Habbox Charity!

[nvrspk4]

First of all, about Sulake, I think their idea is primarily a business decision, in that the same userbase that uses Habbo use its fansites (which for the most part is pretty obviously true) and therefore money spend on VIP could be spent on Habbo (which is silly though possibly true to a small degree.) However they fail to remember how much fansites contribute, not just in terms of added quality and community, but also in terms of how they keep users using the client itself.

We can offer donations, we just can't sell VIP. As far as selling VIP and giving extra cash to Charity, we'll ask but I doubt Habbo will allow it. No harm in an effort.

[Jordy]

I don't come on here to support Charity's though, I'm really failing to see the connections. I understand HabboxForum is non-profit but I still don't think we have a right to tell them how to spend their money. Surely if we were all that great fans of Charity and HabboxForum we would donate to them both separately, and I'm sure some of us do, I'm an avid Charity supporter but I don't agree with this at all.

From the looks of things Habbox struggles to make much of a profit anyway to donate to charity all-year round, I would rather all profits got put on Standby and went back into the site. I imagine they always need a bit of money hanging around encase next month hardly anyone clicks ads or buys VIP, or maybe the bandwidth sores, if they have give away these profits they'll be no emergency fund relief for the not too distant future of the site.

Also I imagine the sums given to Charity would be very small, Habbox recently increased the SMS Price for VIP a few months ago, it shows they need the money and I'm guessing they'd only make about 8p profit from every £1.50, it's not going to add up to much at the end of the month.

Anyway it looks like Habbox are removing VIP at the end of November so it seems a bit late to do anything as it is. I guess they could stick to the original Charity plan but I'd be unwilling to support that and would rather give to Habbox directly. It seems the other Charity VIP idea is simply a loophole and an attempt to frame Sulake. In reality only about 10% of the money would go to Charity which is legal, but I personally don't believe you can call it 'Charity VIP' if only 10% goes to Charity, if the Media happened to find that out I'm sure they'd be off the case. I also feel it would be a great inconvinience to donate to Habbox through all these Charity routes and it could potentially put others off as it is confusing. Therefore I would continue donating £1 a month but remain anonymous.

[AgnesIO]

If VIP stops at the end of the month, then habbo will win.

If they realise people back down, then it will be really silly, as they will try to harm us more and more!

Habbo wouldnt take legal action, coz they will look ridiculous fighting a teen website.

[Wootzeh]

If I'm being honest I'd rather if we chose a charity that it be help for heroes.

[AgnesIO]

If I'm being honest I'd rather if we chose a charity that it be help for heroes.

Now that dear sir is ridiculously...































TRUE.

That charity is even more worthwhile, sicne the people that are there, support England, and even though i dislike the country as a whole, they are TRUE heroes.

Help For Heroes FTW.

[Rozi]

I love the idea, but as someone touched on, some people don't have the means to donate electronically. Where as with VIP you can trade HCs or credits for it but I can't see a feesable way where you could trade somthing for a donation? Also, I think at first it would be popular, but then just lag behind and get forgotton. Therefore I think all profits from VIP should go to charity. However, if this isn't possible, I fully understand. I think donating to charity in anyway is good.

As for another charity idea, we could sponsor a child? I know alot of people think this is selfish as it only helps one person, this is not true. It benifits the whole village and can make a real difference to a village in poverty to a self sufficient village with basic hygine, food, water and schooling.

[GommeInc]

First of all, about Sulake, I think their idea is primarily a business decision, in that the same userbase that uses Habbo use its fansites (which for the most part is pretty obviously true) and therefore money spend on VIP could be spent on Habbo (which is silly though possibly true to a small degree.) However they fail to remember how much fansites contribute, not just in terms of added quality and community, but also in terms of how they keep users using the client itself.

We can offer donations, we just can't sell VIP. As far as selling VIP and giving extra cash to Charity, we'll ask but I doubt Habbo will allow it. No harm in an effort.

That seems to be the only reason for this poor decision on Habbo/Sulakes part. Only a very small percentage of money spent on VIP will be re-directed to Habbo for people to buy their goods and services. I think Habbo have failed to do their research into this issue, because they would of noticed that not everyone on a Habbo fansite will buy Habbo Credits and to some extent, not everyone likes Habbo and will use the fansite because they've established connections and friends within it.

Sulake is a terrible company really, their only good point is that they've made a successful service and have profitted from it, but now they're falling under an anti-competitive/anti-social company, and for a business of its nature, is a very bad step to take. They won't become bankrupt from this decision, but I think making aload of unhappy customers isn't really what a business should be aiming to achieve, especially when fansites are harmless to them, and it doesn't seem to be causing any harm to Habbo for fansites to raise money for sustainable reasons.

The only problem with fansites selling VIP is that some fansites are profiting from Habbo, rather than making enough money to sustain their services. But at the end of the day, they cannot stop this and there is no reason for them to even dare to stop it. If the fansite is making alot of money from users, either through ads or exclusive services, then that must mean the fansite is successful. A successful fansite must be doing something to benefit the site it's based on e.g. Habbo, so surely they deserve to make some extra money? There doesn't seem to be a counter-argument, other than "If it is making alot of money without any links to Habbo, then it is profiting from Habbo," but the problem with that sentence is obvious

Has sierk seeked legal guidance on this matter?

[jrh2002]

I don't doubt this for a second - if they could be convinced of it. The problem is that they're always stubborn and they wouldn't want to take up the extra job of supervising how it works. I'm not against your idea at all, I just think it would be best to work on the charity aspect of it first and then rejoin it with VIP once we've sorted it with Sulake, otherwise it delays the project greatly and stops not only the charity getting money, but also the server which we need in order to get this going in the first place

I am not trying to cause trouble here but from what I see most of the community want to keep VIP I thought the community support department was to support the community and you guys be a go between to tell management what the members would like and back the majority?
Whatever your personal view is should not get in the way of doing your best to put our views over.

Let Sierk or NVR wave the white flag

If VIP stops at the end of the month, then habbo will win.

If they realise people back down, then it will be really silly, as they will try to harm us more and more!

Habbo wouldnt take legal action, coz they will look ridiculous fighting a teen website.

I am with you all the way it seems the heart has gone form habbox over time I can imagine this rule coming in back in 2004/05 habbo would have got the biggest battle of their lives with the likes of JackHB, Properclone etc with sierk leading us all with a big sword. :8

First of all, about Sulake, I think their idea is primarily a business decision, in that the same userbase that uses Habbo use its fansites (which for the most part is pretty obviously true) and therefore money spend on VIP could be spent on Habbo (which is silly though possibly true to a small degree.) However they fail to remember how much fansites contribute, not just in terms of added quality and community, but also in terms of how they keep users using the client itself.

We can offer donations, we just can't sell VIP. As far as selling VIP and giving extra cash to Charity, we'll ask but I doubt Habbo will allow it. No harm in an effort.

Lets wait and see what the big chief decides before you all give in

Has sierk seeked legal guidance on this matter?

I presume he will let us know where we stand as soon as he has just hope its before the deadline so that theres no messing about.

[FlyingJesus]

I don't come on here to support Charity's though, I'm really failing to see the connections. I understand HabboxForum is non-profit but I still don't think we have a right to tell them how to spend their money. Surely if we were all that great fans of Charity and HabboxForum we would donate to them both separately, and I'm sure some of us do, I'm an avid Charity supporter but I don't agree with this at all.

From the looks of things Habbox struggles to make much of a profit anyway to donate to charity all-year round, I would rather all profits got put on Standby and went back into the site. I imagine they always need a bit of money hanging around encase next month hardly anyone clicks ads or buys VIP, or maybe the bandwidth sores, if they have give away these profits they'll be no emergency fund relief for the not too distant future of the site.

Also I imagine the sums given to Charity would be very small, Habbox recently increased the SMS Price for VIP a few months ago, it shows they need the money and I'm guessing they'd only make about 8p profit from every £1.50, it's not going to add up to much at the end of the month.

Anyway it looks like Habbox are removing VIP at the end of November so it seems a bit late to do anything as it is. I guess they could stick to the original Charity plan but I'd be unwilling to support that and would rather give to Habbox directly. It seems the other Charity VIP idea is simply a loophole and an attempt to frame Sulake. In reality only about 10% of the money would go to Charity which is legal, but I personally don't believe you can call it 'Charity VIP' if only 10% goes to Charity, if the Media happened to find that out I'm sure they'd be off the case. I also feel it would be a great inconvinience to donate to Habbox through all these Charity routes and it could potentially put others off as it is confusing. Therefore I would continue donating £1 a month but remain anonymous.

The idea is that people donate and that money is used to cover server costs etc, with all surplus going to the charity. I think simply because it is charity people will be willing to put a little more in than they would usually spend on VIP - I know I for one definitely would.

As I've said before, I'm looking more into just getting the charity idea off the ground at the moment without linking it to VIP, as that isn't a stable issue at the moment.


@Jrh: I know, I'm not trying to say that we're giving up on the community I personally would love to see VIP allowed again, and that's something I'll help with if I can/if I'm needed to, but for now I'd rather keep that separate from the charity, at least until things have been smoothed over on that front. At this stage, without legal advice and without the go ahead from Sulake, it would appear too much of a risk to the site as a whole to try testing them on their word. No-one's actually given up, the statement given was that we are complying with them until Sierk/Nvr get it all sorted - a truce or parley, if you will

[jrh2002]

The idea of a permanent charity is great which can be supported throughout the year if people wish. Maybe the idea of a different charity each year could work? I however like building a relationship with one charity and keep it going.