Your Marketing Team is Driving Gaia to the Ground [Updated]

What is your biggest concern regarding Gaia Online?

Cash Shop Centralization	26.7%	[ 162 ]
Lack of Site Updates and Bugs/Glitches	13.7%	[ 83 ]
Desensitization to Items	4.1%	[ 25 ]
Quality Control	3.1%	[ 19 ]
Reused / Recycled Events	1.5%	[ 9 ]
Lack of Staff Communication	3.0%	[ 18 ]
Gold Generators and Inflation.	43.7%	[ 265 ]
Other (Please post)	4.1%	[ 25 ]
Total Votes:			[ 606 ]

[SpawnOfCheese]

I started gaia in 2004 (on a different account) and I was really active until about 2006, until I was about 12. I came on today for the first time in a little over a year, but I haven't had any kind of activity in a long time, I would just pop in to mess with my avatar every now and then when I'm bored.

I came on and decided to snoop around in the marketplace cuz I had (what I thought) was quite a bit of gold, but boy was I surprised! It was ridiculous how high the prices were! I luckily had a bunch of old items on another account. I sold all of em and sent the money to this account. I was pretty happy to be able to afford a pair of wings, especially since when I was active NO ONE could afford wings! But its still pretty sad.

I remember when I reached my first 10k and how excited I was, and I remember when I used to SEND LETTERS to get monthly collectibles!!! And monthly collectibles were a BIG deal! I remember when Towns beta first came out!! It's just so crazy, I bet its so hard for brand new users to get a good start on this website, and I be thats why a lot of kids end up spending real money. They see all the flashy items and cool avatars and thing, WOW! I wanna be a part of this!

[SpawnOfCheese]

cute_slasher

I was seeking for an explanation on why people are now willing to buy Old crumpled newspapers for 2.7M+ after I have just opened my accounted from hiatus....................and I think this post have just made me realise the severity of this problem.

Few months ago, I didnt really mind what was going on as I wasn't knowledgeable enough to criticise it. I was on and off. Now, I realised....

My hard earned 1M gold that I was proud of and earned from staying up countless late nights collecting items from fishing, towns etc is basically useless. Everything in the marketplace seems to have added 3+ extra zeros in the price and it is really discouraging old timers to come back to Gaia.

I used to remember those days when having 500,000g was actually worth praising for.

I really did try to stay quiet about this, hoping that they were just going through some hiccups...

I cannot say much. All I say is Good Luck Gaia.

I know exactly what you mean. sad

[Quotesy]

/braces self for Gaia's death

[xNoodleDreams]

Wonder if its as bad as IMVU. i heard non-paying users can't really do anything on that site anymore w/o spending some of that dough.

[The Tentacle Lover]

I pretty much quit, but I check back now and again. I can't believe how far they jumped the gold gen amount up. Like...really? Another nail in the coffin.

[Emma de Lacroix]

Wow, so now there's a gold generator able to grant (per unit) 1/170 of the total marketplace revenue.
That's... pretty bad, Gaia.

[Euphonious Cantabile]

Noodle Dreamsx-

Wonder if its as bad as IMVU. i heard non-paying users can't really do anything on that site anymore w/o spending some of that dough.

As a former IMVU user who quit in 2007, it's true that you really can't do much on that site without paying.

[Dris Shalee]

don't feel like typing it again, so...

Dris Shalee

Ok, Gaia, let's talk about Zimbabwe. I hoped it wouldn't come to this because I often defended your possible business plans until now (as it appears there is no plan any of us can see), but anyway, back to Zimbabwe... Long story short: their 1 trillion dollar bill marked the height of their inflation. Now I'm no economist, but in case you didn't know, Zimbabwe isn't doing too well, and their money is nearly worthless pretty much everywhere on Earth. Basically, Gaia, you're becoming a model for Zimbabwe's economy now (minus the violence), which is, like, totally not fabulous. That 1 trillion dollar bill is currently worth around $5 USD.... Which, by the way, is about the value you place on 1 trillion gold in the Cash Shop right now. Way to go, Gaiababwe!

[Kara Winters]

I don't know what I'm more weird-ed out by, the fact jumped to 1 tril off the bat, or the fact they finally stopped putting in those silly fake discounts.

Granted, there's something a bit odd about how the "packs" to lack a better term are being divided up. I would almost prefer the packs to the piles right now (even though I don't buy). It doesn't feel as concrete for some reason?

[Marina Maeisia]

Dris Shalee

don't feel like typing it again, so...

Dris Shalee

Ok, Gaia, let's talk about Zimbabwe. I hoped it wouldn't come to this because I often defended your possible business plans until now (as it appears there is no plan any of us can see), but anyway, back to Zimbabwe... Long story short: their 1 trillion dollar bill marked the height of their inflation. Now I'm no economist, but in case you didn't know, Zimbabwe isn't doing too well, and their money is nearly worthless pretty much everywhere on Earth. Basically, Gaia, you're becoming a model for Zimbabwe's economy now (minus the violence), which is, like, totally not fabulous. That 1 trillion dollar bill is currently worth around $5 USD.... Which, by the way, is about the value you place on 1 trillion gold in the Cash Shop right now. Way to go, Gaiababwe!

Truly, that $1 trillion dollar bill was a redenomination, or basically a slashing of zeroes from the currency. 1 dollar in the end was worth 10^25 (10 octillion) of the original ZWD, so that $1 trillion note was probably...

We're only on hundreds of trillions now, but I see quadrillions coming in the next week at this rate...

[Nova0437]

Marina Maeisia

Did... did it just DOUBLE in a week?!

What the hell?!
Well, not double, but I swear I was here sometime after last Tuesday and it was "only" like 71 trillion.

*sighs*
Gaia.

We need some sort of double facepalm icon. Like Janus, but facepalming.

[LexxiSin]

It was 171 trillion last night and not even 24 hours it's risen again...

[Sombra Mapache]

The Gaian economy is a joke these days (and a particularly unfunny one at that). So much damage has been done through the ineptitude of the folks in charge that the only way to 'fix' it at this point would be to abandon gold as the primary virtual currency and introduce a replacement.

I genuinely feel bad at anyone who hasn't just completely given up on the idea of acquiring items on here. There's just no way to keep up with the inflation anymore unless you're shelling out a ton of money every month for the gold generators. It honestly feels like current users are being milked for whatever the company can get out of them before they decide to close shop, take the money and run because they've killed any chance they had at drawing in new members with all of this.

[Rainbow Unicorn Sayuri]

I've been active since 2004. Used to have one of ever donation item from the minis down to the 2013 stuff. I waited all those years to sell them, having made a decent bit of wise market decisons back when I was extremely ill in 2004 and had no school for almost three months.

it was about a week before gaia started releasing all they crazy rigs and gold generators. I decided it was time to sell everything, hold one last art event and then just enjoy the sight for roleplay and pokemon battles.

I was so proud of myself, I made almost a billon gold. All of that work over the years and I'd finally get to go comission all those really high end artists I'd been dreaming about. My investments would pay off.

And then the release starting happening and I lost all my value. All of it. And there was nothing I could do about it either. I just look back on it and laugh honestly.

This site is absolute trash any more in terms of the economy and the ways things are handled. I wish it had ended differently but now I wouldn't have a single care if the site shut down tomorrow. I think we'd all be better off honestly.

[pZilla]

I have been a member on this site since it's conception in 2003 though this particular account is only circa 2005. I fear I must concur with your initial post on this thread. Inflation within the Gaian economy has gotten completely ridiculous and the constant bombardment with price-slashed "real money" mongering advertisements has become more than taxing on game play, I'm sure, for all players and not just we first generation players. I can also see why they would re-release some of the original donation items as they had become more scarce and heavily inflated, but honestly, everyone kind of understood that factuality was merely a testament to the first generation of players generosity in donating. I feel like constantly doing this is not only devaluing our initial acts of kindness but also the game as well. Honestly why strive to play in game to get the new items when you know that they are just going to be re released to the point of devaluing the original?