Getting reacquainted with Gaia

[Eggmond]

I used to be a bit of a Gaia addict back in the day but recently have been more of an on again off again Gaian.

The one thing that always daunts me when coming back from long breaks is where to begin... so many items have come out, story has been updated, old friends have gone or forgotten about me and any familiarity I had with forum personalities has basically dwindled.

So for anyone that has taken I hiatus, I am curious how you got back into the swing of Gaia?

I usually like to come back to my old watering hole (the GCD) and make up a thread to get back into the swing of things. Items I usually struggle with. I am sure I have missed out on a ton of amazing things, but going back to look at it all is a bit of a task, so I tend to just look at what's new, or see what awesome things people are wearing that I don't recognise.

for those of you who are all like TLDR

- Have you taken a break from Gaia?
- how did you get back into the swing of things if you have?
- tips for someone trying to get back into Gaia now?

[Moonbear7]

Eggmond

I used to be a bit of a Gaia addict back in the day but recently have been more of an on again off again Gaian.

The one thing that always daunts me when coming back from long breaks is where to begin... so many items have come out, story has been updated, old friends have gone or forgotten about me and any familiarity I had with forum personalities has basically dwindled.

So for anyone that has taken I hiatus, I am curious how you got back into the swing of Gaia?

I usually like to come back to my old watering hole (the GCD) and make up a thread to get back into the swing of things. Items I usually struggle with. I am sure I have missed out on a ton of amazing things, but going back to look at it all is a bit of a task, so I tend to just look at what's new, or see what awesome things people are wearing that I don't recognise.

for those of you who are all like TLDR

- Have you taken a break from Gaia?
- how did you get back into the swing of things if you have?
- tips for someone trying to get back into Gaia now?

My friend i know exactly how you feel I was a member back in 2005 and I was a addict as well :p but now im back with a new account because my old one so inactive it was cancelled, but what Iim trying to say I too am very confused at all the changes but I explore the site slowly and carefully and I learn something ever day It's like eating a elephant one bite at a time you know?

[sariously]

I go on hiatus because of school. When I come back I try to talk at other threads. I have accepted the fact that the people you meet might be different the next time you talk. So I just try to meet new people.

[Rithuan]

I'm going through the same re-aquainting process you're in right now. <3

Gaia used to be a huge part of my online-life, but you know how it is.
People quit or simply drop off, threads you used to hang out in die, habits change,
and before you know it you log in, find nothing to do, and log right back out.
Nevertheless, something always pulls me back, no matter how many months I miss.

Stuff that always helps me get back into Gaia is looking at all the new shinies and
finding items to quest for.
That, and freebie art.
Always freebies.

[Green Rectangle]

Moonbear7

My friend i know exactly how you feel I was a member back in 2005 and I was a addict as well :p but now im back with a new account because my old one so inactive it was cancelled, but what Iim trying to say I too am very confused at all the changes but I explore the site slowly and carefully and I learn something ever day It's like eating a elephant one bite at a time you know?

Gaia doesn't delete or cancel accounts. You should try to get it back.

[Kiaori Moon Warrior]

I'm trying to get into the game again as well, and , besides the incredible amount of new items, nothing has changed that much. The GCD remains the same to me, with new people, but the same spirit....and, incredibly, the same topics xd

[idaruishinee]

I just came off of hiatus like, when, summer 2012? Before that, I was barely on at least 5 minutes for about a year and a half.

Personally, nothing much has changed even though there's like 5436734654 new items now, but I got back in to swing pretty quickly. I mainly lurked around these parts or the Site Feedback forum to see if there's any changes I missed or what not.

[apposite]

Man, I hear you. I logged in today when I came across some old gaia-related emails, and whilst I'd love to get back in the swing of things I can't for the life of me work out how I'm going to go about doing it. It's been maybe two years since I was a regular user and I've been a member since 2004, so there was a fairly long period where I was on here every day. I think perhaps I've just grown up a bit - I've had three 2-year relationships, graduated from university and various other big life steps happen since I joined, perhaps it's just not for me anymore, ageing membership base or not. Who knows, fingers crossed I can get back into it - and the same to you!

[tiny plant]

♔

i've never taken a break long enough to be considered a proper break. i've had maybe a week tops off gaia, and that was my exam leave. after a week i was like "okay, that's enough. i'm going back". u v u ;;

i'd say just have a little poke around here and in places like site feedback, and maybe the avatar talk too, to get a feel for the items that have come out since you left, and the story stuff and events too.

the friends leaving thing must be quite sad though, i have to say oAo;;

[His Bobble]

I took a 4 year Hiatus for a few reasons, when I came back it was easy to get into the swing of things again. Except of course to multitude of additional items added in those 4 years. I'm talking like every RIG and update before March 2012.

[Amy Storm]

Well the people and the items change. But not much else has. Heck, even the plot's slow enough that you can get caught up on it in a day.

I'm still avoiding looking at the items that came out while I was gone (for three years). No way do I have the money so it doesn't matter. There's new things coming out anyway.

Event stuff is usually great for getting me back into things. Although you've showed up right after one ended. Oh well, there's always Valentine's day. Find some reason to post a lot somewhere I guess. That'll do it.

[lovely ghosts]

I took a two year break from gaia, I remember being so overwhelmed with all the new stuff when I came back.

But with the help of tektek I got reacquainted with everything. :3

It's really only been fairly recently (a few months) that I've been interacting with the forums again and whatnot, though.
It's kind of fun. And so much nostalgia emotion_kirakira

[Galphath]

I'm just coming back from an hiatus; i kept logging to check the account and get an item or two but just had time to spend on gaia now and decided to see the changes. So far i have been hopping from forum to forum, only a couple of friends remain active here and the old threads i frequented are dead :<

Is like a fresh start but with a bigger inventory

[Ashercroix]

I go on unplanned hiatus quite often, but I'm lucky in that I've been friends with a certain group of people since 2007 or so, and we still have a guild even though most of us barely even use Gaia anymore. For me, it's like a reliable home base on the vast interwebs that I'll keep coming back to until it ceases to exist.

If all my friends stopped coming, though... well, I dunno. I'd probably just keep coming back to the GCD and dressing up my avi, but even less often than I do now.

Edit: This doesn't really address the topic, but my experience with hiatuses is a bit different, so I've never really worried about fitting back into Gaia. I'm around the forums so rarely that it's ALWAYS different to me, haha. I just post like any other day. I might lurk a bit to see what the atmosphere's like, but it rarely changes.

[Stellar Phoenix]

I tend to disappear every few months and the only thing that really changes when I come back is I've missed an event or two and about a million new items, but I haven't really been active in forums since 05/06. That's when I was all into the Zurg stuff and since then my interest in the forums has sort of dwindled. Mostly because I never have anything to really share.

That said, it's usually pretty easy for me to get back into the swing of being a lurker. The hard part's always figuring out who of my friends are active and how the heck did they manage to release ten RIG's while I was gone.