Ask the admin (10/17/2011)

[Lanzer]

Corinth Maxwell

1. Ever consider creating more "were-beast" or "anthropomorphic" body alteration/skin items -- namely, for people who wish to be Minotaurs, Were-Lions, Were-Panthers, Were-Jaguars, and/or Were-Tigers? (And yes, I based this particular question mostly off of the more recent "Castlevania" games from the past 11 years.) whee

2. What's the first Apple/Mac game you ever played?

3. Would it be possible to get a "Plasma Gear" recolor? You KNOW people want their own purple lightsaber(s). twisted

Well stay tuned for this year's Halloween event and there might be something that falls along the line of what you asked for.

One of the first Apple game was Load Runner, though there were older games but I just forgot their names. It was on my Apple IIe

That depends on how many people want the recolor, and which color do everyone want.

[The Undead Suitor]

In Shadows You Succumb

Lanzer

zOMG had been a feature that received the most love from us for 3 years straight. A team of 16 worked tirelessly creating the game and we put tons of effort in tweaking the gameplay and making it more fun.

I thought all but 2 were fired/moved to other assignments last November.

it was created by 16 members, but their numbers have been dropping faster than fruit flies since they realized they can't make money off of it.


oh, and its pretty much 1.5 employees.

They don't even have a guy to write quests anymore.

[M0M0R3N]

Mademoiselle Kit

Lanzer

It is my wish that we can keep a large team building more features and expanding zOMG, as it's a great game that we put a ton of resources building and it's a fun game for many of you Gaians. At the same time, however, the resources within Gaia stretches thin and continued expansion of zOMG continued to be a challenge.

Suite honestly, the support for zOMG wasn't enough to sustain a larger team. Everyone love the game given the amount of time we put into it, and as a means to measure whether we can keep a team going we asked for your support to see if it's possible. We really appreciate the support for those who love the game and back us up financially. When we tally the total, unfortunately the amount is not high enough due to the limited amount of players on zOMG.

Everyone is still trying to do whatever they can, whenever they can as we know how much you love the game and so do we. I wish I have a better answer for you but unfortunately I can't at this time. Nobody wants to stop supporting zOMG, but we're in a really tight bind for resources right now. Sorry.

Thank you for answering, Lanzer. But I hope people at Gaia HQ realize that the things they have done to zomg recently make it seem like the game is going to get killed off soon, so it really pushes us hardcore zomg players over the edge.

If you want more players, then Gaia needs to advertise the game more. There are numerous ways this can be done; Zomg forum regs have offered several ideas. But the fact is, that WE are not responsible for bringing new players to the game at the end of the day. YOU are.

That's right. It isn't our job to bring more players, but we try to bring new players anyway.

[Elynai]

Are you planning on ever fixing the bugs that happen with many items on the site?
There is an official thread in Site Feedback (or Bug Reports? Not sure) for reporting item issues that was started in February. None of these have been fixed. I posted a report on the 3rd page of that thread the day after it was started and the issue has not been fixed.
There is also the Avatar Items subforum of the Questions & Assistance forum where many users report bugs that are also rarely, if ever, fixed.
This bewilders me as the site's main focus are the items users often pay real money for. I wouldn't go to the store and buy a pair of jeans with a hole in it, this is not any different.

There is an "In The Que" subforum that was added in the Bug Report and Technical Support forum early in the year that was never used. Why not? It seems it would be quite useful so we know what bugs Gaia is planning on/is currently fixing. Are there plans to remove this forum or to begin using it?

With Bidblast you list the day that the listing will definitely finish on, but not the time. Are there any plans to add this in the future?


I'm at school so I don't have time to read through the replies right now, so I'm sorry if any of these have been asked!

[VKiera]

KaylaGalela

VKiera

I actually had a quick suggestion/ idea for alchemy items, uh well storage really, currently I have many items and copies of items in my inventory waiting to be crafted when I have all the components, but right now, they're sorta in the way, could the idea for some sort of alchemy storage locker, or the like, be tossed around. I'd rather not have 50 copies of The Gift cluttering up my inventory.

OMGOMGOMG! I have been wishing for this for a long time, but I never mentioned it because I thought I'd be the only one who would want such a thing.

I would put stuff in my regular storage, but then the alchemy feature doesn't see that it's there.

No, you're not the only one and it makes sense really, I mean many of the items the require crafting take many duplicates of items, and not all of the components are 'ingredients' as it were and they crowd up my inventory like crazy and it bugs me, I just want somewhere to store components where they're still recognized as being there and that I own them, but not there, like when I go to my closet and have to wade though 40+ copies of The Gift >.> Some separation please?

[muumuupie]

Uncle Haijin

Will we ever see the CEO anytime soon in a Ask the Admin? I think I can safely speak for the rest of the GCD that we feel like there is a disconnect between us and the higher ups in Gaia.

Yeah, I'll often stop by and check things out, but there are folks like Lanzer and Panagramic who do such a better job answering your questions and representing the staff that really, it's best for me to just play a supporting role (i.e. get out the way and let them help you out =)

In any event, I'm so happy you're spending your evening on Gaia Online, and hope you have an awesome time.

Thanks!

[In Shadows You Succumb]

Are you ever going to fix the site moderator network so that they can, well...network? Rogue mods have plagued us since the beginning of time and it'd be nice if they could work as a team for efficiently.

[Panagrammic]

You're talking about the Golden Giftbox formula? We didn't get rid of it -- we made it permanent.

DrQuint

hey, guys, how about alchemy items you can actually find yourself with relying on a luck based event?

Those Towns ones were good. Why get rid of them?

[Corinth Maxwell]

The Undead Suitor

it would certainly be an enlightening experience

In Shadows You Succumb

I play Monster Galaxy. It's not a proud declaration, but if I could, I'd buy a bunch of silly pictures off of Monster Galaxy to fund zOMG!

stare I was trying to make a point about how ridiculous such a "feature" would be. Imagine people funneling money into specific things on Gaia that they want to see supported, over other things that might just be a bit more important -- similar to the current "Spring Cleaning" forum. stressed

[In Shadows You Succumb]

Corinth Maxwell

Then we should just throw money at Gaia randomly and each project should be able to draw from the same coffer, not having to hold its own. zOMG! is saved!!!

[RiverMist20]

RiverMist20

I do have a costume planned out to take my little brother trick or treating, actually. A member of the Gaia staff, I saw, has his same costume!

Anyway, these questions are for DJ Helsing:

First, for all of us single, eligible ladies out here floating around in the online community that is Gaia Online, are you single? smile On the forum where NYCC was being live streamed, somebody mentioned how that should have been asked and whether or not you would have answered the question. Therefore, because I find myself nursing an infatuation for you, and I shamelessly admit this for the world to see, I thought I would take it upon myself to ask on behalf of us all!

Now, on a more serious note, I have another question for you: do you think Gaia is coming to Columbus, Ohio anytime in 2012? I'd love to be able to make it to an offline event one day. Or is it still too early to be able to tell?

Just bringing this back up in case he is lurking but missed seeing it.

[Kain-Senpai]

Lanzer

zOMG had been a feature that received the most love from us for 3 years straight. A team of 16 worked tirelessly creating the game and we put tons of effort in tweaking the gameplay and making it more fun. Many of us sincerely want the game to do better and the topic of having the game on other platforms such as Facebook had been discussed. zOMG as of today is very closely tied to Gaia, in terms of avatar customization, marketplace, messages, etc, so making a simple port would be fairly difficult. If we get to obtain more resources in the future, we'll definitely change the position of where things are, but for now we can only wait and see.

If this was from the very beginning, I would be responding. But seriously... I find it hard to believe that it is loved by the Staff. Why? Because of the amount of attention the game receives. If this were the case, we would see adverts all of the site. We would see more tie-ins with the rest of the site. We would see more staff working on the game, not JK and any spare staff member who has time to work on it. As it is, unless you know what is happening with zOMG! by being part of the z!Community, you will know nothing. If you had a pool asking users what zOMG! was, I bet a good portion of them would refer to the phrase, not the game. This game needs love, care and a good effort to make it the best possible. "In order to make money, one must spend money." I know I shouldn't be quoting that to you, Lanzer.

I can take "cute" responses, but don't pull crap out of your butt and expect us to take it with a silver spoon. You're talking to a Community who loves this game and wants it to succeed.

Thanks for answering my questions. I do appreciate that.

[In Shadows You Succumb]

muumuupie

Do you foresee a favorable future for zOMG!?

[.~.Lady_Aji.~.]

In my opinion, it's not that you can't fully support zOMG!. It's that you don't want to. Instead, you abandoned the game because you found it too hard to maintain and started creating more new games or adding games from facebook. HQ has major ADD and we're getting tired of it. You are Gaiaonline! Not facebook! So, please go back to working on the features that make Gaia Gaia.

[Aileeya]

"The resources within Gaia stretches thin"??? Ah--that's because "Gaia" a.k.a. whomever actually RUNS gaiaonline consistently chooses to lay off contractors and developers---despite repeated RECORD earnings.

Bragging about bringing in over 1M per month, with 7-9M unique visitors--and those folks choose consistently to keep the moolah for themselves, instead of paying Mavdoc, Halzy, and others.

Now, I realize that gaiaonline is not a publicaly owned company...therefore it has zero obligation to expand in any way it's private owners no longer with to expand it. However, I do take issue with the implication(s) that the fans of zOMG are in any way responsible for the lack of expansion....A cursory glance at these ATA's....at the Spring Cleaning--even evidently at live panels--and zOMG Fans are there--are prepared with questions--and are paying real money to support this site and zOMG in particular. As a matter of fact, I see a whole lot more evidence of zOMG support, one might say a "disproportionate" amount of support for zOMG, than any other site aspect. IF there is some "magical number" of "unique and new users" who must be brought into the game---then tell them what it is--and I'm sure they will do it.

Lanzer

It is my wish that we can keep a large team building more features and expanding zOMG, as it's a great game that we put a ton of resources building and it's a fun game for many of you Gaians. At the same time, however, the resources within Gaia stretches thin and continued expansion of zOMG continued to be a challenge.

Suite honestly, the support for zOMG wasn't enough to sustain a larger team. Everyone love the game given the amount of time we put into it, and as a means to measure whether we can keep a team going we asked for your support to see if it's possible. We really appreciate the support for those who love the game and back us up financially. When we tally the total, unfortunately the amount is not high enough due to the limited amount of players on zOMG.

Everyone is still trying to do whatever they can, whenever they can as we know how much you love the game and so do we. I wish I have a better answer for you but unfortunately I can't at this time. Nobody wants to stop supporting zOMG, but we're in a really tight bind for resources right now. Sorry.

Mademoiselle Kit

Dear Lanzer,

Several of the zomg forumers are becoming concerned with the direction Gaia is taking on zomg. Namely: no direction. Yes, we know about DMS and the eventual completion of BB Full. But after that, then what? The zomg gaians are getting a bit fed up with Gaia's policies and treatment of the zomg community, such as:

1. laying off most of our developers
2. threatening to delete/have no more new content in zomg unless we spend gaia cash
3. and the most severe of offenses: After the zomg community goes out of our way to go above and beyond the demands set, still nothing is being done to save zomg.

The zomg community has done many things to help save this game;

1. we have made the forums an active place to ask for help and organize events--its now become a very active forum in the past few months.
2. we have brought many new users to zomg through word of mouth
3. our proposal was the second to get to 5000 cookies
4. we sold out of Bloodstone Amulets in DAYS.

And yet, despite all this, we are still told that the future of zomg is grim. Two weeks ago, we were very upset when we were told that the forums would be moved into the GGD, a place where many game forums die. After all that work, after all that effort we've put in, after supporting zomg with our hearts and wallets, it seems to us like HQ is determined to kill off zomg.

Go into the zomg forum, Lanzer. Go into zomg itself. See how much support and love we have for this game. We don't want to see it become a dead feature with no more updates.

Please don't give us a half-formed, wishy-washy answer. We want to know why HQ is ignoring us after all the effort we've put in.