Ⓒαsтℓε Ⓖαια: Info for Annual Gaia Ball [walk in]

Will you be attending the Annual Ball?

OBVIOUSLY!	100.0%	[ 29 ]
Total Votes:			[ 29 ]

[Crystalloid]

Your tired feet are exhausted from trekking across the land all day. Where have they led you this time? You don't know, but it sure looks fancy, for before you there stands an impressive castle at the top of a gentle hill. Tall towers adorned with grand spires and multiple turrets can be seen rising up from its majestic walls. It is a typical castle, with its elegance seemingly torn straight out of a classic storybook.

You feel compelled to drag your feet onwards, despite your fatigue. When the trail finally ends, the castle doors suddenly swing open before you can even think of attempting to push them open. What's going on here? What is this castle doing here? There's only one way to find out; you step inside--

--and enter an elaborately decorated foyer! Tapestries and the usual suits of armour can be seen all the way down the hall. The castle's beauty is truly classic. An attendant rushes towards you.

"The ballroom is right this way! You're here to find out more about the Annual Gaia Ball, yes?"

You can only nod in slight confusion as you are whisked away to the ballroom, which is full of other guests from what seems to be every corner of Gaia. Enormous windows allow the room to swell with light, and the colourful stained-glass of the dome ceiling creates a wondrous array of light patterns on the dance floor. A long table of food can even be seen stretching across one side of the room.

The attendant smiles at you once more and says, "I hope you enjoy your visit here, at Castle Gaia. Now, tell me, what do you want to know about the Annual Gaia Ball?"

[Crystalloid]

Welcome to Castle Gaia! This thread serves as a place for Gaians to learn more about the Annual Gaia Ball, a completely user run event supported by the admins of Gaia. Ask any questions and we will gladly do our best to answer them for you. You can also do a little bit of roleplaying to practice for the upcoming ball, as well. Be sure to follow all the rules, of course, but we hope you have fun!

1) Follow Gaia TOS! This means NO CYBERING!

2) Respect other users at all times. Please, there is a difference between n00bs and newbies!

3) Please be literate; this means no chat/1337 (leet) speak or anything else like that. Proper spelling, grammar, and all that good stuff is highly valued here!

4) No spamming or unauthorized advertising. Please PM Crystalloid if you want to affiliate (aka advertise the RIGHT way).

5) Don't kill anyone or start a fight without gaining permission prior to doing so from all parties involved.

6) Please separate your OOC from your IC posts somehow.

7) Rules are subject to change.

[Crystalloid]

Q) What is the Annual Ball?
The Annual Ball is one of the largest user run events on Gaia Online. This tradition dates back to March 2003 when a user by the name of Misao decided to host a Ball for his fellow Gaians. The 1st Annual Ball was the first user run event on Gaia and received a great deal of support from the site administration. Since its conception, the Annual Ball has grown into a much larger celebration with more diversified themes each and every year. The Annual Ball has experienced many changes throughout the years, but the one thing that remains the same is the great friendly atmosphere that Gaians have come to love. The Annual Ball is considered a place where Gaians can come together to meet up with old friends and make new ones. This commemoration is deeply rooted in role play elements, but for many the Annual Ball is considered a wonderful excuse to hang out and share fond Gaia memories.

Q) How does it work?
This is a 3 day roleplaying event. There is usually a main host that oversees and coordinates the entire ball and then there are several rooms that fit under the main theme of the entire ball. Each of these rooms have their own co-hosts that run their respective rooms with their own mini themes. All main rooms will have their own thread in the ball's forum, but users are free to make their own threads in the forum, as well. These will not be official, though; the ball's official rooms will be stickied for convenience. Guests are encouraged to hang out in these rooms, but will not be limited to them.

Q) Do I have to make a character for this?
You don't have to create a character specifically just for this event; you can play as yourself or as a character you've created. Dressing up is also not mandatory, but it sure is a lot of fun if you decide to deck your avatar out for the appropriate theme!

Q) Is this an official event?
This isn't an official event from Gaia as it is user-run. We are merely supported by the admins (ie. the forums).

And for the LAST time. This is not the anniversary ball, that's in February and is an actual Gaia Online admin-run event.

Q) Will I get a free item?
That is a tricky question to answer since the first two years yielded items, yet the last few years didn't.

BUT it is safe to say that NO you will most likely not be getting items. The choice to give out items for this ball is purely up to the administration and we have no say in that (as far as anyone knows).

The Ball has plenty of games with a ton of neat prizes though, so don't worry you will still have a chance at some prizes.

Q)What have the past Balls been like?
The first annual ball, at the time were the Gaia population was tiny compared to what it is now, was held in Barton town and treated like a typical role playing ball thread. Then there was the surprised of the red rose corsage and the black bow ties!

The second year was much different, not only did we have our own forum, but multiple threads/rooms to hang out in each with a different atmosphere. This ensured that EVERYONE had at least one room they felt at home in. And then Gino decided to pass around G-pins, another huge surprise!

The third year was much like the second, multiple rooms and such. But this year had a theme that was planetary, but each of the rooms still had their own type of atmosphere.

The fourth year was held in a Guild, so it wasn't quite as busy and hectic as it is with the balls that had their own forums. It also had a story line that had you on the edge of your seat the whole way through!

The fifth year the ball had a chance to go public even though there were some troubles finding out who was host. Though the generations of Gaians had changed there were still many of the older generations that remembered the ball. The ball withstood many changes and continued to withstand the test of time.

The sixth annual ball was a chance for the user-run event to really shine with all the new members giving their ideas and helping out. Again a forum was open and this year instead of just a regular written plot the plot was drawn out Manga style giving a new spin to the ball.

The seventh annual ball was a mix of sticking with old traditions, and establishing new ones. A forum was open, and for the first time there was a chat room opened up for the ball staff to use. Along with the brand-new live closing ceremonies in Virtual Hollywood, it was a fun ball with some interesting changes.

The eighth annual ball was much the same as the year before, with a forum opened once again, the use of a chat room, and an after party held in Gaia's Towns. A good mix of dedicated veterans of the ball and newcomers worked together through the usual chaos of the event and made it a huge success.

The Ninth Annual Ball was very different then past years. This time around there were only 7 rooms, and we had raised the most ever for it's funding. Things went far more smoothly thanks to the changes in how to plan it Princess Angelishia Made. However due to perhaps a lack of advertising, or due to Gaia no longer being anywhere near as much about roleplaying as it used to be, attendance was down from years past. Still, those who did attend the Ball believe it to be the best one yet, with the fewest problems to deal with at last minute.

Taken from the 8th Annual Ball FAQ and added to by Crystalloid and Poyudi Hytori.

[Crystalloid]

The Annual Gaian Ball is an event made by and for the users of Gaia Online. It's about hanging out and having fun, RPing a bit and getting to know the other users in this huge community we call Gaia.

In 2003, Misao made the 1st ever Annual Ball. The admins were so impressed with what she'd done that they released the red rose corsage and black bow tie for her ball. Note that these were the first non-store items on Gaia ever!

In 2004, Misao refused to make the next annual ball convinced that the greed on Gaia was far too much to yield it. In light of that challenge, Setzer appeared. He made a topic in QnF calling for people to help out and make the 2nd Annual Ball. This year, instead of one host there were many each with their own distinct rooms. It gained so much popularity amongst the users that Setzer decided to ask for our own forum to party in. As some of you know, the answer was yes. This was the first time Gaia had ever opened a Forum up for a user run event. Really this ball is extraordinary. Not only that, but again the admins seemed to be impressed and decided to release the G-pins (much to everyone's surprise since we (the hosts) didn't think there would be ANY items involved.

In 2005, it was that time again. Setzer passed the torch onto Razumi Yazura to host the 3rd Annual Ball since Setz thought that it would be best to change the main hosts every year (a very wise decision). That year we developed a theme which was planetary. All the rooms were based off of planets, but they each had their own underlying themes. Again the ball gained popularity and of course we asked for a forum. But this time we were getting the mansion! This of course was the first and last time the mansion was going to be opened for a User event. No items this year, but it was still a HUGE success!

In 2006, the 4th Annual Ball was hosted in a guild , due to unforseen complications, and the fact that the admins didn't want to open up the mansion for the ball. The slim staff of 16 worked day and night a mear two months before the official date of the ball, to keep this seemfully dying tradition alive. No official host was named this year, and command was shared between all those who were involved. Needless to say it was a quiet year that year, but it was the first ball that had a plot totally made by the users! Quiet, but still a success and fun!

In 2007, Leyna hosted this year's ball and the moderators allowed the ball to have its own forum for the 5th Annual Ball for the public to join in on the fun. The Ball's theme this year was Elements and it was quite exciting being able to make it public once more to a new generation of Gaians. It was a huge success and helped to open up the Ball to more people to help.

In 2008, with the Ball so successful as the year before everyone wanted to make this year's the biggest and best of them all. This year's host was chosen to be Freaksrus! Again for the 2nd time in a row the Ball was able to successfully gain a forum for the 6th Annual Ball. The ball was able to gain new ideas with the publicity of the last year and the ball's theme was chosen to be Time Periods after a quick change. Despite being a previous theme chosen for the 2nd Annual Ball all that participated had a ton of fun especially with a fun twist on the plot and the Ball's first time have it drawn out Manga style!

In 2009 Dolly14 was the host, and she created a fantasy world, with a fairy tale themed 7th Annual Ball! The ball brought in a ton of new guests and featured some of the prettiest layouts! Each room embodied a different genre, from a magnificent castle to a wild underwater scene!

In 2010, hosting responsibilities were passed between Valiae, xTrueBlissx, and Psycho Sabs due to real life complications and generally busy lives! The 8th Annual Ball was greek mythology themed! It featured a highly interactive plot with evil chaos goddess Eris going into rooms and messing with guests and NPCs.

In 2011, We had seven rooms to embody each of the sins and their virtue counterparts. We had an interactive plot for guests to participate in, and lots of extravagant prizes! We of course got our own forum for the event again. (Link to 9th Annual Ball Forum.) And the whole event was hosted by our lovely Princess Angelishia.


From 8th Annual User Run Ball FAQ and added to by Crystalloid. Then Edited by Poyudi Hytori to reflect the 9th Ball being over.

[Crystalloid]

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Links In

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[url=http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/barton-town/castle-gaia-information-hub-for-the-annual-gaia-ball/t.74069955/][img]http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x382/annualballslothroom/80300ba6.png[/img][/url]

[Crystalloid]

[SPECIAL WINTER EVENT!]

It's that time of year again, when the holidays are celebrated and family and friends get together and have parties. You have Yule, Christmas, Hanukka, Kwanzaa and to end it is New Years. Well it's the same for us spirits as well. You all Celebrate us and we all get together and party as well.

I am the Winter queen and at my palace you are all welcome to party and have a good time. My friends the Holly King, Father Christmas, Lamplighter, and Nguzu Saba will help us ring in the new year, the new year baby!

So come and join the fun. We will have contests and games to play and plenty of roleplaying as well.

[Crystalloid]

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