Some things about Club Verge.

[Extra Sharp Cheddar]

So, I actually think it's a cool idea.

First, I like that people are being rewarded by Gaia for benefiting the site. This isn't new though, Heaven is a forum for people who play by the rules in Gaia and get an exclusive forum. Clearly this is something that's been in the works for a while. 3nodding

Second, the price tags don't really phase me all that much. I personally probably won't buy anything, but... I guess if you're someone who buys five 999GC RIG bundles a month to sell off for your dream avi, I fail to see how a 5000GC halo is any different, money-wise. The only difference will be supply and demand which is not something Gaia controls directly. Prices are set by users. There really shouldn't be any b'awwwing over that.

Third, I do not understand the outrage. In any capacity. It is my opinion that this feature was released so soon after the sale so people could see what it was like, as many users spent a great deal of cash on it. Most of my friends who are in Verge are there because of what they spent on the sale. I'm in this group as well. Uncle Kenny has said that new features like this for other "benefits" you provide to the site are coming. And honestly, every single argument I've seen boils down to greed, and reads like this:
"Why does that guy have a Porche, and I only get this stupid Neon?! If I can't have a Porche, no one should be able to have one! He's obviously neglecting his children, or living off of ramen, or not paying his bills, or getting money from a trust fund to have such a nice car. Why can't he donate his money to children starving in Africa??? The obvious answer would be that he enjoys cars and has extra money to spend, but no. I'm going to jump right to the fact that he can't possibly be at a higher financial standing than myself, and should have more important things to spend his own, hard earned money on than a flashy car."

So, yeah. I probably will never understand the outrage that has come with this shop. Incentives are a great way to show us they care, and I think, honestly, this particular feature is just the tip of the iceberg for the awesome things to come. 3nodding

[Archade]

I could never afford to be a member of Club Verge... Frankly I don't much care.
I think the concept is good, I mean if people are going to spend money on pixels to support their favourite site I say go for it and get rewarded. As a member I want people to spend money and keep supporting Gaia, without them Gaia wouldn't exist or continue to exist. I just think that offering more expensive exclusive items is a little dumb. I mean if people are going to be spending so much money I think they would maybe lower the price on these exclusive items. I mean give the spenders a discount. That would be my only comment on the shop itself.

I do however have a problem with the whole Guild thing. I mean it's pretty much cutting off a big majority of Gaia Members. I mean even if I cant afford the items, I'd like to have the option of maybe having a say about the items. Be allowed to give my two cents and maybe help give suggestions and all that. Too me it says, "If you don't have the money, you don't have an opinion." That's my only real problem with Club Verge. confused

[Extra Sharp Cheddar]

Luciania

I understand where you're coming from; I think having such expensive (relatively speaking, given the "traditional prices" in the CS) items so close to the huge sale we had was really a bit much. They for sure could have eased us into it a little better.
Also, I wanted to tell you that you don't have to buy 9999GC, just spend it. So, I've seen some people in the guild who earned 1000GC/month doing free offers and watching the videos. That's not terribly outlandish, I don't think.

There is a discount, kind of. It's in gold though. If one RIG bundle is about 1mill (give or take), and you buy five of them, and put them on the MP, that's 5mill in profit before the MP tax. However, if you buy a 5000GC item out of Club Verge, chances are that you're going to get back a hell of a lot more than 5mill, because it is exclusive, and therefore the distribution of the items is somewhat crimped. It's all in how you look at it I suppose. I'm sure many, like myself, would like discounts instead of more gold, but at least it's something.

[EternalAnge]

The prices for the items in Club Verge are waaaaaaay too high and they are totally unaffordable. Though I do like some of the items in it, there is no way I can spend that much GCash on any of them... @.@ Therefore, I will have to stay away from them.

I think that the concept of it is a good one, as a way to support the site. However, it would be even better if the items were priced cheaper than those that are in the shop. That way, it would be more affordable for users and less stressful for them to save up for the items.

[Archade]

Extra Sharp Cheddar

Well for me it's 'gotta buy to spend' since the video and special offers don't work for me. I don't know if it's just because it's not offered in my country ( which I believe it is? ) or if maybe it's just a glitch on my side. Oh well.

I get that, but I think that's a slow method of earning. I mean because the items are so exclusive they are really expensive, in terms of gold purchase. So you could end up buying these items from the shop and then putting them up in the MP and have no sale. I guess I just see it that the benefits for spenders should be better then what it actually is.

[Arlinn Kord]

I love the idea and I want in, but I just don't have the cash.

Maybe people are right and it is a bit excessively expensive... Unreasonably, even... I still have high interest in purchasing from that shop, though. Exclusive= Good Gold. I really, really, really love gold emotion_drool

Ahh, if it is the tip of the iceberg, maybe they could make a mid-tier shop where if you've spent like 50 dollars you can purchase items in the range of 25-50 dollars each?

[SilkyNums]

The real issue here is that this club was supposed to be a reward to users who spent money on the site's features. Unfortunately Gaia's idea of rewarding people is to have them spend more money on the site? Does not compute! sweatdrop

[Yorugami]

Nyadriel

Bleeding Apocalypse

The only issue I have with Club Verge is that...

...The perks aren't really perks. Not really. I've got a kind of club card to the Rite Aid and the local supermarket. So when I go in and use my club card, I get discounts and coupons towards new things. This is the entire reason why I joined, to get discounts and coupons towards other items.

These supposed member perks don't really give me anything. All I really have is access to more expensive (and quite honestly, overpriced by about 50%) items. That's... not a perk. A perk is seeing the Hoarfrost Pass in the Cash Shop for 499 Cash and, because I'm a club member, I get it for 449Cash instead. THAT'S a club member perk. Or, at least, an example of what a perk should be.

Right now, the promise of a free birthday item, which is nine months away from me, is just kinda meh. I doubt it'll be something amazing and spectacular, and honestly, considering you only have to have spent less than $10 a month for the past year to get in means there are probably a lot of users in Club Verge that aren't the kind of people blowing $25 - $1000 on an exclusive club shop item at once.

Think about it. There are people in Verge who likely spent as little as $9 a month on the site and you're showing them a store where the lowest priced item is $25 and the highest is $1,000. That's just really silly.

This is part of what is getting me the most. There really isnt anything there for the users who cannot spend all that much (or have to do the sponsor thing to get gCash cause they cannot get it any other way) even for a very limited time. At those prices, I would think a person would spend $10 a month, buy MCs and sell them in the mp for gold and use that - well, it isnt even enough to be able to buy those items on the mp. So, one would spend many months that way and/or playing Booty Grab which spills more gold INTO the system as people try to...

This is another big mess!
I know the site needs the money. But this just is not gonna work very well in the long run.
Maybe what they could do is when they have another club for non-Cash-spenders, they could offer very high priced items in GOLD for a major gold sink to counteract this. Because somebody has not really thought this through all the way.

These guys say it better.
Basically boils down to bad execution for the shop.

1. Released at a time when CASH Shop tensions are high.
2. They're pushing the limit on what people can safely spend on virtual items without feeling guilty of neglecting RL needs (I fear when they'll break the 1000$ cap and start selling items for 10k and then what's to stop Gaia from selling a Backwings item for 1million real live dollars someday? ) ;D
3. Their rewards system equates to = spent 100$ on Gaia? AWESOME! Now here's a store to spend 1000$ as your reward!

: / Yeah.

I don't care what people spend their money on here on Gaia
if it helps Gaia keep on running but...their practices of late
have been going a bit skeevy...like a slick talking guy in an
alleyway offering you gold watches from inside his trenchcoat.

It's just customer service at this point.
It's making people wary of supporting Gaia instead of the other way around.

[Bon Troyage]

The only thing I don't like about Club Verge is that the prices make Gaia look desperate for money, which makes me think that Gaia is in a bad position as a business. I don't know whether that's true or not, but it sure makes me think it. The prices are also a bit crazy to me. But whatever makes Gaia money, I guess.

[Shintouyu]

Diamond Cache

The only thing I don't like about Club Verge is that the prices make Gaia look desperate for money, which makes me think that Gaia is in a bad position as a business. I don't know whether that's true or not, but it sure makes me think it. The prices are also a bit crazy to me. But whatever makes Gaia money, I guess.

Gaia's position has been in question since they did a massive lay-off of Devs and Artists. Club Verge is just oil on the fire.

[Archade]

Yup. It's not the concept, it's the execution.
The reward for spending is not worth it. Plus it's not going to make new spenders want to spend more if all you granted is the option of spending even more.

[Voat]

The part where Gaia went wrong is that they invited largely the wrong demographic to their club/guild. They did get the demographic they wanted but the rest of the users they invited will probably not be participating in buying items from CV. Gaia invited people who might get in there simply for being on autocash - these autocash users are unlikely to be willing to shell out $100-$1000 on pixels if they only limit themselves to $10 a month. Many people invited to the club/guild will never have any intentions of buying anything from the store unless something on the "cheap" end of CV's spectrum pops up, which is a part of the spectrum that would probably fare better sales wise in La Victorie.

And IMO if Gaia is going to release $10-50 items, those items would make Gaia more money if they chucked them in La Victorie instead of CV, since La Victorie will always have a larger paying audience. If the pink unicorn recolor/animated halo/that 3rd item were put in La Victorie we'd probably see more supply in the MP of those items right now.

If Gaia is going to use CV as a "high rollers" club then they should invite the people who actually spend that kind of $100-1000 cash on items within the span of 1-5 months, not a whole entire year.

Part of what Gaia did was invite people on budgets to shop around. People on budgets are just going to get mad at the prices and say they're too high. The fact that people even acknowledge that they're surprised they got into the club even though they don't think they spend a lot on Gaia is a telling thing, especially if they know they are not the type of customer willing to excessively spend money on Gaia as Club Verge is designed to get suckers to do.

[Kain-Senpai]

The prices are what bother me most. The July themed items, being as high priced as they are, are just a turn off for me. I want some of those items, but I'm not willing to pay the current price tag. I know of ONE user who has purchased the $1000 July Bundle (more power to him!). I know it is WAY TOO early to tell how well this new shop does. I hope it succeeds. I want the Staff to take in our feedback on the pricing and adjust it to a more feasible amount. But, if that one purchase is any indication, then well, I don't think it bodes well for the shop.

[Extra Sharp Cheddar]

Existential Existence

If Gaia is going to use CV as a 'high rollers' club then they should invite the people who actually spend that kind of $100-1000 cash on items within the span of 1-5 months, not a whole entire year.

Okay, I 100% agree with this. I think the amount spent vs the cost of items in that shop has a very large gap.

[Volkov Seraphim]

It's a nice idea. However, I aint spending that much for an item. Despite how awesome those wings are. But if others want to, go for it.