbo or Forum based prize.

[Bloop]

o dear that cant be good! :)

[joshuar]

Have you not considered maybe reducing the amount of forums there are? There are 40 forums on the front page alone, which means the small amount of activity is getting spread across those 40 forums and is almost invisible to the regulars. I've been popping by this week and have noticed barely anything moving forward.

A band forum I go on regularly has 2 catergories, one for the band, and one for the community. No more than 13 forums (including subforums, only 8 are on the front page) and it makes it so much neater. It also gives the illusion of more activity which encourages members to post more. Might be worth thinking about, if Habbox can bear to change the old formula of course...

[Lewis]

Have you not considered maybe reducing the amount of forums there are? There are 40 forums on the front page alone, which means the small amount of activity is getting spread across those 40 forums and is almost invisible to the regulars. I've been popping by this week and have noticed barely anything moving forward.

A band forum I go on regularly has 2 catergories, one for the band, and one for the community. No more than 13 forums (including subforums, only 8 are on the front page) and it makes it so much neater. It also gives the illusion of more activity which encourages members to post more. Might be worth thinking about, if Habbox can bear to change the old formula of course...

I agree. One example of this is 'Habbo In General' and 'Anything to do with trading / furniture' -- I think these two forums could be merged without problem.

http://www.habboxforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=30

http://www.habboxforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=124

[lawrawrrr]

Have you not considered maybe reducing the amount of forums there are? There are 40 forums on the front page alone, which means the small amount of activity is getting spread across those 40 forums and is almost invisible to the regulars. I've been popping by this week and have noticed barely anything moving forward.

A band forum I go on regularly has 2 catergories, one for the band, and one for the community. No more than 13 forums (including subforums, only 8 are on the front page) and it makes it so much neater. It also gives the illusion of more activity which encourages members to post more. Might be worth thinking about, if Habbox can bear to change the old formula of course...

We've already reduced some with our latest rule changes, we stuck to the trading and Bobba/Scam/Glitches forum this time! I'm definitely up for discussing more alternatives but without making it too difficult for people to find what they're looking for. Personally, I use New Posts the majority of the time so it's not such a huge deal for me but I do see where you're coming from. There are a LOT of aspects to this forum though so that's why it's as broken up as it is.

I'm not one to be scared of breaking tradition at all, however the feedback we got to splitting up even forums that I thought belonged more together was not great, didn't get much of a positive reaction (cries 5eva).


I agree. One example of this is 'Habbo In General' and 'Anything to do with trading / furniture' -- I think these two forums could be merged without problem.

http://www.habboxforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=30

http://www.habboxforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=124

We still have quite a large trading base so I'm loathed to merge that in with something else (even though it's just ABOUT furni I realise)... although I see what you mean about the Habbo subforums in general definitely, there seems like there could be a lot of overlap?

[FlyingJesus]

I'd make Rare Value Suggestions a subby of Anything About Trading, and Bobba etc into a subby of Habbo In General. They're not used often and would still be easy enough to find by anyone who really wanted to use them, and they don't really have much viewing value on their own like Cool Rooms does. I'd personally put Support into a new sub of Feedback and call it all Habbox Feedback & Support since there are already support-esque subs in there anyway so seems to make sense. Less necessary but a possible extra if we're wanting to clean up is getting rid of Development Announcements and just posting them in the normal announcements area, not really sure why they're separate anyway and anything massively important can be given notifications and stickies anyway

[joshuar]

We've already reduced some with our latest rule changes, we stuck to the trading and Bobba/Scam/Glitches forum this time! I'm definitely up for discussing more alternatives but without making it too difficult for people to find what they're looking for. Personally, I use New Posts the majority of the time so it's not such a huge deal for me but I do see where you're coming from. There are a LOT of aspects to this forum though so that's why it's as broken up as it is.

I'm not one to be scared of breaking tradition at all, however the feedback we got to splitting up even forums that I thought belonged more together was not great, didn't get much of a positive reaction (cries 5eva).

It's good to see that you've tried a few things, and looking back from 2009 there's actually been a lot of culling. But I feel (being an irregular visitor) that it needs to go further. You could have quite a good cull of overlapping forums and still get around okay, even making better use of tags to help organise content if necessary.

For me, I find the whole forum quite daunting to use. It's not as slick as it could be, with so many skins and bolt ons (so many name colours and icons etc). I know I'm quite old in that regard, but maybe simplifying things down a bit might actually not be so off putting to newer members? It used to be quite a bit more straight forward back in the day (and not at the same time).

I know I'm not really entitled to make comments on the way it's done around here anymore, but I know it can be useful for management (who see the site everyday) to receive feedback on it from someone who doesn't know what's going on around here!

[Matt]

I know I'm not really entitled to make comments on the way it's done around here anymore, but I know it can be useful for management (who see the site everyday) to receive feedback on it from someone who doesn't know what's going on around here!

You are a member of the forum and therefore entitled to provide feedback :P It's great to see what the older and more established users think and you've made some incredibly valid points. The refining of certain forums wasn't originally part of the rule change plan that happened over the past two months, however I do believe it has worked in our favour and does have the ability to make certain forums a little less daunting. Now that it's been raised I don't want to rule out any other merges of other (sub)forums in the future. We'd make it so that it's less confusing for members when posting in an attempt to make the forum easier to use.

It's funny that you should mention all of the coloured names and icons. The sale of VIP has dropped significantly (more so the VIP that is released for particular occasions such as HxSS and Halloween) and it has made me wonder about the real significance of releasing new VIPs (for seasonal events for example). Icons are just a little bit of fun and it's a good thing to incorporate into Forum competitions etc but I can see the point you are making.

Thanks for your feedback :)

Also in relation to FJ, i'll discuss those with Laura and look at having any changes ready for Stage 3.

[Zak]

Personally

Lack of thread topics that interest me

[rnix]

I see a lot of reasons why the forum has declined in popularity, resulting in a decline of posts.
For a start, the events team is very poor. Half the events rooms are very poor quality and I know it's better to have a EO with poor rooms rather than none but if the room looks a bit rushed or poor it doesn't look very inviting. If you look at ThisHabbos events rooms most of theirs are really good and I enjoy their events. The events that are ran are very boring in my opinion, and there is no hype about them.

Secondly, The Radio department. It would be nice to see the DJs out of sitting in the Helpdesk or the VIP bit of an event. I remember the days where you had to find the DJ around the hotel, It was actually fun. Now there is just DJs who play 5 songs say a few words and then play more songs. Other fansites Radios are farrrrr superior and there's no reason it can't be the same here.

If the Radio and Events arnt making the effort then I feel like there's no hope for improving the posts and activity around here.

[Triz]

For me, I find the whole forum quite daunting to use. It's not as slick as it could be, with so many skins and bolt ons (so many name colours and icons etc). I know I'm quite old in that regard, but maybe simplifying things down a bit might actually not be so off putting to newer members? It used to be quite a bit more straight forward back in the day (and not at the same time).

I have to agree with joshuar here. Obviously I haven't been active for the last few years, however I did pop by once in a while for nostalgic reasons, and noticed a lot of changes in the forum. I remember when I first purchased donator status... I mainly purchased it because I would be one of few people (aside from staff) whose posts stood out due to my 'elevated status' in being a VIP, along with the username color change. However looking at the usergroup colors now, it seems every Tom, Dick and Harry has a coloured username.. Which if people were like me and only donated for the benefits, then now-days it seems less appealing.. Of course I'm sure there are people out there who donate purely to help with the growth of Habbox, but in the end it has the same outcome, so shouldn't matter the reasoning.

I think if you reduce the flashy usernames and limit it to donators and staff, then you might just see an influx in people buying VIP/donating. As for the icons, I think they're a good touch, really spices up the forum, as long as they're subtle and not too in your face. However overall I think the changes are good ones, not too complex and not too basic. But generally I think the who hype of Habbo Fansites is wearing off, it's not like it used to be anymore. Habbo Fansites used to be a big thing back in the day, back when I saw Habbo more of a community than just a game. I think it's mainly because (To what I've witnessed) most of the Habbos these days are 'younglings' and have no desire to see Habbo as a community like I once did, they only see it as a game, therefore won't get stuck in with Fansites or other related things.

Just my 2 cents.

[FlyingJesus]

Radio's on the way up again with Gina at the helm, already seen massive increase in activity and all that from there since she got the manager's cushion under her bum. Long term plans going on there woopwoop party central (btw make my room the Habbox party place 4god stop scamming me Absently) and DJs interacting seems to be on the rise

Events definitely need to be pushed, don't even care about quality just have them and get people involved. You can run a game with like 20c of rank furni and it'll be a great time if you make it fun, the look of the room isn't the issue the attitude of people involved is. In HxSS I hosted a few events and my room was ugly as sin but we had a giggle and made sure everyone was feeling part of the game. You make it a personal thing, you speak to the contestants, you set people off against each other or whatever - keep the atmosphere up and people get interested. And for god's sake don't just sit in as a team and play tactics to keep your friends in: backstab them and make plays for outsiders to win, cheer for the norms and make them feel like coming back for more than 1c or w/e

[Tom]

Radio's on the way up again with Gina at the helm, already seen massive increase in activity and all that from there since she got the manager's cushion under her bum. Long term plans going on there woopwoop party central (btw make my room the Habbox party place 4god stop scamming me Absently) and DJs interacting seems to be on the rise

Events definitely need to be pushed, don't even care about quality just have them and get people involved. You can run a game with like 20c of rank furni and it'll be a great time if you make it fun, the look of the room isn't the issue the attitude of people involved is. In HxSS I hosted a few events and my room was ugly as sin but we had a giggle and made sure everyone was feeling part of the game. You make it a personal thing, you speak to the contestants, you set people off against each other or whatever - keep the atmosphere up and people get interested. And for god's sake don't just sit in as a team and play tactics to keep your friends in: backstab them and make plays for outsiders to win, cheer for the norms and make them feel like coming back for more than 1c or w/e

I have said this so many times about events. People just don't interact with their users anymore! They're less likely to come back if they have one round and it was just the host going "choose this. Choose this. Say this. Say this. What's this? What's this?". Stop being so bloody scripted. Talk to your users. It's not a lot to say "Hey, yourmum1000, welcome to the event!" and actually tell people to invite. Don't just say "Oh one more for the event to start" that's tedious. People are going to leave because they have to wait for that one person - that might never show. Instead, just say something like "starting in 2 minutes! Invite your friends!!!" or something I dunno.

TL;DR: STOP BEING ROBOTS, EVENTS STAFF. :)

Yeah as for posts - they have dropped yeah ;l (comes from gaining more community though).

[Sho]

I don't really post anymore because there's nothing that interests me, or they tend to be the same posts from a couple of years back just re-posted so I cba.

When Alex and Martin were management they held a week-long event where we would host old-school events and have them them hosted in old-school rooms and I just made a plain room with mode bars and a poster, but I still had 30-ish people coming, so it definitely isn't about the rooms. Make friends with the newcomers, add them to your friends list and invite them to future events. For events to be popular, you need people to actually want to go to them and there are plenty of people who want to. A lot just come in to a silent room and then leave (tbf even I do that because I think the event is over or something, then I find out that it wasn't about 30 mins later) :P

[Kyle]

from the perspective of an event host, it's actually quite hard to juggle ensuring the smooth running of an event with being welcoming and enthusiastic. That burden should not fall solely on hosts. I do think that there's a notable lack of quality in events though with a good number of hosts sticking to stale old events like don't get a carrot and pod racing.

Forum posting has very little to do with events though. All of you who have said you don't post anymore have clearly pointed towards somebody else. If there's nothing interesting to discuss, how about starting a discussion yourselves? That is the problem here - poor participating-creation ratio.

[Inseriousity.]

Forum posting has everything to do with events, HxL, HxHD etc. The community is getting older so it's natural they don't participate more as we stay out of habit, boredom, loyalty rather than because we're huge fans of Habbo. The whole natural life cycle of a community is that the older people that leave/don't participate much anymore are replaced by younger users who take over. Habbox needs a younger community which would eventually have the knock on effect of higher posting, more events, higher staff morale but sadly, there does not appear to be much effort at attracting them. Even the Habbox baby, Gina, is at college now! Where the hell has the time gone lol!

It's funny how once again this issue comes up and management's only response is to change the rules, which only really affects the oldies who are going to stay anyway (out of habit, boredom, loyalty) and highly unlikely to participate any more than they usually would.

[Kyle]

How can community departments foster forum participation

[FlyingJesus]

By bringing people in to the communityyyyyyyyyyyyyy

[Inseriousity.]

Not just forum participation, community participation (and obviously it goes without saying that the community departments play the pivotal role in that!).

When I was competitions manager (the first time), Alex and I became known as spammers as we'd just spam Habbo with the comps link. Entries increased from less than a 100 a month when I started to 500 a month when I resigned. We used to switch back and forth between Runescape and Habbo. It was not a coincidence that the months we spent on Habbo were the months our entries were higher. We did that by talking to them, becoming friends with them and those very same people that entered competitions also hung out in the help desk, attended events, listened to HxL, were addicted to tournaments and entered big events and posted around the forum.

Habbox management have for a long time now been able to avoid Habbo. The Habbos came to us so we didn't need to go to them. They are no longer coming to us so we have to go to them. It's hard, it'd be so much easier just to tweak with the rules or change a few staff roles but forum activity will continue to decrease and we'll be having this same thread in 6 months time and it'll be even harder.

[Kasabian]

never fear

Edited by Expling (Forum Moderator): Please do not post pointlessly!

[-:Undertaker:-]

Why don't we do big huge givaways where people recieve a piece of furniture once they've signed up to the forum? Like the old days.

Back to basics as John Major famously said. :P