Pompetti
(?)Community Member
Offline
- Posted: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 02:37:39 +0000
Every day, I live in constant fear and terror of losing my Gaian gold and items as I go out and perform my daily tasks of my adolescent life. No, this has nothing to do with hackings, scams or realizing that I lost gold spending on a disappointed DI.
The community I live in is very close-knit and interactive, where everyone knows each other and is invited to everyone else's birthday parties. Also, unlike other communities, Gaia is a big deal to the people in my neighborhood. Almost all the kids use it, and some of the grown-ups use it too. Gaia is REALLY popular here.
Now, I know what you're going to say. "Oh, that's so awesome that all your friends are on Gaia!" Let me tell you, that's NOT the case. Because like I said before, I live in constant fear and terror. Trust me, when your Gaian life coincides with your real life, that's the LAST thing you want to happen.
For example, there is this huge bully at my high school - Billy Urnhall. And guess what, he uses Gaia too, go figure. (You might know Billy's account, he's a major attention hog.) Anyways, I'm a bit of a pushover, so Billy always targets me and bullies me around and stuff. Only, instead of demanding typical bully demands like "GIMME YOUR LUNCH MONEY," Billy demands, "GIMME YOUR GOLD!" Every time I see Billy, I have to give him 5k so he won't beat me up and rip up my homework.
What really sucks is that I can't report him to the Principal or my parents about it. Since Gaian gold is not real money, it's not like Billy was stealing from me. Also, Billy has never beaten me up before, but that's because I always pay him 5k not to. I guess I can try and stand up to him, but Billy's really big, stinky and scary. Sometimes it seems like it's not worth the effort. And as a result, my avi's wealth has to pay for it.
Practically everyone uses Gaia in my school. They use it to bargain answers to tonights homework for last month's DI, or spread gossips and rumors based on what a person revealed in Life Issues. Heck, even a couple of my teachers use it. Only, they don't log on to Gaia to play, they do it to spy on their students.
For example, I hear that my future science teacher next year, Mr. Sternhardt, has an unknown Gaian account in which he uses to see if his students are doing their homework or not. I don't know how he does it, but he's really good at figuring out the usernames each of his students go by. My older brother who had the same teacher said he came up with many mules to try to elude Mr. Sternhardt, but the teacher always figures out who my brother is within a few weeks. Afterwards, if a person says, "Oops, I left my homework at home," or "I was too sick last night to do my homework," Mr. Sternhardt would prove that they were lying and would take out evidence of screenshots of them being on Gaia. Then he would give them detention and call their parents, which usually results in groundings with no access to the internet.
Now, I know that most people don't go through the same things I go through with my Gaian account. But when some people say that Gaia is going to be as popular as they think it will be, doesn't it make you wonder how much it will affect your normal life? What if Gaia reaches a userbase so vast, that nearly everyone you know will use it? Wouldn't it be awkward? Wouldn't it be great? Wouldn't it be terrifying?!
Try thinking real hard. Given your knowledge of your community and the people in it, what would it be like if Gaia was largely implemented in your RL community? Think about it and discuss.
btw: The story about me, Billy Urnhall, Mr. Sternhardt and my older brother is entirely fictional. I am really the eldest living in an urban neighborhood and nearing retirement. But still, don't let this steer you away from the discussion.
The community I live in is very close-knit and interactive, where everyone knows each other and is invited to everyone else's birthday parties. Also, unlike other communities, Gaia is a big deal to the people in my neighborhood. Almost all the kids use it, and some of the grown-ups use it too. Gaia is REALLY popular here.
Now, I know what you're going to say. "Oh, that's so awesome that all your friends are on Gaia!" Let me tell you, that's NOT the case. Because like I said before, I live in constant fear and terror. Trust me, when your Gaian life coincides with your real life, that's the LAST thing you want to happen.
For example, there is this huge bully at my high school - Billy Urnhall. And guess what, he uses Gaia too, go figure. (You might know Billy's account, he's a major attention hog.) Anyways, I'm a bit of a pushover, so Billy always targets me and bullies me around and stuff. Only, instead of demanding typical bully demands like "GIMME YOUR LUNCH MONEY," Billy demands, "GIMME YOUR GOLD!" Every time I see Billy, I have to give him 5k so he won't beat me up and rip up my homework.
What really sucks is that I can't report him to the Principal or my parents about it. Since Gaian gold is not real money, it's not like Billy was stealing from me. Also, Billy has never beaten me up before, but that's because I always pay him 5k not to. I guess I can try and stand up to him, but Billy's really big, stinky and scary. Sometimes it seems like it's not worth the effort. And as a result, my avi's wealth has to pay for it.
Practically everyone uses Gaia in my school. They use it to bargain answers to tonights homework for last month's DI, or spread gossips and rumors based on what a person revealed in Life Issues. Heck, even a couple of my teachers use it. Only, they don't log on to Gaia to play, they do it to spy on their students.
For example, I hear that my future science teacher next year, Mr. Sternhardt, has an unknown Gaian account in which he uses to see if his students are doing their homework or not. I don't know how he does it, but he's really good at figuring out the usernames each of his students go by. My older brother who had the same teacher said he came up with many mules to try to elude Mr. Sternhardt, but the teacher always figures out who my brother is within a few weeks. Afterwards, if a person says, "Oops, I left my homework at home," or "I was too sick last night to do my homework," Mr. Sternhardt would prove that they were lying and would take out evidence of screenshots of them being on Gaia. Then he would give them detention and call their parents, which usually results in groundings with no access to the internet.
Now, I know that most people don't go through the same things I go through with my Gaian account. But when some people say that Gaia is going to be as popular as they think it will be, doesn't it make you wonder how much it will affect your normal life? What if Gaia reaches a userbase so vast, that nearly everyone you know will use it? Wouldn't it be awkward? Wouldn't it be great? Wouldn't it be terrifying?!
Try thinking real hard. Given your knowledge of your community and the people in it, what would it be like if Gaia was largely implemented in your RL community? Think about it and discuss.
btw: The story about me, Billy Urnhall, Mr. Sternhardt and my older brother is entirely fictional. I am really the eldest living in an urban neighborhood and nearing retirement. But still, don't let this steer you away from the discussion.
