Look, I really don't feel like we're going to see eye to eye on this. For my part, I feel like I'm arguing with Marie Antoinette or something... While there are many cute, cool, and inexpensive items (both in the gold shops and in the marketplace), there are MANY MANY MANY more that are only available if you spend cash or if you have millions-billions to buy them. A person can think that McDonald's breakfast menu is delicious- that's a matter of opinion. But nobody in their right mind could ignore the fact that there are many more delicious things out there that cost much more than McDonalds. Gaia's items are like that- there are nice cheap items, but there are many more nicer items that are incredibly expensive. If that analogy doesn't work for you, then I really have nothing else to say on the matter.
You keep repeating that pixels aren't everything. I'm not disagreeing with that statement! Pixels are PART of what makes Gaia great. I can't say what percentage of Gaia is forums and what percentage is pixels, I think that's up to individual preferences, but both are important. The idea that pixels don't matter at all- that's what I disagree with.
Lastly, I don't need a poll to see what's plainly true. What most people want is what's expensive on the MP- that's WHY it's expensive. If it wasn't desirable, nobody would want to buy it, and the sellers wouldn't be able to price it so high. Supply and demand- if there was no demand, the prices would go down because there would be an oversupply of product. If 10 items are on the marketplace but only 1 person wants to buy the item, it's a buyer's market and prices are low. If 10 items are in the marketplace and there's 100 people wanting to buy it, prices are astronomical.
Marketplace aside, what's desirable is also evident by simple observation- I see people wearing recolors, people wearing cash shop exclusive, people wearing rig items and monthly collectibles... unless it's a brand new user or someone who doesn't have a lot of gold, I just don't SEE people wearing much from the gold shops. I lurk on Gaia lot and avatar watching is a hobby of mine, so I don't need a poll to confirm what my eyeballs have observed. People like the well-drawn, multi-pose, brand new items. Sometimes it's the novelty factor (like the body mods), sometimes it's a color scheme that's hard to find elsewhere, sometimes it's just the simple fact that newer items are just plain pretty.
50
100
100
