Chreees Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 But aren't hookah prices a little ridiculous these days? I understand inflation and the market and all that, but in 2009 when I got into this hobby I could get a nice, brand new Khalil Mamoon Trimetal for $80 from Hookah Company. Nowadays that'd be a miracle. I miss the good ol' days when things were simpler, the products were cheaper but also better, and the only products that were really only geared towards the bros were the gawdy dragon hookahs and Starbuzz. I was in for the whole Tinychat era and it was epic. Great times were had. Now everyone doesn't have time for it (myself included, but I still tried to make an effort to keep it alive for months, to no avail). I dunno, I feel as though perhaps I was fortunate enough to be part of Hookah Forum during its prime, right before it's decline. Mushrat gave me the job of moderator towards the decline, and I saw what was happening and tried my best to implement new things to try and stop it. Now, I think it was just inevitable with how things were shifting, new forums emerging, and some of the great vendors falling out of the business or just simply selling (hope you're doing well, George). Now I'm administrator and feel as though I'm losing the battle... I know I went a little all over the place with this post, but I've just had this on my mind for quite a while now, and felt compelled to post it at 3AM when my gigantic 7 months old puppy woke me up to go outside (Great Pyrenees). Sad thing is, most of the people who I want to read this likely won't, because they haven't been online forfuckingever. :( I'm gonna go grab a beer and then try to go back to sleep. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
â€On Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Honestly, anyone who was around here a couple years ago, before the last "forum war", is going to miss those days. I sure miss there being tons of new posts on here to read and comment on, along with TC and all the great times in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelios Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Hookahs are no longer as big as they were several years ago. Yeah, college kids are still the biggest buyers but they're not as into it anymore. As some of the other forums I used to peruse avidly are now utterly barren with only long time users left, I feel HF is following down the same path. It's a shame but these things are always inevitable. I don't think there's anything we can do to change that. :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joytron Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Amen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
â€On Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Hookahs are no longer as big as they were several years ago. Yeah, college kids are still the biggest buyers but they're not as into it anymore. As some of the other forums I used to peruse avidly are now utterly barren with only long time users left, I feel HF is following down the same path. It's a shame but these things are always inevitable. I don't think there's anything we can do to change that. :/ I think the part that really gets me is that I'm still a daily smoker, on weekends i usually do 2-3 bowls a day if I'm just hanging around gaming or watching movies....I just don't really have much to say on the subject of hookah's anymore. I know what I like and I roll with it. For me, anyways, there hasn't really been something "new" to come along in terms of techniques or products that I can try that are really game changing. The last thing I can think of along those lines is the Lotus, but even that, at the end of the day, is basically just foil and a windcover combined into a reusable device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelios Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Hookahs are no longer as big as they were several years ago. Yeah, college kids are still the biggest buyers but they're not as into it anymore. As some of the other forums I used to peruse avidly are now utterly barren with only long time users left, I feel HF is following down the same path. It's a shame but these things are always inevitable. I don't think there's anything we can do to change that. :/ I think the part that really gets me is that I'm still a daily smoker, on weekends i usually do 2-3 bowls a day if I'm just hanging around gaming or watching movies....I just don't really have much to say on the subject of hookah's anymore. I know what I like and I roll with it. For me, anyways, there hasn't really been something "new" to come along in terms of techniques or products that I can try that are really game changing. The last thing I can think of along those lines is the Lotus, but even that, at the end of the day, is basically just foil and a windcover combined into a reusable device. Lack of innovation is for sure one of the major issues to the decline of posts. Before the phunnel bowl, we had the apple bowl, vortex, MNH funnel, scalli bowls, etc. We've nearly hit the peak of hookah innovation. The holy grail is an electric coal. Problem with the electric coal ever happening is e-cigs taking over and anyone in that realm of technology is putting their efforts there. But lets get realistic. As much as we can't stand them, it was the bros that made hookahs as popular as they were. That, and tons of Jewish kids coming back on Birthright bringing with them crappy Chinese hookahs they spent ~$100 on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chreees Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 And the troops coming back from the 3 Middle East wars we've had since the 90s. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattarios2 Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Yeah I miss the old days absolutely. I've been on this forum for a while and it definitely has changed, but if you wait long enough, unfortunately, everything changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightHawk63 Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 It's like a video game. Right as the game is released you get loads of people trying it out and huge numbers to deal with. As years go on people stop playing and soon you have the core community to be the pillar of the video game. I'm not on as much as a I was but I still want to chime in on posts and keep in touch with everyone here because you guys are one of a kind. Great people. I've enjoyed my stay here and continue to do so. I really don't want to see this place disappear, seeing as it is still my homepage everytime I go onto Firefox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryno Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 I couldn't agree more with what you've said Chris. I think part of it may be is that most of us found this place in college, during the so called "prime". We've since grown up and just don't have the time to be on here as much as we used too. I'm still on here once to three times a day, just waiting for that influx of new people just finding hookah and being able to help them. I hope this place can get back to the way it was, or something close to it. Maybe a thread and we can find a good time for a large amount of us to TinyChat together? It seems as life has gone on, our free time is limited. I've noticed not just on here, but in real life. Friends that I always had time for, I don't have as much anymore... But we still try to find some time to hang out. Let's be adults now and schedule ahead our "TC Parties" :P ***Edit: We still have that very good, and large amount of regulars to keep this place alive. If we could get the redirect issues fixed I think we could really get this place going again. Remember the days of posting 30+times a day? We need to find THAT HF again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bawhee Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 I'm in the same boat with everyone else, still smoke just as much (probably more) as I did, still check the forums more or less daily, but there isn't anything happening in the hookah world that would stir things up! And if I don't have anything to say I tend not to say anything... All the new people that come in seem to only have a question or two before they forget about the place too... I'm sure hookah is gonna get popular again eventually, until then it's up to us to keep the place going, somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chreees Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 We'll see how it goes after the redirect is finally fixed, I guess. I'd hate to see this place die, but at the same time I'm not sure what else can be done to try and save it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattarios2 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Well if you watch the amount of active members in the last 30 min statistics on the bottom of the homepage, we still get some good traffic flowing. Just gotta get guests and lurkers to post and become active ... I personally think an incentive always works nicely, but I know this forum isn't ran that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitchy Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 yeah i just don't have much to post about these days.. life has been busy to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codyb88 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I know how you feel. I honestly haven't smoked hookah in like a month but I still enjoy chatting with people from the hookah forums. I feel it's not as crazy as forums like the e-cigarette one where you rarely interact with the same person twice, much less speak with them on a personal level. For me that forum is strictly business for gaining knowledge from others. This forum (although I'm new to it) is more of a place to chat with pals as opposed to really talk shop since most shop talk is easily summed up within most threads already here or non existent. Hookah is a niche hobby and lacks the funding and product development over most other hobbies that have forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hassouni Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 The redirect is getting fixed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chreees Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Yeah, I can't really get into e-cigarette-forum because it's crazy busy. I prefer a forum more on the level of what this one used to be like. What kind of incentives could we offer? I'll run them by Adrock. I have his Gchat now so communication is a lot quicker. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chreees Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 The redirect is getting fixed? Heh. Hopefully. Adrock is letting IPB take care of it this time, I believe. The "fix" I showed him that was supposed to work, didn't. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I've been a part of this forum since 2008, and this is by far the biggest deficit that I have seen. And as much as nobody wants to admit, the only way to bounce back from it is to pump money into it. The reason most of the big forums are so popular is because they have financial backing. Look at the ecig forum mentioned. That place is huge. Constant activity, multiple giveaways/contests every single day, company endorsements, these things draw members. Naturally there are people that only stop by for the free giveaways, but a small percentage of these people will actually stick around and contribute. Now I'm not saying that we should start giving away our organs to generate traffic, but as sad as it is that's the way things seem to be working nowadays. Not many people want to stick around just for the fact of talking, which ironically is what a forum is literally all about. I'm not sure what we as a small community can do to compete with the other large hookah forums, but we all need to brainstorm some ideas to snap back from where we are now. This is a good community with tons of knowledge. OG members, I know that the same old questions begin to get annoying, but answer them. Use the chat, hell even post up some new reviews every now and then. And I'm not posting this from my soapbox, because I'm just as guilty as most of you. I get tired of seeing the same old same old "What should I use in my vase?" posts and the like, but I'm going to make an effort to start contributing more. Bottom line is a forum is nothing without it's members and their content, so lets try and start there first and hopefully get some ideas as we go along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
â€On Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I would say that another contributing factor is the people who just want quick knowledge. For me it's like Straight Razor Forum. I wanted to learn how to do it, went there, got the info, stayed until I got the shave I wanted with a straight razor and never went back because I don't care much about "shave of the day" and off-topic threads when I don't know any of the people there and don't really care to (since 90% of them are bored old men). Anyways, I'm sure there are tons of people who got the info they needed and that was that. They were not around long enough to really connect with the long term members and so they didn't really feel a need to come back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joytron Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Once I discovered masturbation, I found I just do not have enough time for this forum anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squidget Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Yeah, it does feel that hookah is falling out of favor and e-cig/vape is going way up. I guess it is the nature of things. I still want hookah to be part of my life but i just don't think its going to be feasible with my soon to be growing family. In regards to the prices - holy hell Chris, you're not kidding. A friend pinged me over the weekend because he's wanted to pick up a new hookah as a last hoorah (he's staring a family next year) and we did some shopping - man, hookahs be expensive! And its not even the high end ones - its all. My first hookah was a all brass syrian for 80 in 2009. I got a KM chiller a year later for 75. Everything is easily over a $100 now. Crazy town. I admit I don't get on the forum like I use to just because I haven't been smoking. I miss you guys and I miss the life. *sniffle* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chreees Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Hey there, Squidget! Long time, girl. Glad to see you checking in with us. :) Oh, and congrats on the pregnancy! My wife and I are currently 4 months. Yeah, I just don't understand the hookah prices. You have seemingly MORE vendors these days, but less competition price-wise. What gives? You can always just check in with us time to time. Always good to see a familiar face. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bawhee Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Rather than driving each others prices down and competing, they're stagnating at a pretty stable, high price, if its coincidental that it works for everyone, based on the exclusiveness of the products that each vendor carries to set them appart that allows it or if its agreed upon by the vendors is impossible to tell though... Look at it this way, if popularity drops the prices ought to as well eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightHawk63 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Another strange thing is that the hookah business seems to elude the tried and true concept of supply and demand. Surely there can't be that much demand for a $170 KM hookah, if it rots in your inventory for months at a time then why not lower the price to cater to the concept? It's almost like this business moves in the complete opposite direction of commonly accepted economic systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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