What would you do...

[Evil Goth Bunny]

If you discovered Gaia for the first time today? And why?

I know Gaia has been around for ages, and people have been on here for years, but what if someone introduced you to Gaia today? Would you join? Would you stay here for as long as you have? If you wouldn't stay, why are you still logging on now?

If you wouldn't join/stay, what are the reasons for it? Is it something to do with Gaia, or have your tastes just changed as you've got older, and you just don't think you'd be interested in this sort of website?

If I discovered Gaia today, I probably wouldn't stay, although I imagine I would probably join. When I first discovered the site, I didn't regularly use any other website, so I would just go to Gaia when I got bored and wanted to waste time. Also my hobbies at the time weren't particularly time consuming, so I had nothing better to do. Now, I use tumblr and facebook (although I'm barely ever on those) , as well as having hobbies that take up a lot more time. I'd think it was a cute website but I wouldn't be willing to put in the time to earn enough gold to buy stuff so I'd get bored with it fairly quickly.

So how about everyone else?

[Kunopegos]

Probably not. The reason I joined was cuz I got hooked on zOMG. I met most of my friends on gaia that way, but now that it's broken (and about every other feature on gaia) I doubt I'd stay for long.

[keiiii]

I'd known about Gaia since a short time after its birth, and I stayed away from it for three years. I think I joined hoping to promote my art, haha... and stayed because it was fun to earn gold.

I'm not sure if I'd stick around. Since I'm an artist, I can keep up with the inflation, but it's not the same with all the cash promotion so heavy in the air.

[Hasuki Aatisuto]

I've been a member of Gaia for 9 years (Wow, I feel so old...) but if I was introduced to Gaia today I would be leery about joining it because of all the inflation and "sales". It would be really difficult for anyone new to get into Gaia the way it is.

That may explain the decline of the population around here, when I think about it...

[Bluecandescent]

Lord no. Not at all. I would join because this is my kind of site, but then I would discover all the advertising and lack of updates for anything that doesn't have to do with GC and all the inflation compared to how hard it is to earn gold (that's the biggest one) and I would never log back in lol

It's a shame, really. I lucked out by joining years ago, so I acquired everything at cheaper prices. I can always sell something to get something else, even if I don't earn gold. But for those who have nothing... there's no reason for them to try unless they don't care about the avatar part of the site (not everyone does).

[Eerily]

''Don't get too close, it's dark inside...

If I stumpled upon Gaia today, I doubt that I would stay for long. A very important reason for me staying when I first joined a couple of years ago, that I felt was lacking in many other similar sites (I don't know how it is now as Gaia is the only dress-up/forum site that I use) was the fact that here you actually had a chance to get any item that you wanted without paying real money for it - time, yes - but money, no . I was instantly turned off from a site where I felt that I had no chance of ever catching up with the people that had been there for years.
Another important thing that kept me here in the first place was zOMG. I joined some time before it was released and the site got more fun for me when zOMG came out. Now zOMG is just not the same thing anymore, when they stopped updating the game, almost all of my friends left and it has never been the same. I miss the good ol' days...


Back on topic though:
Had I joined today I probably wouldn't have stayed. Had I joined before the summer, then sure.
But now? Now it just feels like anyone who joins and doesn't want to spend any real money, doesn't have any real chance of getting to where they want to be, Booty Grab and zOMG just doesn't pay out enough anymore.

I'll just have to add that the forums were a thing that I got hooked in after my friends left, which is why my post is mostly about ''getting'' items, as that is what the site was, and still is, for me.

. . .it's where my demons hide,it's where my demons hide...''

[Etre BeIIe]

I discovered Gaia since it first started and have been on and off a lot.

The reason I love Gaia has always been the forums and the dressing up section. I'm not an English native speaker, so I always thought of this as a good way to improve my English. Plus they're not that strict with their rules on the forums, which is a big plus too.

It has however turned into more of a pixel store than a forum and although I can still chat and have nice discussions with people, the money sucking part of it is getting on my nerves. If I joined nowadays, I wouldn't stay long with all the flash sales and bootie inflation going on. Not very new user friendly.

[AtrosM]

Like some before I joined almost at the same time zOMG came out, I think its the only reason I stayed, its also how I earned most of my gold initially. If I came on now with the prices and how hard its to get gold I don't think I would stay

[Ariana]

I originally joined Gaia because it was the first avatar forum I knew of. I LOVED the idea of posting around as a character I created myself, and can dress up how I choose.

If I found out about Gaia today, I would join. I would probably post around a little bit, but then eventually leave because of the price of items. I don't want to have to buy Gaia Cash just to get nice-looking items for my avatar. And gold shop items can only do so much. I would be very turned off by their constant barrage of ads and sales. I would think I was on some clothing store website with "SALE" "SALE" "SALE" everywhere.

Given this scenario, if I knew of other avatar sites, I would just leave Gaia and go back to them. If this was the first time on an avatar forum, I would search the website for other ones that have been somewhat-established, but still young.

I think it's VERY hard for new users, who don't want to spend money, to decide to stay on Gaia.

[l2enfield]

I would join for sure, but only stay if I somehow had a way to establish myself quickly enough to feel like a part of the community. It's just not appealing to join and then be stuck in that same starting position for years.

[Mashimizu]

I honestly enjoy forums (including those that don't have avatars at all) and since this one includes themes that I like I think I would still give it a try. If I stayed would probably depend entirely on if I was able to make any friends. The atmosphere lately has been a bit...intense though so it's possible it might push me away. It's really hard to accurately say how I would respond since there are so many variables for what I could encounter first. I'd be interested in hearing the thoughts of someone who really did just join.

[Pyres]

The reason I joined Gaia was because of roleplay and getting to post on forums with a pixel doll that you got to customize. (although in 03 our options were very limited.)

If I joined today and saw this site, I'd probably go around posting a bit try begging for help getting items since it's impossible without cash.. eventually just get sick of it and leave, the ads wouldn't bother me too much but seeing the lack of content giving to those who don't cash would disgust me, surely.

[Atom Dataverse]

Interesting topic.

I suppose, if I were to be shown gaia today, I know I'd join, just to try it out and see what was up on it. But I know I'd loose interest fast and leave if I was shown today compared to when I first joined. Cause I know, one of the first things I'd check out today that wasn't around back when I first joined that'd make an impact on my decision to stay or not... would be games (hell, just talk of there going to be a battle system, which turned out to be zOMG, kept me on the site for years before the release of it). Non of Gaia's games now interest me, I did like playing Monster Galaxy, but that's gone now, Heralds of Chaos was interesting, and a nice way to earn a little gold gradually that I could withstand through gameplay, but that is gone as well. I'm not big into MMO's (I get bored of them rather fast), and all the other games they have bore me as well.. I'd be very confused with what there is to the site since there's no easy to find guide to it to help a newb. And not wanting to bother to learn a new site/system I might just leave just for that (like I have with tumblr). The SF and GCD would be the "nail in the coffin" so to speak, since it'd confirm to me, that it's not that great of a place to be in anyways with all the negativity and complaints. I wouldn't want to be around then, if it doesn't seem like this site has any potential to grow or become something more better. That's another thing that still keeps me on now, is that it does have potential, it has grown (a lot!) and has done many new/different things, good and bad, and I hope it makes a good turnaround to be better and grow more... and fix/update many of its features..

[Slick Southpaw]

if this was my first time seeing gaia, I'd be hard pressed to stay.

Heck, my best buddies in high school had to badger me to join this anime site. Zurg Invasion holiday shenanigans caught my imagination and I stayed, despite being skeptical of all the cutsey things.


If HoC was still active and running, I'd probably stay to play that. Maybe play through zOMG, bugs and all.

[Whip]

I would probably feel the same. Things seemed equally out of my reach then.

But I doubt I'd buy from the cash shop.

I couldn't justify spending that much on a site I'd just joined. Which makes me wonder if many new users do. I expect so.

I did think getting 30k for a $5 spend was a good deal when I first joined. Because it was.