OCCUPY GAIA :: SAY NO TO BUYING GC

[The Gilded Maiden]

I already stopped buying GC as of last month. My money can go toward companies that want to produce a desirable end product with their earnings.

[Kurochan1]

Bump heart

[Self Loathing]

Sherlocktopus

Plagued Raichu

Terrible idea. Buying gaia cash supports the company gaiaonline. It's not free to run a web site by no means, especially one as gaia. No gaiacash, no gaiaonline. Simple as that.

i highly doubt that a website that hasn't made any major changes since the addition of zOMG! needs as much money as they have been pulling in. What we are pledging to do is NOT buy gcash UNTIL certain changes are made to save the economy. So those users who can't purchase gcash can still have access to the nicer items.

So, here's a question, how long did it take them exactly to even make zomg? It takes times. Also, do you ever pay attention to the dev notices or the announcements. Has gaia not been hinting about somehting big happening to the site? Changes take time, and money for a site like this. You may not realize it, but running a website ain't exactly free. They need an income to stay afloat. Your argument is invalid and illogical. If these pixels on a site really affect you that much to the point it upsets you then leave. No one is making you stay here.

[Dragon - tis me]

Plagued Raichu

So, here's a question, how long did it take them exactly to even make zomg? It takes times. Also, do you ever pay attention to the dev notices or the announcements. Has gaia not been hinting about somehting big happening to the site? Changes take time, and money for a site like this. You may not realize it, but running a website ain't exactly free. They need an income to stay afloat. Your argument is invalid and illogical. If these pixels on a site really affect you that much to the point it upsets you then leave. No one is making you stay here.

i think this whole drama is honestly less about the money, and possibly more about the lack of communication.

for now, our money is going god-knows-where. supporting gaia, yes, but a lot of it also goes in the pockets of the higher-ups. Some stats. for those that don't click, the estimated worth of gaiaonline is $13,330,000. that is quite enough to cover hosting costs (especially since that number is only calculated from AD REVENUE, and not GC sales and cash shop sales). from what i've heard, they've actually fired staff, meaning those 13+ million are going to a lot less people now.

if one of the management actually came out and told us WHAT they were doing with our money, people would be more likely to spend again. for now we're just being told 'BUY IT WE NEED MONEY DON'T ASK WHY'. the announcements are all yelling 'BUY THIS NEW RECOLOR' multiple times a day, nothing 'productive'. the dev notices tell us hardly anything. maintenance, lag, no hints at projects or (cough) long promised features and updates. from the last AtA (months ago) they vague said they were 'working on it' in regards to the loyalty shop and other things, but that is vague enough that they could mean 'gave it thought' or 'finishing up the code'. seeing as it's been silent since then, i'm assuming the vague 'working on it' basically meant 'thought about it, not really our top priority since it won't make us money' (also note: same thing with guilds, loyalty shop, arenas, towns...).

they're obviously sucking all the money up, but there is no communication between the community and the management. had they announced that they're raising money to revamp code and hire new artists, then yes, people would most likely actually start buying with more enthusiasm. the consumers would know that a portion of their cash is going to help maintain the website, rather than being funneled down a dark hole with no mention of any sort of updates. after the cancellation of AtA, there is practically no communication and, for all we can assume, the money made is neither helping gaia nor bringing us new features and sitting prettily in the pockets of the higher-ups.

tl;dr the money gaia makes on ads alone is huge, and the 'extra' from GC is more than enough to maintain the website. by not telling us where our money is going is a bad business strategy and, frankly, deterring people from supporting the website with purchases.

sidenote: wasn't zomg basically trashed? i've heard the new ceo fired everyone who worked on zomg but one person, and the remainder doesn't know the code well enough to keep it afloat. that's why we aren't/won't be getting updates. again: zomg wasn't making enough money and therefore isn't important. using it as an example is basically irrelevant now.

sidenote2: i use 'us' very generously, because i, for instance, have never and will never purchase gaia cash. solely because i don't feel they NEED my money and, having been given no info on projects and updates, i don't think it'll be used in any way that'll benefit me and everyone else. whereas if they stated 'income is being used to hire new artists' i would surely buy at least the smallest thing just because i want to help out and see the site thrive, even if those $5 won't directly go to said artist's paycheck.

[Sherlocktopus]

Plagued Raichu

So, here's a question, how long did it take them exactly to even make zomg? It takes times. Also, do you ever pay attention to the dev notices or the announcements. Has gaia not been hinting about somehting big happening to the site? Changes take time, and money for a site like this. You may not realize it, but running a website ain't exactly free. They need an income to stay afloat. Your argument is invalid and illogical. If these pixels on a site really affect you that much to the point it upsets you then leave. No one is making you stay here.

gaia_crown
At no point did I bring up an argument, i just pointed out why we have decided not to buy gcash. A couple hundred or so of us not buying gcash isn't going to bankrupt gaia, but it may force them to actually listen to what we have to say. There are plenty of suggestions and links to suggestions on the first page of this thread. but here are a few points:

1) GaiaOnline is knowingly dumping the virtual economy in the garbage. The market place has been inflated far beyond what it was merely a year ago. Suggestion after suggestion to change it without getting rid of gcash have fallen on deaf ears and been ignored.

2) I don't use zOMG!, towns, or any of that. All I use, and most gaia users use, are the forums. So I highly doubt what they have been hinting at releasing is even going to be worth the time. That being said, I really don't give a crap about whether they are developing something new or not; I like what they already have, I don't need anything else and don't care if they come out with more/better games. Especially if in order to compete you have to pay real money into it.

3) The release, and re-release gold generators. Effectively making it so only hoarders and gcash purchasers can enjoy the newer/better items. I like making my avatar look nice. I don't like having to dump $100+ a year into a virtual website to do so.

4) "Feelings" have nothing to do with it. It's a shitty business practice and it's driving the dedicated users away.

5) I would be happy to buy gcash every now and again if gaia stopped releasing gold generators and introduced more gold sinks to help get some of the excess gold out of the economy.

But you can go ahead and keep being rude, I am sure that's helping.
gaia_crown

[Sherlocktopus]

Dragon - tis me

gaia_crown
thank you
gaia_crown

[Self Loathing]

Dragon - tis me

Plagued Raichu

So, here's a question, how long did it take them exactly to even make zomg? It takes times. Also, do you ever pay attention to the dev notices or the announcements. Has gaia not been hinting about somehting big happening to the site? Changes take time, and money for a site like this. You may not realize it, but running a website ain't exactly free. They need an income to stay afloat. Your argument is invalid and illogical. If these pixels on a site really affect you that much to the point it upsets you then leave. No one is making you stay here.

i think this whole drama is honestly less about the money, and possibly more about the lack of communication.

for now, our money is going god-knows-where. supporting gaia, yes, but a lot of it also goes in the pockets of the higher-ups. Some stats. for those that don't click, the estimated worth of gaiaonline is $13,330,000. that is quite enough to cover hosting costs (especially since that number is only calculated from AD REVENUE, and not GC sales and cash shop sales). from what i've heard, they've actually fired staff, meaning those 13+ million are going to a lot less people now.

if one of the management actually came out and told us WHAT they were doing with our money, people would be more likely to spend again. for now we're just being told 'BUY IT WE NEED MONEY DON'T ASK WHY'. the announcements are all yelling 'BUY THIS NEW RECOLOR' multiple times a day, nothing 'productive'. the dev notices tell us hardly anything. maintenance, lag, no hints at projects or (cough) long promised features and updates. from the last AtA (months ago) they vague said they were 'working on it' in regards to the loyalty shop and other things, but that is vague enough that they could mean 'gave it thought' or 'finishing up the code'. seeing as it's been silent since then, i'm assuming the vague 'working on it' basically meant 'thought about it, not really our top priority since it won't make us money' (also note: same thing with guilds, loyalty shop, arenas, towns...).

they're obviously sucking all the money up, but there is no communication between the community and the management. had they announced that they're raising money to revamp code and hire new artists, then yes, people would most likely actually start buying with more enthusiasm. the consumers would know that a portion of their cash is going to help maintain the website, rather than being funneled down a dark hole with no mention of any sort of updates. after the cancellation of AtA, there is practically no communication and, for all we can assume, the money made is neither helping gaia nor bringing us new features and sitting prettily in the pockets of the higher-ups.

tl;dr the money gaia makes on ads alone is huge, and the 'extra' from GC is more than enough to maintain the website. by not telling us where our money is going is a bad business strategy and, frankly, deterring people from supporting the website with purchases.

sidenote: wasn't zomg basically trashed? i've heard the new ceo fired everyone who worked on zomg but one person, and the remainder doesn't know the code well enough to keep it afloat. that's why we aren't/won't be getting updates. again: zomg wasn't making enough money and therefore isn't important. using it as an example is basically irrelevant now.

sidenote2: i use 'us' very generously, because i, for instance, have never and will never purchase gaia cash. solely because i don't feel they NEED my money and, having been given no info on projects and updates, i don't think it'll be used in any way that'll benefit me and everyone else. whereas if they stated 'income is being used to hire new artists' i would surely buy at least the smallest thing just because i want to help out and see the site thrive, even if those $5 won't directly go to said artist's paycheck.

My whole point with zomg is that something like that takes time. I don't really care for zomg anymore to even complain about this point.

THough, I do understand the whole Gaia letting us know point. They have, but clearly have not been clear enough. Gaia has been hinting at something big coming up.

I do agree, Gaia should let us know where our money is going, then again, is it really our business? We are the ones spending our money, and maybe they aren't prepared to lets us know yet.

[Dragon - tis me]

Plagued Raichu

My whole point with zomg is that something like that takes time. I don't really care for zomg anymore to even complain about this point.

THough, I do understand the whole Gaia letting us know point. They have, but clearly have not been clear enough. Gaia has been hinting at something big coming up.

I do agree, Gaia should let us know where our money is going, then again, is it really our business? We are the ones spending our money, and maybe they aren't prepared to lets us know yet.

i can't say how long zomg took. it obviously was quite the investment, but the difference is that it was very public and the then-current members announced frequently that 'hey we're making this game. it'll involve this, this, and this.' people got excited for it because of the announcements and obviously people wanted to see it done well and were willing to donate and buy. i even recall when they were asking the community what to call it.

here, the new staff may or may not be working on new features. i would really like to know where you heard they were hinting at something because i haven't seen a thing, apart from the vague 'loyalty shop is a thing that we will get around to probably never'. seeing as they're acting as though they need more money hints that there is a project in the works--but the intentional silence of the staff says otherwise. the last AtA was cancelled in october, and the promised weekly blog had one post in november, and it's been silence ever since. that's over two months. meanwhile they've been pushing sales more and more--which really gives them a bad image, since i, for one, jump to the conclusion that, judging from the company's past actions, they're simply milking this site for money before trashing it.

if someone actually came out and told us what was going on obviously the whole community would feel a lot better. it absolutely IS our business to know what's happening with our money. seeing as they keep flashing SALE SALE SALE, but won't tell us why is bad business.

as an analogy: imagine you have a netflix account, $7.99 a month. every now and then they add movies and send you an email notifying you of updates and changes.

suddenly you're charged $10/mo. netflix doesn't tell you why, netflix stops sending emails and doesn't respond to phone calls. those extra $2 are small, but could have gone elsewhere. since you are paying for the service, you are entitled to know why you're being charged more. if netflix states 'oh yes we've added more instant in-demand tv shows, therefore you're charged an extra $2' you'll probably keep paying because you know where those $2 are going.

on the other hand if netflix stays silent and refuses to tell you why you're charged that amount, you'll probably say this is bullshit and unsubscribe, because they owe you answers and are refusing to give them.

gaia is similar to this, since now they're charging us those extra $2 and intentionally cutting off all methods of us communicating with them.

[Self Loathing]

Dragon - tis me

Plagued Raichu

My whole point with zomg is that something like that takes time. I don't really care for zomg anymore to even complain about this point.

THough, I do understand the whole Gaia letting us know point. They have, but clearly have not been clear enough. Gaia has been hinting at something big coming up.

I do agree, Gaia should let us know where our money is going, then again, is it really our business? We are the ones spending our money, and maybe they aren't prepared to lets us know yet.

i can't say how long zomg took. it obviously was quite the investment, but the difference is that it was very public and the then-current members announced frequently that 'hey we're making this game. it'll involve this, this, and this.' people got excited for it because of the announcements and obviously people wanted to see it done well and were willing to donate and buy. i even recall when they were asking the community what to call it.

here, the new staff may or may not be working on new features. i would really like to know where you heard they were hinting at something because i haven't seen a thing, apart from the vague 'loyalty shop is a thing that we will get around to probably never'. seeing as they're acting as though they need more money hints that there is a project in the works--but the intentional silence of the staff says otherwise. the last AtA was cancelled in october, and the promised weekly blog had one post in november, and it's been silence ever since. that's over two months. meanwhile they've been pushing sales more and more--which really gives them a bad image, since i, for one, jump to the conclusion that, judging from the company's past actions, they're simply milking this site for money before trashing it.

if someone actually came out and told us what was going on obviously the whole community would feel a lot better. it absolutely IS our business to know what's happening with our money. seeing as they keep flashing SALE SALE SALE, but won't tell us why is bad business.

as an analogy: imagine you have a netflix account, $7.99 a month. every now and then they add movies and send you an email notifying you of updates and changes.

suddenly you're charged $10/mo. netflix doesn't tell you why, netflix stops sending emails and doesn't respond to phone calls. those extra $2 are small, but could have gone elsewhere. since you are paying for the service, you are entitled to know why you're being charged more. if netflix states 'oh yes we've added more instant in-demand tv shows, therefore you're charged an extra $2' you'll probably keep paying because you know where those $2 are going.

on the other hand if netflix stays silent and refuses to tell you why you're charged that amount, you'll probably say this is bullshit and unsubscribe, because they owe you answers and are refusing to give them.

gaia is similar to this, since now they're charging us those extra $2 and intentionally cutting off all methods of us communicating with them.

Go on their facebook, I believe it's about four or five months back. That seems like a long time, but again it takes time. But you seem to realize that.

Any who, it's a valid point, but I really believe that whatever gaia has going on it going to be a good one.

Also, there are rumors circulating, which could be complete bogus, that they are jump starting a new site in the future and it possibly could be a 18+ website. Though, i would not look to into this, I have yet to find anyhting of this.

[Gilbert Nightray]

Dragon - tis me

Thank you, I loved your text, it explained very well why alot of people like you and me feel cheated and sucked out by them and not treated as customers anymore...
Although as for me, I think it wouldn't even be enough for me if they just TOLD us what they were working on. They can say much when the day is long. I actually want to see SOME results... I don't expect the new stuff to be out fast, but what about quicker bug fixes or actually less server issues than in the past? I've been on Gaia since 2007 and I have logged on nearly every day since then and I can't remember a time when it went down this long and often in a time period that short.... And I am more critical towards them now, because they try to earn more money, so I expect them to deliver better service please. :/

[Dragon - tis me]

Plagued Raichu

Go on their facebook, I believe it's about four or five months back. That seems like a long time, but again it takes time. But you seem to realize that.

Any who, it's a valid point, but I really believe that whatever gaia has going on it going to be a good one.

Also, there are rumors circulating, which could be complete bogus, that they are jump starting a new site in the future and it possibly could be a 18+ website. Though, i would not look to into this, I have yet to find anyhting of this.

i personally didn't find anything on the fb. maybe the secret 'mobile app' they were hinting at? in which case that's rumblekitten, i believe.

if they do have something in the works, which i am skeptical about, they should have most definitely told us. but the fact that they've cancelled Ask the Admin, not to mention refused to answer any worthwhile questions during that last few times, is not promising.

i've heard about the 18+ site, but it sounds like its either not being done or just going a bit slow. the company that acquired gaia is known for bleeding a website dry in a few years and then jumping to the next one, so it sounds like they're fishing for money here then planning to take the thinning audience to a new website and miking money there. in which case using the money made from gaia, for gaia, to fund a new and totally unrelated website is dishonest and total bullshit.

so we're all left still waiting for an official update on what the hell is going on.

[Dragon - tis me]

Gilbert Nightray

Dragon - tis me

Thank you, I loved your text, it explained very well why alot of people like you and me feel cheated and sucked out by them and not treated as customers anymore...
Although as for me, I think it wouldn't even be enough for me if they just TOLD us what they were working on. They can say much when the day is long. I actually want to see SOME results... I don't expect the new stuff to be out fast, but what about quicker bug fixes or actually less server issues than in the past? I've been on Gaia since 2007 and I have logged on nearly every day since then and I can't remember a time when it went down this long and often in a time period that short.... And I am more critical towards them now, because they try to earn more money, so I expect them to deliver better service please. :/

i would love more, but an official break down of what they're doing is the bare start. i've been around since 2007 too, and still being jobless and poor, i've never had money to spend here, but even i, as part of the community and one of the many being spammed with 'BUY IT' announcements feel like they actually owe me something.

people would need to see some real change to actually start trusting the management again, seeing as they broke quite a few promises and have intentionally become more distant. the whole thing with releasing 2003 collectibles, even to me, someone who's never owned one, was just trashy and dishonest. the actually went back to edit the item descriptions from something like 'available at only one release only' to 'available during limited releases' or something like that.

as cynical as it is, something tells me we wont be getting notices or updates very soon. from what i've heard, the company that's acquired gaia in 2013 is known for taking something, milking it, and either selling it to metaphorical vultures or just shutting it down. the current ceo hasn't worked on a project for more than 3 years, so not a very bright future ahead for gaia. for now it seems they're working hard on milking money (making more money with even less effort; ie flynns junk and the really awful recolors).

ugh its very upsetting; i've really enjoyed this website for so long.

[Blackrose_Knight]

Pierre42

Just a question.

Is there anyone going into the GD and places outsite SF to preach the evils of cash? I mean sure I've seen it here plenty and that's fine but there might be a large number of users who might not be interested in site feedback who are unaware of the consequences of their actions.

New users might just wander onto any forum, they might see the icons in the signature but that might not incite interest into the root of the problem, just that there's some folks out there who don't like something.

There's tonnes of really insightful topics here in SF and I'm just worried that the target audience is missing them.

*raises hand* I am an LD nerd. I came to the SF to figure out what was up after noticing shitty business practices. I have had my siggy like this for months. I get inquires. A lot. And link them to this and other relevant SF threads.

[Pierre42]

Blackrose_Knight

Pierre42

Just a question.

Is there anyone going into the GD and places outsite SF to preach the evils of cash? I mean sure I've seen it here plenty and that's fine but there might be a large number of users who might not be interested in site feedback who are unaware of the consequences of their actions.

New users might just wander onto any forum, they might see the icons in the signature but that might not incite interest into the root of the problem, just that there's some folks out there who don't like something.

There's tonnes of really insightful topics here in SF and I'm just worried that the target audience is missing them.

*raises hand* I am an LD nerd. I came to the SF to figure out what was up after noticing shitty business practices. I have had my siggy like this for months. I get inquires. A lot. And link them to this and other relevant SF threads.

That's good to hear, always worry there's folks just not looking here. If a new member arrives on the scene they might just assume this is the way it is here, rather than the change from what it was.