Was Habbo better when there was a Hotel Manager?

[Triz]

Do you think Habbo was better when there was a Hotel Manager?

After the merge of English speaking hotels in 2010, there was numerous Hotel Managers; however only 1 position, and as such the UK hotel manager at the time (Lost_Witness) was demoted to Moderator, which subsequently led to his resignation.

From 2001-2016 HabboHotel was run by Hotel Managers who not only helped moderate the hotel, but also got involved with the community by creating fun and engaging competitions and other similar events. However just being present within the hotel used to have a big impact, as Habbos would go crazy at a chance to be in the same room as the Hotel Manager (or staff in general) to ask them questions or simply have a conversation with them.

However it seems since the dismissal of Lost_Witness back in 2010, and the complete dismissal of the Hotel Manager role which was last occupied bh powertoo who left in 2016; Sulakes' overall presence within the Hotel has shot down dramatically, even in terms of moderation, where they seem to be creating tools so that we as Habbos are the ones moderating their hotel for them; to some extent (Habbo Guardians)

Is it just nostalgia and reminiscing on past times, or was Habbo a much better place when there was a Hotel Manager or even more of a noticeable presence within the hotel ?
In the words of a wise man... 99% of being a parent is just 'being there' - being present. Can the same phrase be applied to Sulake?


What do you think?

THIS DEBATE ENDS ON THE 4th APRIL

For more information on the debate guidelines and how to win prizes see the guidelines thread here

[Sloths]

This debate is now open!

[Conor]

Well I remember when powertoo was the manager, does Habbo really do many competitions now? Maybe a build a room every now and then but other than that it’s does seem as you said, we’re alone on the hotel. I did read about their mods role before online and it was saying that they’re becoming more invisible now but are still there, however I disagree and get us to do the moderation ourselves such as the guardians like you said and also the reporter/helper tool

[Samantha]

I believe that pre-merge when we had managers such as Lost_Witness, Bucho6 and Ludus, it was a different time; you could say it was better, but there were reasons for it. Before the merge it was a rare occurrence to see the Hotel Managers unless a bigger event was taking place, they were more illusive and therefore when they were present it was a much bigger deal because it was rare! Events like Lost_Witness' anniversary where he went through Hallway 1 giving our prizes to special people, there was a thrill of trying to win, but the thrill was more in actually getting the manager to notice you - they were sort of a celebrity. I also think when Ludus was given the role he brought a different side to a Hotel Manager - you saw him interact a lot more, host more games such as Habbo Rugby and he was the one you were more likely to see.

After the merge the same presence kept up to a point, when Fozzie, Puffin and SmoothCriminal were given the roles they were still classes as 'celebrities' somewhat and it was still fairly rare to see them. I think at some point (I want to say when Paul LaFontaine was the CEO) this sort of changed, they were more active on Habbo and because of that the novelty wore off more. Not to mention they lost members during the merge, Channel 4 were going undercover and generally Habbo was just trying to change (but usually not for the better). After the mute it was a lot quieter on Habbo, and I think that might have done a lot more damage than people initially thought, the target audience changed really because it was aimed at teens. However, when you have teens being groomed, parents aren't going to let their children on the platform anymore and therefore the audience sort of grew up with Habbo.

When Habbo changed more, when you had managers who were seen more, when you didn't really have key events whereby you could meet and interact with the managers (I mean they had events, but there were too many of them), again the novelty wears off from it! Back in 2010 or pre-merge the events were also worth winning a lot more, you'd be able to win rares and more sought after items, but nowadays you get coloured animals that have no value or exclusiveness about them!

Overall, I think it was better when there was an Hotel Manager, but not the more recent ones. Unfortunately, Habbo is a business, so they need to make a monetary gain from the players and that includes staff cuts. If there was an Hotel Manager now, I think it'd be better if there was one like we had in Lost_Witness or someone similar, the ones who seemed to care about the players and we're just in it for the money/job.

[Brad]

Not really seeing a debate here as I think we can all agree that the Pre-merge took Habbo to a glorious level where players actually felt appreciated and were recognized for their contributions on their respective hotels.
The Merge destroyed their capital as a company (under Sulake) and have been on a growing decline due to no presence of "management". Ultimately, we are seeing the demise of the choices they've made and soon the hotel is going to be so far gone that the only option for them is to either reduce it even more, or to close the hotel.

[lawrawrrr]

PERSONALLY although it’s not working too well I think there are some good points to not having as big a community team or a dedicated hotel manager at Habbo.

Yes it’s a lot of work for us and no it doesn’t always go smoothly but fansites have a much bigger role in the events and general Habbo community now as they need us to bulk up their lack of staff team.

The vast majority of badge events are run by fansites, we get to do bigger events and comps, help advise on community things. This has been happening more and more as the community team gets smaller and smaller and only really started being properly important for us after the hotel manager left.

So from a fansite POV - and I also think the fansite quests are a great thing - then it’s got better since there wasn’t a manager.

[Zak]

I think Hotel Managers certainly contributed to the popularity of the platform. Put it this way, how many do you remember? If you can recall the likes of Jibbi, Ione, Callie, Lost_Witness etc. years after they left the company then I'd say the role was a remarkable success.

[lawrawrrr]

I think Hotel Managers certainly contributed to the popularity of the platform. Put it this way, how many do you remember? If you can recall the likes of Jibbi, Ione, Callie, Lost_Witness etc. years after they left the company then I'd say the role was a remarkable success.

Do you think it was ACTUALLY a contribution to the success or just happened at the same time?

In my opinion games like Habbo have been losing more and more and more members because there are fewer people wanting to play them. I don’t think it’s directly related to the hotel managers but just happened at the same time...

Correlation does not mean causation in this instance I feel...

[FlyingJesus]

I liked Ione she was lovely, and Jibbi I thought did well although I never knew her personally. Went way downhill from there with Callie who started the trend of staff members giving certain people extreme preferential treatment. It was clear that the same people were "winning" each competition and getting ultra rares for no reason and frankly I largely left the hotel during her time because it just wasn't an enjoyable experience constantly seeing her little fan club lording it over everyone. Lost_Witness was also pretty involved in nepotism although not nearly as badly from what I recall, and then obv Bucho6 is literally only remembered BECAUSE he was corrupt as sin.

[Zak]

Do you think it was ACTUALLY a contribution to the success or just happened at the same time?

In my opinion games like Habbo have been losing more and more and more members because there are fewer people wanting to play them. I don’t think it’s directly related to the hotel managers but just happened at the same time...

Correlation does not mean causation in this instance I feel...

Yes I think they contributed to the success. They had a certain star-factor, people would flood rooms to see them. I also think it's important for someone to steer the ship, where would Britain have been in WWII without Churchill? Or Theresa May in Br.... Oh. It's merely a coincidence that they were around in Habbo's heyday.

Habbo has lost players because it's still the same game it was 15 years ago. Look at other successful games and how much they've progressed in the same time. There's far better games available now, so why would anyone new choose to play it?