Gaia, it's not me, it's you

[solarssun]

Gaia,

I love you, or at least I did but the recent changes you've undergone I'm beginning to rethink our relationship. I have at least one tab on my Chrome browser always set to you. All my androids also have gaia's on the go app.

Sadly though you're not the same site I grew to love back in 2003. At first the growing changes I didn't mind. In 2007 you added a cash shop option claiming that it was needed and would help with giving a place for some influx of items that were either to elaborate for monthly collectibles or to small but still to nice for the gold shops. You claimed we'd be able to buy things with pocket change we found in our couches (that claim has long been deleted from the original post sadly).

I wish I had a couch that had 50-500 dollars in 'pocket change'. If I did I would sadly NOT be spending it here. You are scrapping by with just the autocash I'm allowing now (and this might be the last month for that).

The flash 'sales'. The price hikes. The devs admitting to ignoring features because they won't make back money.

Seriously?

I'm 30 gaia. I'm not stupid with the idea that you guys need money to run. I'm not dumb thinking that gaia runs on rainbows and unicorn farts but the direction you've been taking the past few months scares me.

Either A. You are in the red seriously and gaia is about to go under and you're either trying to save or trying to milk the userbase right before the end or B. You have honestly forgotten the main selling point OF gaia: The community.

Without the forums, without the PEOPLE chatting in the flash spaces, in the guilds, ANYWHERE on gaia the avatar system you created is useless. Those pixels you pay good working artists to make mean NOTHING. I can go to tektek and make an avatar with everything on the site without the cash this requires or the time to earn said gold to buy the items. So then why don't I?

The forums, that's why.

And the crazy pricing you've been asking for pixels is making me rethink the 10 dollars I spend here and the time I do spend on here anymore.

You know what I can buy for 30 dollars gaia?
For 30 bucks I can nearly fill up my car and drive 300 miles to where ever I want.
For 30 bucks I can eat out at a nice restaurant and bring even a date.
For 30 bucks I can buy 1-2 sets of anime that I can watch and rewatch over and over.
For 30 bucks I can buy 5 bargin dvd's at walmart or 3 bargin blu rays.

30 bucks is a lot of money to ask for a virtual item that we don't even in the TOS own. When gaia closes it's doors I will have NOTHING but memories of the 30 dollar item I spent it on. The cash shop is voluntary but with your messing with the economy with Flynn's booty you're making it a necessity for people who want to wear anything nice on gaia.

I hope you are NOT trying to do that on purpose but with the direction you've been taking the past few months I doubt it. I've lost faith in you gaia. I honestly feel like all I am is a money bag to you and you could care less about the COMMUNITY that those pixel items you're pushing are suppose to fit into.

So I'm going to keep my 30 bucks and spend it on something that I'll have for a while (or will bring me a lot more enjoyment then pixel's on a computer screen). Your direction has honestly helped me keep a lot of my money and now you know what I'm doing?

I've learned how to etch glass with the money I've saved instead of spending it on gaia.
I've ordered the epoxy clay I've wanted for a while to try and make some nerdy hair sticks I've envisioned.
I got myself a first edition of the sailor moon action figure!

I wish I could say 'it's not you, it's me' but honestly it IS you. I'll still be around but I'm finding my money better spent on things and people that value me.

Edit: I have unsubscribed from autocash this month. I WAS going to leave it for October but the rerelease of saint ciel for 30 dollars in the cash shop was the straw that broke the camels back. I'll be taking my 10 somewhere else (like guild wars 2 for their shop).

TL;DR
I don't trust gaia anymore. I feel they aren't listening and all they are are seeing people as money bags. 30 bucks is a lot for a flash 'sale'.

[TheScentOfLoveTheScentOfLove]

solarssun

First of all, Happy Early Birthday~
Second, I totally agreed with you. Gaia change and not for the better.

[Silent Empathy]

Do you blame Gaia for not listening.
Take a look at the SF.
It is almost nothing but insults.
I don't know many people who like to just sit there and be insulted then go, "You guys are totally right we suck."
They are doing their jobs and I am sure they are listening, the ones that read the SF anyways.
Sadly it might not go over their head.

[solarssun]

TheScentOfLove

solarssun

First of all, Happy Early Birthday~
Second, I totally agreed with you. Gaia change and not for the better.

Thanks and yeah. I wish it was for the better.

Silent Empathy

Do you blame Gaia for not listening.
Take a look at the SF.
It is almost nothing but insults.
I don't know many people who like to just sit there and be insulted then go, "You guys are totally right we suck."
They are doing their jobs and I am sure they are listening, the ones that read the SF anyways.
Sadly it might not go over their head.

Thing is that yes this is the SF and we voice our opinions here and you see a lot of: You suck.

But usually you also see a lot of: Hey good job and such and such and nice items.

Except lately I haven't seen much of that at all. There is a major influx of 'Flynn's booty is ruining the economy, stop it' and 'you've changed gaia I'm not spending cash'.

[Bleeding Apocalypse]

I feel super shitty, actually, for unsubscribing from Auto Cash, but I feel like I just couldn't keep financially supporting a site that's been making one bad decision after another. I can't. I'd love to keep on financially supporting a site I love so much, especially since it was the only site I enjoyed so much as to give them my money month after month for years. Years!

This just isn't the case anymore. The same site I knew even last year is just... totally unrecognizable to me. It's insane.

[l3lossoms]

This is exactly how I feel.
I am so discouraged to buy or quest ANYTHING on Gaia anymore.

[solarssun]

I am very close to unsubscribing this month. It sucks. I hate seeing this go down hill like it has.

They don't care about the economy or they would have stopped flynn's booty the first time it came out. Here we are, what 4 times later?

[chrisbbean]

solarssun

I am very close to unsubscribing this month. It sucks. I hate seeing this go down hill like it has.

They don't care about the economy or they would have stopped flynn's booty the first time it came out. Here we are, what 4 times later?

IIRC it's about six or seven times now, if you include the "incentives" where they were giving away 25 free Flynn's Booty's for people who hadn't purchased GC in a while.

[Kuubosuiki]

Silent Empathy

Do you blame Gaia for not listening.
Take a look at the SF.
It is almost nothing but insults.
I don't know many people who like to just sit there and be insulted then go, "You guys are totally right we suck."
They are doing their jobs and I am sure they are listening, the ones that read the SF anyways.
Sadly it might not go over their head.

I think you're over focussing on titles and numbers. Alot of threads have intellectual responses and comments, negative comments, about Flynn's booty with no necessary insults directed at the Staff.
Worse than that, the lack of cohesion in the staff base means Gaia has bigger problems than "Flynn's rump" to get to work on.

[solarssun]

Toxe-sama

solarssun

I am very close to unsubscribing this month. It sucks. I hate seeing this go down hill like it has.

They don't care about the economy or they would have stopped flynn's booty the first time it came out. Here we are, what 4 times later?

IIRC it's about six or seven times now, if you include the "incentives" where they were giving away 25 free Flynn's Booty's for people who hadn't purchased GC in a while.

Yeah...blah.

It's crazy that the monthly rig is now nearly 2m average. Not but two months ago it was 800-1m. This was not a natural inflation one bit. This was gaia being idiots about their own economy that if it does go to hell WILL destroy the site.

[chrisbbean]

solarssun

Yeah...blah.

It's crazy that the monthly rig is now nearly 2m average. Not but two months ago it was 800-1m. This was not a natural inflation one bit. This was gaia being idiots about their own economy that if it does go to hell WILL destroy the site.

The worst thing about Flynn's Booty/Chest though is that fact that there are no drawbacks for the person buying it. I mean, if you purchase a RIG bundle, you'd get maybe 1mil for it a month ago on the MP, however if you buy Flynn's Chest you are guaranteed 1mil bare minimum, so there's nothing to lose, it's the same with Flynn's Booty.

I'm not even surprised that they're releasing it again though, I'd actually be willing to bet that this isn't the last time we see it in October.

[Bronia]

Change is always a part of any company, but this is too much. Gaia is getting less like my internet home and more like a place that wants to eat my money. If I didn't love the people here so much I'd actually be seriously considering leaving, not because I think it would change Gaia's direction but because it would be easier than having to feel like a money bag.

Gaia's always wanted our money, but they used to act like we were more than cash cows to them. (Even if we weren't more than cash cows, they still treated us with more respect than they do now.)

[frozen_water]

Silent Empathy

Do you blame Gaia for not listening.
Take a look at the SF.
It is almost nothing but insults.
I don't know many people who like to just sit there and be insulted then go, "You guys are totally right we suck."
They are doing their jobs and I am sure they are listening, the ones that read the SF anyways.
Sadly it might not go over their head.

Yes, I do blame Gaia for not listening.

There are plenty of well thought out and reasonable threads just on the front page right now, and there have been countless numbers of them over the past few months. i have been amazed by the compusure and dedication shown by so much of the user base during these trying times.

It's a nice gesture what you're doing however, it's misguided. You can check this weeks AtA to see all of the calm questions and politely worded criticisms that simply went ignored and unanswered. Could some users be more polite, and composed? Sure. Does the fact that some of them aren't somehow lessen their right to be upset? No.

[bobloon]

I'm sad now. sad