Advertisements and Sponsorships

[[ .NK. ]]

- Okay, first of all, thanks a lot for yet another misleading announcement that forces one of your sponsors down our throats. Really, you're doing a fantastic job of making me not want to click announcements anymore. Maybe I don't care about Skittles (or at least on Gaia). Maybe I don't want to support that sponsorship.

But you give me no damn choice. I HAVE to.

And now it's part of the Easter event? Wonderful, now I'm put off of events too. It's bad enough that last Halloween, instead of our usual candy collected from NPCs, we got a bunch of stupid Skittles. But now, Skittles are a huge part of one of our annual events? Really? Is this really where you're headed? Are you that desperate for money that you have to ultimately ruin the event?
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm glad that it's not our only event. I'm glad that it's not required, but come on, Gaia. You guys aren't hurting that bad and I know it, so please, for the love of all that is holy, stop shoving your sponsors down our throats.

This is exactly what you promised wouldn't happen. Lanzer has said time and again that you guys wanted to keep the sponsors optional, and would make sure they weren't intrusive, but that was nothing but another lie. Because, allow me to repeat: They're no longer optional. Click an announcement and open wide, because it'll be shoved down your throat without warning. And now you can look forward to them as part of your events, too.

What next? A Skittles banner at the top? (Where the Easter event banner is now). [Copy/pasted from the thread I made in SF.]

- Thank you Gaia! You've done an awesome job with the sponsorships lately and I appreciate it. While I personally don't like the looks of the new Sonic game (not that I can play it anyways xD) I love that you guys are getting us sponsorships that your users actually like. Halo and Sonic were great sponsorships to go with. :3 Absolutely no complaints here. (Gasp, shock, horror and such.)
Thank you to Fleep for letting us know about this!

- I've gotten several virus threats from Gaia lately. Loads of people are experiencing redirects, too, to dating sites (Blackpeoplemeet.com), Victoria's Secret, and god knows what else. I know we can report these things, but the reporting system just isn't something that your average user can do. You guys need to monitor this stuff as well. And you can't really report redirects anyways as the source is unclear.  

[[ .NK. ]]

Reserved.  

[[ .NK. ]]

Reserved.  

[Andromeda Phoenix]

Before my router's firewall kicks up again, I just liked to say that my sister did activate it today. I've only been able to get on for five-30 minutes at a time before it blocks it again. I can only assume that's it's something from gaia, since it's the only site Gaia is blocking and if my sister had set it to block GaiaOnline specifically I wouldn't be able to get on at all. It's really strange 'cause I've got both adblock and noscript and yet I'm still blocked. Is Gaia really not that safe?  

[Flying Dicks]

I dislike the method of advertisement used for this sponsor, the latest skittles thing, but I like the contacts item, so perhaps it evens out.. or it would, if the event worked for me. I try to go past the arrow, and it just runs me into the wall.  

[rimedragona]

In order to get into the game area, you have to eat skittles (click the button) until the meter in the lower right corner is filled. Kind of like the applause meter in the... gaia prom? The one with the runway, anyway. Once the meter is filled, the area opens up for you.

I guess I don't mind being taken straight to the profile of the sponsor. You still don't have to participate in the trailer watching/games, so I don't see what the problem is. You still had to see a huge banner in the annoucement post before. It's not anymore difficult to close out of that window than it is the annoucement window with the link to the profile.

Now, instead of having to go back to the announcement to start the 'quest' again, I can just click on the appropriate button in the profile if I feel like doing something again.

As for the game itself... I guess it just makes no sense to me why the Easter Bunny wants me to bring him skittles. And the game has the tendency to get the character hung up on the scenery, so it makes it harder/more frustrating than it has to be. But all in all, the items rock, so I don't really care if it's skittles or Aunt Bertha's miracle hand creme.d

Also, I have a feeling the sponsor has some control over what sorts of things go into the sponsorship. Skittles must have paid out the wazoo to be a part of the event.  

[O.T.L.]

rimedragona

In order to get into the game area, you have to eat skittles (click the button) until the meter in the lower right corner is filled. Kind of like the applause meter in the... gaia prom? The one with the runway, anyway. Once the meter is filled, the area opens up for you.

Untrue. As long as you go into the Skittles World, the arrow on the bottom right should be available to take you to the game, regardless of if you click the meter or not. (I know, because I've never filled up that meter, but was able to get to the game.)  

[Nanenna]

O.T.L.

rimedragona

In order to get into the game area, you have to eat skittles (click the button) until the meter in the lower right corner is filled. Kind of like the applause meter in the... gaia prom? The one with the runway, anyway. Once the meter is filled, the area opens up for you.

Untrue. As long as you go into the Skittles World, the arrow on the bottom right should be available to take you to the game, regardless of if you click the meter or not. (I know, because I've never filled up that meter, but was able to get to the game.)

I think it depends on whether or not the people in the room before you unlocked it or not first. I've gone into the game a few times and I've had to fill it up a couple times and I haven't had to a couple times.  

[O.T.L.]

Nanenna

O.T.L.

rimedragona

In order to get into the game area, you have to eat skittles (click the button) until the meter in the lower right corner is filled. Kind of like the applause meter in the... gaia prom? The one with the runway, anyway. Once the meter is filled, the area opens up for you.

Untrue. As long as you go into the Skittles World, the arrow on the bottom right should be available to take you to the game, regardless of if you click the meter or not. (I know, because I've never filled up that meter, but was able to get to the game.)

I think it depends on whether or not the people in the room before you unlocked it or not first. I've gone into the game a few times and I've had to fill it up a couple times and I haven't had to a couple times.

I almost always create a new room, so there haven't been any people in the room before me.  

[Philosophical Waterfowl]

Every now and then, I do the Daily Chance, just for the hell of it...

And HAPPY DAY! Today, all the Daily Chance things are filled with skittles and have rainbows coming out of them, and give out a skittles item. ******** nice gaia <<

 

[Chaos Blue]

That daily chance only gave me one skittles item.

How long is this going on, and why aren't we informed? Oh wait. Don't answer that.  

[Andromeda Phoenix]

*cough* Gaia is officially beginning to look so bad that the creators of skittles is the only company who wants to come near Gaia with a 10-foot pole to get a sponsor deal *cough*

I don't know if the above is true, but it sure looks like it.
That is all.  

[Siarnaq]

@ Chaos Blue: I noticed it when I logged in today, so it's been less than a day.

For the second part: since when has Gaia announced stuff these days? rolleyes  

[GraphiteHelix]

*watches video and gets shoes* ...probably THE worst sponsorship ever. What next, Gilette's 5-blade razor featuring John Cena and Mr. McMahon? sweatdrop All that torture for shoes I probably won't even think of wearing.  

[Nanenna]

I never bother actually watching the videos for items/gold. I just... let it play in one window (they always open in a separate window/tab for me) while I do something else in another one. Since I usually have the sound off it doesn't really affect me.