Community Spotlight - October 2014

[ElindranythElindranyth]

Wow! We've had a lot of work the last couple weeks sorting through all the great nominations provided to us! We've reviewed all the eligible entries and the votes are in. Below you'll find our featured selections. We hope you enjoy checking out what they've done as much as we did!

[ElindranythElindranyth]

The featured profile spotlight is meant to spotlight users who have done something really noteworthy with their profiles, whether this be cool looking graphics, clever use of code, or just overall creativity.

After reviewing all the nominations, we have selected Unheard's profile as our featured profile! His profile utilizes clever use of code to allow you to change the seasons of his profile, as well as change from day to night.

We asked him a few questions about himself and his profile, here's what he had to say!

When did you join Gaia?

I joined early 2008, when there are still people who spam the F5 button for gold.

What brought you to Gaia?

A friend tempted me to join by bribing me with a monthly collectible - Wonderland. Which she said was a really popular expensive item.

What do you like to do on Gaia, aside from creating profiles?

I like hanging out in forums and I also do pixel art commissions.

What inspired you to create this profile?

Usually, profiles have one theme and one color set, and that's good. But I thought, it would be also nice to see a single profile that switches to different themes and different colors. (And also it was really hot here during that time and I wished we had winter, so that's why I had the season idea.)

How long have you been creating profiles on Gaia?

About 5 years. I made free profiles for friends and they encouraged me to create a shop and that's when I became motivated to learn more CSS to get better at making profiles.

How long have you been doing general design and CSS coding (or other related development/design)?

I think I had to learn a little CSS 7 years ago because I didn't want to be that one kid who had a boring Friendster profile.

What do you enjoy most about creating profiles?

It's when I find out that the people viewing my profiles didn't just find it good, but they also felt literally entertained just by viewing it.

What tools do you use to create your profiles?

I don't really use any tools, I suppose, GIMP for designing the images and Notepad++ for keeping backups of the profile codes.

Do you prefer old school over v2/current style profiles? Why or why not?

Old school profiles. When I was still a newbie I thought v2 profiles can only be modified by dragging the panels. I didn't know you can still apply CSS to it. And that's why I only used Old School. I'm used to Old School now so I'm not motivated to switch to v2.

Anything else you want to say?

I encourage those who are willing to learn more about profile coding to visit the subforum Profile Discussion. There are people there who work really hard making CSS guides and teaching those who are having coding problems.

The Profile Discussion forum is a subforum of the GCD, and there really is quite a lot of useful information there relating to creating profiles! smile

[Lighte]

The Mini Shops forum and its subforums are filled with shops and auctions run by incredibly talented people who are full of creative ideas and concepts. The purpose of the featured shop/auction spotlight is to showcase one shop in particular that stands out.

The shop that we have chosen to spotlight for the month of October is Sketchlings, run by HitokiriChibi. Not only does her shop offer wonderful artwork, but it is unique in its organization and consistency. HitokiriChibi is dedicated to both improving her own skills and helping her fellow artists improve.

Here's what she had to say about herself and her shop!:

When did you join Gaia?
*checks profile* Looks like it was the 19th of July 2004.

What brought you to Gaia?
I think it was one of my friend's that brought me over to Gaia to do some role playing. Wow, nostalgia factor right there!

What do you like to do on Gaia?
It seems I only do art related things!
Art Shops - I run Sketchlings obviously, but I'm also part of a joint art shop called Marty's Art and Coffee Shop so I try to be social there too since it has more of an RP feel to it.

The other big thing though is running my art guild The Artist's Block. It's aimed at trying to encourage and help people improve their art so I am always trying to update resources and do personal critiques for the members there to help them out if I can. Sometime in the future when I'm not pressed for time, I'm definitely going to start hosting livestream drawing tutorials!

And then since I was away from Gaia for many a year, I like to browse through the Marketplace to find cool new items. This next part is gonna sound creepy but I'm all about finding wigs (especially ombre ones!), lips, eyes and legs. Maybe arms.

How long have you been drawing?
Oh wow, I know I was in primary school so maybe all the way back in 1998? 1999? That makes it, like, 16 years?
When Pokemon came out is when I remember really taking to pencil and tracing over them, haha. Maybe a few years earlier than that though, because I can vaguely remember some really old drawings I used to do which weren't inspired by anime.
I know drawing anime style was inspired after Pokemon, Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z since that was the order I was drawing things in.

What inspired you to create your shop?
Practice, Fame and Fortune, maybe not in that order. And probably not Fortune or I'd be raising my prices like some people say I should.
Seriously, I was feeling a bit lost for things to draw and I always had fond memories for the interesting avatars people came up with on Gaia so i figured this would be a great place for me to set up and get some serious drawing done.
Then as the offers came in I found myself getting drawn to the more well thought out OC's people were putting forward because they were so interesting and I had just come out of doing lots of drawings for an RP forum so I suppose I got drawn back to those sorts of things.
So yeah, now it seems I'm working at bringing people's characters to 'life' since I'm always trying to capture the character as they are in appearance, mannerisms, expression etc.

What do you enjoy most about running your shop?
The inspiration I get from everyone who puts forward an offer. Every week I'm guaranteed at least three pieces of art that I wouldn't have been able to do if it weren't for someone else's character being presented to me. I honestly don't think I'm allowed to suffer an artist block as long as I'm running this shop!
Flip side to this though is that there are TOO many offers and it pains me every time I have to write up a declined list. I wish I could do art for everyone but there just isn't enough time in the week!

What tools do you use to create your art?
Programs: Mischief mainly though bigger pieces I switch to Photoshop
Tools: Samsung series 7 Slate, easiest way to describe it is a Cintiq Companion before those actually came out since it also uses Wacom drivers. I also have a Wacom Intuos 3 9x12 sitting on my desk but that only gets used if I switch to my desktop computer and am colouring something big. Line art always gets done on the Slate since I've lost the fine skill to do it on the tablet itself.
Have a photo as well if you'd like, haha. It's so messy and cluttered.

Is there anything else you would like to mention about yourself or otherwise?
Honestly, I'm just amazed I got this spotlight - so thank you to LNC and Sins who nominated me and most of all thank you guys on the Gaia homefront for voting for my humble shop! This is my first ever art shop so I'm amazed at how far it's come and how much art it's made me produce. That being said, if people would like to leave me feedback or suggest ways I can improve the shop, feel free! Nothing is set in stone and I'm happy to listen to ways that I can make the experience a better one for everyone that decides to pay a visit!

[Watervoir]

Roleplaying has always been a large part of the Gaia Community and an outlet for creative souls of Gaia. Gaia's main roleplaying forum, Barton Town, has a designated forum number 9, which only serves to underscore its early roots. To date, Barton Town and its derivatives are one of the most active forums on Gaia. For this spotlight, we were looking for a roleplay that stood out, whether that be by having a cool story, a rocking cast of characters or a classy setting, or has just been running for a very, very long time

After reviewing all of the nominations for this category, the roleplay selected to be spotlighted is ▌▌Ｗｅ Ａｒｅ Ｌｅｇｅｎｄ. This futuristic modern day mythology based fantasy roleplay is epic in story and impressive in function. Already, it has successfully been running for several months and have seen many great events happen over the course of its storyline and numerous subplots, and it does not show any signs of slowing down!

This original roleplay was conceived and is run by Kyra La Kyra. We had the pleasure of asking her some questions about her roleplay and here is what she had to say:

• When did you join Gaia?
  
  I made an account on Gaia quite some time ago but I didn’t actually start using it until about 2011 when I was first convinced to start roleplaying here.
  
  
• What brought you to Gaia?
  
  A roleplaying friend from another site talked me into making a One Piece roleplay on the forums. I liked the way the site looked so I gave it a try and found myself hooked. I’ve been on Gaia ever since.
  
  
• What do you like to do on Gaia?
  
  Gaia for me is all about the roleplaying, meeting people with similar interests and just having a good time! Apart from that I’ve done a bit of request work with graphics and art here and there. I rather like the mini shop system, it’s a great way for people to develop their talents.
  
  
• Can you tell us a bit about your roleplay? Its setting, backstory, plot, etc.
  
  In futuristic version of the modern age, humanity faces a war against, mythos, monsters of mythological origin. Once locked away by a spell that sealed away all of magic, they begin to seep back into existence through rifts in the barrier. Only the magic wielded by heroic spirits, human reincarnations of ancient mythological figures, can slay these beasts. The Roleplay focuses on the battle between opposing organizations PANDORA, which strives to protect humanity by sealing away magic once more, and Legion, which aims to usher in a new age of magic. There are many other developments that have come into play as the story’s progressed but that’s the main gist of it.
  
  
• What inspired you to create this roleplay? Your opening post lists a few sources but was there more that sparked off the creation of the roleplay itself?
  
  At the time when I set up this roleplay I was watching quite a lot of fantasy/action shows which gave me the urge to want to set up something that would spawn a similarly epic and action packed story. I usually go for series based roleplays, but there were way too many elements and inspirations I wanted to incorporate this time so I thought I’d take a chance and try for an original roleplay for the first time. I actually didn’t expect for it to garner a lot of interest but I guess I was wrong!
  
  
• How long have you been roleplaying? How long have you been leading this roleplay?
  
  For roleplaying in general I've been doing so on a variety of sites for about 8 years. As for this particular RP we started up in the middle of May this year so it’ll be getting to about five months soon.
  
  
• 8 years is a long time. And how long have you been making great roleplays like this? No need to be modest. d:
  
  Well I wouldn’t say GREAT, but I’ve been making RP’s for as long as I’ve been on Gaia pretty much. I’ve had a series of three One Piece RP’s from when I first started RPing here, all continuations from one another. And then one Fairy Tail RP. Between that and this I did try fate/stay night one at one point but that didn’t get the interest it needed to kick off. But oh well, you win some you lose some.
  
  
• What do you enjoy most about roleplaying?
  
  For me I think it’s the experience of telling a story with someone else. Storytelling or reading by itself is an enjoyable experience but there’s a certain sense of thrill in roleplaying when you don’t know exactly where things are going and the plot is open to change at any time. Somehow it’s so much more fun when you have a whole bunch of people sharing your characters and ideas and come up with something together that you could never have thought up alone.
  
  
• Can you share with us a special moment you've had in this roleplay?
  
  There are tons of moments in this RP that I’ve found enjoyable, but the one particular point that I can recall that really got to me was when Pr i d e - L ii G H T’s character Irving, who was the very first hero to join PANDORA, died. It was an event that was a long time in the making between a few of the roleplayers and was one of the most well executed sequences in the entire roleplay. Irving's death spawned a funeral mini arc that many people professed hit them ‘in the feels’.
  
  It’s the first time I’d ever done an event like this where a single character death left such a lasting mark both on the characters and the members themselves. At that point it didn’t feel like this was a a bunch of characters doing their own thing, but it felt like everything had come together as one genuinely cohesive story. When people become this emotionally invested in the story and the characters, that’s when you know you’ve created something worthwhile.
  
  
• Your roleplay's wracked up a great number of pages and has lasted for quite a number of months. What is your secret to roleplay activity and longevity?
  
  For one, I tried out something I saw in my friend Escaflowdra’s RP where each character must be posted for every few days and a log of their next post due date is kept, so that’s helped a little in making sure everyone posts regularly. basically just a word document where I keep a list of each character and the next date they’re supposed to post by. It’s available for everyone to see so they’ll always be up to date on when they’re supposed to post. You can see what I mean here: [link]. [Before that, I] just hope the other person responds soon (lol). A lot of RP’s state a level of activity in the rules like maybe posting once a week or something like that, but ultimately I don’t really see it being enforced a lot. Personally I try to reply to things as fast as I can so I don’t feel bad about keeping people waiting.
  
  Of course maintaining an engaging storyline and active communication between roleplayers is highly important. I encourage the OOC to remain active and the members are always plotting and coming up with great new ideas to incorporate into the story. This roleplay certainly couldn’t have lasted this long without such committed and proactive members.
  
  
• Can you tell us a bit about your concept of arcs? How do they work and when do you start a new one? It's not common to see a roleplay that has gone on for so long to have divisions in the plot like that and so I want to bring some attention to that.
  
  On the whole I think it’s important to have an overarching story and direction the whole RP is moving towards, so even though you have a lot of individual events going on, it isn’t just blind interaction and everything eventually ties up somehow into the bigger scheme of things. I see arcs as a progressive chain of events building off each other and leading up to a climax and eventual resolution in the end. As for how long they last, generally it’s when everything important that needs to be done in that arc is complete. It sounds a little vague I know, but there’s a checklist of important events related to the overall plot and once those have been achieved we can move on.
  
  
• Have you ever had writer's block? If so, how do you deal with it?
  
  Yes I do get writers block, it happens to the best of us. I try my best just to write through it even if it takes a while. Music helps me a lot so I tend to put on something that makes me think of my characters. Plotting with others or having little OOC discussions is another uplifting alternative. Though sometimes though it’s best to get take a break, do something else and come back to it with a clear mind.
  
  
• Any advice for beginning roleplayers? How about beginning roleplay creators?
  
  Honestly the best piece of advice I can give is just keep at it. Nobody starts off a great writer. It takes practice and persistence. You may face criticism and bumps in the road that’ll make you want to quit but if you just take it in your stride keep writing for the sake of doing what you enjoy ultimately I’m sure it’ll be for the best.
  
  For new roleplay creators, don’t be afraid to innovate and try something new. Don’t be discouraged from trying out a thread or an idea because you don’t think it’s going to be popular. You never know if you don’t try right? Going to friends for feedback is a good idea because sometimes you can get so wrapped up in your own idea that you miss the little flaws. Above all maintain communications with your members and always keep an open mind. Best of luck!
  
  
• We're nearing the end of this interview. Do you have any shout outs you want to make?
  
  A big shoutout with lots of love to all the members, past and present, of We Are Legend. I’m really glad to have met all of you and I’m so proud of the story we’ve created together. This roleplay could never have gotten anywhere without your support. Here’s to hoping we’ll be able to keep at it for awhile yet!

[Watervoir]

Gaia Aquariums is a fun feature that was released way back, more or less six years ago in September 2008, in fact! Alongside the rising of the pun infested Aquariums was the surfacing of the Gaia Aquarium Forum, a popular hangout place for fish lovers and lookout for glowing tanks. For the spotlight, we sought an aquarium that had a special flair with mastery over its use of sea life and aquarium decorations. To our greatest pleasure, we found just what we were looking for. . .

The Aquariums tank we've chosen to spotlight belongs to Queen Vampirate. This aquarium is vibrant and varied, and artistically themed around a miniature coral reef, right from its inhabitants to its decorations to its background image. Check it out:

We had the pleasure of asking her a few questions and here is what she had to say!

• When did you join Gaia?
  
  In this account, 2009 (my first account is from 2005; that account was hacked so I had to make this one).
  
  
• What brought you to Gaia?
  
  A friend told me about it so I checked it out, liked it, and joined.
  
  
• What do you like to do on Gaia?
  
  Post in funny Chatterbox forums, create unique avatars, and make new friends
  
  
• Anything else you want to say?
  
  I love taking care of my beautiful aquarium and hope more mermaid items are released at budget friendly prices smile
  
  
• Could you tell us a bit about how you've set up your aquarium, the items involved, the fish combinations, etc.? What was the thought process behind it?
  
  I use a lot of coral reef pieces, shells, aquatic plants, and of course the Overseer to protect the fish in the aquarium. I use fish that I think are unique, pretty, cute, and pique my interest. My thought process was to make my own little vibrant coral reef and I feel I succeeded.
  
  
• What inspired you to create this aquarium set up?
  
  I've always loved the coral reef and its sea life, therefore I modeled my Aquarium after that smile
  
  
• Do you express your interest in aquarium/oceanic life in any way outside of Gaia Aquariums, and outside of Gaia?
  
  I have always had a fascination with the ocean and its creatures. I even took Marine Bio and Oceanography in high school and college. I love to visit aquariums and fish shops. I had lots of fish in our fish tank as I grew up. I love to watch Tanked on Animal Planet. Sometimes I feel like I should have been born a mermaid wink
  
  
• How long have you been keeping such a stylish aquarium?
  
  For over a year
  
  
• What do you enjoy most about Gaia Aquariums?
  
  The pretty and unique decorations and fish
  
  
• From where do you typically get your aquarium fish and decorations?
  
  I get them from the Dumpster Dive, Marketplace, and Phin Phang.
  
  
• What's your favorite aquarium item?
  
  The merpeople
  
  
• Do you have a particular merperson you like? So, Memphis... or Lila? biggrin
  
  Memphis; she's so pretty
  
  
• What is your next favourite aquarium fish after merpeople?
  
  The pirate starfish. I'd love more pirate fish items to be released as well as the starfish one
  
  
• And the inevitable question... Sharks or dolphins?
  
  Dolphins of course! They're very smart and playful, just like me
  
  
• If you could create one aquarium item, what would it be?
  
  A sunken ship decoration (I know there's a background of that but one as a decoration in which the fish could swim through would be cool!)
  
  
• Do you ever send/reply to aquarium message bottles? (Watervoir asks: Have you ever received my love notes? ;D )
  
  Yes. They are a lot of fun. Sadly I don't believe I've ever received any of your love notes sweatdrop
  
  
• Ahh that's a shame, but it's fine. Back on topic though! Do you have any advice for beginning Aquarium owners and designers?
  
  My advice would be to buy and decorate with all the cool aquarium items your heart desires and to take good care of your fish. smile
  
  
• Seeing as we're nearing the end of the interview, any shout outs you would like to make to our readers?
  
  I'd like to thank my beloved friends who nominated me (I love you guys! heart ), as well as you Watervoir and Gaia for hosting this event. It's fun to see other creative Aquariums and be recognized for our hard work.

[Infamous]

Deazy

When did you join Gaia? & What brought you to Gaia?

I joined Gaia in 2004, about a month after my son was born (yes that makes him 10, I'm an old fart). Which leads me neatly to what brought me to Gaia. A friend (who is still on here), frequently posted her avatars on a journal site so I was in need of something to do during those long nights in between feeds, napkin changes and crying (me or my boy's, you can take your pick) so I joined, loved the community and dressing up, despite the daily server outages, despite the fact Gaia landed me with a male peasant top and the inability to make any gold in the first few months because of a glitch with new accounts. I remember the first port of call on Gaia was to check Q & F to what wasn't working that day (and if you couldn't get on the server, just cycle to another which was a bit naughty but we all did it ninja ).

What do you like to do on Gaia?

Mondays I check who has won in the Avatar Arena, as I sometimes enter and I like to see the pretty avatars. Mainly the Original Arena because being an old fossil means I don't know who half the cosplays are xd and I tend to hang around the Avatar Arena forum although it's not as busy as it once was. I check out the GCD everyday to see what is occurring in the world of Gaia, Site Feedback to see what people are moaning about in the world of Gaia (and frequently they overlap). I pop into Word Games, which is the first forum I ever posted in. It is a great place for newer people to go if they want to ease themselves into Gaia and they are a bit shy, Chatterbox can be a little overwhelming and fast paced - especially when you are new.

I love going into Avatar Talk, they always have great suggestions if you are open to them and most of them are willing to help/push you into making your avatar the best you can. If I can, I like to help others with their avatar or offer critiques in The Original rate your avatar thread.


Anything else you want to say?

Back in 2010/2011 I had an awful time, my mother was very ill and subsequently died, then my father in law died (there were a few other deaths too). My friends on Gaia were extremely supportive during this time, talking to me in the wee hours of the morning and allowing me to ramble on. They were also very understanding when I decided to take a posting hiatus after this. I popped in on occasions, talked to people in PMs (sometimes in the forums but not often). This year when I decided to come back, these same people were so helpful (gosh, the economy right?) and it was like I'd never gone.

Being on posting hiatus meant I really wasn't in touch with many of the things that had happened but one thing that hasn't changed on Gaia is the passion that the community has for this site. It's amazing how they fight for what they love, and that hasn't changed in the 10 years I've been here. Also the manga, come on we need more than one page a week - we need to know what is happening with Gino (and maybe a little side of Liam, our robot building meat head needs love too and those abs - bow chikka wow wow).

By the way, this year I had a blast at the User run ball - it was amazing fun and I'm looking forward to next years.


Extra: You were nominated because of the advice you give in the avatar talk forum. Is there an avatar style you prefer? Most difficult avatar style? Any advice to give?

Really? well I mainly make colour matching avatars but I do love a good theme (which I then try to colour match and it all goes horribly wrong). I admire people that do uber clutter, realistic, or manly manly avatars as those are the ones I find the hardest.

Everyone eventually finds the style that fits them, if that's good old fashioned red n black then so be it (that was my first colour scheme). The beauty of being on Gaia is that you can make your avatar is to whatever you want it to be, a cute kitty-wielding demon, a bookish elf, grombie cowboy, zombie child, steampunk pirate, yourself in Gaia form .... the list is endless. Never settle though, always keep pushing your avatar forward.

If I had to give advice I would say, don't forget to look in the gold shops as it's the little details that can make an avatar and the gold shops might have that simple small item that will compliment your avatar or a big old item that finishes your look (and hey, cheaper than CS items). AT people will help if they can, if you let them know what look you are going for (and tektek me threads belong in the Dressing Room which is a subforum of AT - just so you know).

If you want to enter the Avatar Arena and have never entered before, do have a look at what has won before so you can gauge what might be your competition. Please read the rules in the Arena and have a look in the forum because there are stickies that expand on those rules - if you aren't sure, you can ask in the Avatar Arena forum and if they aren't sure, they will know someone that is. AT is the place to ask for advice on tweaking your avatar before entering - even if that advice is to start over because sometimes you have to.

But do come and join in the Avatar Arena, we have group entries if you need a little inspiration. It might be glitchy, there might be people who like to give out 1s just because they can or because they think you are doing better than them, it might be one of those features that Gaia has forgotten about but it's fun and if you make it into the top ten, then your winning avatar will be on the arena archives forever (unless they delete the feature - but y'know the plan is they don't).

Oh yeah - my daughter tells me I'm a dirty Superwholock and the sooner I admit it, the sooner I can get help, to her I say knickers.

[Infamous]

When did you join Gaia?
I originally joined Gaia in dec 06, just before the MC was revealed. Though like a lot of people I’ve also been hacked. I thought about quitting then, but I just loved Gaia too much. So I made this account! I believe it’s from either 07 or 08.
What brought you to Gaia?
A friend did. I was quite addicted to playing Maplestory at the time, and he showed me Gaia, since the characters on Gaia reminded him somewhat of the game characters I played with. I was curious, joined, and stuck around.
What do you like to do on Gaia?
I’m mostly in the forums. Specifically talking in the CB and the Paws forum, and lurking the GCD. Very sometimes you might catch me in towns 2 or in a game but.. I’m a real forum lover. And of course dress up! You’ll often find me with a new avatar, or playing around with new items I’ve obtained.
Anything else you want to say?
When the animal system came out in March, I was skeptical. The store items looked okay but there was way too little to mix and match. Then when the first animal resize rig came out I was happy, but the items were all so expensive! So I stayed a human until about april, when I decided to make a paw just to try it out. I was really proud at my first paw avatar, and thought it looked pretty good for the still limited items we had then. They just grew on me. I only turned into a paw to see if I could make one, but I just never turned back. I’m a permanent paw, and proud to be one!

What inspired you to create the charity?
The charity I received when I just turned in to a paw. My own first paw consisted of mainly store items, but there were two items that I was dying to have. One was the black spider limited item, the other the North Star Kitten. I got both of them donated to me, while I barely even knew the paws! That’s when I decided I wanted to be just like that, to make new paws happy and feel welcome within the small community on Gaia. So I sold some of my items and started buy a few hoards off of the MP, and asked for a bit of funds in the CB, which people were happy to provide! Now a few months later I’ve donated to over 250 paws, new old and poor, and I’m not planning on stopping anytime soon ( or late )
How long have you been doing charities/running your current one?
I’ve been running this charity since 9 may 2014, and it’s the first charity I’ve run. Though I have been moderating for small charities and gifting threads years ago.
What do you enjoy most about your charity?
The people! It’s just great to have new paws come in and give them a little help into becoming a paw, both part-time and full-time.

[[K!ng]]

Guilds are where YOU get to decide what kind of forum topics to create and discuss. This allows for an endless variety of groups of all kinds of Gaians to gather together for a more specific idea or goal. Then, with a unique blend of a dedicated captain and crew, fun-loving members, and a driven cause, great things can happen. With that, I would like to announce our spotlighted guild...

Congratulations to The Newbie Supporting & Training Guild!



The purpose of this guild is to reach out to the newbies of Gaia to help guide them towards a more fun and productive experience. What a great cause! And they look like they have tons of fun with it. Let's find out a bit about this awesome team!

Username: Ebania
Title: Guild Captain

When did you join Gaia?
I joined Gaia back in July of 2005. I've been on the same account ever since!

How long have you been the captain of your guild?
I have been the Captain of my guild since June of 2010. I was first promoted to Crew in May of 2008

What do you like to do on Gaia?
Guilds are my life. It is so incredible to see how different members run their own, small-scale communities, each centered around a specific goal or interest and each rich in its own unique culture. Some guilds are huge, expansive, and ever-changing, like a bustling metropolis; some are tinier, laid-back, and intimate, like a small town. I love that I can enjoy the many different flavors of user-run communities, right here on Gaia.

I also enjoy posting, once in a while, in the forums, especially Site Feedback and the Gaia Community Discussion, and Gaia's seasonal events are the best. Halloween and Christmas events are my favorites, both site-run and user-run.

Please click the spoiler to reveal the rest of our interview! biggrin

What is it like working with your VCs and Crew?
They are the absolute greatest people on this site, no joke. Not only do we work extremely hard together, and jive very well in running our guild's events and programs on a monthly basis, but we're there for each other as members of a Gaian family. Whether we're spending a Friday night playing Cards Against Humanity online while taking selfies on Tinychat, sharing well wishes and hugs when someone has had a rough day, or helping each other design a cool thread layout for an upcoming event contest, we're a safety net of love and silliness and friendship for every single person on Crew. A few years ago, a Crewmember lost her father to a terminal illness, and, a few days later, we presented her with a desktop image for her computer, featuring all of our handwritten messages of condolences and support. Years go by, and I continue to be messaged by retired Crewmembers, congratulating me on the guild's success and reminding me of how much the NSTG has changed their time on Gaia and, sometimes, their deeply personal lives.

This is not the exception; this is how we function on a daily basis, offering an open hand and an open heart to all who join our ranks, and to all who join our guild. This isn't a job. It's a labor of love and laughter.

Do you have any exciting plans in the works?
Actually, yes! We're currently in the process of planning our Halloween event, which is to debut in late October. The Crew is so creative, talented, and smart, and the event is sure to be a blast!

What is your favorite part of running your guild?
This is an easy question to answer. The amazing people I work with on a daily basis make all the hard work worthwhile, and the incredible Gaians I interact with inside the guild truly make the guild what it is. We are a community of friends, and I feel that I'm in a 100% safe space when I go into my guild, and not just because I can unleash teh banhammer at will! (Kidding!) But in all seriousness, I feel safe to be myself and to talk about my life and my experiences. It is such a pleasure to be able to talk to those who are new to Gaia and afraid to ask questions, those with academic or personal problems that can be alleviated with just a bit of love and guidance, or those who simply want to make a friend. I learn a lot from the guild's members and Crew; they are all so full of experiences, wisdom, creativity, intelligence, and kindness, and they are free to share it abundantly with their fellow members.

Our guild has an extensive history of service and charity, dating all the way back to 2005, but its greatest legacy is in its community, and I am so honored to be a part of it.

[Little Dead Soldier]

Gaia Hangout's are always those favorite spots that people go to make new friends, hang with old, and to be yourself! It's a large part of the Gaian community for users to express themselves freely and meet others like yourself!

After reviewing all the nominations for Featured Hangout, the hangout to be spotlight is ~[-]~The Land of Ooo~[-]~ run by Koko Truffle! This lovely hangout welcomes all to come and hangout out! Every one is welcome to be themselves!

Here's what she said about herself and her hangout! :


When did you join Gaia? 2007-2008ish

What brought you to Gaia? Originally i was just looking for a place where I could find people to rp with and I'd never tried out anything like this before.

What do you like to do on Gaia? Play zOMG, having discussions, and rping mostly. I have dabbled in a bit of everything.

What inspired you to create a Hangout? Prior to my hangout I was a part of another one, I met a lot of great people there and when I ran the idea by a friend she encouraged me to make my own.

How long have you been running the Hangout? It'll be 3 years on October 8th!

What do you enjoy most about having a Hangout? Building a bond! I've known most of the people in my hangout for years. We've all grown with each other and become a part of each other's lives. This hangout is more than just strangers talking to each other. When a new person comes in we want to get to know the person behind the username.

Anything else you want to say about having a Hangout? A good hangout should be full of memories. This isn't just my hangout, it belongs to the people who've built it with me.