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Say what now? Yes, another topic I suppose I'm late in the game on...but Club Verge. It's always been notorious to me for being for those elite, nouveau riche. The uppercrust of Gaian society. An air of illusion surrounding it since its opening, I've never had a peek inside.

Until now.

And please, before we start, don't judge my money... sweatdrop
Yes, despite it all, I spent $200.00 of my taxes. The first time in 6 years, on Gaia. And thats quite the whopping amount.

Why? Couple reasons.
1) I feel the need to b***h. Now, I haven't bitched AT Gaia in years. Many moons. And back then, I bought donation items/monthly collectables. I figured, if I did my part, I had a right to complain if I didn't enjoy my experiece due to stupid decisions by upper management running the company.

So, I can now say I'm a customer. I feel like I earned a proper say and feedback.

2) Have you SEEN the freakin items lately?! Yeah, um aside from two...maybe three, recolors I bought all new items.

Anyways, I didn't even think about the little shack until I received a friendly PM from a disturbing slobberball in a collar telling me I was now in CLub Verge, linking me to the Guild and the store.

The little store annoyingly now takes up an extra quick-access spot under the Shops tab when I scroll and it is ALL up in mah face~! talk2hand *ohsnap*

But really, its nothing surprising. Cool store design, annoying animal mascot (when will they learn Rufus is the only well done talking animal? sweatdrop ) high GC prices, and an exclusive little niche hideout for its members.

Okay, now here's where I get mad.

Now, I'm going to start by telling you I'm not mad for myself. Oh no, I could care less about my little Club Verge membership. I was so used to never having it in the first place, and missed all its opening hype so it never really affected me.

But I said, what the heck, you never know this could be cool. I went in the Guild and checked things out.

Now, apparently, the guild is supposed to be where Gaians can interact and give direct feedback to the artists as to what new items and recolors they would like to see. Supposed to be some interaction here!

Yup, didn't see any of that. Lame, I thought. Then I read the little fine print:



So in all reality, they're just milking these customers who pay more for their ideas, and determining if something is a hit, they'll just make it. What a way to be lazy and slap these "V.I.P." customers in the face!

They pay out the a** for a membership, you don't interact and deliver, then you pretty much come out and say if you like THEIR ideas you'll make them?
If you're a V.I.P. customer, why the hell are you doing the ideawork for them?

Needless to say, it was around this particular time the charm of the place was quickly lost on me.

So, I explored the Guild forums. Now, I am not going to say the forums are the fault of the staff. Users are what they are. They post and make the experience. Buuuuuut.....what if I'm reading the complaint threads?

I won't quote topics or users, as thats strictly against they're rules (a pity, because there's some comedy gold in that place let me tell you) but I will tell you what a lot of the topics in that guild are ABOUT.

And thats a big fat heap of disappointment folks. Yup, even the Gaian uppercrust are getting shat on and feel like their feature is a broken and neglected.

Pity, because people who spend their money on this site really do need something as a reward. Discounts, exclusive items, staff interaction, it all sounded so good.

And now that I finally get to experience it, I see it for what it is. A sad little feature falling apart.
Hell, most members there don't even see the point of it anymore because the "exclusive items" the one thing they could see as cool, now gets torn apart because those items go into La Victoire after I think its what...a WEEK?

I mean, come on. Thats just assuming nobody wanted the items to be exclusive for use purposes. It's like advanced chance at that point, a marketing technique or perk purely in the name of vending on the marketplace.

How screwed up is that? stressed

So yeah, I feel bad for the people who are longtime members of Club Verge. As a new and surprised joiner, I really don't see any reason to try and do anything with it. Seems like a big waste of time to me.... sweatdrop

But what about you? Are you a member?
Maybe I'm wrong? Is it not a joke?

Let's discuss.