SIGN!
A site like this lives and breathes by plots. The removal of such and turning it into an over glorified forum and advertisement site would be heinous. Not that I mind free items for shows and movies I probably will never watch - the free items have their value. Not that I care that the quests are pretty lame - who's complaining about an easy way to make some gold or get a free item? Not me. I am however first and foremost a writer and an artist ... my love for a site lives and dies by how they a site looks and feels. If I get the feeling that its just a place for some corporate behemoth to make moolah off of me, then I'm unlikely to want to play or hang out. If it inspires me to roleplay, obsess over the plot, or gab with others about the plot and its npc's then I am VERY likely to return again and again. I guarantee you this, it will make a difference as to whether or not I buy anything digital or tangible from that site. So you see, folks, to me, no matter how good the art is ... if there is no good writing, plot, or something of interest available to me, I would most likely wander off from the site. Period. I have abandoned other sites that were more well known than gaia because the plots sucked and there was too many advertisements. (The hated yellow site come to mind? Especially after a certain company that rhymes with gizzards of the toast got a hold of it?)
This is my declaration of Gaia-pendance! Save the plots! Keep me interested! (and would it kill them to give us plot related items to grab at? xd )
Signed,
Es