Bye Rare Values Department

[lawrawrrr]

I always assumed Heads helped with uploading onto Habbox, just as Head News reporters edits and makes things perfect to be displayed. If someone doesn't want to do that job then they can resign or just be normal staff, but being promoted = responsibility.

[-Danube-]

It was always part of their job role but it always failed to get enforced propaly.

I think in order to make somethine survive that it struggling and to give it meaning, is it restructure everything about it. An actual team would be required to actually keep everything up-to-date for a 'Rare Watch' type resource.

[lawrawrrr]

They should have similar warning systems, when I was senior, if I didn't do any edits Charlie would give me a warning. I love the idea of a rare watch teamm seeing as that's what it's mainly used for these days, needs much more emphasis imo!

[-Danube-]

exactly. And much more emphasis can only be brought about it there is a whole team of people focusing soley on the content side, rather than having this as a side job from finding values. If they just implement a warning system to seniors for not adding new rares etc it would basically be the same as it is now, as you can't expect the HRVRs to update loads of values and add loads of new content. A team of content creators, with a leader which sets targets week by week would be the best way to go about things.

[lawrawrrr]

Definitely. From what I've read it doesn't seem like the heads have to do much at all (well I know sam wouldn't let this happen) but they should be doing MORE work imo. Every staff member at habbox should have to meet some form of requirement, or it wouldn't be fair if someone contributes a lot and another nothing - and both are treated the same.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I would say myself, that Habbox values still have a role to play even if the role is much less important than it used to be with the introduction of the marketplace. The marketplace is open to manipulation whereas Habbox is a more trustworthy system - rarer items especially can easily be put at random prices which makes sense for Habbox to be there as a guide for both super rares and seasonal rares (which I explain below). I would also add that, if the values department were abolished (even if it did serve no purpose) it would greatly impact the forum and site itself - as departments are wound down it no doubt has an effect on user activity and to simply abolish it when there are still people willing to carry out the jobs would be like shooting yourself in the foot.

My major qualm with Habbox values - I attempted to change this when I was manager the first time around and the second time, was to greatly expand the department because we were frankly sinking under the sheer number of rares that were being released and needed updating. The first department I was under had, at its maximum (back in 2007 was it not?) around 30 staff members - since then I don't think it has once surpassed this number despite the workload more than doubling and then doubling again. I don't know the exact numbers of the department now, but I know during my second time there were staff limits on numbers of staff I could hire - with constant roadblocks being put in front of me to solve this. How the department manages now with what I guess is under 20 staff members is beyond me frankly. If this is to be solved, then the department needs to be greatly expanded just to its able to manage with such a workload and so that the manager isn't doing most of the work (which I had to go out myself at times and get super values which I knew had changed but which were being overlooked simply because of the sheer number of rares that reporters had to report).

It still serves a purpose, but how it can possibly carry out such a massive task with its current numbers covering thousands of rares is beyond me.

i said it ages ago that rare values is practically useless work for the most part. no one is ever going to use the rare values site to find out whether their bensalem furniture is worth one credit or two credits. then i see the change history and someone is actually taking time to update the value from two to one to two to one for such an uncommon piece of furniture. literally only five percent of the values on there should be updated if the department stays. it is a waste of manpower and a make-work project to update values that people will be lenient on (someone worth one or two credits and hardly ever traded) or that are easy to verify in the marketplace. i remember when i worked in rare values there was a call to stop adding 'seasonals' or 'collections' to the page as habbo was churning out one after another yet they are updated monthly and sometimes weekly by someone who really has no accurate way of deciding is something is worth one or two credits. if you want to do rare values, stick to the things that people really care about. you know, the rares. no one needs to be updating the value of a norm or a collection item that is worth a pittance that furniture shop owners and the marketplace will govern without any work from habbox at all.

This is actually wrong, although to some it would seem right if taken at face value. I know when I was rare values staff then manager (and just from general trading right until last year) that seasonal/miscellaneous items are actually a big concern for younger traders who are the ones most likely to use a site such as Habbox for help with rares. With seasonals such as recoloured Iced/Area and so on, some are actually rather rare and thus are not up for sale in the marketplace - which leads many newer traders which have these items wonder what these items are actually worth.

If anything, the seasonal items (especially when you take into account the sheer numbers of how many different types there are now) are an asset to the rare values page - back when I started we must've had under a thousand rares and we knew most of them, it is impossible for anybody to name all the furniture now let alone the seasonals and limited edition.

[Samantha]

@lawrawrrr; @-Danube-;

The Head reporters have to update at least 40 values per week and at least 75% of them must be approved (so at least 30) this has been the same since I took a managment position almost a year ago but I wasn't sure what it was when I had my first spat in the department in 2010. When we had Head rare values reporters such as Mintson18 and Mr-Trainor to name a couple we were having about 100+ values to update per week, I was the single manager at the time therefore couldn't keep on top of the workload and of course I was the only one who could do it or who would do it (cough danube ). Anyway, since those both resigned there are less updates being done but more being done by the managers per say, I try to aim to update about 100-200 per week (seeing as I've tried harder to become a bit more active in the department myself) and many of these are done by looking at the rares list, the marketplace and trades I have witnessed myself - those Seasonals released into the Catalogue gave an excuse to update a lot of values due to them being stable at the current time. I do agree with @-:Undertaker:-; too as the Seasonal rares are one of the few things that keeps the values going as they are mainly needed throughout the year, their values change dramatically sometimes and of course there are so many of them!

Now reiterating the fact of Head reporters, I feel they do a sufficient amount per week, in theory 40 values is equivalent to an Experts minimum of 10 reports (4 values per report) which I suppose could be upped more but some usually do more than that anyway - we have to consider that @auffant1; is the only Head at the moment and he does an amazing job at creating sprites and uploading them too. When I first begun in the management of rares I found that not a lot of heads did upload and such as Danube said, I think this was due to an outdated Handbook (as it was still saying the panel was on davzy.com) and even I didn't even know how to upload due to never being told or asked to. We push a lot more now and although we don't say it's compulsory I think many feel that it's an added incentive to the job because some reporters returned just to create sprites and such too.

For v7 I want to expand Rare Values, I have big plans and a lot of ideas that I hope can be implemented, with the plans I have I feel it could be easier to search and navigate through the panel and also be able to do more with it itself.

[Phil]

For the record, I don't use it now as I no longer use Habbo but when I did play I used the RV regularly. Although, just throwing it out there, I did rather it the old way!

[-Danube-]

HRVR, ERVR and RVR all have suffiecient minimums, it all works great for updating values. The fact is that the values are used much less often a team of people should be put together to aim at the content side of things, doesn't have to be a huge team but i still think its required and it needs to be separate from the values side of things. HRVRs do alot of work, adding even more work onto them (getting them to add loads of furniture images every week etc) is giving them too much really.

So basically my ideas for V7 would be to leave the actual values side as is but try and move forward with content, this can easily be achieved by forming a content team in the department.

I feel like i am repeating myself so i'm gonna shut up now.

[jasey]

I would say myself, that Habbox values still have a role to play even if the role is much less important than it used to be with the introduction of the marketplace. The marketplace is open to manipulation whereas Habbox is a more trustworthy system - rarer items especially can easily be put at random prices which makes sense for Habbox to be there as a guide for both super rares and seasonal rares (which I explain below). I would also add that, if the values department were abolished (even if it did serve no purpose) it would greatly impact the forum and site itself - as departments are wound down it no doubt has an effect on user activity and to simply abolish it when there are still people willing to carry out the jobs would be like shooting yourself in the foot.

My major qualm with Habbox values - I attempted to change this when I was manager the first time around and the second time, was to greatly expand the department because we were frankly sinking under the sheer number of rares that were being released and needed updating. The first department I was under had, at its maximum (back in 2007 was it not?) around 30 staff members - since then I don't think it has once surpassed this number despite the workload more than doubling and then doubling again. I don't know the exact numbers of the department now, but I know during my second time there were staff limits on numbers of staff I could hire - with constant roadblocks being put in front of me to solve this. How the department manages now with what I guess is under 20 staff members is beyond me frankly. If this is to be solved, then the department needs to be greatly expanded just to its able to manage with such a workload and so that the manager isn't doing most of the work (which I had to go out myself at times and get super values which I knew had changed but which were being overlooked simply because of the sheer number of rares that reporters had to report).

It still serves a purpose, but how it can possibly carry out such a massive task with its current numbers covering thousands of rares is beyond me.



This is actually wrong, although to some it would seem right if taken at face value. I know when I was rare values staff then manager (and just from general trading right until last year) that seasonal/miscellaneous items are actually a big concern for younger traders who are the ones most likely to use a site such as Habbox for help with rares. With seasonals such as recoloured Iced/Area and so on, some are actually rather rare and thus are not up for sale in the marketplace - which leads many newer traders which have these items wonder what these items are actually worth.

If anything, the seasonal items (especially when you take into account the sheer numbers of how many different types there are now) are an asset to the rare values page - back when I started we must've had under a thousand rares and we knew most of them, it is impossible for anybody to name all the furniture now let alone the seasonals and limited edition.

it doesn't apply now, daniel. it hasn't applied for a long time. do you really think maintaining values for bensalem and savannah furniture is nothing more than an unproductive session of busywork? it isn't even worth the bandwidth it costs habbox to host the sprites. i might mention that you haven't been in the department for a very long time. times change, baby boo.