What Happened to Habbox?

[wordofwisdom]

So like most I haven't tuned in alot as I prefer other fansites over Habbox these days. However on the odd chance that I do come by I've noticed that Matt's left and Gina that the help desk is no more and that the Radio is pretty much non existent any days. It's sad to see Habbox in this state when I first tuned into the site back in 2006 when habbo was popping and we had Habbo Uk and the days of 300 people tuning in trying to win a club sofa.

I feel like Habbox is sadly not got long left before it closes, Unfortunately there is to much competition and fansites opening and sadly you need to be connected and know alot of people in order to succeed. I'm not bashing habbox you've had a great run and should be proud but sadly I feel these questions need to begin to be asked. I mean with the likes of Habbo Hut, CraveHabbo, Habbcrazy to name just a few closing recently I just feel like it's a matter of time before other fansites follow suit like HFFM, FlyHabbo etc.

Anyway I'm hoping things change for the good but as the game gets older we seem to be losing more and more people away from fansites and Habbo in general. The game is lucky to even have 1k people on at some times during the day and we all know it's a matter of when not if it will close. Anyway hopefully this doesn't come across as a bashing to just habbox as it's going to happen to everyone one day regardless you can't reverse the inevitable.

[Sloths]

Ty for your words of wisdom! I wonder what I’m managing then if the Help Desk is no more???

[despect]

I think what you're forgetting is that the state of most fansites these days have declined, fansites themselves just aren't as popular as they once was. Help desk is what I own unless I'm missing something?

I'm not saying all of our issues are down to Habbo being less popular but that does play a big part in it, if you actually visited us more then you'd realise we've actually made some changes already that are already working and we actually have a direction. Matt and Gina left but they were not the reason Habbox was "pop" they played a part in it but they were not the sole reasons so your comment there is completely invalid.

Thanks though :).

[-:Undertaker:-]

It is quite sad but even I now feel myself logging on less, maybe that's because of a decline but maybe just as with many people becoming detatched. First url I typed in used to be Habbox.com :P ... It is crazy though how long some of us have been on here, 2006! We haven't helped ourselves in recent years though with a badly outdated site and forum.

All that said, we had a good run. I'll be here until the end for sure. :)

[FlyingJesus]

Matt left because he was bored of pretending to care after letting things decline for ages, Gina left because she got cooler friends who tell people to kill themselves, help desk is still there, radio is on just as much as ever but we don't fake our listener numbers like other sites. We have loads of stuff going on and in development, but thanks for the optimistic prediction Mystic Meg

[xxMATTGxx]

I don't think he was saying me or gina leaving was his main opinion on why Habbox was in decline but he noticed since he was last on that we have left. Not a surprise considering how much activity myself and Gina did have in terms of being online etc etc. But surely you should be all passed the finger blaming now for people who haven't worked here for many many months.

Habbox has been in a decline for a long time and currently it's probably the worst I have ever seen it when you compare it to other fansites who seem to be doing a better job.

Anyway, I'll defend Gina. She left Habbox when she got into Uni and wanted to focus her life on that instead of worrying about a Habbo fansite. Makes perfect sense to me. She can be friends with whoever she wants to be but as a person she's still the lovely Gina we all know and love.

Adios.

[FlyingJesus]

lol

[lawrawrrr]

As you mentioned in your post Habbo has a lot fewer users and there are a lot more fansites so we are competing for a much smaller userbase.

I'm not going to get into it again (half cos I CBA repeating myself and half because it's pointless having this discussion) but a lot has been neglected at Habbox due to interest levels and broken promises over the years. We have some cool bits and pieces launching over the next few months to spruce up our output and our on-client activity is looking pretty great, there's always people having a natter in the HXHD and at events! Of course people move on but we're not going to tie them down. Priorities change, friendships change and people change and move on, that's part of life! It is always a shame when people who are massively seen as "major part of Habbox" go but other people fill their place!

[YellowBelli]

Habbo help centres, forums and fan sites are definitely decreasing in popularity. Doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road, it could be a beginning.. just depends where we go from here :-)

The big bad wolf of social media has swallowed most of it up! Scan my fingerprint, and boom! On my screen is the text box to write my thoughts or I immediately scroll to find an interaction. Simple and easy wins. I personally believe that’s why habbo has decreased popularity too. They’ve over complicated the user experience.

In terms of forums, ratio of thread categories to members is quite important. I apply the same thought to the habbo navigator.. one popular list made users more condensed and more likely to make interaction. Trying to find a room on habbo is like trying to find something to watch on netflix.... too much choice!!

Perhaps with so many fansites dropping like flies, we can see it as an opportunity. You can do it Habbox! 2018 is your year !

As for the Help Desk, it is very much alive with a fun, friendly group of people! I’m just a visitor but their attitude made me want to join the forums again! Come visit 0:)

[Samantha]

You were listening to Habbox when you were nine then, cool.


It is quite sad but even I now feel myself logging on less, maybe that's because of a decline but maybe just as with many people becoming detatched. First url I typed in used to be Habbox.com :P ... It is crazy though how long some of us have been on here, 2006! We haven't helped ourselves in recent years though with a badly outdated site and forum.

All that said, we had a good run. I'll be here until the end for sure. :)

I'm the same nowadays. It's still a habit going onto HxF most of the time, (and I still do features), but I literally come on Habbox, click new posts, get pissed off at the replies on threads, especially when there's rule breaks. Once upon a time I'd report it, I'd actually care, especially when I ran the forum, nowadays though there's no point as there's a lack of activity and if people who hold some level of authority (staff+ etc.) don't care either then you can't expect the members to.

[Zak]

I'm not sure the forum or the fan site will go any where. Even if the domain were to expire someone would revive it.

Even though I didn't know Matt. He seemed like the glue holding Habbox together. People grow up and move on.

---MAD---
nvrspk4
-Danube-
jrh2002
HotelUser

Come and gone.

[GoldenMerc]

Ty for your words of wisdom! I wonder what I’m managing then if the Help Desk is no more???
Go on defensive, great.

I think what you're forgetting is that the state of most fansites these days have declined, fansites themselves just aren't as popular as they once was. Help desk is what I own unless I'm missing something?

Fairly sure HFFM is more popular than Habbox was when it was popular, so logic.

I don't think he was saying me or gina leaving was his main opinion on why Habbox was in decline but he noticed since he was last on that we have left. Not a surprise considering how much activity myself and Gina did have in terms of being online etc etc. But surely you should be all passed the finger blaming now for people who haven't worked here for many many months.

Habbox has been in a decline for a long time and currently it's probably the worst I have ever seen it when you compare it to other fansites who seem to be doing a better job.

Anyway, I'll defend Gina. She left Habbox when she got into Uni and wanted to focus her life on that instead of worrying about a Habbo fansite. Makes perfect sense to me. She can be friends with whoever she wants to be but as a person she's still the lovely Gina we all know and love.

Adios.
Agreed

As you mentioned in your post Habbo has a lot fewer users and there are a lot more fansites so we are competing for a much smaller userbase.



IMO the passing the blame game is how Habbox has been for a long time it's always been the issue, but never actually identifying the problems, IE over the past 2 years or so, the older members have been pushed to the side, while the newer members given incentives, rather than both.

While HFFM & other competition have a heap of prizes in comparison to Habbox, mainly as Jake, Mammoth etc fund it, that also is one of the reasons I'd mention

[lawrawrrr]

You were listening to Habbox when you were nine then, cool.



I'm the same nowadays. It's still a habit going onto HxF most of the time, (and I still do features), but I literally come on Habbox, click new posts, get pissed off at the replies on threads, especially when there's rule breaks. Once upon a time I'd report it, I'd actually care, especially when I ran the forum, nowadays though there's no point as there's a lack of activity and if people who hold some level of authority (staff+ etc.) don't care either then you can't expect the members to.
It's unfair to say staff+ don't "care" because you know that's complete BS.

With the forum and supposed rule breaks (which I haven't seen) you have to bear in mind that in the last couple years the rules have been massively relaxed to make it more fun to post around rather than abiding by really strict rules etc. If you see rule breaks then please do report them or send them because none of us have seen anything that warrants it lately!

[scottish]

Isn't Jake long gone?

[-:Undertaker:-]

Rules were relaxed for sure which was a very good thing, that period under ---MAD--- although it was at the peak of Habbox sure did a hell of a lot of damage. You think of all the active people who were pushed out in that period... what a huge shame!

Interesting how this particular topic has just suddenly generated activity though haha, ironic. :P

[GoldenMerc]

Isn't Jake long gone?

dont think so, but dont really keep up. i seem to have him on twitter and he seems fairly active on the habbo front

[lawrawrrr]

IMO the passing the blame game is how Habbox has been for a long time it's always been the issue, but never actually identifying the problems, IE over the past 2 years or so, the older members have been pushed to the side, while the newer members given incentives, rather than both.

While HFFM & other competition have a heap of prizes in comparison to Habbox, mainly as Jake, Mammoth etc fund it, that also is one of the reasons I'd mention

It's not a blame game I will freely admit that more should have been done for years now to recruit new users. But comparing Habbox to 2006 Habbox is pointless because of the reasons I said.

We have loads of incentives for new members. As for prizes, we give out 100s of credits for normal competitions (habbox starz, special weekends) and I personally fund thousands for HxSS every year. James and Sho, as well as some amazing staff who I'm not sure would want the credit, also donate so many for events and features that makes it so much easier when in previous years I've been funding everything out of my own pocket... while buying a house so obviously funds were squeezed...

[GoldenMerc]

It's not a blame game I will freely admit that more should have been done for years now to recruit new users. But comparing Habbox to 2006 Habbox is pointless because of the reasons I said.

We have loads of incentives for new members. As for prizes, we give out 100s of credits for normal competitions (habbox starz, special weekends) and I personally fund thousands for HxSS every year. James and Sho, as well as some amazing staff who I'm not sure would want the credit, also donate so many for events and features that makes it so much easier when in previous years I've been funding everything out of my own pocket... while buying a house so obviously funds were squeezed...

I understand that, but what have you done to keep your older members?

[Samantha]

It's unfair to say staff+ don't "care" because you know that's complete BS.

With the forum and supposed rule breaks (which I haven't seen) you have to bear in mind that in the last couple years the rules have been massively relaxed to make it more fun to post around rather than abiding by really strict rules etc. If you see rule breaks then please do report them or send them because none of us have seen anything that warrants it lately!

if people who hold some level of authority (staff+ etc.) don't care either then you can't expect the members to.

Some people care, but not all members of staff will really care about Habbox nowadays - more so the inactive people etc.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I am sure Jake is still active, everytime I log onto the hotel (once in a blue moon I admit) he's online. He was a huge loss to this website, always said that. He was well connected and he's been playing for years - all his energy at HFFM could have been here.

[lawrawrrr]

I understand that, but what have you done to keep your older members?
Continually asked what they wanted, what we could do for them, provided VIP and token items, had continual events

a lot of older members didn't seem interested in a) getting involved in the discussion (unless it was complaining, like this thread ironically), or getting involved in events whether they're on habbo or forum based (as I tried that a couple years back). We've had forum comps, sales, I personally try to post as many threads as I can for people to get involved in - really I am at a loss of what people WANT us to do because all I get is "activity is shit"... that's not feedback that's complaining.

Older members leave because they go to uni or get grown up lives - that's just a fact of nature - so of course our priority has to be on recruiting new, younger members or older active members to "fill" their place as such. Lately we've had such a good activity on client, but it's not translating to the forum, which I genuinely believe is because the way the internet is changing as a whole (call it a blame game but that's how I see it!)

A lot of the damage with older members was done before I became GM though.

[GoldenMerc]

Continually asked what they wanted, what we could do for them, provided VIP and token items, had continual events

a lot of older members didn't seem interested in a) getting involved in the discussion (unless it was complaining, like this thread ironically), or getting involved in events whether they're on habbo or forum based (as I tried that a couple years back). We've had forum comps, sales, I personally try to post as many threads as I can for people to get involved in - really I am at a loss of what people WANT us to do because all I get is "activity is shit"... that's not feedback that's complaining.

Older members leave because they go to uni or get grown up lives - that's just a fact of nature - so of course our priority has to be on recruiting new, younger members or older active members to "fill" their place as such. Lately we've had such a good activity on client, but it's not translating to the forum, which I genuinely believe is because the way the internet is changing as a whole (call it a blame game but that's how I see it!)

A lot of the damage with older members was done before I became GM though.

I completely agree on all of your points but


provided VIP and token items, had continual events

Won't appeal to your market, most older members (You will notice) don't care about any of these, you need to target the prizes towards your members. I understand all (Bar the events) are pretty much free for you to give away.

In terms of the uni and people moving on with their lifes, that's true, but some members will stick around if there was something that interests them (This goes back to threads, posts etc) Which you can't really control.

I think for me the whole fading out of Habbox was the whole posting competitions, I understand when I was younger, that would have interested me (considering I pretty much done a competition with myself) but that also pushes your older members out with the quality of the posts being super poor and uncontrollable essentially

Just a note (I know you'll already know this) but restoring past members is easier than gaining new ones

[Samantha]

Continually asked what they wanted, what we could do for them, provided VIP and token items, had continual events

a lot of older members didn't seem interested in a) getting involved in the discussion (unless it was complaining, like this thread ironically), or getting involved in events whether they're on habbo or forum based (as I tried that a couple years back). We've had forum comps, sales, I personally try to post as many threads as I can for people to get involved in - really I am at a loss of what people WANT us to do because all I get is "activity is shit"... that's not feedback that's complaining.

Older members leave because they go to uni or get grown up lives - that's just a fact of nature - so of course our priority has to be on recruiting new, younger members or older active members to "fill" their place as such. Lately we've had such a good activity on client, but it's not translating to the forum, which I genuinely believe is because the way the internet is changing as a whole (call it a blame game but that's how I see it!)

A lot of the damage with older members was done before I became GM though.

See I'm not one for VIP, (plus I can't have it :() but I loved the Black Friday event/sale you/James/Shoned did, it actually made me use my tokens which is really what it was for and I got cute furni out of it! Shame I don't really play Habbo as much as I used to nowadays, and I couldn't suggest anything at the moment that would gain activity for me/other members.

[lawrawrrr]

I completely agree on all of your points but



Won't appeal to your market, most older members (You will notice) don't care about any of these, you need to target the prizes towards your members. I understand all (Bar the events) are pretty much free for you to give away.

In terms of the uni and people moving on with their lifes, that's true, but some members will stick around if there was something that interests them (This goes back to threads, posts etc) Which you can't really control.

I think for me the whole fading out of Habbox was the whole posting competitions, I understand when I was younger, that would have interested me (considering I pretty much done a competition with myself) but that also pushes your older members out with the quality of the posts being super poor and uncontrollable essentially

Just a note (I know you'll already know this) but restoring past members is easier than gaining new ones
That's fair enough. If those things don't work. You're an older member.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?

Please tell us because we are LITERALLY out of ideas, as far as my creativity goes we have tried everything for older members!

[GoldenMerc]

That's fair enough. If those things don't work. You're an older member.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?

Please tell us because we are LITERALLY out of ideas, as far as my creativity goes we have tried everything for older members!

I know this probably goes way past what you are budgeting but stuff like Habbo, coloured crap names etc won't work.

Gift cards, MAYBE even old school events *Unsure*

I'll come back with more ideas when I have them

[lawrawrrr]

See I'm not one for VIP, (plus I can't have it :() but I loved the Black Friday event/sale you/James/Shoned did, it actually made me use my tokens which is really what it was for and I got cute furni out of it! Shame I don't really play Habbo as much as I used to nowadays, and I couldn't suggest anything at the moment that would gain activity for me/other members.
That was Mikey;'s idea! Such a good one. It wouldl be good to do more but we need to look at how it works to not allow some inactive older members to buy out the entire store not leaving anything for active members!

- - - Updated - - -


I know this probably goes way past what you are budgeting but stuff like Habbo, coloured crap names etc won't work.

Gift cards, MAYBE even old school events *Unsure*

I'll come back with more ideas when I have them

Stuff like Habbo? Habbo don't really do anything though apart from host the hotel (which would be illegal ;))

We've done gift card prizes and activity/interest hasn't been any higher!

Also done retro/throwback and events which some people loved but completly alienated newer people which suuucked :(

[GoldenMerc]

That was Mikey;'s idea! Such a good one. It wouldl be good to do more but we need to look at how it works to not allow some inactive older members to buy out the entire store not leaving anything for active members!

- - - Updated - - -

We've done gift card prizes and activity/interest hasn't been any higher!



But how do they know you are doing this? What are you using to push that traffic to the competition

[YellowBelli]

I personally feel it’s down to the older member to *want* to be part of it all.

[lawrawrrr]

But how do they know you are doing this? What are you using to push that traffic to the competition
Twitter is the most effective way we find. All our events now have on client presences as well as on forum/site. Messaging on Skype and PM/invites on Habbox. Post over the forum with force read threads. Notices, banners. We genuinely do get people involved in Habbox because of them, but translating them to forum users isn't going as well as the on client stuff!!

- - - Updated - - -


I personally feel it’s down to the older member to *want* to be part of it all.
techincally you count as an older member with your merged account ;)

[wordofwisdom]

Like I said previously I didn't mean for this to cause an argument, I used to chill in the HxHD but over the last few months when I've went to go there no ones either been there or the room was non existent.

To answer what many are saying, It's true the traffic has declined massively you can try your hardest and for the sake of habbox considering it was the first fansite I stumbled across when I was 8 I hope it gets better but Habbo has nothing going for it for the traffic numbers to just sharply rise. They're not allowed ad's etc

[lawrawrrr]

Like I said previously I didn't mean for this to cause an argument, I used to chill in the HxHD but over the last few months when I've went to go there no ones either been there or the room was non existent.

To answer what many are saying, It's true the traffic has declined massively you can try your hardest and for the sake of habbox considering it was the first fansite I stumbled across when I was 8 I hope it gets better but Habbo has nothing going for it for the traffic numbers to just sharply rise. They're not allowed ad's etc
I don't mean to be rude but are you looking at the right HxHD? The one in James (despect) room always has people in every time I'm online unless there's an event on!

[GoldenMerc]

Twitter is the most effective way we find. All our events now have on client presences as well as on forum/site. Messaging on Skype and PM/invites on Habbox. Post over the forum with force read threads. Notices, banners. We genuinely do get people involved in Habbox because of them, but translating them to forum users isn't going as well as the on client stuff!!

Twitter isn't bad, nor is Skype.

But I'm also weary of how many of the old members use either of them platforms, if at all.

[lawrawrrr]

Twitter isn't bad, nor is Skype.

But I'm also weary of how many of the old members use either of them platforms, if at all.
okay so for older members we put them on the forum force read (so noone can use the excuse "but I didn't see it cos I have cnb muted!!!! which is the entire reason I put that feature on)

I didn't mention we have sent out bulk emails in the past as well for MAJOR MAJOR events (we'll probably send one in a few weeks for something, then HxSS).

But if older members are going to be completely absent from any platform then there is zero way we can reach them to promote anything we're doing... I don't know what we're left with then.

[GoldenMerc]

okay so for older members we put them on the forum force read (so noone can use the excuse "but I didn't see it cos I have cnb muted!!!! which is the entire reason I put that feature on)

I didn't mention we have sent out bulk emails in the past as well for MAJOR MAJOR events (we'll probably send one in a few weeks for something, then HxSS).

But if older members are going to be completely absent from any platform then there is zero way we can reach them to promote anything we're doing... I don't know what we're left with then.

So so the force read is kind of good but bad, as if they aren't interested in the first sentence, you've lost their attention instantly.

Bulk emails works, although from when we were doing it, the deliver-ability was pretty awful, but only way to fix that is using a CRM like ActiveCampaign or something.


But if older members are going to be completely absent from any platform then there is zero way we can reach them to promote anything we're doing... I don't know what we're left with then.

We both know that isn't true Laura :rolleyes:

[lawrawrrr]

So so the force read is kind of good but bad, as if they aren't interested in the first sentence, you've lost their attention instantly.

Bulk emails works, although from when we were doing it, the deliver-ability was pretty awful, but only way to fix that is using a CRM like ActiveCampaign or something.



We both know that isn't true Laura :rolleyes:

Email worked a little, short term... but not MASSIVELY effectively. Buying a CRM is ridiculous for a fansite and you know that.

We both know that if older members don't use twitter skype habbo habboxforum or their old habbo emails we can't reach them? what??? what other ways ARE there???????

[FlyingJesus]

WE SHOULD POST THINGS TO THEIR HOUSE!!!!! 4real if someone's not online then how can we reach them? You're spouting a bunch of lines that sound like one of those American business shows but no solutions

[lawrawrrr]

also im taking ross saying force read is "kinda good" as a massive positive step forward yasssssssssssssssssssssssss

[GoldenMerc]

Email worked a little, short term... but not MASSIVELY effectively. Buying a CRM is ridiculous for a fansite and you know that.

We both know that if older members don't use twitter skype habbo habboxforum or their old habbo emails we can't reach them? what??? what other ways ARE there???????

Unsure how many people link their fansite account to their personal, mine is linked to it.

Would be interested to see how many people use 'habbo email' accounts, I know you do for Habbo.com but not fansites.

CRMs aren't super expensive, I mean check out 'Sendy' Scott or someone may have used it in the past, it relies on the server rather than the CRM, it'd allow you to email a lot smarter, IE removing the bounced emails (which we had issues with in the past)


WE SHOULD POST THINGS TO THEIR HOUSE!!!!! 4real if someone's not online then how can we reach them? You're spouting a bunch of lines that sound like one of those American business shows but no solutions

People are online, just not on Habbo related stuff. Can't be arsed arguing with you about your low IQ today, so lets choose another day.


also im taking ross saying force read is "kinda good" as a massive positive step forward yasssssssssssssssssssssssss

{bertie_old}

[lawrawrrr]

Unsure how many people link their fansite account to their personal, mine is linked to it.

Would be interested to see how many people use 'habbo email' accounts, I know you do for Habbo.com but not fansites.

CRMs aren't super expensive, I mean check out 'Sendy' Scott or someone may have used it in the past, it relies on the server rather than the CRM, it'd allow you to email a lot smarter, IE removing the bounced emails (which we had issues with in the past)



People are online, just not on Habbo related stuff. Can't be arsed arguing with you about your low IQ today, so lets choose another day.



{bertie_old}

Few people link. Lots of people have either inactive emails (cos they've made new ones) or username.habbo emails. Every single person who has "returned" in the last few years has no idea of their old email accounts and we have to update them.

Investing in any kind of extra software is beyond our capabilities at the moment. I use them for my irl job so I'm capable of it but the level of sophistication in marketing Habbox needs isn't to the stage where a CRM is going to be really effective.

[FlyingJesus]

People are online, just not on Habbo related stuff. Can't be arsed arguing with you about your low IQ today, so lets choose another day.

Translation: "I have no relevant ideas, I just want to insult people"
So defensive and aggressive all in one... I asked a genuine question, how does a legally working website legally contact people who we don't have any contact with?

[YellowBelli]

Ya’all doing a fantastic job, putting so much energy into it all. Keep it up, don’t give up. I know I’m full of cheese but seriously, positivity is so important to succeed xx

[lawrawrrr]

Ya’all doing a fantastic job, putting so much energy into it all. Keep it up, don’t give up. I know I’m full of cheese but seriously, positivity is so important to succeed xx
You're my fav person ever right now, so cute xxxxx

i TOTALLY agree though. If you see something at Habbox you don't think is working or you can change then PLEASE either come and change it or advise us how! We are so open to suggestions and SO much is changing in next few months it's amazing. Be positive not negative with your criticism and we are so happy to take it on board :)

[LUCPIX]

The big bad wolf of social media has swallowed most of it up! Scan my fingerprint, and boom! On my screen is the text box to write my thoughts or I immediately scroll to find an interaction. Simple and easy wins. I personally believe that’s why habbo has decreased popularity too. They’ve over complicated the user experience.

Hey, I know it's a late answer but it is totally correct! Habboxforum (as well as all the forums which follow this kind of format) is substantially swimming, bravely swimming against the stream of the ways of communication from these days. If there's something we should pride ourselves is: we're the alive and breathing remaining people from a generation of internet-users who've actually thought. We're content makers, we don't look for other people to do this for us. WE'RE SURVIVORS! We even have +130 IQ people here, we have really creative people here, opinionated, funny, unless I'm terribly mistaken

See, have they "overcomplicated" the user experiences or have the average social media been "oversimplified" in the name of a better design and experience and now everything that even is slightly "harder" than Facebook/Twitter/Discord/etc is easily discarded because they "cba".. aka romanticized passive behavior (ok, with some exceptions)? Comparing to the forum/email/myspace eras , the current common internet users have lost the amazing ability of writing coherent opinions, making big sermons, formulating ideas and being creative because now the whole online environment does always influence us to be superficial, write tweet-sized texts and always avoid the deep, always saying the same things, confusing superficiality and treating it as though it is a synonym of "intelligence"; If you want to express your points of view, you do not even need to waste neurons to type them out, there's this bunch of influencers which says everything you (do think you) always wanted to say and it's only a SHARE button away.

tl;dr - nowaday's social media convince you to share posts, forums invite you to do everything by yourself, to assume your individuality, to make your content; and it scares the massive majority, who are no longer accustomed to do it. But I also have faith, man. And we don't even have to have big numbers. The key is the way the feedback effect affect us: Movement generates movement and, as we can see every now and then, silence generates more silence. So, what do you think we need?

[YellowBelli]

See, I nearly just “liked” your comment and then run away. That’s my natural response now... damn you facebook!

[dbgtz]

a legitimate query and concern is met with sarcasm, dismissal and personal attacks on others

has there been a new catfish recently or just any interesting drama

[FlyingJesus]

Nah the only real drama is when people give up on things they said they'd do and disappear

[Sian]

I'm hoping in comps I can do a few things for you older members, just give me a little time.

Also, there's a lot of grumpy people about.

[LUCPIX]

if one of the problems is the lack of general activity, one of the solutions could be that each person who logs on the forum but does not interact 'forced' themselves to make at least one post a day until it becomes something common to them

[MSPNick]

First joined HxF in 2006 - kept on getting banned from the site as I was very young at the time, now I am a father of my own child, own a house, the way the forum has decliend is amazing over the last 5/6 years alone. The Internet has moved on, it's more minecraft now!

There was always something to read on this forum, from the development of the radio panel (which AFAIK is still around?) I believe Tom is also still around not 100% sure though.Lycan too if I remember. All great people, and TomF as well. There is a few more guys that I can't quite remember the names of but this forum was buzzing at one point, every day there was a new development, which enticed people here (It did me for a long time as well) fresh content every minute of the day, around 500+ members on at one time, this forum has now only got around 10 members on at one time, I don't know all the history of this forum but when I joined it was the place to be!

[MSPNick]

Going on from this, I also think that a lot of the original management have abandoned ship here, could be another reason for a massive decline.

[LUCPIX]

It is a curious fact that, no matter where, when any kind of virtual community suffers a crisis, those with grey hair automatically come out of the sewers, almost as if summoned, to celebrate with a choice of words and tell each other that they are right

This is a trap

[GoldenMerc]

It is a curious fact that, no matter where, when any kind of virtual community suffers a crisis, those with grey hair automatically come out of the sewers, almost as if summoned, to celebrate with a choice of words and tell each other that they are right

This is a trap

or that some of us have been part of this community for over 10 years and its some what part of their lifes..

[LUCPIX]

It is a curious fact that, no matter where, when any kind of virtual community suffers a crisis, some of them that have been part of this community for over 10 years and its somehow part of their lifes temporarily come of the sewers, almost as if summoned, to celebrate with a choice of words and tell each other that the activity is shit prophecy is right

This is a trap

[Zak]

A lot of the damage with older members was done before I became GM though.

I'm not sure there was much that Habbox could do. Forums are an old medium of communication, people want insta' this and omg that. Something which Habbox cannot provide.


Going on from this, I also think that a lot of the original management have abandoned ship here, could be another reason for a massive decline.

Define original management. All 'original management' abandoned ship years ago. It's not a bad thing it's just a part of life. :)


It is a curious fact that, no matter where, when any kind of virtual community suffers a crisis, those with grey hair automatically come out of the sewers, almost as if summoned, to celebrate with a choice of words and tell each other that they are right

I think older members just have a tendency to say it how it is. It's not malicious, it's just their opinion! They provide the forum with a wealth of knowledge and experience - invaluable. It's no different when I joined and older members like Ostinato talked down to me like I was an idiot. I was back then! haha

[Hannah]

I think another reason may be the fact that I always found Habbox held a community of 'older' Habbo users in the meaning of how long they've played.

Everyone grows a bit older, goes to university, gets different jobs further afield, get into relationships etc. etc. and these are all things which draw users away. It's unfortunate, but it happens.

EDIT: Oh I've been on Habbox 10 years. wow.

[Neversoft]

I think there are two main reasons activity on Habbox has died down. The first is simply because Habbo isn't as popular anymore. Habbox doesn't have as large of a potential audience as it once did. The second is that, somewhere along the way, it was outdone. There were always Habbo fansites, but Habbox was arguably the first to take off, and they really hit it big with both the rare values and the radio. I remember when I started playing Habbo in 2004, you couldn't trade with anybody without referring to Habbox, and thousands would stick around to listen to the radio every week — it was all-around the place to be. Habbox had gained massive exposure on the game, the Help Desk was very prominent, and many of the staff members were well known on Habbo. This is how it was for a good number of years, but competition grew, help desks died down, and departments floundered, and rather than being the place to be, Habbox became a place to be. The popular fansites these days seem to put out content a lot quicker and offer information that simply isn't present on Habbox (such as badge guides for new events). Nevertheless, Habbox flourished for a very long time, and has seen the birth and death of a great many rivals, and still here it remains. Viva la Habbox, y'all.


It's no different when I joined and older members like Ostinato talked down to me like I was an idiot.

Hahaha! Damn, those were the days.

[Zak]

Undoubtedly Habbo isn't as popular as it once was. In comparison to other companies Sulake has done very little to develop their game. It still looks and feels the same as it did 10 years ago.

How is Habbox to thrive as a community when Habbo has so little interest? It needs a revolution!

As Neversoft has said "you couldn't trade with anybody without referring to Habbox". He's right, I stared at that orange template every night for years.

[Neversoft]

Sukia's trade room was one of the first places I used to frequent on Habbo, and "check Habbox rare values" may as well have been its slogan.

[Zak]

Sukia's trade room was one of the first places I used to frequent on Habbo, and "check Habbox rare values" may as well have been its slogan.

buying ts 4hc

haha

[Zak]

or was it tsofa lol

[Hannah]

Unfortunately with the market place on the client, rare values are just not required anymore. I wouldn't necessarily suggest that Habbox follow suit and provide guides for badges etc. but Habbox needs something else that'll draw people in.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Habbox Rare Values priced in Thrones (T), Club Sofas (CS) and Rubber Ducks (RD).

Originally I think 1 CS = 10 RD when I joined but eventually grew to about 70 RD by then time I left before Credits.

[Zak]

From 2005

https://i.imgur.com/j9HKrol.png

[LUCPIX]

From 2005

https://i.imgur.com/j9HKrol.png



I surfed some random versions of Habbox with Archive.org! Is that a personal screenshot of yours?

Furthermore, is Marketplace's values THAT accurate?

[Hannah]

Furthermore, is Marketplace's values THAT accurate?

It's the value that items are being traded for on Habbo. It has a value tracker, so you can see what's happened with the value etc. etc. It kind of does everything that people used to do for Habbox.

[FlyingJesus]

MP is gennnnnnnnnnnnnnerally good but there are a lot of cases of people inflating prices falsely and this is especially the case with more expensive items like LTDs and supers, the values of those on MP are often quite a way off what people really want to buy/sell for. Also you do get items that simply aren't on MP at all because no-one's put them up for sale

[Zak]

I surfed some random versions of Habbox with Archive.org! Is that a personal screenshot of yours?

Nah, it's from the internet archive. :)

[Jempire2014]

Habbox and many fansites have declined over the years, myself ive always been interested in Habbox, i've watched it go down hill these past few years, All it takes is the right people to bring it back up.

[Drewar]

Old member here. As you can see from my "Join Date", I've been around for a while. Fourteen years of Habbox... wow... time flies. Habbox was my childhood/adolescence. I have some really amazing memories from here. Met some really great people over the years, and I'm sad that I haven't been able to keep in touch with all of them, but I'm so happy for the memories.

I learned a lot from Habbox. I was able to develop a personality as a "Radio DJ" which helped me become more social in real life. I developed some writing skills in the Articles department. My typing skills are faster than pretty much everyone I've ever met in real life thanks to all of those years working at Habbox Help Desk, typing on HabboxForum, chatting with friends on Habbo, etc.

I think we can all agree that Habbox "isn't quite what it used to be" during it's "prime". But I must say... I am very thankful to all of the staff who have kept this place up and running over the years. Thanks to anyone who has ever paid the domain/hosting/vBulletin bills. Thanks to everyone who has put hours of their life in working (read: volunteering) here as "Management". Sincerely, I want to thank everyone who has put their money, blood, sweat, tears, and energy into this place.

Of course, it's not just the people who pay the bills and have the "important" job titles here that make Habbox what it is. I fully understand that. But I do want to take a step back and just take a moment to appreciate the fact that Habbox has been going strong for what, almost 15 years? It's mind blowing. I remember talks of Habbox shutting down almost a decade ago because it was too expensive and there was a lack of interest, etc. And here we are... in 2018... and the site is still up. I'm so happy.

I like to try and log in to the forum every once in a while just in case someone tried reaching out to me by leaving me a visitor message or a PM. I can't be that active any more due to my personal circumstances - I live a busy life. But I love having the option to log on here. Every time I type in "habboxforum.com" into my browser, a huge sigh of relief comes over me when the forum I know and love pops up rather than a "buy this domain now" page.

So once again, a huge thank you to the people who continue to log into this site every day. Whether you're paying the bills, volunteering as staff, or just posting as a non-staff member: thank you. It's thanks to people like you that a huge part of my childhood/adolescence is still alive.

Laura, you're doing an amazing job as GM. I can see your passion in your posts. You're asking for ideas and you're willing to try anything. I love it. I wish there was more I could do to help. Keep it up. Don't get discouraged.

Thanks to anyone who read this :) Hope you all have a wonderful week :)

[The Don]

Old member here. As you can see from my "Join Date", I've been around for a while. Fourteen years of Habbox... wow... time flies. Habbox was my childhood/adolescence. I have some really amazing memories from here. Met some really great people over the years, and I'm sad that I haven't been able to keep in touch with all of them, but I'm so happy for the memories.

I learned a lot from Habbox. I was able to develop a personality as a "Radio DJ" which helped me become more social in real life. I developed some writing skills in the Articles department. My typing skills are faster than pretty much everyone I've ever met in real life thanks to all of those years working at Habbox Help Desk, typing on HabboxForum, chatting with friends on Habbo, etc.

I think we can all agree that Habbox "isn't quite what it used to be" during it's "prime". But I must say... I am very thankful to all of the staff who have kept this place up and running over the years. Thanks to anyone who has ever paid the domain/hosting/vBulletin bills. Thanks to everyone who has put hours of their life in working (read: volunteering) here as "Management". Sincerely, I want to thank everyone who has put their money, blood, sweat, tears, and energy into this place.

Of course, it's not just the people who pay the bills and have the "important" job titles here that make Habbox what it is. I fully understand that. But I do want to take a step back and just take a moment to appreciate the fact that Habbox has been going strong for what, almost 15 years? It's mind blowing. I remember talks of Habbox shutting down almost a decade ago because it was too expensive and there was a lack of interest, etc. And here we are... in 2018... and the site is still up. I'm so happy.

I like to try and log in to the forum every once in a while just in case someone tried reaching out to me by leaving me a visitor message or a PM. I can't be that active any more due to my personal circumstances - I live a busy life. But I love having the option to log on here. Every time I type in "habboxforum.com" into my browser, a huge sigh of relief comes over me when the forum I know and love pops up rather than a "buy this domain now" page.

So once again, a huge thank you to the people who continue to log into this site every day. Whether you're paying the bills, volunteering as staff, or just posting as a non-staff member: thank you. It's thanks to people like you that a huge part of my childhood/adolescence is still alive.

Laura, you're doing an amazing job as GM. I can see your passion in your posts. You're asking for ideas and you're willing to try anything. I love it. I wish there was more I could do to help. Keep it up. Don't get discouraged.

Thanks to anyone who read this :) Hope you all have a wonderful week :)

Well, there's a name I haven't seen in a while. Glad to hear you're doing well! Great post, I agree with everything you've said. I haven't really used this website for the past couple of years, besides the odd post (about to graduate from uni and have a lot going on), but it is always nice to have the option to login. I was nervous when I typed the url into my browser that i'd discover this place had shutdown, so i'm glad to see that there are still people working hard trying to keep it afloat.

[lawrawrrr]

That old website... whO PICKED THOSE COLOURS

I just wanted to pop on and say thank you to Drewar; for your very lovely comment, I literally could not put it better myself :)

I hope that people can recognise that the big launches we're making this week are part of our plan to put more back into Habbox! It's been a PROCESS but we're finally there with so many big projects!! :D

[FlyingJesus]

Fuck off it was beautiful ;||||||||

BACK IN THE DAY if your site wasn't brightly coloured you were a hacker

[LUCPIX]

Drewar é tarde demais para tornar-mos grandes amigos de teclado?

[Drewar]

Drewar é tarde demais para tornar-mos grandes amigos de teclado?

Claro que não! :) É nois.

[Barkseh]

It is sad to see it like this. I do not think its one persons fault though. I have noticed it declining for years. I pop on every now and then and it just seems to be dead. I think fan sites and help desks are a thing of the past.

[Chris]

Habbox isn't what it was and I always wonder how long it's going to go on for, but the fact that it is still here shows determination if nothing else. My hat goes off, particularly to Laura for sticking with it for so long, because it really is a demanding role and no matter what you do there is always somebody that moans about it. From what I've seen today, content week is a really good initiative, and although Habbox will never be what it was, if content week is anything to go by then perhaps there is a chance for some sort of revival.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Awh that screenie. Those were the days! :( :P

[Zak]

Out of interest, does anyone know how much it costs to keep Habbox up and running?

Domains/hosting/vBulletin etc.

Oh and the extortionate wages of senior management ;)

[Hannah]

Out of interest, does anyone know how much it costs to keep Habbox up and running?

Domains/hosting/vBulletin etc.

Oh and the extortionate wages of senior management ;)

I'm quite interested in this too. I would imagine donator/vip is some sort of funding, but not too sure how much donator would actually be needed to be sold to cover the costs.

[alexxxxx]

im sure the owner was someone who never posted after like 2006 or something. one day habbox will cease to exist without any warning.

[Hannah]

im sure the owner was someone who never posted after like 2006 or something. one day habbox will cease to exist without any warning.

I think it's changed hands a few time - last I know MattG was on top of it all (or so I believe)

[alexxxxx]

tbh i think i stopped really going on habbo in like 2008 or something, i was just on here arguing with dan about politics. im 26 now so think im probably a bit too old to be on these sites now lol but i guess there's a lot of people on here about the same age judging on the join dates...

[Hannah]

I've been on and off since I joined - but I am one of the guilty ones. I think quite a few of the 'old timers' are about the same age, if not older.

It's not a game, it's a lifestyle choice :P

[alexxxxx]

lol i never really made mates on here like some people did but was always about... i know there was at least 2 people from my college who were on here lol

im just shocked that someone is still paying the bills nearly 15years after it started. no way is this thing profitable.

[xxMATTGxx]

Out of interest, does anyone know how much it costs to keep Habbox up and running?

Domains/hosting/vBulletin etc.

Oh and the extortionate wages of senior management ;)


I'm quite interested in this too. I would imagine donator/vip is some sort of funding, but not too sure how much donator would actually be needed to be sold to cover the costs.

I might be able to answer this for you.


Hosting - £90 a month (This may have changed but Habbox has a dedicated server)
cPanel Licence - £10 a month if that.
Domains - Depends how many years they get renewed for, but around £13 a year. So that's £39 a year for the 3x main domains if they only renew it for 1 year each every time.
vBulletin - Was paid as a full licence when vBulletin 4 was released, no further payments are needed I believe.

Note: While the server costs seem expensive the server I believe is used more than just for Habbox purposes.

Donator/VIP sales have not been high for a while, unless that has magically changed since I have left but they haven't been covering costs to keep the sites running for a long time. With many people now blocking ads, I think the same can be said with the Google adverts as well.

[alexxxxx]

I might be able to answer this for you.


Hosting - £90 a month (This may have changed but Habbox has a dedicated server)
cPanel Licence - £10 a month if that.
Domains - Depends how many years they get renewed for, but around £13 a year. So that's £39 a year for the 3x main domains if they only renew it for 1 year each every time.
vBulletin - Was paid as a full licence when vBulletin 4 was released, no further payments are needed I believe.

Note: While the server costs seem expensive the server I believe is used more than just for Habbox purposes.

Donator/VIP sales have not been high for a while, unless that has magically changed since I have left but they haven't been covering costs to keep the sites running for a long time. With many people now blocking ads, I think the same can be said with the Google adverts as well.

does sierk pay this? he must be well into his 30s?

[Hannah]

I might be able to answer this for you.


Hosting - £90 a month (This may have changed but Habbox has a dedicated server)
cPanel Licence - £10 a month if that.
Domains - Depends how many years they get renewed for, but around £13 a year. So that's £39 a year for the 3x main domains if they only renew it for 1 year each every time.
vBulletin - Was paid as a full licence when vBulletin 4 was released, no further payments are needed I believe.

Note: While the server costs seem expensive the server I believe is used more than just for Habbox purposes.

Donator/VIP sales have not been high for a while, unless that has magically changed since I have left but they haven't been covering costs to keep the sites running for a long time. With many people now blocking ads, I think the same can be said with the Google adverts as well.

ouchy! I definitely don't believe there'd be enough VIP/donator purchases purely for the lack of usage, especially to cover that cost. It's a shame, if enough users were here and purchased it could pay for itself. :/

[xxMATTGxx]

ouchy! I definitely don't believe there'd be enough VIP/donator purchases purely for the lack of usage, especially to cover that cost. It's a shame, if enough users were here and purchased it could pay for itself. :/

Yeah, Habbox hasn't been paying for itself in a long while. It's been Jin and Sirek who have been paying for the running costs.

- - - Updated - - -


does sierk pay this? he must be well into his 30s?

He was back in 2016 so I assume he still is doing now. So it's Sierk and Jin who are paying for this.

[alexxxxx]

one day youll log on and get a 404 and that'll be the end of that.

[Hannah]

Yeah, Habbox hasn't been paying for itself in a long while. It's been Jin and Sirek who have been paying for the running costs.

- - - Updated - - -



He was back in 2016 so I assume he still is doing now. So it's Sierk and Jin who are paying for this.

Wow - unless other things are on that server that they use. In which case, there's probably enough donator/vip to cover the domans each year. Then again, if I'd made a site similar to this, I'd probably keep it going to if it was still in use.

If it was failed I would have jumped ship.

[lawrawrrr]

I had no idea about hosting costs but I want to add that features on the main websites that involve plugins or paid development is funded by AGMs, as well as department funding/prizes so it’s not just the physical websites that cost money!

James and Sho are very generous with both their prizes and offers to help fund site things, especially last year when I was struggling to get on top of everything after buying a house and having to replace my boiler (I had no spare money for Habbox!!!) and I’m very grateful for that (tags Sho; despect;)

Also of course we get a lot of furniture and coin donations which help with prizes too. Anything we get donated means we don’t have to spend our hard earned money from our 9-5 jobs!

We are also donated space on another server for our development site (where we’ve been testing these new site features!!!)

In case anyone is worried although you may not see owners posting often I do have contact with Jin and communicate fairly regularly about stuff :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[alexxxxx]

gotta say that the guys who own this site who pay £500/yr each to keep it running are legends really. and how you guys still have dedication to this with the pressures of love, life and work is remarkable. good on you guys (y)

[lawrawrrr]

gotta say that the guys who own this site who pay £500/yr each to keep it running are legends really. and how you guys still have dedication to this with the pressures of love, life and work is remarkable. good on you guys (y)

A key part of this is not having two of those things ;)

rip Laura’s social life and love life (not BECAUSE of habbox I must point out)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mikey]

Old member here. As you can see from my "Join Date", I've been around for a while. Fourteen years of Habbox... wow... time flies. Habbox was my childhood/adolescence. I have some really amazing memories from here. Met some really great people over the years, and I'm sad that I haven't been able to keep in touch with all of them, but I'm so happy for the memories.

I learned a lot from Habbox. I was able to develop a personality as a "Radio DJ" which helped me become more social in real life. I developed some writing skills in the Articles department. My typing skills are faster than pretty much everyone I've ever met in real life thanks to all of those years working at Habbox Help Desk, typing on HabboxForum, chatting with friends on Habbo, etc.

I think we can all agree that Habbox "isn't quite what it used to be" during it's "prime". But I must say... I am very thankful to all of the staff who have kept this place up and running over the years. Thanks to anyone who has ever paid the domain/hosting/vBulletin bills. Thanks to everyone who has put hours of their life in working (read: volunteering) here as "Management". Sincerely, I want to thank everyone who has put their money, blood, sweat, tears, and energy into this place.

Of course, it's not just the people who pay the bills and have the "important" job titles here that make Habbox what it is. I fully understand that. But I do want to take a step back and just take a moment to appreciate the fact that Habbox has been going strong for what, almost 15 years? It's mind blowing. I remember talks of Habbox shutting down almost a decade ago because it was too expensive and there was a lack of interest, etc. And here we are... in 2018... and the site is still up. I'm so happy.

I like to try and log in to the forum every once in a while just in case someone tried reaching out to me by leaving me a visitor message or a PM. I can't be that active any more due to my personal circumstances - I live a busy life. But I love having the option to log on here. Every time I type in "habboxforum.com" into my browser, a huge sigh of relief comes over me when the forum I know and love pops up rather than a "buy this domain now" page.

So once again, a huge thank you to the people who continue to log into this site every day. Whether you're paying the bills, volunteering as staff, or just posting as a non-staff member: thank you. It's thanks to people like you that a huge part of my childhood/adolescence is still alive.

Laura, you're doing an amazing job as GM. I can see your passion in your posts. You're asking for ideas and you're willing to try anything. I love it. I wish there was more I could do to help. Keep it up. Don't get discouraged.

Thanks to anyone who read this :) Hope you all have a wonderful week :)

I’ll say my piece aswell I suppose. I agree with pretty much everything said above.

Habbox was one/is one of my favourite fansites, I met a lot of good friends and had a lot of great memories here. I joined in 2005/2006 and became staff in 2010. I was staff within Radio, Events, Helpdesk and ended my staff roles with the forum. My favourite memories definitely included doing the big radio shows such as HabboxStarz, The Chatathon, and my baby The Weakest Link, with my amazing co-hosts James ( despect;), Samantha/SamLouise ( Samantha.;), Sam/Fudge/Sammify ( sammy;) and Lindsey;. Also eventually being part of the forum department was also a highlight and somehow becoming manager lawrawrrr; & despect; fuck knows why you let that happen)

Yes, Habbox has declined in the last number of years and I don’t think this is anyone’s fault, I think this is probably just the decline of Habbo and members moving on with life, but the people who are currently here are putting their all into the site to make it the best it can be. Just look at this week for content week, this is a prime example of this, fantastic work from all of those involved! I love all the new features you have put in, especially the new logo and the forum skins.

Keep it up everyone that is currently active as staff, that includes not only Laura/Sho/James & Department Managers but also the regular department staff! Even though I don’t post on here and I’m never active within the community since leaving as Forum Manager last year, I commend the work you are all doing and love seeing it!

:)

[velvet]

i haven't really used this site regularily since about 2008 - 2010 when all my friends got banned, but i have such fond memories of the place that i can't help but log in on occasion, i still can't browse the site without switching to the OG yellow, orange and blue theme lol.
it makes me smile to log on and see there are still people here who are passionate about the site, still trying to create events and content to draw people in, but i find myself logging out pretty fast.
i feel that with so many catagories and subforums but so few users, the forum feels empty and slow. maybe merging / reorganising some of the less used subforums would help make the forum less daunting and vast for new members (do people still use fansites? i haven't played habbo for years so i have no idea).
i see there are a decent amount of habbo events on atm, but do you guys run any events on the forum? (providing there are other users like me, who are interested in being more active on here but unlikely to go on habbo to participate)

we had some good times on here, i'll be sad for the day it closes even if i seldom visit


edit: i see rep has finally been done away with, i'm glad, it was redundant

[today]

My problem is I never know who anyone is anymore so i don't bother posting and that.

[lawrawrrr]

My problem is I never know who anyone is anymore so i don't bother posting and that.

Get to know people were all lovely!!! I remember you anyway. How you doin??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[today]

Get to know people were all lovely!!! I remember you anyway. How you doin??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


who are you lol

[lawrawrrr]

who are you lol

haahha I used to be fire girl or laura on here!

Even if you don’t remember me at all I’m just being friendly and trying to get to know like you said in your first post!! :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[today]

haahha I used to be fire girl or laura on here!

Even if you don’t remember me at all I’m just being friendly and trying to get to know like you said in your first post!! :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, I don't recall you. You sure you know me lol...

[lawrawrrr]

Yeah, I don't recall you. You sure you know me lol...

Yup definitely know your name and avatar! We might not have been friends but I definitely know of you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[today]

Yup definitely know your name and avatar! We might not have been friends but I definitely know of you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Idk if i should be proud or embarrassed with that statement...

[YellowBelli]

i feel that with so many catagories and subforums but so few users, the forum feels empty and slow. maybe merging / reorganising some of the less used subforums would help make the forum less daunting and vast for new members

Yes! This! (praise) I said the same a while ago! The forum needs a good cleanup... time to let go of the past! (Or at least put it in an archive:'))

[Zak]

I might be able to answer this for you.


Hosting - £90 a month (This may have changed but Habbox has a dedicated server)
cPanel Licence - £10 a month if that.
Domains - Depends how many years they get renewed for, but around £13 a year. So that's £39 a year for the 3x main domains if they only renew it for 1 year each every time.
vBulletin - Was paid as a full licence when vBulletin 4 was released, no further payments are needed I believe.

Note: While the server costs seem expensive the server I believe is used more than just for Habbox purposes.

Donator/VIP sales have not been high for a while, unless that has magically changed since I have left but they haven't been covering costs to keep the sites running for a long time. With many people now blocking ads, I think the same can be said with the Google adverts as well.

Thank you Matt for your insight.

That's very interesting!

[Kyle]

No point in offering feedback if all those with power to make changes do is try to refute the points made! Most online forums lack activity when big posters leave and nobody recognises their contribution or tries to replace the activity, always been a big problem here in particular from my experience because the management expect the forum to populate itself lol

[FlyingJesus]

The only actual suggestion in this thread has been "pay people to post", all the discussion is quite valid other than that. Opinions are fine, and no-one's said otherwise, but uninformed ones don't do anyone any favours and negativity without suggestions for change definitely don't help.

People mentioned RV - that's newly returned and quite an exciting prospect going forward!
People mentioned prizes - we have the highest of any fansite, as most give 2c a game unless they have something special happening
People mentioned help desk - this is almost always populated when events aren't on (British time, I fully acknowledge that our int presence isn't what it could be)

It really is down to the very simple fact that people don't WANT to use forums, and when they do it's mainly to drop in and go rather than have an actual discussion. Instant messaging has almost entirely taken over for general chitchat, so the forum realistically is left to just take on those things that might need to be accessed over a period of time rather than there and then

[LUCPIX]

I could be 100% aboard the plan of burning all the current default social media and use discussion forums as the primary communication source among webfriends

[YellowBelli]

The only actual suggestion in this thread has been "pay people to post", all the discussion is quite valid other than that. Opinions are fine, and no-one's said otherwise, but uninformed ones don't do anyone any favours and negativity without suggestions for change definitely don't help.

People mentioned RV - that's newly returned and quite an exciting prospect going forward!
People mentioned prizes - we have the highest of any fansite, as most give 2c a game unless they have something special happening
People mentioned help desk - this is almost always populated when events aren't on (British time, I fully acknowledge that our int presence isn't what it could be)

It really is down to the very simple fact that people don't WANT to use forums, and when they do it's mainly to drop in and go rather than have an actual discussion. Instant messaging has almost entirely taken over for general chitchat, so the forum realistically is left to just take on those things that might need to be accessed over a period of time rather than there and then

Don’t forget mine and velvet’s suggestion of clearing down on the amount of catergories and sub forums to condense posts making the forum seem more active :-)

I’ve also suggested in the managers chat that the process for new joiners is looked at. New joiners seem very confused about how to use the forum, so some sort of tutorial or quick quide to point out the basics on posting/navigating. Looking at recent new joiners, it seems majority (who join as members, not staff) don’t even manage a first post, or make one post and that’s it.

I love Habbox and feel very passionate about increasing activity... I’m constantly promoting the forum on twitter etc. Sure, activity is on the downlow but we can still do our best to promote it :-)

Wooooooo go Habbox :p(praise)

[velvet]

I’ve also suggested in the managers chat that the process for new joiners is looked at. New joiners seem very confused about how to use the forum, so some sort of tutorial or quick quide to point out the basics on posting/navigating. Looking at recent new joiners, it seems majority (who join as members, not staff) don’t even manage a first post, or make one post and that’s it.


yeah, i can imagine for the average habbo user who hasn't grown up with forums, that hxf could be seen as pretty daunting and confusing

maybe doing something with the arcade could be nice? i've been playing it a fair bit recently but i seem to be the only one. tournaments and stuff used to be a right laugh back in the day

[Joe]

maybe doing something with the arcade could be nice? i've been playing it a fair bit recently but i seem to be the only one. tournaments and stuff used to be a right laugh back in the day

110% - i've been busy recently if i'm honest but both me and lawrawrrr; have discussed this and wanna add more and more

[lawrawrrr]

yessssssssss now we've got a non shitty looking arcade on mountains & universe (working on v7 and dojo shortly) we think it'll be more used!! the site where I used to get games from has gone down though waaah

but tournaments should be easy!

dont forget we're looking for forum staff to help us manage comps and events and stuff so do apply here!! (https://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=845683)

[LUCPIX]

yeah, i can imagine for the average habbo user who hasn't grown up with forums, that hxf could be seen as pretty daunting and confusing

maybe doing something with the arcade could be nice? i've been playing it a fair bit recently but i seem to be the only one. tournaments and stuff used to be a right laugh back in the day

I've just became gold in Snake. Beat me, sneaky.

[FlyingJesus]

The old tournaments were excellent, then less so once everything broke :P if it's all in working order though that would be an excellent thing to push because it can be done (somewhat) at people's leisure rather than needing everyone to be online at the same time

[YellowBelli]

We can run a competition to promote them too. I’ll try a bit of tetris later.

[Matthew]

I'm late to the party with this thread but I just randomly thought I'd check HxF and I found I was the only person online :(. Its sad, so many good memories on here and on Habbo.

The decline has been going on for years though. I remember years ago we'd get almost weekly 'is Habbox dying threads?' and often people would just seem to brush it under the carpet. Even at that time we were probably getting 5-10x the number of posts that we are now.

I remember when I first became a super moderator (c. 2010 or 2011 I think?), there would be so many new posts to check, continuously, that we could barely keep up, even with 3 of us, and with a further 2 or 3 moderators in each section too! Over the period of a few years it gradually changed to where you would only have to log in once a day or twice a day to do your moderating job. Now it seems we're only getting a few hundred posts a month.

Not criticising anyone, nor do I have any suggestions, I just think its sad what's happened!

[YellowBelli]

I'm late to the party with this thread but I just randomly thought I'd check HxF and I found I was the only person online :(. Its sad, so many good memories on here and on Habbo.

The decline has been going on for years though. I remember years ago we'd get almost weekly 'is Habbox dying threads?' and often people would just seem to brush it under the carpet. Even at that time we were probably getting 5-10x the number of posts that we are now.

I remember when I first became a super moderator (c. 2010 or 2011 I think?), there would be so many new posts to check, continuously, that we could barely keep up, even with 3 of us, and with a further 2 or 3 moderators in each section too! Over the period of a few years it gradually changed to where you would only have to log in once a day or twice a day to do your moderating job. Now it seems we're only getting a few hundred posts a month.

Not criticising anyone, nor do I have any suggestions, I just think its sad what's happened!

I’m onlineeee! I just check on and off as on mobile, maybe that’s what most do now too xx

[lawrawrrr]

Hi Matthew; hope you’re good!!

But yeah I’m on mobile too via tapatalk which I don’t think shows :)


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[Matthew]

I’m onlineeee! I just check on and off as on mobile, maybe that’s what most do now too xx

Ah fair enough, that makes sense!


Hi @Matthew (https://www.habboxforum.com/member.php?u=60298); hope you’re good!!

But yeah I’m on mobile too via tapatalk which I don’t think shows :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Laura! I'm pretty good thanks, good to still see a recognisable name!

[lawrawrrr]

Ah fair enough, that makes sense!



Hey Laura! I'm pretty good thanks, good to still see a recognisable name!

Here 5eva babe!

I wonder if we can do anything about mobile users showing that is odd


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[Matthew]

Here 5eva babe!

I wonder if we can do anything about mobile users showing that is odd


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Its showing you now!

What is the beta lab rat flair back for out of interest?! Few people seem to have it!

[lawrawrrr]

Its showing you now!

What is the beta lab rat flair back for out of interest?! Few people seem to have it!

We launched a buuuuunch of new things a couple weeks ago and anyone who reported bugs got a flair!


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[YellowBelli]

Here 5eva babe!

I wonder if we can do anything about mobile users showing that is odd


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk293033

I’m not sure what you could do tbh, i assume it shows offline when browser or app closed? Do we have a sidebar/widget or whatever its called to show recently online .. ? “Yellowbelli - 5 mins ago” idk :p

- - - Updated - - -

Urmmm not sure where that number came from :')

[lawrawrrr]

293033

I’m not sure what you could do tbh, i assume it shows offline when browser or app closed? Do we have a sidebar/widget or whatever its called to show recently online .. ? “Yellowbelli - 5 mins ago” idk :p

Yeah it should be doing this on the forum homepage widget (or something similar), I’ll have a look into the settings later


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[MSPNick]

Couldn't read properly, couldn't write properly.

This was my 1st ever username on this site. (https://www.habboxforum.com/member.php?u=25616)

Lots of growing up since then.

[Zak]

Sulake have done very little to progress a very old game. The people who remember Habbo's golden age are older now and very few are active. It's an old and tired concept - I can see HxF outliving Habbo lol.