This is a game. Games are about fun. Not money.

[Bea Avelli]

Kitty Gnar-Gnar

Some people find online shopping to be cathartic.

I could not have said it better myself. Very elegant!

But to add substance for the sake of stimulated discussion: Having the option to make the active choice of whether or not you'll buy that extra collection of pixel artistry — and thereby support the continuing existence of this digital hypo-reality while still getting something directly in return, I might add — is quite possibly something to be treasured, not looked at with dismay. In a sense it comes down to responsibility and priorities, and it can actually be pretty educative. Helps you communicate with your gut feeling about what's worth what in various times and contexts. Catharsis and transformation of consciousness. I'm sure I make sense.

[Whip]

We don't have to pay money for access to items for avatars.

There's so many free and good items on Gaia, for quite a small (virtual) cost.

That, and even the cash items are available for gold, should someone choose to sell them. And there's not an item that can be bought for cash that hasn't at one point been sold for gold in the MP.

I haven't bought any cash since the last Black Friday sale, and I enjoy Gaia quite well!

[fernwrath]

Go get really high, post some random s**t on the internet, sober up, and I guarantee it will probably sound shitty and you'll regret it. And I'm not trying to use it as an excuse.. its just what happened. And I most certainly don't want everything handed to me. I just wanna be met halfway.

[fernwrath]

Or we could just drop it cause I'm tired and this is pointless.

[snejno]

i wish that i was able to buy items with gaia cash I mean with free gaia cash! but well it will never be a option for me ....and i am not able to spend all my reall life money that i so need (for first things like food and paying my rent) on just one item
Yeah i want to watch videos for free gaia cash but there is none for my country , no ads to win free cash from them so i am working to get gaia gold and buy my wished items with them.
Yeah it is hard yeah it takes so much time and it is not a fun sometimes. I do enjoy fishing and that i do time to time but i am forsed to play BG or collect paper from towns just to be able to buy few items every month. It takes me so much time to get to just one high priced item and i am so bad at gambling .
I want all those recolors and i ******** want to was able to use free gaia cash to buy them but some day ...someday i will get my wished item smile

[snejno]

VVhip

We don't have to pay money for access to items for avatars.

There's so many free and good items on Gaia, for quite a small (virtual) cost.

That, and even the cash items are available for gold, should someone choose to sell them. And there's not an item that can be bought for cash that hasn't at one point been sold for gold in the MP.

I haven't bought any cash since the last Black Friday sale, and I enjoy Gaia quite well!

yeah and salon durem have that new sweet addition for the hairstyles they are just so nice and are able to get by gaia gold I was so happy with that update smile

[Lulu the Mainspring Lady]

I swear to God, I want to punch people who keep calling Gaia a game directly in the spleen. They are wrong.

There is no grey area about it.
They are wrong.

I was going to say 'that aside', but it really is central to my point. Gaia is a forum site. Avatars are very, very optional, in that you 100% have the choice of what you do with it, if anything. You can make it naked and leave it that way if you please.

Complaining about not being able to afford items is pretty much akin to bemoaning a cashier at length because they won't let you walk out of the store without paying for your purchases.

Purchases that are frivolous things, like pig-shaped salt-shakers, that you are for some reason or another convinced that you deserve to have with no recompense.

... I can't be the only one that feels this way?

[Sagebomb]

Yeah Im glad there are not retail stores that sell games for money.

Its great living in a world where games are fun and free ^_^

In fact I dont know if Ive ever heard of anyone having to pay for something that would be considered fun.

[Calelith]

Kiyoura

Another person complaining about how they can't afford the pixels they want.

"Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wagh’nagl fhtagn."

[Ping of Death]

I'm one of those people who believe that spending money on things I enjoy is not a waste of money. After all I don't just earn money for food and other necessary expenses. You won't find a lot of hobbies nowadays that won't need money.

LOL @ Gaia being a "simple pleasure." It's not exactly a "simple" enjoyment when you use a computer, the Internet, and electricity to access Gaia.

[Exotic Tea]

Yes, its a game= people spend money on games.

[Lulu the Mainspring Lady]

Ping of Death

I'm one of those people who believe that spending money on things I enjoy is not a waste of money. After all I don't just earn money for food and other necessary expenses. You won't find a lot of hobbies nowadays that won't need money.

LOL @ Gaia being a "simple pleasure." It's not exactly a "simple" enjoyment when you use a computer, the Internet, and electricity to access Gaia.

I think that's a really important value to be damned sure you hold dear as you live your life.

Otherwise you run the risk of feeling bad for buying enjoyable things... which is really only useful when you do so to excess, I would think.

[Bibaxt]

♫♫ It kind of irks me when people say they're "playing" gaia, gaia's is mostly a forum site so you are posting in discussions not "playing" anything.

On to the subject.While I don't like how much attention is spent on the cash shop I'll still spend money in it from time to time.Money is there to be spent and some people like spending their money on something frivolous but it's very possible to not spend RL currency and still be active on gaia so I don't understand the distaste people grow to have for the site.

[Melisserz]

I disagree.

If you want an item that cost cash (and/or is only available in the USA because of copyright laws), you can buy it with gold from the MP.

Gaia is Free to Play, and you can get ANY item, if you put in the time and effort, with out spending a single cent. Heck, you can buy items with cash without spending any money that you earned at a RL job, thanks to GC offers.

I agree with you on the point that it shouldn't cost any RL cash to enjoy Gaia... And, guess what?!?!, it doesn't cost anything to enjoy this site. Simply because everything that you can enjoy is available WITHOUT spending any real money. Sure, you may have to save to get that CS item, but it's totally possible because Gaia has a free MP, so cash is unnecessary.

EDIT:: Also, I'd rather spend money on gaia, rather than pay $10 to see a movie (sans popcorn and bathroom breaks) at a theater, when I can spend less then $2 to let everyone (all 7 people, that's around $70 for everyone to see the same movie at a theater) in my house see the same movie a few months later as many times as they please in 24 hour.

[Starflec]

4 years ago they were selling items for money though. I don't see why this is at all surprising to you? Gaia has a huge website to maintain and can't exactly do that on zero profit.