Don't your users matter? Dev replies; More replies please!

[Pyfe]

SaraWhiteWolf

walloftext

You've got a bit of brown on your nose, my dear.

Anyway, avatars are what this site is made of. It's where the profit comes from, and the corporation recognizes it. Duh.

[A Cats Curiosity]

Lets all calm down.Its not gaias fualt why the zomg wouldn't come out.Infact i kinda blame the hackers,spammers, and botters.The whole reason why they tell us not to hack,spam or bot is becuase when you do the following like hacking into the system it makes a way in for other unexpected things to get in.Then thats when glitches form.They had to keep moving the date that the zomg would be becuase the glitches would mess the game up.So stop blaming gaia and think about what the hackers are doing.I mean you will make this whole furom for gaias mistakes but not one single furom for the REASONS why gaia glitches even exist.Just calm down and be patient the whole reaon why they keep updating gaia is becuase unpateint people get bored to easily.

[FenrisHellhound]

Hackers? they are to blame for MOST but gaia is to blame for the Rest no?i know how to hack even go to a site that teaches hacking But I've never(and Will never) hack gaia even tho i can see its Weak Spots

[A Cats Curiosity]

OK everyone lets just think of it this way.This should be the answers to your questions if you have any other questions just pm me.:
The reason why the zomg hasn't came out yet:Glitches are the reason glitches can actally give people ways to hack and ect.
The reason why mcs are kinda dumb:They are trying to make everyone happy but it seems unpatient people cant wait and thats why they dont have enough time to make the mcs cool like they used to be.
ummm idk the rest of the questions that lady asked XD just pm me for answers people ^^

[Mia Maxwell]

[ .NK. ]

- Advertisements and Sponsorships.

- Work harder to get rid of the "illegal" ads. These are the ones over PG-13, the ones that get in the way of posting (the Circuit City ads), the ones with music, and the pop ups. I've seen the process for reporting these ads, and it's something that your average user won't be able to do, or want to do. It's a long, complicated process. Let mods work on them while browsing.

I found one of these ads for the first time a few weeks back on another account of mine. Very annoying considering my main account was banned almost six months ago for 'inappropriate content'... which I've never posted anything of the sort. I've yet to hear anything back... and it happened during the glitch where people were able to hijack accounts via the various game rooms. Was a victim of this glitch? Most likely... but nothing since the glitch announcement. NOTHING from Gaia in the way of a response.

[ .NK. ]

- This one is extremely annoying. Please fix the crappy inventory system! A lot of us can't even change our avatars anymore. I have over 5 pages of shirts alone, and the loading time between each page is extremely slow, and by the time you get to the next tab or page, you've forgotten what was on the previous one. We with large inventories have been having problems changing our avatars for nearly a year, or even more, now. It's getting old, fast. In addition, there are a lot of us that are intent on having our inventories in perfect order. We spend hours perfecting our inventories, but when we equip things, they're automatically moved to the bottom, which annoys us to no end. Those that change their avatars daily will be pulling their hair out by now, trying to keep things in order.

The first time this happened to me, I completely spazzed. My inventory is now officially a mess on all my accounts... and I have a large inventory on several of them. Not nearly as large as 5 pages of shirts alone, but it's getting there... and it's SO difficult to find things when they're not ordered the way I want them. Why bother with the organizer at all? Plus, sometimes, the organizer glitches out and moves the wrong item! Sometimes, if I'm moving a lot of items in one sitting, I have to refresh the page to make sure something else didn't get messed up.

[ .NK. ]

- Homes is also overdue for an update. There are glitches to be fixed as well. Let us interact with our furniture. We could turn on/off TVs and lights. Live-arrange our homes (Habbo Hotel style, doing it while people are in the home), sit on furniture, lay on furniture (don't even bother saying that it will promote cybering. Users that would cyber do not need encouragement - they'll do it regardless), etc.

Let's see... maybe the glitch that prevents wall tiles from showing in the homes preview or when you enter the home in Towns? Despite refreshing, clearing, and rebuilding your home several times to try and get them to show?

[ .NK. ]

- You should always watch your moderators somehow to make sure they know what they're doing, what with the disgusting amount of site wide bannings as of late. We are tired of being afraid to do anything on the chance that we'll get banned for something we're not aware that we did wrong. Not everyone cheats, hacks, and exploits glitches. Some people don't even know what hacks or glitches are. You should also watch and make sure your moderators aren't corrupt. I'm not saying that any are, but it's a good thing to be watchful of.

[ .NK. ]

- Bannings

- Though this somewhat goes hand in hand with moderation, we have a big concern about the mass bannings. We should not be afraid of participating in the website, fearing that we'll be banned when we've done nothing wrong. Mass bannings should not happen unless you have substantial evidence that it wasn't just your screw up. On top of that, you should be able to immediately unban those there were unfairly banned. To ban someone that was truthfully innocent, and then never unban them is wrong, especially when it's usually a committed, paying customer. This leads us to further think you don't care about your loyal, dedicated users. If you think someone has a hacked or botted item, don't immediately ban them, but try to figure out where the item came from first. A lot of people - even those that pay the insane cash shop prices for you - are banned unfairly over this every day. We should not be afraid to accept generosity. Now I'm hearing stories about users that were banned unfairly, and are being told that they'll never be unbanned, even if found to be innocent. What is that? That's not fair at all.

Maybe try getting back to your users the first time around to any kind of report... whether it's a "I was hacked" report, or a "Why was I banned for no reason?" report. I've been unable to access my main account for almost six months. I tried contacting Gaia via the inquiry e-mail address and the site feedback form several times. I have YET to get anything resembling a response... not even an automated email to show that my correspondance was received. Talk about feeling unimportant and ignored. I've been active on this site since 2004, and I have spent hundreds of dollars on MCs (donation letters!) and even real life gear for myself (tshirts, plushies, etc). I bought Gaia Cash... I spent it in the Cash Shop on things. I probably would have done the same for the Aquarium if my account hadn't been wrongfully banned and my inquiries ignored. I have waited quietly long enough and I'm tired of it.

[ .NK. ]

- The Layout

- We won't get into how we feel about the new layout. It has very much lost it's anime roots. But at the very least, could you please, please, please, please give us our little white wing back? Someone, not so long ago, made a very nice new logo that was just like our current one, but with the wing. A little bit of Gaia died when you denied him. In fact, he left the site completely, and he was an awesome user that dedicated so much time and effort to this site. It was not at all an impossible request. Five minutes of editing, tops.

I miss the Rock Puppy. The new look is too utilitarian. Granted, I'm no longer embarassed to surf the site at work because it doesn't look overly unusual on my screen... but I kind of liked the cuteness. It's one of the things that drew me to the site to begin with... through a referral link on a friend's blog, mind you. I miss getting referrals.

[Vampire Lemons]

fullmoonlightblood

OK everyone lets just think of it this way.This should be the answers to your questions if you have any other questions just pm me.:
The reason why the zomg hasn't came out yet:Glitches are the reason glitches can actally give people ways to hack and ect.
The reason why mcs are kinda dumb:They are trying to make everyone happy but it seems unpatient people cant wait and thats why they dont have enough time to make the mcs cool like they used to be.
ummm idk the rest of the questions that lady asked XD just pm me for answers people ^^

No offense, but if one was to PM someone to ask these questions, they'd PM someone from Gaia Staff for an answer, not you. They're the only ones who know what goes on behind the scenes, not regular users like us. O:

[Lilium]

Vampire Lemons

fullmoonlightblood

OK everyone lets just think of it this way.This should be the answers to your questions if you have any other questions just pm me.:
The reason why the zomg hasn't came out yet:Glitches are the reason glitches can actally give people ways to hack and ect.
The reason why mcs are kinda dumb:They are trying to make everyone happy but it seems unpatient people cant wait and thats why they dont have enough time to make the mcs cool like they used to be.
ummm idk the rest of the questions that lady asked XD just pm me for answers people ^^

No offense, but if one was to PM someone to ask these questions, they'd PM someone from Gaia Staff for an answer, not you. They're the only ones who know what goes on behind the scenes, not regular users like us. O:

To add to Vampire Lemons' comment...

Furthermore, regarding your reason for the MCs being lame, you are partly correct in that they are trying to please too many people, but very incorrect on the time limit. They have always had at least one month to go from idea to design to creation of the pixel art and poses. There is no excuse for one month coming out with two really lame items with limited poses, then suddenly pumping out THREE items in one month with MULTIPLE poses that require you to purchase multiple letters (anywhere between 6 and a whopping 10! Over $20 worth!).

No, if the MC's are lame it's because they're being damn lazy. If they "need more time" they shoudl brainstorm in advance and not on the fly every month.

[SmurfQueen279]

Past__Rememberence

Vampire Lemons

Past__Rememberence

Rellik Kameo

While I can't speak for most people in the same year I joined back in 03. I support this thread. I read most of the comments so far and agree with them. 3nodding

My original account is an '03er too and...well...while I agree with some of them, other comments just seem to be...about change.

I agree, gaia is focusing too much of its energy on money. But let's think of what it takes to run a system like this. There are so many users here. Gaia is going on its...what, 5-6th year? Do you know many websites that lasted that long?

Plus, we have to consider employees/artists need payment too and system maintenance.

Another thing, the cash cards are sometimes very handy. I know back in '03 (When I was...14-ish) I wouldn't be able to send money to them for DI (Donation Items) so I was forced to not do anything. Well, they've made it easier to get gold now-a-days....then again you have inflation. But the point is that there was only one way to get the good items back then too: Donation items.


Another point guys: GAIA IS A COMPANY.

They are a company. And some of the people complaining are people who pay. As a business, they are losing both potential and actual paying customers, and this is a bad thing. We want Gaia to grow, and we want it to keep going.

But we also want them to rethink some of the bad choices they've made. As I said before, some of the new choices have been great ideas, but executed badly. Instead of trying to shoehorn their choice into working the way it was planned to work, they obviously need to take a step back, say "this isn't working guys. What should we do to fix it so we don't lose users or money?" and then try again with a new choice. Spending thousands of dollars are a feature that the majority of the site hates is obviously a bad choice. Tweaking the feature so the majority that hates it begins to see it in a more favorable light would be a good choice. Continue to release new things for that feature without making those somewhat minor tweaks could be considered a bad choice because while the minority who like it are using it, the majority still hates it, and still asks for it to be either changed or gotten rid of comlpetely. And their hatred of the feature spills into other things, and eventually word of mout advertising turns from "Gaia is great!" to "If you go to Gaia, they'll suck your wallet dry", which will in turn hurt Gaia even more. Word of Mouth is far more influential than people think, as has been stated here before.

TL;DR: Some of the recent choices need to be rethought and modified to prevent losing money.

huh. Have you seen the number of users going down?

I've seen it go up these past years. Crazy

Of course the number of users hasn't gone down. You don't get it, do you? When someone leaves gaia, their account in not exactly deleted, unless they delete it themselves. I know of several inactive accounts on gaia. Don't try to make yourself look smarter than us with your sarcastic remarks, when you don't really know what you're talking about.

[ilnu]

Lilium

Vampire Lemons

fullmoonlightblood

OK everyone lets just think of it this way.This should be the answers to your questions if you have any other questions just pm me.:
The reason why the zomg hasn't came out yet:Glitches are the reason glitches can actally give people ways to hack and ect.
The reason why mcs are kinda dumb:They are trying to make everyone happy but it seems unpatient people cant wait and thats why they dont have enough time to make the mcs cool like they used to be.
ummm idk the rest of the questions that lady asked XD just pm me for answers people ^^

No offense, but if one was to PM someone to ask these questions, they'd PM someone from Gaia Staff for an answer, not you. They're the only ones who know what goes on behind the scenes, not regular users like us. O:

To add to Vampire Lemons' comment...

Furthermore, regarding your reason for the MCs being lame, you are partly correct in that they are trying to please too many people, but very incorrect on the time limit. They have always had at least one month to go from idea to design to creation of the pixel art and poses. There is no excuse for one month coming out with two really lame items with limited poses, then suddenly pumping out THREE items in one month with MULTIPLE poses that require you to purchase multiple letters (anywhere between 6 and a whopping 10! Over $20 worth!).

No, if the MC's are lame it's because they're being damn lazy. If they "need more time" they shoudl brainstorm in advance and not on the fly every month.

Yeah I see your point. Gaia needs to make 2 items that are really cool and can stand alone by themselves. But could you imagine how cluttered avis would become if all of the poses were set down into just one? e.o

[LadyTimePiece]

...there are so many things that I want to say, I'm just trying to place them all in a single file line...

You reminded me of so many things that I was pissed off about with Gaia.

I loved so many things of old, all the anime, the nicer users(maybe they were nicer then, maybe not...who knows), the working your a** off and finally getting what you wanted.

I still remember the first item I got when I worked my a** off to get the "expensive" items.

The "leather collar with cross." I still have it. I never sold it, traded it, nothing... it's the same one. I feel if I ever lose it in anyway it'll be the last peice of Gaia.

I am afraid of losing this account. I'm afraid of moving, breathing, or reading anything wrong. It sucks when the older users are banned. Speaking of which, the new poll was astounding... 2003 and 2004 were the least amount of users left on Gaia... and look how far behind they were from 2008, 2005 even!

I hate to say it, but I liked the old Gaia better. I refrained from saying anything. I've NEVER made well with change. Really, it's my worst enemy. So I stayed silent to avoid from sounding like a broken record playing a song that was never popular in the first place.

I feel so unsettled right now.
I want to say so much.

I did spend money on some of the Cash items... evolving and not.
I still like some of them.
...but it's not the same.

I don't think I'm going to buy anymore. If everything costs money, then what's the use? Everything just looks the same after a while.

A week ago I pictured the down-fall of Gaia. I remembered seeing myself leave then coming back years later to sell something and the marketplace wasn't even moving. Think about it...trying to sell a nitemare scarf for 1g and no one is even on to freak out about that, it doesn't even sell.



I thank you for typing out all that you did in the first page. I'm not sure I could have done the same. I would have gotten all perfectionist on it, gotten too frustrated, or lord knows what else.

Do you want to know the real reason I joined gaia? The real reason I stayed on? Why I'm still here?

In 2005 I started having horrible panic attacks. I suffered day in and day out, episode after episode. My whole life was one big nightmare, I woke up just to want to sleep again. The most positive thought I had was to dream again, but then I flipped the T.V. on one day. At first nothing changed, and then I found an anime show. As I watched I began to lose my reality, nothing mattered...and my anxiety slipped away. Suddenly, I wasn't fighting to live. You see, the only thing that kept the panic attacks from racking me to the bone was anime. It sounds insane, it's sounds like a large stretch, but it was true. Eventually, I got medication for the attacks, but that's not the point.
The point is, I found Gaia through word of mouth and got addicted to it because it took me away from reality.

This will sound like a sob-story, and some may make fun, hell, maybe some will have it in common, but I had a very abusive childhood. I suffered all forms of abuse until the year of my graduation, 2006, but it didn't end the trauma. I've been going to therapy trying to refind myself and some days I'll come here to take my mind off the stress. And then I get these users that cyber, or do something else stupid to add to the annoyance... It's a small example, I'm sure there are more, but I'm probably running out of space.

Anyway, I hope things get better.
...because I'd hate to leave this place. I mean REALLY, I'd hate to leave this place.
And losing another old member, especially because we are already dwindling, is not something that Gaia can afford.

An older member of Gaia(2004)
Age: 21
Signing off...

[LadyTimePiece]

swarf

Vampire Lemons

Any feaure, to be honest. I'd personally like to know more about what's being done to make forums and guilds work better, but updates on what's up wth the Battle would be nice too.

Where would be the right place for this kind of info? Not really something for announcements, eh? But yeah journals aren't really enough.

Hell, make your own place for it. You know, like the Chatterbox is it's own place?

I think it's called a forum... I always get forum and thread mixed up...
Anyway.
Get that and lock it from other users, or have them talk...whatever, and that way, every one of the devs working on things can journal all in one place.

[Vampire Lemons]

PermeliaOpus

swarf

Vampire Lemons

Any feaure, to be honest. I'd personally like to know more about what's being done to make forums and guilds work better, but updates on what's up wth the Battle would be nice too.

Where would be the right place for this kind of info? Not really something for announcements, eh? But yeah journals aren't really enough.

Hell, make your own place for it. You know, like the Chatterbox is it's own place?

I think it's called a forum... I always get forum and thread mixed up...
Anyway.
Get that and lock it from other users, or have them talk...whatever, and that way, every one of the devs working on things can journal all in one place.

Forum would be the place. This is a thread, the place where threads go is the forum. ^^

[LadyTimePiece]

Vampire Lemons

PermeliaOpus

swarf

Vampire Lemons

Any feaure, to be honest. I'd personally like to know more about what's being done to make forums and guilds work better, but updates on what's up wth the Battle would be nice too.

Where would be the right place for this kind of info? Not really something for announcements, eh? But yeah journals aren't really enough.

Hell, make your own place for it. You know, like the Chatterbox is it's own place?

I think it's called a forum... I always get forum and thread mixed up...
Anyway.
Get that and lock it from other users, or have them talk...whatever, and that way, every one of the devs working on things can journal all in one place.

Forum would be the place. This is a thread, the place where threads go is the forum. ^^

Ohz. Okay. smile THank youuu! <3

[LadyTimePiece]

I kind of feel like they get mad at us when we get angry. Yeah, we sound like annoying little brats sometimes, but I guess it's because we take so long to say anything. I wish they'd stop jumping to the conclusion that we're whining.

I guess the biggest things that both of the sides needs to focus on are these two things:

1. Never assume, I learned this through out life
2. Communication, communication...if you don't have it, s**t hits the fan, people feel like eating small children...and no one knows why.