Sulake To Begin Talks To Reduce Workforce By Up To 2/3

[Abdicators]

Everyone is complaining that Sulake are stupid to fire staff, but they wouldn't do it unless they have too - obviously profits are down after what happened in the summer, and they need to cut costs, there's one easy way to do that. Sulake already have a small workforce compared to Habbo's prime-time back in 2006/2007 when there were about 20 hotels open. Essentially, Sulake is buying themselves more time with this, so all you Habbo fans should be pleased...

Kardan seems to be the only guy thinking this through. Since the mute it's no secret that Habbos user base dropped, which means that their income dropped significantly too. You guys don't buy credits anymore and it's driving Sulake into the ground, they have to save money somewhere.

The cause of Sulakes problems is not Paul. Paul is doing ok, he is doing his best to ensure that the product stays alive whilst maintaining the staff essential to running Habbo.

As mentioned below Sulake actually has 128 employees. 90 of those are in the Finnish office, and a maximum of 60 are going to be laid off. Which would leave not 30 employees at Sulake, but 68; more than you guys think.

Sulake are trying their best to put what the players want first. All their other projects have been put on halt to try and maintain Habbo, this is not about being greedy or trying to make millions of teenagers, it's about making enough money to make the product maintainable; and it's not, because you guys are not buying credits. Instead you're complaining.

The Game Center is a big step for Habbo, with third party developers being able to put their games in the Game Center. it means that Habbos might find a product that they want to spend coins on, and then purchase them. Sulake take a tiny portion of the profits made from a game (a 80:20 split), but if they can get enough Habbos buying enough credits for enough different games, then Habbo may just survive.

I don't think any of you have actually thought about what you would do if Habbo did close. I know alot of you are on it consistently. Yet, few of you care enough to help Sulake, to help new users, to purchase the odd amount of credits each month. It's a service you've used for free, for years. And with the continued moaning attitude of you all, it wont be around that much longer.

[karter]

when did sulake try their best? it all started when they removed one feature and kept removing all others one by one, this had to happen. they are probably trying their best now as desperate measures to get users back but this won't work unless they return the features.

[GommeInc]

Kardan seems to be the only guy thinking this through. Since the mute it's no secret that Habbos user base dropped, which means that their income dropped significantly too. You guys don't buy credits anymore and it's driving Sulake into the ground, they have to save money somewhere.

The cause of Sulakes problems is not Paul. Paul is doing ok, he is doing his best to ensure that the product stays alive whilst maintaining the staff essential to running Habbo.

As mentioned below Sulake actually has 128 employees. 90 of those are in the Finnish office, and a maximum of 60 are going to be laid off. Which would leave not 30 employees at Sulake, but 68; more than you guys think.

Sulake are trying their best to put what the players want first. All their other projects have been put on halt to try and maintain Habbo, this is not about being greedy or trying to make millions of teenagers, it's about making enough money to make the product maintainable; and it's not, because you guys are not buying credits. Instead you're complaining.

The Game Center is a big step for Habbo, with third party developers being able to put their games in the Game Center. it means that Habbos might find a product that they want to spend coins on, and then purchase them. Sulake take a tiny portion of the profits made from a game (a 80:20 split), but if they can get enough Habbos buying enough credits for enough different games, then Habbo may just survive.

I don't think any of you have actually thought about what you would do if Habbo did close. I know alot of you are on it consistently. Yet, few of you care enough to help Sulake, to help new users, to purchase the odd amount of credits each month. It's a service you've used for free, for years. And with the continued moaning attitude of you all, it wont be around that much longer.

It's entirely Sulake's fault for what happened over the Summer, there should be no sympathy towards Habbo for what is a self-induced crisis. Why should people waste money on Habbo and get a half-arsed service in return? It's wise thinking not to spend money on something you won't get as much benefit or entertainment out, when there is very little decent service provided.

Paul is the problem with Sulake. He handled the C4 report unbearably badly and could of saved his and the company's skin had he bothered to get his egotistical finger out and solve the problem. He was given a copy of the C4 report weeks before it was announced, and his response? "It's not true" , then disregarded it as rubbish. As for staff, he's ensuring he doesn't have to spend as much money on proper training and doesn't understand how socio-companies work. The man is an imbecile and should be the first head on the block when the cuts are made.

People have the right to complain. Poor service and goods makes a consumer an angry or bored individual. Again, this is entirely self-induced. There's no point brown nosing for Habbo because consumers have the ultimate sway in what makes a consumer services based organisation work. Perhaps if they didn't use uneducated buffoons for moderators and were accountable for their actions this entirely self-induced crisis could of been avoided, but they didn't, they sat with their mucky fingers in their ears and hoped it all to go away - which is truely pathetic and they deserve the problems they are suffering now.

As for the last sentence. Good! I haven't used Habbo since 2009 because their attitude towards their business model and customers was appalling back then, and amazingly it has somehow gotten worse. Telling people to buy the odd credits is incredibly absurd. Why should people be told to spend their money on something they clearly are lacking interest in? They won't get any benefits out of spending their money on credits - Habbo have made sure of that with their poor approach to offering services and customer care, and there doesn't appear to be anything within Habbo worth spending money on other than furniture. It's entirely their fault, and delegating blame onto the end-user, the Habbos, is completely unfair as it wasn't them who ignored potential threats to the service, it was Paul LaFortaine and his 'ignorance is bliss' philosophy.

[October]

THEY CAN BARELY MANAGE 12 HOTELS WITH 90 STAFF...

[the.games]

To be honest I can't see how they can manage so much with so little. They should see if they changed the management they would make more money and could afford more staff.

[Zak]

Habbo announced a closing date yet? Soon you'll have to pay to play.

[:Act]

I know alot of you are on it consistently. Yet, few of you care enough to help Sulake, to help new users, to purchase the odd amount of credits each month. It's a service you've used for free, for years. And with the continued moaning attitude of you all, it wont be around that much longer.

I think you miss the entire foundation of business. Provide a service that the consumer wants, and will pay for. The way the hotel currently is, is not appealing to the masses. We know this because of the sharp and distinctly obvious drop in users over the past few months/years. Therefore, why would people 'purchase the odd amount of credits each month' for a service that we are not currently enjoying to the fullest that we know it CAN BE. It is not providing the service it used to, and so we will not support it. And if we did support it by buying credits thinking 'Oh it'll tide it over for now and it'll go back to normal soon', well that's a joke too because staff will then see these new implementations as working because people are spending more, and as such they will keep on the same track that we don't like. Complete misunderstanding!

The onus of business to stay alive is NOT on the consumer bailing them out, it is on the business to keep their product relevant, desirable, and keeping the consumer happy. If this means changing for the better, then so be it, but there is no point changing for the worse, and I believe many people think that Habbo is changing for the worse.

[LiquidLuck.]

I doubt Habbo will be able to get some CAPABLE staff, as it seems that all the staff they get is crap. -.-
Also, most of them seem like they just don't give a **** and just want to get paied for not doing anything.

[Abdicators]

I think you miss the entire foundation of business. Provide a service that the consumer wants, and will pay for. The way the hotel currently is, is not appealing to the masses. We know this because of the sharp and distinctly obvious drop in users over the past few months/years. Therefore, why would people 'purchase the odd amount of credits each month' for a service that we are not currently enjoying to the fullest that we know it CAN BE. It is not providing the service it used to, and so we will not support it. And if we did support it by buying credits thinking 'Oh it'll tide it over for now and it'll go back to normal soon', well that's a joke too because staff will then see these new implementations as working because people are spending more, and as such they will keep on the same track that we don't like. Complete misunderstanding!

The onus of business to stay alive is NOT on the consumer bailing them out, it is on the business to keep their product relevant, desirable, and keeping the consumer happy. If this means changing for the better, then so be it, but there is no point changing for the worse, and I believe many people think that Habbo is changing for the worse.

Sulake is providing what the users want. They've set up multiple ways for you to provide feedback, and give suggestions.

Habbos wanted a scheme similar to the Hobbas back, they got it.
Habbos wanted rooms similar to the old public rooms back, they got them.
Habbos wanted competitions within the hotel, so room competitions were implemented.
Habbos wanted more staff visibility, so moderators were instructed to frequent rooms.
Habbos wanted rares back, so LTD rares were introduced. Habbos
Habbos wanted home pages back, they got them.
Habbos wanted forums back, they're coming.
Habbos wanted more games in Habbo, so the game center appeared.
Habbos wanted events back, they got promos.

You guys are getting what you want, and because you have nit picks with a system that wasn't exactly how you imagined it, you scorn it.

Some of Sulakes decisions over the past few months have cost Sulake alot, some of the decisions have been incredibly drastic. How would you have handled Channel 4s report? Would you have let the behaviour continue? Would you have muted the hotel? Or would you have just hired more moderators and hoped for the best?

How would you deal with two investors pulling out? How would you quickly find the money in order to ensure your company stayed alive? Or would you just throw in the towel?

Habbo will never be able to operate the way you remember it in 2005. There isn't enough staff to go around. Habbo was really no better then. I mean what was better?

You could talk to staff? I know staff that login all the time, I can give you their names if that's the case!
Staff run events? Why staff run? Are you unable to run your own events?
Articles? Why? Only a tiny portion of users ever read them.
Old public rooms? Why?
'Better Moderation' ? The moderation you remember was flawed, moderators were constantly hacked and people consecutively gained access to Habbos Housekeeping, it wasn't safe or practical to allow moderators remote access to sensitive data like that; besides as no one is buying credits this would be too costly.

What more could Sulake as a parent company of Habbo, possibly do to make you happy?

[Red]

Sulake is providing what the users want. They've set up multiple ways for you to provide feedback, and give suggestions.

Habbos wanted a scheme similar to the Hobbas back, they got it.
Habbos wanted rooms similar to the old public rooms back, they got them.
Habbos wanted competitions within the hotel, so room competitions were implemented.
Habbos wanted more staff visibility, so moderators were instructed to frequent rooms.
Habbos wanted rares back, so LTD rares were introduced. Habbos
Habbos wanted home pages back, they got them.
Habbos wanted forums back, they're coming.
Habbos wanted more games in Habbo, so the game center appeared.
Habbos wanted events back, they got promos.

You guys are getting what you want, and because you have nit picks with a system that wasn't exactly how you imagined it, you scorn it.

Some of Sulakes decisions over the past few months have cost Sulake alot, some of the decisions have been incredibly drastic. How would you have handled Channel 4s report? Would you have let the behaviour continue? Would you have muted the hotel? Or would you have just hired more moderators and hoped for the best?

How would you deal with two investors pulling out? How would you quickly find the money in order to ensure your company stayed alive? Or would you just throw in the towel?

Habbo will never be able to operate the way you remember it in 2005. There isn't enough staff to go around. Habbo was really no better then. I mean what was better?

You could talk to staff? I know staff that login all the time, I can give you their names if that's the case!
Staff run events? Why staff run? Are you unable to run your own events?
Articles? Why? Only a tiny portion of users ever read them.
Old public rooms? Why?
'Better Moderation' ? The moderation you remember was flawed, moderators were constantly hacked and people consecutively gained access to Habbos Housekeeping, it wasn't safe or practical to allow moderators remote access to sensitive data like that; besides as no one is buying credits this would be too costly.

What more could Sulake as a parent company of Habbo, possibly do to make you happy?

It make's me so angry reading your posts. Your like a Paul clone. I actually can't believe you are saying they put what the players want first? Every single change made by Paul has been unwanted. It's their fault the user base has fallen. He has sucked all life out of the hotel with his withdraw staff and make things automated appoach. The c4 report shouldn't have happened in the first place. Paul pretended that his moderators were doing an excellent job, despite our complaints.


Don't expect us to buy credits for a game that is not being run properly. If a bit of effort was put into making the hotel a fun place to be, people would be more willing to purchase credits. Paul is exactly the problem. He is rude, and arrogant. Feedback from users is never listened too, and he has just about blocked the entire community for expressing their opinions.


Get a grip, seriously. We all want greater staff presence/news articles/staff run comps. How is he going to devote any staff to be hotel managers, if theres no staff left? Yes the wanted home pages. Did we get them no? They have no guestbooks or stickies rendering them useless! We wanted return of old games? Did we get it? no. Snowstorm wasn't developed to its full potential. There was a lot of missing features like the ability to choose who to play with. No one wants these third party games that have no relevance or place in habbo, and I can guarantee no one will be spending credits on them. Yes we wanted events? Did they do that right? No. They decide to charge us for them. I can't even see any function for them now? It was easy to find credit shops before, because there was sections. That has been removed. There hasn't been no increase in staff visibility, and still no return of articles. News is still confusingly spread out across twitter/facebook/the blog. Did you see any campaign for halloween? I certainly didn't.


What would make me happy? Getting rid of their corrupt and childish CEO.