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Personal Notes:

1.) Most people just use zOMG! to farm gold and then leave, but there's a LOT of potential for it as a social spot. But the only thing that turns me off from zOMG! as one is all the extra luggage it's got to manage.

2.) Rally and other virtual spaces are smooth because they don't have a lot going on. zOMG! feels really stiff, you can't turn when you sit, and there's always the chance of something game-related interrupting a fun hangout.

3.) I didn't notice it much because of the game focus until recently, but I really like how the zOMG! map looks. It's beautiful! Way more appealing than Rally or Hollywood over and over...

4.) We've lost one Rally map (the car show), cinemas, the clothes store in Hollywood, the Earth Day map (actually still there, but you have to click 'more' to find it now... Almost always empty), and numerous others that were pretty cool when I think back to them (hah, the Skittles one). If we had zOMG!'s map, it would be filling a lot of negative space I think. And people going there to hang out, no quests or enemy lag. Simple, just like those areas were! :3

5.) Traveling the map setting up those screenshots made me really nostalgic for the old days. If you're someone like me who played zOMG! when it first came out but don't anymore, this feature would have wonderful nostalgic value getting to revisit those places in a new way. <3

6.) As you can see from those images, zOMG! is quite empty. It's a shame in my opinion to let all the artists' hard work go to waste just because a game got old. Hanging out in Rally and Hollywood never gets old for me. Just imagine what zOMG! as a hangout could do.

7.) Do you hang out with friends and chat with complete strangers in any of the virtual spaces? Do you role play? Do you lurk? Do you troll? Just imagine how much more diverse all your favorite Gaia experiences could be on a map as big as zOMG!'s. Time. Of. Your life. <3

Updated Nov 28, 2012
Further Ideas:

1.) You could even hang out in the instance areas! That would be cool. Some of those areas have lots of space and nice sights to see. Gaia would feel even bigger.

(Update: I've got screenshots of this to give an idea what that would be like.)

2.) You could even tie the two together! Make so to be able to hang out in the zOMG! virtual space map, you'll need to discover (or complete a certain number of quests within) the different areas in the game. You'll have an influx of new people playing the game, then when they're done they can hang out in the areas they've been in with zero stress and lag the game may have had.

3.) The subway station (which was an early tutorial area when zOMG! first came out, from what I remember) was removed from the game, and the Otami Cliffs are only accessible if you're on the quest to go survive it, or someone in your crew is. If we got the zOMG! map as a virtual space, it would be nice to have those areas accessible like normal as well :]

4.) I also heard there was a Halloween event in zOMG. I didn't participate so I don't know how it looked. But like Towns has done in the past with seasons changing and holidays coming up, I think it would be great if this feature followed the same idea. It's a big map, so maybe not make season/holiday versions of EVERYTHING, but at least individual spots annually could be nice <3

5.) On the subject of physical shops like Barton has in zOMG!... Physical Marketplace, anyone?

Updated Dec 18, 2012
Defense for points that may come up:

1.) Towns 2.0 is probably the top priority now, but most of the work is already done for zOMG!. Just strip everything but the art, use the Rally/Towns/Hollywood text bubbles, controls, and emoticons and bingo! Less work on the staff; bigger benefit for everyone.

(Update: Codemonkey has confirmed that doing this wouldn't require too much work.)

(Update ON that update: Towns 2.0 comes first. For this idea, only once Towns 2.0 is done could it be something they even begin to think about. I hope they do, because it's only going to make our new Gaia virtual world even bigger for having old stuff in with the new! :{D~)

2.) Not saying remove the game, just have a separate map that's just to be a virtual space. People who want to play the game could still do that. In fact this would be a great distraction until future zOMG! updates are made.

3.) zOMG! was huge when it first launched, and Gaia handled having that many players on at once very well. Surely they could handle this, because not only is simpler programming (not having all the game stuff about it), you'll have some people hanging out on this map and some people playing the game version. Nothing too crowded for either options!

4.) If juggling so many things at once is an issue, you could connect all of the virtual spaces together! In the southeast corner of the Village Greens map is a gate that leads into Towns. The subway station in Barton can also go to Rally. If we were able to go to any of the virtual spaces from any of the others, that would be simply excellent.

(Update: This is confirmed to be the direction things are going in with Towns 2.0! HUZZAH :{U~)

5.) Keep an eye on the voting results in the poll. 'Hanging out talking to people' being low and 'Another place nobody goes anymore' being high should say something about the untapped potential for zOMG! as a normal virtual space ;]

6.) It wouldn't have to be complicated to know the difference between the flash space version of zOMG! and the game version. You could simply put the flash one in the World menu (where the other virtual spaces are) and the game version right where it is in the Games category. To differentiate further, you could call one zOMG! Flash and one zOMG! Game :]

Updated May 28, 2013

Obsessive Shopper

I have to admit I was sort of against the idea, but rethinking it, it sounds really cool, although I think that having to explore the area first to have it as a hangout would be best! I unfortunately doubt it will happen, but if it did I know I would use it, and it would certainly cut down on te frustration or people just hanging out and talking in the traditionally crew-making areas.
Lady Windsor Rose
I have to admit I was sort of against the idea, but rethinking it, it sounds really cool, although I think that having to explore the area first to have it as a hangout would be best! I unfortunately doubt it will happen, but if it did I know I would use it, and it would certainly cut down on te frustration or people just hanging out and talking in the traditionally crew-making areas.

I'm glad you also think it sounds cool!
The funny thing about Gaia is the most fun I've ever had on it has been in a parking lot.

If we had zOMG's map, I think that would be the complete world experience most people overlooked from focusing on the game/quests/farming and not the world around them and hanging out with people.

Thank you for posting! :{D~
*throws confetti*
By the way! There was a significant poll recently asking users whether they liked hanging out in the virtual spaces. The current majority says YES and that Gaia should provide more updates for them! I adore hanging out in the virtual spaces. Can you imagine how awesome it would be if everyone had all of zOMG!'s map to hang out in? I'm repeating myself but I can't help it! It would simply be too awesome. <3
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