'04 user here.
okay, ill start off with agreement.
i completely agree with you on the fact that Gaia staff push us off to deal with later.
PERFECT EXAMPLE:
2 years ago, i actually managed to scrounge up enough gold to buy a g-blade from the marketplace. a month or so later, i got fooled into trading it away for a starter item (yes,i deserved it). i filed a report, and waited a couple of days for it to hopefully get taken care of. it never happened in a couple of days...and i eventually forgot about it.
almost exactly 8 months after that incident happened, i get a PM saying WE HAVE RETURNED YOUR ITEM. i open it up and it basically tells me that they "tracked down" my g-blade and have given it back to me. and that was cool and all, but what was at the end of the message kinda ticked me off.
"Sorry it took so long, we've been trying to make changes to the site, among other things, and we hope you will accept our dearest apologies."
and im sitting here like, "its cool that i got my item, but what the truck is this s**t?"
so yes, i agree on the fact that Gaia staff saves us for later
i would like to add that the way Gaia is with the new layout, is somewhat acceptable.
of course i miss the old days with the original layout, but as the users get older, so does the site. i actually thought the old layout was boring.
Rally was in need of an update, though the Big Wheel was pushing it, and the "magic wall" in the northern corner of the wheel room needs to be dealt with. and scripters in both Rally and Towns ******** piss me off to no end.
i believe Gaia is "sold out."
when Gaia started advertising things through items, they started with anime, which was acceptable because almost everyone was into anime at that time, then it led to some video games, which was also acceptable. but what started the "selling out" in my opinion, was when Gaia advertised The Last Mimzy. first of all, the movie was geared to a younger audience, and no mater where you went on Gaia, all you saw was the last mimzy ads.
what truly "sold out" Gaia was the ******** MTV Virtual Hollywood event, store and their version of Towns. that also pissed me off to no end.
another thing, when you initially sign up for Gaia, it tells you that if you are under the age of 13, please refrain from signing up. i wish people would listen to this, cause its really hard to try to get to know someone, when the other person is 6 years old, i swear to you that ******** happened to me. i felt like a ***** especially since im 17 turning 18 this year.
im not the only 04 user left, but im the only one so far to think that some of the changes were for the better. im actually getting tired of people saying, "I wish Gaia was like the old days."
most of these people are just plain xenophobes that wont stop whining about the old days.
in the old days in real life, gas was 25 cents a gallon, now its over 3 bucks...and guess what, people complain about it, but ultimately you're going to have deal with it eventually.