Forum going down hill?

[Immenseman]

That is good management, not bad. 8Freak8 and ---MAD--- ruled in my opinion, in the most arrogant way possible which was that if you were not on their 'side' or in their 'group', you were on the other side and thus an 'enemy' of Habbox, whereas the real situation was that people wanted Habbox to change and open up, not fail and end up closing.

Habbox is always going to be rated with regards to popularity. You can say what you want about any of those people (they all had their flaws imo) but it was much better under ---MAD--- and 8f8. Of course, I'm just judging by popularity and influence on Habbo as that's all I can go by. They did better than Nvr, that much is fact.

That is pretty terrible tbh, I don't think I've ever been on the top posters list and for me to be on there with a mere 71 in a week is awful. If an average of 10 posts per day can make you one of the top 10 most active then that really shows how much needs to be done.

I knew it would be bad when I went to find the link just before I posted but I too was shocked at how dire it had become. I think it pretty much just highlights the severity of the problem and how quick it has come about. It was this year when I had 1500+ and only a couple of months ago the 10th or so person had 200+.

Contribute well would be a better statement, I'm sure you remember when Kyle used to reply to every single post on the forum and that didn't do anything to help

Yeah. There is a difference between posting "cool lol " in every thread and what I meant. However, I have no doubt that if you were to check boardreader in a couple of weeks it'll be much improved. I'm not saying I'm going to get rid of all of the problems but I know for sure that there will be a hell of a lot more posts this week and I'm going to make sure of that. Not by spamming every thread by creating new ones and pushing discussion. Tis easily done. Not everyone is as sad as me though, granted.

Can't say anything about double posts as I don't see many anyway, but I know moderation on arguments has just been made more lenient so that's a good start. Not overly keen on badges but I know a lot of other people are, so maybe that could be an idea. They can definitely be messy but if they only showed on profiles rather than in postbits, or were very small in postbits, I can't see it being a major problem as long as there aren't thousands of them being thrown around.

If you look at CHF then I don't think it all looks ugly. I'll give you a link to a random thread on there (not because it's created by me -.-). I think you're allowed to link to other fansites, if not then sorrry. http://www.clubhabboforum.net/showthread.php?t=248175

I think the badges look fine there and not at all out of place or messy. They actually look neat and tidy and just makes it easier on the eye and looks cute imo

User made forum groups I agree with to an extent - I think rather than allow them to be made willy-nilly (lol willy) they could be applied for an management have to approve their creation, otherwise it gets overcrowded and useless like the people on facebook who join every single group under the sun. This way the groups would also be somewhat more official and less open to abuse.

That's what I don't want. Management need to release some of their power and let users have more freedom. Of course if they were used to target other users "I HATE GOMMEINC" and it was a genuine hate group for him or whatever then it could be dealt with as could sexually explict ones or whatever people decided to create. If people want to join every group then I don't see why they shouldn't. I think you should be able to have friend groups too. Although it's not going to make the forum more active it might make people hang around for a bit longer if they think they're making friends.

I think this is really a problem to do with the "mature" attitude that Habbox tries to give off. Most members of upper management are older than our target demographic and younger members often won't be promoted to the higher positions simply because they lack the mentality of the others - not a criticism as such, as obviously it's important for management to get on and be on a similar wavelength, but it's an observation that does need taking into consideration. I'm by no means saying they should suddenly give over admin control to a group of 12 year olds, but a Habbo presence is definitely needed and this isn't happening at the moment.

All successful fansites are like that on UK. HFFM - owned by Carnio, he's 17 or 18. CHF owned by SkaterChu - 18+ ran by Jemmwah and Barmi - 18+. Hababble, owned by Cooshie, 20+ and ran by Beat (I think) 18+. They are the only sites I use and all of them are the same sort of ages as management on here. Just because they're old doesn't mean they're not Habbo users. All of those people are. They enter competitons and have a fan base so to speak. This is something Habbox seriously lacks. Not one of their general management users actively plays Habbo, same for Forum Management. This is why in my opinion Habbox has little influece on the Hotel in comparison to said sites.

Not too sure if nvr is going to stay around (looks like even he isn't sure) but I think Jin would do fine if he did end up leaving. What I think is really lacking more than an active GM is a Community AGM, as this would also cover the last point about getting around on Habbo and becoming more of a presence like the old days. Rare values dept are apparently rebuilding and getting things going again after some hiccoughs, so then we need someone to get campaigns and such for the hotel itself to notice us again.

Yeah, I'm not doubting Jin but from what I've been told he wants to know whether Nvr is staying or not so he can appoint someone to replace nvr and then take more of a back seat. Again, this wasn't from him but from another senior management member so whether it's true or not I do not know. I agree about Community AGM, they need someone who will give a breath of fresh air into the departments that affect Habbo.

Maybe a sort of community department? Can deal with PR, room advertisements etc. If they got people who were popular on Habbo (there are some on the forum) it'd work. Even if we just got rooms to put habbox.com back in their room descriptions then it would help, even if only a small bit. I know you headed a community department but it never got off the ground, with the right encouragement and actually giving the departments tasks it could work.

[FlyingJesus]

Dunno I guess at that size the badges don't look too bad, but does CHF have a horizontal skin that it can be checked on? I can't stand vertical skins for some reason and I'm sure it could be done ok as long as there aren't 50 badges per user or something.

My point about groups was going by the idea that I thought people would have badges for the groups like on Habbo (hence not wanting thousands ) and these would be the requested groups, I entirely agree with normal friend groups being made by anyone who wants to though as any ties that members have with each other are likely to make them want to stick around more, just that these would be of a different sort and wouldn't have badges.

As for a community department, I don't think we really need one. HxHD staff should be on top of their game promoting the Habbox community and being a real presence for us rather than just waiting for an event to start and then completely ditching the room. They have more than enough staff to actually do something, and they aren't even the only Habbo-based department, so really there ought to be plenty of people available to make Habbox the big name is used to be.

[Immenseman]

Dunno I guess at that size the badges don't look too bad, but does CHF have a horizontal skin that it can be checked on? I can't stand vertical skins for some reason and I'm sure it could be done ok as long as there aren't 50 badges per user or something.

If it does I have no idea how to get onto it. I think it looks much nicer but then again I guess they actually have someone who puts hours of work into the skin and it's probably the best Habbo skin I've ever seen which is probably why I think everything looks so pretty.

My point about groups was going by the idea that I thought people would have badges for the groups like on Habbo (hence not wanting thousands ) and these would be the requested groups, I entirely agree with normal friend groups being made by anyone who wants to though as any ties that members have with each other are likely to make them want to stick around more, just that these would be of a different sort and wouldn't have badges.

Even if we had groups with open membership they will just create a sense of belonging. They don't have to have any silly user title or rank thingy nor do groups come with a badge. The groups would just be like "I love garion" /"I love habbox events"/"I visit the Help desk" etc etc they don't cause any harm and you only see them when you click on the user that has joined them, they show on their page. It might help keep members and give current members something new to do. People will want their group to be the best and will try and make it so.

As for a community department, I don't think we really need one. HxHD staff should be on top of their game promoting the Habbox community and being a real presence for us rather than just waiting for an event to start and then completely ditching the room. They have more than enough staff to actually do something, and they aren't even the only Habbo-based department, so really there ought to be plenty of people available to make Habbox the big name is used to be.

Yeah, fair point was just suggesting new ideas that would help Habbox have a bigger influence on the hotel. If you want HxHD staff to do it then you're going to have to hire a whole new team because with all due respect none of those HxHD staff members are going to promote Habbox successfully because people have no reason to listen to them.

[The Professor]

Using badges as achievements might be a good idea, they're pretty popular these days with the PS3 and Xbox 360 achievements. The escapist has a similar system and I like the idea of it, gives people stuff to aim for. We could give them for things like posting in every forum, special ones for posting a lot in one forum (nerd badge for tech forums for example), special ones for winning competitions, stuffs like that.

[emotional]

sorry, haven't read this thread, and i have no intention to.

BUT, (this is coming from a 'newbies' point of view) many people aren't signing up because of the classical habbox skins. i remember when i was new, i got put off because of the skins.

i'll put money on that if you guys got somebody to integrate a real decent skin, like CH's winter one (only took me + calum a few real working days!) then activity would rise.

i'll make a skin for you peeps.

[Immenseman]

Yeah. For example, I am debates leader on CHF and those who make the best contributions to my debates on there are given a badge and reputation points. Some people like me love a debate but I have no doubt that a few people contribute for the prize. They make sure it's constructive so I pick them and allows the debate to flow. It encourages people to get involved and when they do get involved they enjoy it and then begin to use the forum more because they have a badge that not everyone else has. People are very materialistic and want to be able to show it off.

This would work on Habbox too if it was implemented. I know it's seen as a bit childish winning a badge for winning a Habbox competition but I assure you it would see an increase in participation and then those who win will continue to stay around which could even help solve the issue of member retention.

I know there is no proof it would work but it's better than what's happening at the moment, which is zilch.

[Nixt]

I am already looking at reintroducing a debates system like we had 'back in the day'. This system will also include giving prizes etc. It has been given the approval from management so I will go about doing it asap. I will also see that we discuss the introduction of badges, it's not something I have ever personally favoured but I see the tide of member opinion is changing in it's favour and therefore I will see if we can perhaps have some kind of badge system introduced. Something minimal though.

[emotional]

...zzz missed my contribution.

[Immenseman]

sorry, haven't read this thread, and i have no intention to.

BUT, (this is coming from a 'newbies' point of view) many people aren't signing up because of the classical habbox skins. i remember when i was new, i got put off because of the skins.

i'll put money on that if you guys got somebody to integrate a real decent skin, like CH's winter one (only took me + calum a few real working days!) then activity would rise.

i'll make a skin for you peeps.

Very true, they are incredibly ugly. I think even if they just made ONE real good skin (even if they had to pay) and made that the skin you first saw when you signed up, more people would stay. I know it's a matter of an opinion but when you sign up you see that vile yellow and blue skin first (I think). It has to be neutral, then let them decide. Even if you just put the normal blue skin as the first one you see then it won't be as bad, at least it will be neutral and a lot more easy on the eye.

I am already looking at reintroducing a debates system like we had 'back in the day'. This system will also include giving prizes etc. It has been given the approval from management so I will go about doing it asap. I will also see that we discuss the introduction of badges, it's not something I have ever personally favoured but I see the tide of member opinion is changing in it's favour and therefore I will see if we can perhaps have some kind of badge system introduced. Something minimal though.

Go for it. I know that people won't like this but it's true. You offer an incentive they will be popular. If you don't, they won't be. Maybe that encourages people to participate and contribute for the wrong reason but providing their post still relates to the topic and helps the debate move on then I don't see the issue.

[FlyingJesus]

I like the classic skin slitzzzzz nah but do make more if others don't like it, as long as it's an option still it won't bother me and can only do good

Hooray for debates coming back properly, I tried doing it as comms manager but it was collapsed before it actually happened so good to see it's actually going to be done now.