OCCUPY GAIA :: SAY NO TO BUYING GC

[The Hot Box]

seidkonacat

The Hot Box

seidkonacat

The Hot Box

GrateGuy

The Hot Box

If you want our bussinesss your going to have to be a bit more smooth in your business approach.

You mean selling stuff requires patience? And a tactful approach!?

They'd be waaay better off releasing a bunch more 10$-5$ items instead of 50$-500$.
Supposedly a site intended for teens as young as 13. What kind of 13 year old has that kind of money to spend on a website??

Ugh seriously! Some of the prices of things are inordinately high.

I'd be more willing to buy if they weren't so ******** greedy about it.
I like gaia and would be happy to help the site out, but this is just getting ridiculous.
3 announcements/ staff alerts about gc items in one day? Fuuuck that~ lol

EXACTLY! I'd be perfectly willing to buy something every now and again, sure, but come ON with the GC item overload. @_@ No thanks.

And now the popups?
= ____ = Seriously??

[II Palmtop Tiger II]

I've been extremely detached from all forms of items for quite some time. In fact, I have not changed this avatar in over a year. That said, I haven't paid virtually any attention to the marketplace, EI's, cash shop items or anything like that, mostly because I grew out of it. All I do here is RP. My posting probably rakes in quite a bit of money, but I've stopped paying attention to that too.

But, even someone like me can see the problem. The centered site issue brought me here, and eventually resulted in me checking my account worth on tektek. I was shocked to find out that I'm worth, literally, ten times the amount I was a year or so ago. As I stated up there, I haven't done jack in that year.

Briefly considered buying the EI's just to help out, but I'm glad I was too lazy to grab my purse this time around. Definitely won't be doing it again.

Worth mentioning that I agree with that one person that said they missed the interactive events. That stuff was awesome. Plus the comics (do those still update? idk). I don't know what the hell these people are doing, but I damn sure miss the old gaia. Back when I thought I was rich cuz I had a piddly amount of gold. Actually working for my money. Good ol' days.

Anyway. *tosses signature at OP* There ya go.

[Kuro Ryuu Hime]

Yeah...I'm kinda sick of the GCash-centric stuff. I mean, there's a few things I'd consider buying if I had spare money (FMA/MLP items or any awesome dragon items like what they had for Chinese New Year last year-ish, 'cause I have a soft spot for dragons), but...for the most part, I'm just sick of it.

Gaia seems to be getting rather...stratified. "You people without GC get forums and Guilds and the occasional dinky Gold Shop update...you people with buckets of cash get awesome items, your own store, your own game (Smashblocks is practically unplayable without GC, last i tried), and the ability to buy/sell crap for more gold than the non-GC could hope for." I just hate how people can buy their way to awesomeness, buy their way to practically owning the economy compared to most users, and then Gaia just sits back and goes "Huh...why are inflation and the Marketplace so screwy all of a sudden...? We haven't changed anything in the past few years, aside from making it even harder to get gold without GCash."

So...I guess sign me up? I mean, like I said, there could be one or two things that would tempt me into buying $5 - $10 worth of GCash, but nothing near what they're apparently expecting people to spend on a damn-near daily basis.

[goodbyeteenagecringe]

I sign, and will add one of your pictures to my signature.

I'm an 05' member and the 'feel' this site gives from then to now is toxic.

As several others have said, it's not that anyone is upset that Gaia(like any business) wants to
make more money. But it's how they are going about it. And the even darker part to it is, the method they are going is literally destroying this site. It's like they want to suck as much money out of us as possible before Gaia just implodes on itself and is beyond salvageable.

I could have known without the staff notice that we head a new head rep. The feeling of Gaia and it's history went from proud and engaging to repetitive and lackluster. Halo give a ways/sales. Fine, the thousand bucks- that shows some pretty dedicated Gaians. But the free halo's to play a cash focused game? Enough. You are taking a historical item on Gaia and abusing it's preciousness for your own benefits. It's like the typical movie villain. "I want it all for myself and I don't care who I hurt in the process! I don't care if the world goes down. As long as I'm on top." <-- and that is the vibe us Gaians are feeling.

I used to treat myself every paycheck but now I"m pretty offended that I feel like a cash cow and your abusively trying to steal all my milk. emotion_donotwant

Collectibles aren't even special anymore! I remember when it was the biggest deal to get the monthly collectible. We'd anticipate the reveal in the forums. What creativity is Gaia blessing us with this month!

you've killed it. That feeling is dead and stomped in the grass along with our other fond memories.

Other avatar sites that are starting out are already trying to appeal to the quit Gaians. Promising they aren't money hungry and won't hurt their users in an attempt for quick change and are more interested in seeing a community develop and evolve.

Just from website reviews alone about employees at the actual Gaia Interactive building they are hurt and let down. They said this has taken a very, very wrong turn.

I can assure you, if Gaia 'implodes on itself' as I predicted. We will not flock to your sister site and be beaten down again. ******** that.

And the whole "you guys are still paying so we aren't changing attitude" I promise won't last. Because those few people who are financially comfortable dropping $1000 or whatever amount. They will be the only ones left here, and when they see their investments are now worthless because everyone else left, where will you be? We for sure, won't be at your new/sister site. talk2hand

[TH0TS]

x Mellifluous

I sign.

skype

[Lillian Harper]

I sign too. I practically sold my soul to G-cash back when it was first implemented, but you know what? I regret every cent. Half the items I bought are worthless now anyway.

Oh, and in case any of those rare specimens of the mythical admins who actually READ site feedback are lurking around, here's something for you to consider: I just quit club verge, DONATED (not sold!) that awful membership pin, and if I ever see P.U.G.'s ugly smashed up face again I'll take my old S.I.N. mace to it. One bad acronym deserves another bad acronym with spikes, if you ask me. Cheers to you, gold diggers.

[Jason0690]

*Hastily scribbles his John Hancock.*

I'm getting really ******** tired of being asked to buy something each time I log in to see my friends emotion_donotwant

[LoreNoMore]

from love to pain

-

What I'm wondering is why this thread isn't affiliated with revolution gaia...

[stardustsparklesangel]

I sign. emotion_bigheart

[-randomfreakygothgirl-]

So, the Halloween event has begun, AND IT'S A GOLDSINK!! O:

[A1Saucy]

I sign, though with reluctance. When I first came to this site in 2007 I saw these tendencies bubbling under the surface and made a few comments about it. I stayed anyway because it seemed like a nice timesucker with a bit of social hangout perks. When GC came out I felt it was a sign of impending pay-to-play or just charge out our backsides for everything while keeping it free in name only. I think we see which one we've crashed into...

For me it's reached a point where I can't even have the social perks. Nothing works well (which the "we don't have the developers for that anymore" confuses me. I have a brother who programs for a living and is required to send his employers his source code on a regular basis. This is not an isolated case of one company. Why was this policy not implemented at Gaia?) and it's impossible to do anything unless one has great stores of gold or can afford to spend ungodly amounts of money for pixels (really? You want $75 for pixels?) The environment has always had some dismissive elements of the user's voice, but anymore it feels hostile. I'm not just speaking about the survey incident either.

So why do I sign with reluctance? I'm going to be honest as someone who runs my own business and my answer won't be pretty. I think the "sister site" is part of an exit strategy. The users are getting older, staff have admitted they can't update or improve many features here, the ungodly GC cost of some items, the onslaught of high pressure sales tactics, the massive financial exploitation of iconic items (e.g. the halo), not to mention the high turnover in CEO's and staff (I'll ignore the reviews by former staff for a minute) all point to some bad signs for a company. What a well-organized company does when starting a business is create an exit strategy in order to not suffer as many losses. That way when they see the signs and the company knows the business isn't salvageable they can use it ASAP. I would like to see the site stay, but I'm seeing the signs of a lost cause.