"WoW is not a real success" - cites Gaia CEO Craig Sherman.

[Ercho]

Viole

Your Neglected Toy

Substance-E

WoW actually charges people to play the same repetative crap over and over...

Craig doesnt know what the ******** hes talking about rolleyes

And since when do all 800 million teens in the world play online games or even have a computer? neutral

I agree with you about the 800 million teens not having all the required technology to play, or even being allowed to play..

But How can you guys get this mad over him talking up the This site? He's just a business man, making business talk, trying to make Gaia sound like the best place ever.

But if that's his intention, it's not smart to put Gaia in relation with WoW, because it's absolutely not the same. Gaia should go its own individual path, moreso if you can't really compare it to any other games or sites.

With a quote like that (and it is prone to be quoted out of the context), you get the attention of WoW players, sure, but is it for good or bad? I am sure my WoW-crazy friend would smirk and say exactly what Substance-E said if I ever told her about this (except for the crap bit, but that's where I'd agree with him ^^).

Good attention and Bad attention is all GOOD if you are just trying to get people to sign up.
I think thats all he was trying to do.

Secondly, because its largely different there is no reason why WoW players shouldn't feel mad.

Everyone is acting like because he used those stupid numbers to say WoW isn't a success is a direct attack on them as a person, for playing WoW.

I would say Gaia isn't largely successful myself..since I hardly ever meet anyone who knows what I am talking about..but that doesn't mean I am trying to attack Gaia.

[Toor Root]

I can only hope Gaia will be better in the long run.

I HATE WoW for numerous reasons

-it's pay to play when you could get an mmo that is about the same for free

-The only thing that makes it better than those games is the "OMGI EYECANDIEZ"

-It attracts ******** IDIOTS and "OMG IM A GURL GAEMUR U GOTS A PROB WIT DAT"

-It's just like halo or guitar hero: the second some casual masters it or gets good, they start with that "LOL IM DA GRATEST GAEMA IN DA WORLD LOL I LOVE SSBB WAIT R.O.B WHOS DAT"


So while WoW may be a big success I won't say anything against Gaias CEO despite the fact that I don't really care much for him.*

I want WoW to crash and buuuurn. gonk Like Myspace.

*Nothing personal. But ever since he jumped in out of nowhere he's had this "HEY KIDS WHATS UP MY DOG IM ROCKIN IT WITH YOU GUYS I KNOW HOW THE KIDS LIKE IT AND I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT! IM HERE TO MAKE GAIA COOLIO AND FOR THE CRAZY CATS!" attitude that only old people had and it is kind of annoying...

[fin]

Bob, thanks for PMing me. I hadn't seen this thread before. And you guys should totally feel free to PM me and write about me and gaia. (but keep in mind I can only respond to a fraction of the pms i get sad

Let me respond to three things:

1) Specific WOW quote.

This is not what I said (as far as I remember) or meant.

What I meant was that free to play mmos and advanced casual mmo's have the potential to expand the market of mmos to a much wider audience than current MMOs. WOW is an extraordinarily well-made game and it cost a ton of money to make. And it is really an amazing experience. And it's bigger than every other paid MMO on the planet today. And, even so, despite all that, there are less than 10mm people playing it.

Why? Mostly because of upfront barriers: must purchase in-retail or get a huge download; must pay a monthly subscription fee. This new category - variously called free-to-play mmos, browser-based or lite-download mmos, advanced-casual mmos, or medium-core mmos - removes many of those barriers. My belief is that in the next 3-7 years, this new category (some of the most notable so far are kartrider in korea and maplestory world-wide) will start to proliferate and grow the market to much more users.

That's what I meant. For the record: I think WOW is an amazing success. Of course! I actually am so impressed with what they built that the first month I joined gaia I got someone i know to introduce me to one of the lead producers on wow and Lanzer and I went to LA and met him to get advice for gaia and just hear his thoughts on why they were so successful. (also, for the record, we didn't go meet him because we're trying to make gaia into wow! We actually meet with a lot of people in gaming companies and cool-websites just to get advice and their perspectives).

2) Gaia's age-target.
When you hear me quoted somewhere as saying 'gaia is for teens' what I'm trying to get across is that it is Not for kids or tweens. I'm trying to make the point that gaia is for older people. Usually i say that gaia's core user base is 13-24 and say that there are at least 1/2 a million gaians who are older than that. Again, my point is that gaia is for older people than you (the audience i'm speaking to) think. This is the best way to get it across in a few seconds or less.

3) More General about my public statements.
The places I speak about gaia and get quoted are almost always at events with bankers and industry analysts and journalists. These are events where almost no one knows what gaia or virtual worlds or forum communities or even MMOs are. Often times i get questions like: 'is gaia like clubpenguin?' or 'Gaia is Second Life for kids, right?' or 'are you like myspace?' or 'are you like a free world of warcraft?' Most of these people have read articles about these sites but have never actually used them. Or they've gone to the home page and that's it.

These people are actually really smart and well-meaning, but they don't know much about gaia or this space in general and so I try to explain in ways that they get it. Also, I often am on a panel and get only a few seconds to say something so I've got to figure out a form of short-hand, some super-pithy way of describing gaia so that they get it and remember.

My job is partly to talk to this outside world - to help with fundraising, to help with recruiting, etc. - so that everyone else here at gaia doesn't have to worry about that stuff.

In Sum:
Lots of times the quote you get or the article you read is only half the story. Ask me or others at gaia for clarification if what you hear sounds wierd.

Thanks.

[Loudst]

GOS Venture

Everyone and their brother either plays or knows of WoW. It has television shows that use it as basis for parody (* See South Park), tons of magazine articles(*See any gaming magazine) featuring it and it's Rival (*See Everquest), and it has the endorsement of Freddy Crouger (*See MANUMANA).

Gaia, while has a few places on television (*See "Making Mischief" wink and an occasional reference in a newspaper/article.... Isn't insanely popular, like the MMO. I don't doubt that this battle system will attract a LOT of new users, however, none of this matters since "Success" is what you make of it. If I worked this hard, as long as a few people liked it-- I would consider it a success! However Craig whatshisface probobly won't consider it a success until the money is in his hand. Which sucks... which really sucks. But you know what? I don't care. The developers will be happy once it's out and people will finally have it, but the thing I'm worried about is the hype.
If he keeps pulling this "OMG, WE'RE BETTER THEN YOU IN EVERY WAY" bullshit, people will be PISSED when it's not PERFECT... you see how they get every time there's an announcement. The GCD EXPLODES. when something happens. If it's even SLIGHTLY incorrect, ********. It's a bit annoying, to be honest. If he keeps pumping the hopes of the users, this will be NOTHING but a huge letdown, no matter how great it is... Me, I won't care. I'll just be happy to play. But other people.... Just.. No.
The day it comes out, I'll read the announcement and GET THE ******** OFF GAIA.
For the next two weeks, I will NOT put up with the lag that will ensue. The complaints and demands will POUR into the forums, everything will be BATTLE BATTLE BATTLE and tenyearolds will FLOCK, just to say "OMGHOWDOIPLAYGAIA?!?!?!?!THISSUCKSICANTFIGUREITOUT-angerangeranger-"

Nope... I'll come back in a week and see if s**t calms the ******** down by then.

I never meant to...

"I'm pretty amazingly inlove with your linguistic skills.
You are just amazing at talking. Seriously, hahaa heart

...

Mister CEO just posted just now...?
-too lazy to read it in entirety-

When they ask things like that("what is gaia?".), have you the option of actually showing them?"

...To break it...

[Ercho]

And because CEO Fin posted, is why we have a great community. heart

*feels warm and fuzzy*

[Calvin_X]

They are only targeting the middle and upper class. Poor people don't have money to pay for hobbies, much less have an internet connection.

[Barbara Sexaroid]

Wow, what a ******** t**t. It's like, wow, who the ******** do you think you are? Saying that WoW isn't a success is just such a stupid thing to say, and it reflects bad for us, too, because it makes us sound like egotistic cunts.

I really hope he takes that back.

Everyone knows about WoW. The same can most certainly not be said for Gaia. neutral

[Jayce Reinhardt]

Crucifixed

Wow, what a ******** t**t. It's like, wow, who the ******** do you think you are? Saying that WoW isn't a success is just such a stupid thing to say, and it reflects bad for us, too, because it makes us sound like egotistic cunts.

I really hope he takes that back.

Everyone knows about WoW. The same can most certainly not be said for Gaia. neutral

Hi, did you happen to see Fin post on this same page?
or are you too busy cursing and acting hardcore?

[Cid High-Wind]

A lot of WoW is also played by adults too. You can't just take into account the teens who play WoW, you have to view the whole spectrum.

They're making $150,000,000 a month just off of the people who pay to play WoW, and as someone who loves both Gaia and WoW (*gasp*) I don't know why he had to say what he did. I feel that there should be an equal run between the two. Besides, Blizzard is more than just WoW, they also have Starcraft, Diablo and other such games they make money off of.

Blizzard and Gaia are not alike, so it's kind stupid to say WoW is not a success when both Gaia and Blizzard earn their money through different means. As far as I am concerned, WoW is a success. If they can pay all their servers and bandwidth etc, then it's fine.

EDIT: I saw CEO Craig's post. I'll just stick to my original.

[Cosmic Remnant]

Is that nasty image removed from the previous page yet. >.>" Icky, icky, icky. I'm scarred for life. gonk

Yay! Another post from fin. Tis always helps when things are explained. =3

[Barbara Sexaroid]

Bob Dobbs

Crucifixed

Wow, what a ******** t**t. It's like, wow, who the ******** do you think you are? Saying that WoW isn't a success is just such a stupid thing to say, and it reflects bad for us, too, because it makes us sound like egotistic cunts.

I really hope he takes that back.

Everyone knows about WoW. The same can most certainly not be said for Gaia. neutral

Hi, did you happen to see Fin post on this same page?
or are you too busy cursing and acting hardcore?

lol Yeah, you got me, I'm just here to act hardcore and curse. Clearly.

Anyways, I completely missed that he posted. rolleyes Get over it, really.

Anyways, to add to what someone said earliar, I think it's lame that he would even compare Gaia to WoW. It's not even the same thing. That's like comparing Livejournal and iTunes. xD Gaia is a forum, not an MMO. And I'm really ******** thankfull for that, honestly.

[Loudst]

I never meant to...

"-Finally actually read Fin-fin's post.-


Ahk. You're stuck, man.

If you have a few seconds, you might try saying "An entity all its own.", hah.
Or simply say it encompasses aspects of several different types of sites and is liked by many different age groups?

I don't know... Just a thought sweatdrop "

...To break it...

[arcadegh0st]

Wow, WoW not a success? neutral ...I'm sorry. I arched an eyebrow at that.

[Jayce Reinhardt]

Crucifixed

Bob Dobbs

Crucifixed

Wow, what a ******** t**t. It's like, wow, who the ******** do you think you are? Saying that WoW isn't a success is just such a stupid thing to say, and it reflects bad for us, too, because it makes us sound like egotistic cunts.

I really hope he takes that back.

Everyone knows about WoW. The same can most certainly not be said for Gaia. neutral

Hi, did you happen to see Fin post on this same page?
or are you too busy cursing and acting hardcore?

lol Yeah, you got me, I'm just here to act hardcore and curse. Clearly.

Anyways, I completely missed that he posted. rolleyes Get over it, really.

Anyways, to add to what someone said earliar, I think it's lame that he would even compare Gaia to WoW. It's not even the same thing. That's like comparing Livejournal and iTunes. xD Gaia is a forum, not an MMO. And I'm really ******** thankfull for that, honestly.

Thank you for calming down.

[Klim]

fin

2) Gaia's age-target.
When you hear me quoted somewhere as saying 'gaia is for teens' what I'm trying to get across is that it is Not for kids or tweens. I'm trying to make the point that gaia is for older people. Usually i say that gaia's core user base is 13-24 and say that there are at least 1/2 a million gaians who are older than that. Again, my point is that gaia is for older people than you (the audience i'm speaking to) think. This is the best way to get it across in a few seconds or less.

Thank you for clarifying your position on this, and the WoW quote.

The age and demographic talk has been a point of contention for a lot of older users. I know it may seem silly, but a lot of us joined Gaia as adults, have made monetary contributions to the site because we love it, and would hate to think we're being totally overlooked in favor of the much more fickle and elusive teenage marketplace.

Also, while I would argue that these so-called "Free-to-play" MMOs are very rarely actually free when it comes right down to it, I suppose this is neither the time nor place for that discussion. wink