An Open Letter to Gaia.

[One Winged Asuka]

Dion Necurat

Until I see evidence of 200k in 2010, when the numbers really suggest 70k, then I will remain skeptical.

Is is a fact that in 2007 we had an event for 100k users on at once, which already discredits the accuracy of the 2010 "high" of 77k.

The numbers only increased from that point over the summer of 2008 - 2010.

We started seeing decline at the end of 2010.

The botting purge was between 2008 - 2009.

During the day, or at night, the active user count still does not exceed 25k now in 2013.

That's over a 50% loss from 2010.

You can argue it all you want, but my point still stands.

Gaia shrunk. And it needs new users, new interest, and new ideas.

[Lord of the Vine]

One Winged Asuka

Dion Necurat

Until I see evidence of 200k in 2010, when the numbers really suggest 70k, then I will remain skeptical.

Is is a fact that in 2007 we had an event for 100k users on at once, which already discredits the accuracy of the 2010 "high" of 77k.

The numbers only increased from that point over the summer of 2008 - 2010.

We started seeing decline at the end of 2010.

The botting purge was between 2008 - 2009.

During the day, or at night, the active user count still does not exceed 25k now in 2013.

That's over a 50% loss from 2010.

You can argue it all you want, but my point still stands.

Gaia shrunk. And it needs new users, new interest, and new ideas.

And these numbers are located...where, exactly? Showing me an item that simply says "we reached 100k users" doesn't say anything other than there's an item that says "we reached 100k users".

I mean really, there isn't a line chart that depicts user activity over the past 10 years?

[King Awesomolocity]

One Winged Asuka

Dion Necurat

Until I see evidence of 200k in 2010, when the numbers really suggest 70k, then I will remain skeptical.

Is is a fact that in 2007 we had an event for 100k users on at once, which already discredits the accuracy of the 2010 "high" of 77k.

A great chunk of those "users" were bots, so Gaia discounted that count.

~King Awesome

[Kain-Senpai]

panoptes

Kain-Senpai

You know... I wouldn't mind a couple of events similar to Halloween 2K5 and 2K6 (was this the Zurg one? I loved that one because it really got the users together and generated a lot of user-based content, like GiB.)

Gaia needs something to bring the community together. I'm not talking about simple events like the past dragon mini event, but something that can really bring the community together. Like... who shot Ian, and why? The Dark Elf one tried that, but failed miserably when users were out-right threatening anyone who had a Dark Elf avatar. That brought out some really nasty issues that I'd like to not see again. >:

Perhaps a reboot to the site? Similar to FF14. Perhaps the God Kuro has unleashed will eventually bring destruction to the land of Gaia, ushering in a new era? Users would still keep all of their items and such, but it would give them the chance to go and "restart" Gaia from the beginning, with fresh ideas and such. NPCs could still be around, but reincarnated? Or, Gaia could plead to the community to sway the decision of Gaia's future (like voting for Timmy's end and all).

I dunno... it's late. My head is stuffed to the max with snot and I can't breath. Maybe I'm suffering from a lack of oxygen and much needed sleep. >:

eek would a reboot take down all the games and stuff?
deplete all the gold?
send rigel and mintaka back where they came from never to return?

I dunno... I doubt that gold and items would be removed, as, well, a s**t TON of users would be pissed beyond belief. Games would probably stay, too. I'm thinking it would be more towards the overall plot of the site... since, well, it kinda sucks, in my opinion.

[SailorSparkles]

wao that was a lot of people on gaia o.o and ya your right everything we do get now is about an item ^^" lulz, i still love ya gaia but i hope there reading your letter!

[One Winged Asuka]

Dion Necurat

And these numbers are located...where, exactly? Showing me an item that simply says "we reached 100k users" doesn't say anything other than there's an item that says "we reached 100k users".

I mean really, there isn't a line chart that depicts user activity over the past 10 years?

The item proves that there was a mark of 100k in 2007. On the summers of 2008-2010, I only have my word and memory. The botting purge dates are fairly well known and others can support that claim. The active user count is what I've observed *recently*- Remember, I wrote this thread when I made the realization that I hadn't seen Gaia's user count go over 25k at any point in the past few months, at least. And I've logged on everyday for the past 180+ days, it's on the homepage, you can't miss it. I can assert that, at least.

I really wish there was a line chart, but I can't find anything for the life of me, it doesn't seem like anyone has cared to keep track of it. And trust me, I'm looking, because everyone is so strained to just believe me when I say that I remember the online user counts from back then, that I'd give anything to have a screenshot from back then. I tried using the 'wayback machine', but all it can see is the login page, the user count wasn't shown there.

[Ariel Yardena Davidson]

One Winged Asuka

Dion Necurat

And these numbers are located...where, exactly? Showing me an item that simply says "we reached 100k users" doesn't say anything other than there's an item that says "we reached 100k users".

I mean really, there isn't a line chart that depicts user activity over the past 10 years?

The item proves that there was a mark of 100k in 2007. On the summers of 2008-2010, I only have my word and memory. The botting purge dates are fairly well known and others can support that claim. The active user count is what I've observed *recently*- Remember, I wrote this thread when I made the realization that I hadn't seen Gaia's user count go over 25k at any point in the past few months, at least. And I've logged on everyday for the past 180+ days, it's on the homepage, you can't miss it. I can assert that, at least.

I really wish there was a line chart, but I can't find anything for the life of me, it doesn't seem like anyone has cared to keep track of it. And trust me, I'm looking, because everyone is so strained to just believe me when I say that I remember the online user counts from back then, that I'd give anything to have a screenshot from back then. I tried using the 'wayback machine', but all it can see is the login page, the user count wasn't shown there.

i'm going to say this as one who got the watermelon on another account from that time.

-ahem-
BOTTING WAS RAMPANT ON THE SITE FROM 2005-2009, and still has its pockets.

If anything, ma'am, the number was already struck as a record. Your proof is an item that Gaia, at the time, gave out on the wrongful assumption that there were 100k+ AUTHENTIC, non-botting users on the site at one specific moment.

[Lord of the Vine]

One Winged Asuka

Dion Necurat

And these numbers are located...where, exactly? Showing me an item that simply says "we reached 100k users" doesn't say anything other than there's an item that says "we reached 100k users".

I mean really, there isn't a line chart that depicts user activity over the past 10 years?

The item proves that there was a mark of 100k in 2007. On the summers of 2008-2010, I only have my word and memory. The botting purge dates are fairly well known and others can support that claim. The active user count is what I've observed *recently*- Remember, I wrote this thread when I made the realization that I hadn't seen Gaia's user count go over 25k at any point in the past few months, at least. And I've logged on everyday for the past 180+ days, it's on the homepage, you can't miss it. I can assert that, at least.

I really wish there was a line chart, but I can't find anything for the life of me, it doesn't seem like anyone has cared to keep track of it. And trust me, I'm looking, because everyone is so strained to just believe me when I say that I remember the online user counts from back then, that I'd give anything to have a screenshot from back then. I tried using the 'wayback machine', but all it can see is the login page, the user count wasn't shown there.

If you acknowledge the botting purge, then you must also acknowledge that, at the time, the 100k mark was reached by bots and alt accounts, most of which were purged.

So as I said before, its still an issue, but not the vast rift you're making it look.

[One Winged Asuka]

My first post has been edited. If you all want to continue arguing the semantics of my number's accuracy, you may do so, but the point I'm trying to make still stands.

I want Gaia to thrive, and to grow, and to have a big community.

I've given my suggestions on how I think this can be accomplished, without rocking the foundations of the site, or throwing money into over reaching ventures, or branching into other mediums.

I've made my point, I've made my peace, and I'm not changing another word.

[meowology]

Everyone should stop criticizing the exact number amounts.
Fact is, you should be looking at the points being made and the fact that
Gaia isn't as popular as it was before.
The numbers would be hard to get.
I agree, I spend most of my time on Tumblr rather then Gaia now.
Events would be nice, it seems like Gaia is mostly on rigs
and item creating right now.

[BOMB4Y]

CherriChu

Fact is, you should be looking at the points being made and the fact that
Gaia isn't as popular as it was before.

I'm a bit curious...

What exactly got those users to join and stay active then?

I've looked at the OP, but I know for one thing that I didn't join for the forum events or the NPC's - I joined because it was an anime community. I did join for the forums, but really for the nature of it.

Gaia then changed into a general hangout, and a good number of us were called weaboos where ever we posted. Those who initially joined for the game/anime aspects then had to move to other specific forums to hang out, because then we wouldn't be trolled, called names or anything of that sort. I know I did; have you seen the anime forum and sub-forums? Where we were supposed to be able to meet fellow enthusiasts, that's where were get the most flak.

I don't exactly know when the population started dropping drastically, but knowing the actual time frame might actually help pinpoint what the root cause is.

I don't mind paying money, or having huge updates if I liked being in a site and didn't feel so alienated, like I don't belong, sometimes. The OP's ideas are definitely good ones, but I also feel there could be more to it in terms of atmosphere. That, for the most part, isn't something solely using NPCs would change. The site changes with its userbase, or target group, and that's often evident with shifts. That may or may not be the cause of users leaving and never coming back. I'm not sure.

[Crack in my Cornflakes]

I joined for the avatars, and stayed for the minishops and the random weirdness that goes down here in SF. lol

[Easley Lighthalzen]

I share your sentiments...
Avatar sites in general have lost it IMO

[Nenanah]

I joined back in 04 originally.
Back in the day we had a huge problems with bots. Bots were everywhere.
Like you could go to Towns/fishing and see noobish looking accounts spewing jibberish and causing mega lag.
So they made a capatcha to finally rid the site of those accounts, and I remember mods working relentlessly on banning bot accounts.
Thats probably why the user count isn't as high as it was.

But I agree everything now is so well money hungry.
Gaia isn't interested in making decent items unless they can get a chuck of your change. CASH SHOP I'M LOOKING AT YOU. I remember when donating to the site meant something and the items rocked. Now they are lame and look crappy cause of cash shop rigs.

The story lines are a fail and half assed and never finished.

Good events are rushed.

I really miss the forum based events.
Like what we had before towns. =[

[chaos butterfly]

One Winged Asuka

My first post has been edited. If you all want to continue arguing the semantics of my number's accuracy, you may do so, but the point I'm trying to make still stands.

I want Gaia to thrive, and to grow, and to have a big community.

I've given my suggestions on how I think this can be accomplished, without rocking the foundations of the site, or throwing money into over reaching ventures, or branching into other mediums.

I've made my point, I've made my peace, and I'm not changing another word.

You should ignore the nitpickers. If you said a forest used to have a thousand trees, they'd say some of them were weeds, you can't prove they were all trees, therefore there is NO forest. xp

I know a lot of users have left Gaia, I just have to look through my friendslist, and see the last log in dates...saying those users never left, or never existed (were bots) is just garbage. There's a long history of bad decisions that Gaia has made over the years, giving a slew of reasons for users to find the exit: perceived cash grabs, zOMG failures, lack of communication, more perceived cash grabs, poor maintenance and glitch/bug fixes, abandonment of features/games, alchemy for the rich, halo sale (another perceived cash grab), event bundle sale (ditto), and on and on...

tbh I'm not sure that better integration of NPC storylines in the forums is going to help all that much. But I'm not against it, even if it might seem like a drowning man clutching at straws, after scuttling his own boat.