Let's talk about MONEY! Oh yeah, we're going there...

Money?

Money! Gimme! *makes grabby hands*	33.6%	[ 130 ]
Money is evil! *makes warding off evil hand gesture*	17.6%	[ 68 ]
Monkeys? I like monkeys! Oh wait, you said money...	27.6%	[ 107 ]
Eh, doesn't affect me, but I love poll gold!	21.2%	[ 82 ]
Total Votes:			[ 387 ]

[SilkyNums]

I understand Gaia needs to make money. But there's a tactful way of doing so. All these recent and numerous cash based incentives just reek of desperation. I'd say greed, but owing to all the layoffs, I feel it's simply because Gaia is in trouble. sweatdrop

As for club verge. I doesn't really affect me as I've never spend money on avy items. Especially so since the only reward I see right now in it are those birthday gifts(which mind you is something I feel all Gaians should receive). Just as you said though and as I've discussed with friends of mine. I feel in time, club verge will actually dole out more rewards for its members and as such will then be actually worth its salt. 3nodding

As a gamer, the only thing that really interests me here are the games and the friends that I have made through them and play them with. But I don't think I need to mention how recklessly Gaia has handled all its games which in the end have never even given me much reason to spend money on them even if I wanted to. confused

[John Columbo]

...Money?

[taxidermy jesus]

Thanks for taking the time to post this, siskataya!

Chances are, there'll always be people out there complaining that Gaia staff don't care about the users, but the amount of time you spend in this forum, answering questions and addressing problems dispels that pretty quick.

[xkamiko07x]

As mentioned by many before me, thank you for posting this and taking time to address the issues that have been brought up since the summer sale and club verge.

[Sweet Angel Mary]

Chibi Halo

Sweet Angel Mary

yes working on it but how many years did they neglect it? Things we've wanted for years, get promised but gaia spent so much money on things they abandoned. We spend money on the site but that money goes to the company as a whole. So it went towards developing all those social games etc. I think they need to figure out a direction for the company and not just go with any idea that sounds good.

Also, so basically towns 2 trash will remain glitched for a while. At least it has a better chance of being fized than zomg glitches.

You have to remember a lot of the features we love so much just can't simply be tweaked a little here and there and everything will be working perfectly. Because they've been around for so long the code is so old they have to be reworked from the ground up. That might be the case with the Inventory Arranger. They had worked on some fixes for it but it still caused problems for people so they're going the route they're going. I do like to think they spent some time working on mockups with a layout artist first to get something they were all satisfied with before things were sent off to this particular developer for coding.

As for the direction of the company, that lies with who happens to be CEO at the time. There was a period of time when Gaia wanted to be more real person and hospital white because they wanted to be in the same league with Myspace and the no longer for College students only Facebook. That whole "Get Real" period of their existence really screwed up their identity for years to come. They were so concerned with how they looked to people who were big into the new world of social media that they began to neglect things internally. That hurt them for quite a few years because they were so concerned with being like the other guys the next CEO that came in wanted them to be a social game site that happened to have a forum with customizable avatars on it. We all know how that one went. This whole focus back on Gaia the site and its users is a focus back to what Gaia was before the real people campaign but it's going to take time. Yes they made mistakes with partnering with certain game companies but it seems like they're streamlining things and getting back to basics. It stinks it had to include a round of layoffs again but if that's what it takes to get back on track I'm willing to ride things out and see how this all goes.

This is why getting a statement from the new CEO is so important. If i knew he has a good plan for gaia and that he evaluating what was done in the past and getting gaia in a place to move forward. Then it might be good to trust him. he's had a few months to settle in, he should speak to us then he can go back to what he's been doing. the staff throw around the community focus stuff etc but we're still dealing with an unknown factor of what community means to those in high ranking management.

i know some things have to be rebuilt on this site. I was never one who complained about them rebuilding towns, I'm just one of those frustrated by how things like easily going to your home etc weren't added until the fluff event was well under way. Do you remember the label maker feature that didn't stay on the site for long? how many hours do you think a developer spent on that? It's time and money which is why I think it'd be nice to know that all these expensive items are going towards improving features and not towards something gaia will just abandon after some higher-up decided it wasn't the right product to release. it'd be nice to know if this CEO isn't the type to sign off on any idea that sounds good. With so many features that need to be redone, or fixed, it'd be nice to know that anything new will be thoroughly reviewed and they don't waste money on projects that once released get abandoned.

[azndreams]

Chibi Halo

Sadly though with so many young people here they rarely will want to listen about how a business works or even care at how the ongoing costs make for some of the decisions. It's like when you lived with your parents and they paid for everything and then when you got your own house/apt you realized damn food, electricity and everything else I need to survive actually costs money. How did my parents do it and such.

[Jisen Meizuki]

Somehow, I feel like it's deja vu when you explained what was going on about the Summer Sale... sweatdrop

However, thank you for addressing it.

[Fanny Flaps]

It's sad you feel the need to make this thread but not in the way you might think...

If Gaia/admins are needing to apologise and "explain" sales and deals then you've ******** up big time.
A promotion is meant to improve relations, customer loyalty, and brand recognition as well as just push up revenue. If it only does one then it's a waste of time, if it only does one at the expense of all others then it's a disaster.
I have to ask you: are many people genuinely pleased with the concept of Club Verge?
I've seen members of the guild, long term players who have spent a pretty penny on this site, threatening to quit. Friends of mine. People I will miss. You've given these people a reward so 'fantastic' that they've sworn off GC forever or left. That's hardly what I'd call a successful promotion.
So, you made some money? That's great, seriously, I know Gaia needs money to continue to operate and expand. The problem is you've gone about it in such a way that has alienated or frustrated a good portion of your userbase.
Now you've gone and instigated another promotion with the 'free' 500,000g for first time GC buyers. This is pissing off existing buyers; those who cannot/do not buy GC; and anyone/everyone who buys or quests items.
Really, none of this directly affects me as it wont alter my buying habits (although I may buy less GC) and I tend to make more profits during times of inflation. What does worry me is the inconsiderate, haphazard, and incompetent you're going about business. When you drive your customers away it is never a good thing and I don't want to see this site destroyed by ill-thought-out schemes that don't take the long view.

[azphyxxxiate]

try LISTENING to your users. Gaia used to do this.

[azphyxxxiate]

it's pretty obvious at this point that gaia is going down. management is driving it into the ground and killing the staff's morale.

[azphyxxxiate]

Rock_hard_yo

Thanks for taking the time to post this, siskataya!

Chances are, there'll always be people out there complaining that Gaia staff don't care about the users, but the amount of time you spend in this forum, answering questions and addressing problems dispels that pretty quick.

it's called a paycheck.
responding with condescending remarks and snarky comments is hardly helping.

[Joelthief]

I dont think there was a need to make such a thread, pointless...

[Whip]

This post really covers a lot of points I've been talking about and I'm glad you made it, sisky!

We already get so much for free, and always have done, and we get much more than we once did.

I know there will always be cynics out there, and at times I can be one too. I highly anticipate the perks for other kinds of loyalty, though I would have liked to see them come out earlier.

[Sand Dancer Shaka]

Thanks for making this thread! heart As always it was a good read and brings up a lot of interesting topics.

I feel that Club Verge shouldn't have necessarily been about "exclusive items" but really should have been about "exclusive access." I think maybe(?) you guys forgot how exclusive access immediately makes things worth more gold-wise, for me a user who's not eligible for Mecha Neko I can say that making it exclusive access has driven prices a lot more than the normal Cash Shop. I think it might have been underestimated how much affect is felt by simply making it exclusive to certain users only. I'm only saying this to highlight that it doesn't mean that item prices need to be sky high for users who shop there to have exclusivity, or to get more bang for their buck in the MP!

(I'm not resentful about either CVerge or Mecha Neko by the way, I just used it as an example to show that exclusivity needn't be in items, but in access. Don't underestimate the value of access!)

I think CVerge has a lot of potential but more thought needs to be put into what items go in and their prices. I understand you want them to be exclusive and for users to be able to get all their moneys worth, but when you price them so high that many gold users won't buy them after conversion in MP it wipes out any value of the items completely, as many users buy to sell in trade for gold.

[siskataya]

azphyxxxiate

Rock_hard_yo

Thanks for taking the time to post this, siskataya!

Chances are, there'll always be people out there complaining that Gaia staff don't care about the users, but the amount of time you spend in this forum, answering questions and addressing problems dispels that pretty quick.

it's called a paycheck.
responding with condescending remarks and snarky comments is hardly helping.

I'm sorry, but are you referring to comments I've made? I don't think I've been "condescending and snarky" at all. And I don't talk to people just for the "paycheck" - I like talking to people and trying to understand community issues.