Future of GaiaInteractive (what seems to be going on)

[Valheita]

TINSTAAFL

Gaia Interactive seems to be focused soley on games. Games are a very recent thing. If they've existed for as long as GaiaOnline, what did this company do before games?

Umm, they kinda made Gaia Online before they branched out into games. It's right there in their games list.

Here's something from the internet archives to support this position as well:
Link to Gaia Online from mid-2k4

Just take a look at the copyright.

(Off topic: Why can't the Gaia Online site look as nice as that one?)

[Elen_Gilthoniel]

TINSTAAFL

StrawberryZ0mbie

TINSTAAFL

StrawberryZ0mbie

Gaia Interactive is GaiaOnline's way of saving the site....? I was under the impression that GaiaOnline was owned by Gaia Internactive and not the other way around. Which would mean Gaia Interactive isn't GaiaOnline's solution to anything. Or perhaps I'm just misunderstanding what you're trying to say.

Your OP makes it seem like Gaia Interactive is something GaiaOnline came up with to save itself. And I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. ^_^; GaiaOnline is a part of something that is bigger than just this site and I'm not sure the rest of Gaia Interactive exists just to make sure this site stays up and running.

I think the reason why so many people want the new games and such here on this site--so they can support the company from here, the place they actually love. People don't want to just support the nebulous entity that is "Gaia." They want to support GaiaOnline, specifically, because that's the little corner of Gaia Interactive, Inc. they love.

I'm not saying I disagree with your statements about Gaia having to 'jump in the pool and swim with the big fishes.' I totally agree with all that. I just think your OP is presenting information in a slightly skewed way.

Here's an example I pulled out of my noggin.
Apple invented Iphone. Iphone is the reason Apple is now doing so well. [details]
In a similar way, Gaia Interactive is GaiaOnline's invention that will draw in a larger audience to the site.

No...what you're saying is like saying Apple is the iphone's invention. Gaia Interactive is GaiaOnline's parent company---Gaia Interactive invented GaiaOnline, basically? GaiaOnline, Moga, the new cat game, HoC--they're all owned by Gaia Interactive, much as the iphone is owned by Apple.

That was what I was getting at? You're acting as if GaiaOnline is the parent company and I believe that is inaccurate. =3

Gaia Interactive seems to be focused soley on games. Games are a very recent thing. If they've existed for as long as GaiaOnline, what did this company do before games?

Okay, look at it like this. I don't know how accurate this still is but I know at one time that Michaels.com was its own company within Michael's (the hobby/craft store). From what I understand, GaiaOnline and Gaia Interactive, Inc. share a similar relationship. If that's the case, Gaia Interactive is not really GaiaOnline's way to save itself from financial ruin. Rather, it's more like Gaia Interactive is just expanding to other ventures as companies are wont to do.

Here are some quotes that might interest you?

Quote:

Gaiaonline was founded in 2003.[1][2] but the name was changed to GaiaOnline.com in 2004 from go-gaia by its owner, Gaia Interactive.

~Wikipedia

Quote:

Gaia Interactive, Inc. operates as an online forum community. The company enables its members to discuss about anime, games, comics, sci-fi, fantasy, politics, fashion, and life in general. It also allows making new friends, as well as to customize avatars, decorate virtual homes, and play games. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in San Jose, California.

~Business Week

Prior to expanding into the realm of games it appears that Gaia Interacted focused primarily on GaiaOnline but in recent times have expanded into other ventures such as facebook games and gaming apps. Several other sources also identify Gaia Interactive as having been founded in 2003 when this website was still go-gaia.

So I maintain that GaiaOnline appears to be owned by Gaia Interactive and Gaia Interactive was not created to save this website or anything along those lines. ^_^

[Praylaya]

Valheita

TINSTAAFL

Gaia Interactive seems to be focused soley on games. Games are a very recent thing. If they've existed for as long as GaiaOnline, what did this company do before games?

Umm, they kinda made Gaia Online before they branched out into games. It's right there in their games list.

(Off topic: Why can't the Gaia Online site look as nice as that one?)

That just appears to be a link to Gaia Online. Reading the "About" section seems to clarify what Gaia Interactive is, and what it is doing now. And that's mainly what I'm getting at on my OP anyway.

(Off topicness: No idea. It's rather nice isn't it.)

[Valheita]

TINSTAAFL

Valheita

TINSTAAFL

Gaia Interactive seems to be focused soley on games. Games are a very recent thing. If they've existed for as long as GaiaOnline, what did this company do before games?

Umm, they kinda made Gaia Online before they branched out into games. It's right there in their games list.

(Off topic: Why can't the Gaia Online site look as nice as that one?)

That just appears to be a link to Gaia Online. Reading the "About" section seems to clarify what Gaia Interactive is, and what it is doing now. And that's mainly what I'm getting at on my OP anyway.

(Off topicness: No idea. It's rather nice isn't it.)

Hm, it's more than a link to the site, it's links to the apps as well, just like Monster Galaxy's entry.

I don't think that the games exist to keep the site afloat, it seems to me that the site is just another product to Gaia Interactive. If it fails to be profitable, it gets cut.

(Off topic: It's very nice, much cleaner)

[Anti-Ling]

Don't really know much about the games
But it's a little unnerving that they have yet to do what strikes as the most obvious and link them with avatars

was zOMG really that toxic?

[Praylaya]

Valheita

TINSTAAFL

Valheita

TINSTAAFL

Gaia Interactive seems to be focused soley on games. Games are a very recent thing. If they've existed for as long as GaiaOnline, what did this company do before games?

Umm, they kinda made Gaia Online before they branched out into games. It's right there in their games list.

(Off topic: Why can't the Gaia Online site look as nice as that one?)

That just appears to be a link to Gaia Online. Reading the "About" section seems to clarify what Gaia Interactive is, and what it is doing now. And that's mainly what I'm getting at on my OP anyway.

(Off topicness: No idea. It's rather nice isn't it.)

Hm, it's more than a link to the site, it's links to the apps as well, just like Monster Galaxy's entry.

I don't think that the games exist to keep the site afloat, it seems to me that the site is just another product to Gaia Interactive. If it fails to be profitable, it gets cut.

(Off topic: It's very nice, much cleaner)

I'm curious about if the revenue made by Gaia Interactive's Games are shared with Gaia Online. I'll be persistent with the ATA about this question. I think we deserve to know.

[Elen_Gilthoniel]

Anti-Ling

Don't really know much about the games
But it's a little unnerving that they have yet to do what strikes as the most obvious and link them with avatars

was zOMG really that toxic?

A lot of the newer games seemed aimed at a much broader audience than just this site's users so perhaps they don't want to alienate them by having a feature that's useless to them. I'm not sure. D= Of course, some of the games have also not been exclusively Gaia's as well.

But I agree that I'd find the games more charming in general if my avatar appeared in them. I think that goes back that the users of this site want the games to feel like they're a part of this same community and website. They want to feel like they're supporting GaiaOnline.

A lot of the games have felt distinctly non-Gaian and I think that damages the popularity among the users of this site. 8(

[Valheita]

TINSTAAFL

Valheita

TINSTAAFL

Valheita

TINSTAAFL

Gaia Interactive seems to be focused soley on games. Games are a very recent thing. If they've existed for as long as GaiaOnline, what did this company do before games?

Umm, they kinda made Gaia Online before they branched out into games. It's right there in their games list.

(Off topic: Why can't the Gaia Online site look as nice as that one?)

That just appears to be a link to Gaia Online. Reading the "About" section seems to clarify what Gaia Interactive is, and what it is doing now. And that's mainly what I'm getting at on my OP anyway.

(Off topicness: No idea. It's rather nice isn't it.)

Hm, it's more than a link to the site, it's links to the apps as well, just like Monster Galaxy's entry.

I don't think that the games exist to keep the site afloat, it seems to me that the site is just another product to Gaia Interactive. If it fails to be profitable, it gets cut.

(Off topic: It's very nice, much cleaner)

I'm curious about if the revenue made by Gaia Interactive's Games are shared with Gaia Online. I'll be persistent with the ATA about this question. I think we deserve to know.

I don't think it is, except in the obvious sense that it goes into the company bank account then the wages come out. I'm pretty sure there was a dev post about it awhile back, but I can't find it yet.

In any case, I don't think we deserve to know. Unless your a stock holder in the company, you aren't privilege to their financial dealings.

EDIT: Found the post, it wasn't quite as clear cut as I remembered it.
Relevant Link

Quote:

"You guys are a dedicated and loyal user base and as long as Gaia Online is making enough to justify us all being here, we'll continue to support it."

Seems to me that the facebook games etc... won't save it from itself.

[Elen_Gilthoniel]

TINSTAAFL

Valheita

TINSTAAFL

Valheita

TINSTAAFL

Gaia Interactive seems to be focused soley on games. Games are a very recent thing. If they've existed for as long as GaiaOnline, what did this company do before games?

Umm, they kinda made Gaia Online before they branched out into games. It's right there in their games list.

(Off topic: Why can't the Gaia Online site look as nice as that one?)

That just appears to be a link to Gaia Online. Reading the "About" section seems to clarify what Gaia Interactive is, and what it is doing now. And that's mainly what I'm getting at on my OP anyway.

(Off topicness: No idea. It's rather nice isn't it.)

Hm, it's more than a link to the site, it's links to the apps as well, just like Monster Galaxy's entry.

I don't think that the games exist to keep the site afloat, it seems to me that the site is just another product to Gaia Interactive. If it fails to be profitable, it gets cut.

(Off topic: It's very nice, much cleaner)

I'm curious about if the revenue made by Gaia Interactive's Games are shared with Gaia Online. I'll be persistent with the ATA about this question. I think we deserve to know.

This strikes me as being the same line of thinking as zOMG users demanding to know if their purchases were going back toward their game. You're actually not entitled to financial data as a mere user. It would be like me trying to demand from Safeway, to know where my grocery money is going. I do not need to, or deserve to know that.

And I agree with Val that it is "shared" in the sense that it all belongs to the same company most likely. But otherwise, we're really unlikely to get more information about that no matter how much you badger the staff during AtA.

[Magical Cat Party]

I hope these new games are for an IOS that comes before the new IOS 6... I have an iPad 1 and they dropped updates for it recently. It's only two years old and has no more support but that's apple for you. A 32GB iPhone 5 costs $749.99 to just buy one but it is less then $200 to make. sweatdrop Talk about ripping the consumer a new one.

I feel like there is a profit margin they must always hit and if it dips below they fuss, much like the wal-mart I worked for would b***h at us when they only made 1 mill in profits for the month, but were projected to make 1.5 mill, and that's after all their bills for the store were paid. I realize 500k is a lot of money, but for the entire corporation it's chump change. This site is what they use to fund a large portion of everything else they work on.

We will never know what money they make, where it goes, and how much higher ups are earning though, since we employees at walmart weren't supposed to see the projected sales for the year, and regular consumers on this site will never be told anything about that part of the company. I am always interested what employee wages are, and what all kinds of employees they have and their expenses, but that's not something they are just going to give out.

[Anti-Ling]

StrawberryZ0mbie

Anti-Ling

Don't really know much about the games
But it's a little unnerving that they have yet to do what strikes as the most obvious and link them with avatars

was zOMG really that toxic?

A lot of the newer games seemed aimed at a much broader audience than just this site's users so perhaps they don't want to alienate them by having a feature that's useless to them. I'm not sure. D= Of course, some of the games have also not been exclusively Gaia's as well.

But I agree that I'd find the games more charming in general if my avatar appeared in them. I think that goes back that the users of this site want the games to feel like they're a part of this same community and website. They want to feel like they're supporting GaiaOnline.

A lot of the games have felt distinctly non-Gaian and I think that damages the popularity among the users of this site. 8(

I suppose it could be a bit more effort
but I don't think it's enough for it to be much of a risk
It wouldn't be that hard to create some interesting stock duds for the heroes/heroines

Considering how many people are jumping on the app wagon
An extensive customization system is just the thing to make these games stand out

[Fire 0ak]

If Gaia wants to Excel it needs to do what it does best. There are competitors but so far Gaia is best at what it does in terms of Avatar Dress up.
Simple fun games are their forte and thats in no way an diminishing statement. Nintendo has simple fun games.
Simple games that are addicting to play and really capture the essence of enjoyment. MMORPGs had their hay day but its over now, Gaia should try to come up with something Uniquely simple and fun. I really enjoyed the Halloween mini games, maybe some variations on that would be great to play on a phone. *crosses fingers* sad

[Lazarus Larkin]

How about we don't buy an app if we don't' want apps and don't want to support Gaia's decision to make apps?

Seems logical to me.

[x_gokai-okuzuko_x]

I don't understand why people voted this thread so negativly. What the dev said is completely and obviously true, and it's really evident if you know anything about pop culture: mobile platform development - especially gaming - has virtually exploded from what it was several years back. Look at what happened with Angry Birds. It's so disgustingly popular and prevalent that it's available on pretty much every touchscreen smartphone and it's even been ported to computer browsers and legitimate video game consoles. For god's sake, IT'S GETTING A TELEVISION SHOW. Companies that choose to not embrace this fact - or don't try to at all - are going to get left in the dust, as is the way pop culture and technology seem to work.

I won't be buying any apps because I have a 20-dollar keyboard Tracfone. App stores do not exist for me. I would if I could, though, because I'll always do what I can to support Gaia.

[Lazarus Larkin]

But Angry Birds was a fluke. There are way MORE games -- thousands of them -- that never take off. Zynga is apparently doing really badly financially now despite Farmville being so huge. It's not like developing app games is an instant sure success.

...but i downvoted this thread due to it being the OP's speculation treated as fact, which rubs me the wrong way.