Gaia - Old members Vs New members

Who has it better off?

Old gaians had it harder	23.2%	[ 33 ]
New gaians have it harder	18.3%	[ 26 ]
Im here for the nostalgic value	26.1%	[ 37 ]
Im here to watch drama upfold	32.4%	[ 46 ]
Total Votes:			[ 142 ]

[Miss_Kitty_Kat]

Things were hard back in the day. I had to quest, code profiles, and make art to get the items I want. It was a challenge and thus made the site fun.
It is somewhat the same for some new users but not others. The overflow of cash items has hyper inflated everything, It is crazy that since I have money I can go buy a ton of crap from the cash shop and turn around and make it gaia currency. Just like a new user off the street could dump $100 in GC and be balling then. It takes the struggle and appreciation out of the items when you can throw money at the game and get Bill Gates status right away.

[JulieKablooie]

except that the store items are almost always not good quality except for more the modern itmes which have more modern pricing. Couple that with the fact that we've created such a culture to really reject gold shop items. The goldshop items also do not match most of the sought after item's and trendy color scheme of the time.

New users definitely have more of a choice in terms of what they can get once they reach a certain amount, but I do feel like it's definitely still hard to get anywhere without some kind of donation or without spending cash. It's even harder now to flip items under 1 bil for any real profit, since so many consider that to be trash amounts.

New users will also always feel the sting of not having a popular items, which look absurdly expensive. Because while it may be easy to get a bill or maybe even a couple bil, its another issue entirely to see the almost absurd amounts of 60-100 bil.

I guess really my point is that just because we have more items, doesn't always mean its easier. Because of our community and how we've evolved as a community, there's still a hierarchy of items that are desirable or not. And getting gold I'd say is still largely the same difficulty, just with everything having additional 0s added on.

[Anti-Ling]

New users have it really hard
I honestly can't see anyone without some nostalgia sticking around

I mean yeah avatar-wise it's great
But community-wise things have gotten so slow that I wouldn't be surprised if the average newbie's trial stay's gone down by a month or so.

[Sagebomb]

I was say its easier now, but then this is coming from someone reflecting back on almost 11 years.

I joined late 04, my first quest was for a angelic pendant at 30k. I quit that quest because 30k just didnt seem realistic after a while.

I also ran a pollwhore guild (still do) 10g per poll FTW, that was a lifestyle.



But my comparison on is it easier? Back then I quit on a 30k quest. Now, as someone linked to, with the rate I can make gold. I think playing kindred alone I could buy a halo in a couple months if I wanted to.


What is better? then or now? Now without a doubt, there are always more items that ever, and more to do.

(though best time I would say if the year, leading up to when many of our best friend staff got laid off, that was a good year with lots of interaction and development). But that was also a expensive year, and obviously wasnt working business wise.

But hey we are still moving forward, got a new game which keeps getting better, so I would say the future is still fairly bright.

[Head Up Your Astronaut]

old gaians: crusty, weary, wise and bitter; their moveset has been perfected after decades of training but their bodies are giving out on them

new gaians: exuberant, powerful, energized; can they win through sheer brute force? or will their inexperience lead to their downfall?

WHO WILL WIN?

[Hassli]

New Gaia is much better than old Gaia.

Therefore new gaians are good too!

Gaia post Diedrich is the best! Gaia pre Diedrich was meh.

[SuccuViv]

New members hands down, after a day of playing around in LK or selling free grants and stuff you can buy a ton of really nice stuff, you just have to know where to look for... when I started such luxury didn't exist, and this was '08 so I can't imagine what it was like in '03 x ox; I would have not stuck around...

That said I can't see Gaia having a lot of users join daily and actually stick... they need to play their strenghts, they have this huge system full of cool stuff that is cheap, find a way to make that crystal clear to new users and hook them with that C: then they'll pay cash buying the cute new stuff when they are hooked to the avatar making business~

[Dinkaw]

TBH i dont even know why im still here, even in my most active days i was always more of a lurker but now I barely register the new items, I have bought tons of items i've never even worn, and I dont really post at all, I sometimes participate in the arenas but that's it.

It's easier to get *some* items now, but the coveted ones are even more out of reach than before, so I guess there's good and bad stuff :/

[Catena Carswell]

Are there any new Gaians? I feel like that's making assumptions.

[kiri]

I started in late 2004 and I think it's probably as difficult, if not more, as back then. It's a little easier for me because I have an income now and am willing to spend money to get gcash, but I imagine it's still quite difficult for anybody who isn't willing to spend money.

[LouBega]

I can't believe this site still exists!

I just spent 10 minutes guessing my old password. Wow, cool.

So why stick around here when there's things like reddit, fb, etc? Seems like an outdated way to talk to each other, but I'm glad it's still around!

[jamilee-nicole]

Oh boy.

Oh boy.

This is going to be a prickly topic, isn't it?

On the one hand, older Gaians come from a day where every single bit of gold really counted. And if you are old enough, you get back to the days where you can only make it by posting, voting, and vending. We had to earn it.

On the other hand, we didn't have to pay for it. It seems the only way to move on up on Gaia nowadays is to fork over cash. Maybe gold farming sucked, but at least we were having fun along the way and didn't have to pay real money for virtual items. But if you ARE willing to pay, you can easily get ahead on Gaia even when you are new. Paying is easy, you know?

Honestly, the middle group probably had it best. When the cash shop was still young and it was easier to make enough gold though games and booty grab. They could choose which way they preferred to produce gold, and both were equally viable.

Just to clarify, I consider Gaians who predate the cash shops to be the oldbies, and the ones of came after the gold generators to be the newbies. The middling ones came in that sweet spot in between those two big milestones in Gaia history. I honestly think those middle kids had it best. But that's just my opinion.

[!d!ot Amer!ca]

I always had the purple Silk hair from gold shops, buck teeth, Charred Tundra Boots, striped stockings, grass skirt, HOTD, and fairy wings.

Those were my staples. Ah, back in the good old days.

I first started when GaiaOnline was Go-Gaia in 2003. Different account, though.

While I'm an older user, I think that the new users have it the hardest. With the good items being in the billions/trillions, it's damned near impossible for them to earn gold. Where as with us older users, a lot of us had items from back in the day that inflated incredible amounts which allowed us to better stay with inflation.

✘✘✘

[Luxirilla]

I never think of it as who has it easier because if I started Gaia now at the same age when I started in 2004, I would still have a hard time getting the items I want. The only reason why it is so easy for me now is because I have a job and I have some money to throw at Gaia once in a while to support them for giving me entertainment for all of these years since I wasn't able to until this year.

I would say years ago seemed like a better community because it didn't seem as bitter as it is this time around.

[Chinazaur]

I remember winning fairy wings back in 2004. It was like hitting the jackpot. I used to equip my avatar with the coconut bra, grass skirt, fox ears, and fairy wings. >_< Totally mismatched. It used to be a lot harder to find really good and matchy avatars.

I think new players have it harder; they don't have inventories of older items that they can liquidate for inflated gold to buy all the new shinies.

However, I think that with the mass release of all these new items everyday ... It's impossible to keep up. Lots of people I knew back in 2008 were trying to collect every item available. It'd be near impossible now.