How can we get Gaia to listen? Not through posts but...

[icyMOTHA]

Erogenous Jones

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I agree with you. I have 800k to myself right now so I will not be entering either of those contests and even spending the 100k for the achievement is going to put a bit of strain on my finances. I see this all kind of like luxury items in real life. Sure, I would LOVE to have a Louis Vuitton purse or a dress from Alexander McQueen, but they are simply out of my price range. Someone else can afford it sure, but I cannot. And I can either sit here and complain about how unfair it is that I cannot have it, or I can suck it up and go on with my life. Money isn't everything, it's the experiences people have that should be important.

I doubt that this event is going to start a trend of Pay to Play events in future, if anything they are probably testing out to see how it would work and with the way the userbase is right now, I doubt it would work at all.

[Erogenous Jones]

icyMOTHA

For two people who seem to have a lot in common ( I too live quite happily on my "blue-collar" budget), we certainly have a different perspective on the future.
I almost envy you... sweatdrop
I too am here principally for the people and conversation, and have never been an Avi builder.
My only expensive Item is my little friend here, and being a Tuxie lover, there was no way I could refuse him. heart

That being said, I still remember how challenging it was to earn Gold when I started out close to four years ago now. It took me months to be able to afford even pretty mid-level stuff from the Gold Shops or MP, and prices were a lot lower then. It's basic human nature to want stuff, and I can imagine a lot of new and casual users are going to find more and more stuff is simply beyond their reach, and I can see that impacting the number of new arrivals and casuals who stay. And as you so correctly point out, it is the experiences, meaning the people, that make Gaia worthwhile for me. If the user base begins to erode significantly, so will my experience on Gaia.

Also, being obviously more of a cynic than you, I tend to see this upcoming Halloween Event as yet another Beta Test. If people buy into the concept of Events becoming "Pay to Play" by making Halloween 2k13 a success, I firmly believe we will have seen our last free Event.
I think I was on Gaia for close to two years before I began spending any real money with any kind of regularity, and that was done in large part because it only felt morally right to support the site which gave me so much.
To be honest, it's getting hard to remember the last thing that Gaia "gave" me as opposed to them offering to sell me something, and the feeling that Gaia is something special that I need to support and nurture is being replaced by a feeling that Gaia is simply another business providing goods and services for a fee.
And to be honest, the world offers tons of those, whereas what Gaia used to be was something very rare and special.
And something that now seems to be only a thing of memory. emo

[icyMOTHA]

Erogenous Jones

Oh, I remember how challenging making gold was at first. I've been here since August 2003 and I remember questing and questing just to get a pair of penguin slippers (which were about 4k back then).
I'm still hopeful that this gold sink will take out at least a good chunk of the gold in the system right now because as I said before, people are aware that there are going to be ways to make it back so they'll be more loose with their spending. And for the people like myself that have no "Gaia-income" this can only work in our favour because with a reduced amount of gold in the economy there will be people getting impatient and reducing the costs of their big ticket items so they can sell. For every exchanger and vendor, there's 3 or more other users looking to make a quick buck that don't care about holding on to an item to increase it's value.

The problem with Gaia losing it's "special-ness" is the fact that it was one of the first forums like this, and now that others have seen how it's worked there are dozens of sites trying to move in on what Gaia has established. And they're doing it by offering free items. What they don't understand though is any business needs money to stay alive and while yes, free items for all is a lovely thought it really is just a pipe dream. Servers are expensive to maintain, the building needs rent to be paid, employees need to be paid. Just because they love Gaia doesn't mean they'll work for free.

Gaia is still special, you just have to look past the layer of Gaia Cash that the GCD is focusing on now and see the bigger picture. Yes, people are leaving but they'll be back.

I sincerely doubt that all events will be pay to play. There might be an option to pay to get a boost, but I'm confident that all events will still remain fully playable by users with 1million cash and no cash.

[Erogenous Jones]

icyMOTHA

Oh, I remember how challenging making gold was at first. I've been here since August 2003 and I remember questing and questing just to get a pair of penguin slippers (which were about 4k back then).
I'm still hopeful that this gold sink will take out at least a good chunk of the gold in the system right now because as I said before, people are aware that there are going to be ways to make it back so they'll be more loose with their spending. And for the people like myself that have no "Gaia-income" this can only work in our favour because with a reduced amount of gold in the economy there will be people getting impatient and reducing the costs of their big ticket items so they can sell. For every exchanger and vendor, there's 3 or more other users looking to make a quick buck that don't care about holding on to an item to increase it's value.

The problem with Gaia losing it's "special-ness" is the fact that it was one of the first forums like this, and now that others have seen how it's worked there are dozens of sites trying to move in on what Gaia has established. And they're doing it by offering free items. What they don't understand though is any business needs money to stay alive and while yes, free items for all is a lovely thought it really is just a pipe dream. Servers are expensive to maintain, the building needs rent to be paid, employees need to be paid. Just because they love Gaia doesn't mean they'll work for free.

Gaia is still special, you just have to look past the layer of Gaia Cash that the GCD is focusing on now and see the bigger picture. Yes, people are leaving but they'll be back.

I sincerely doubt that all events will be pay to play. There might be an option to pay to get a boost, but I'm confident that all events will still remain fully playable by users with 1million cash and no cash.

You have a wonderful outlook on life, and I hope yours ultimately proves to be correct.
I will admit to being an old cynic, but say in my defense that it's a learned behaviour.
Sad as it is to say, I've seldom lost when I've bet on people's baser natures. sweatdrop

How I see it playing out is Flynn's Booty, or similar mechanisms, will be here to stay, generating huge amounts of Gold into the economy, pushing prices up and up and up, and Events will all have a Gold Sink constituent because well, we demand it.
What the impact will ultimately be on the overall site population and experience, I can't say.
Best case scenario, I see the Community splintering into two decidedly different camps...one which is Avi driven, and one which is Community driven, and if the Community driven portion remains sufficiently large, then there will always be something here for me.
It's just a question of if the potion that holds my interest will remain.
There are tons of Forum Communities out there, and if what makes Gaia so visually appealing to many people becomes unattainable to newbies and casuals, what then will make Gaia any different or more desirable a place to chat than any of the hundreds of other options?

[icyMOTHA]

Erogenous Jones

I'm a rather cynical person in real life as well. The reason I'm so damned optimistic on this matter is because I truly want Gaia to recover.

I am starting to doubt if they will keep the "Flynn's booty" styled items/gold generators in the future just because of the backlash toward the company it has been causing. I'm sure they are very aware that the more they push it out, the more users they lose. A couple dozen here and there is normal, but if they keep pushing this I forsee large groups leaving just to make a point. I'm sure Gaia recognizes that as well. I'm not saying they probably don't have another idea up their sleeve, but I severely doubt they will continue to use gold generators as a means of income.

Gaia is so appealing to the public because not only is it lovely to look at, but it has a history, a backstory. There are NPCs with backstory. And it's not something that was fabricated and completed when the website was introduced. This backstory reaches back through 10 years worth of content and it keeps getting larger and more interesting. Forgive the comparison but it's rather like why games such as Guild Wars 2 and Aion fail in comparison to World of Warcraft. Guild Wars 2 was beautiful to look at, but the story was severely lacking in comparison to Warcraft's rich and colourful backstory. WoW has 20 years of history, lore and NPCs which is one of the reasons why people still play it. It's the same as Gaia. Gaia has 10 years of story. Other websites simply can't compare to it on that level.

[HoIy Macaroni]

through throwing bricks through Gaia HQ windows? not sure... they're so thick skulled

I totally would be up for starting a riot if I could make it to Gaia HQ but I work or have school every single day ninja

[NAM-JAI]

If you really want a corporation to listen, you have to hit them where it hurts; the income.
Talk to Gaia's sponsors; e-mail them, write them letters, tell them how dissatisfied you are with Gaia and how they seem to treat their userbase.

A company won't want to be associated with someone who has a lot of unhappy customers--because ultimately that's all we are--and may withdraw if not just voice concern over the claims.

[Erogenous Jones]

icyMOTHA

As I said before, I hope yours turns out to be the correct perspective. smile
I agree with almost everything you say, and have even said similar things myself in the past when the crowds have gathered and things have gotten ugly, but somehow this just feels different to me.
No question that Gaia has an amazing and rich legacy, but how much has been added to that legacy in the last couple of years, much less the last couple of months?
"What have you done for me lately" is one of my least favourite sentiments, but it seems to me one can only rest on one's laurels for so long.
Only time will tell how it's all going to play out and who's vision of the future will prove to be the right one.
I'm honestly voting for you, but at the same time, I'm fearful it will be me. sweatdrop

[icyMOTHA]

Erogenous Jones

I guess we'll have to wait and see the outcome.

Thanks for the conversation, I rarely get a chance to voice my opinion like this. emotion_c8

[Erogenous Jones]

icyMOTHA

Erogenous Jones

I guess we'll have to wait and see the outcome.

Thanks for the conversation, I rarely get a chance to voice my opinion like this. emotion_c8

Just further proof that you're the better person...
I always give my opinion.
Whether the other person appreciates it or not. wink

Nice chatting with you too. smile

[Yorugami]

Slick Southpaw

As evidenced by the amount of super girly cutsy re-releases in cash shop stare

You can clearly tell who are the big spenders? ;D
Just by Flash Sale inventories.

[M00NDR0PS]

Pyres

A lynch wouldn't work sadly, the only way we could make them listen is if we got a united strike against Gaia Cash, but that won't happen.. period.

Granted it'd be interesting, I'd be in. My Avatar's already got the pitchfork >_>;

" Target acquired. "

»»» We are trying. Some users, including myself, have already started protesting Gaia Cash. The more support we can rally, the better.

" Shutting down. "

[Shu Omega]

Get a ticket to San Fransisco and start camping Gaia HQ or people stop spending on pixels.
It is pretty obvious that yelling at them through the internet does not harm them.

[Pyres]

Aperture Sentry Turret

»»» We are trying. Some users, including myself, have already started protesting Gaia Cash. The more support we can rally, the better.

" Shutting down. "

I'm aware some users are trying, I'm trying myself.. I'm spreading word to my friends to stop cashing until Gaia actually listens to us, some listen.. some don't.

I myself stopped cashing once they started really going downhill.

So technically I'm in for supporting.

[Luna Proudfoot]

Bornes

A protest... Over virtual currency?

virtual currency w/thousands, maybe even ten thousands, of real world currency behind it

yeah but no, go ahead continue mocking ppl who are upset w/gaia's business practices and it's shitty treatment of the userbase dramallama