I admit, I have spent, probably, over $200 toward GC in the past year, but I haven't done so in a while despite my desire to have better items and more gold (mostly to buy art).
I am extremely disheartened by how and what Gaia has become in just the past... oh, say year or two. It's become all about the money, all about who has the best item, and about greed. It's disgusting, really.
I remember back when I join in February 2005 (though this is a later account - only by a few months) how it was about making friends and getting to know people from around the world. I remember events where you had to interact with things like the world map and try to figure out who was the culprit. I remember when it was a true triumph to have been able to buy a super expensive quest item of the day because it was a lot harder getting gold then than it is now.
I miss those old Gaia days. Now, whenever I start a quest, I give up because I know I'll never be able to attain that item unless I buy GC. I don't want to have to dish out my hard earned money for pixels on my screen. If they were still giving out cool real life items, like jackets and hats and stuff, like they used to a few years ago, then maybe I'd be more willing to give something to Gaia.
But now? It's not worth it. Now I feel I have to hold on to every single piece of gold I have because it's so precious to me. I don't want to use it on items - rather, I'd want to use it on some beautiful pieces of artwork from other fellow Gaians; but even that, too, has inflated. With easy to get money, artists have jacked up their prices, many of them only seeking huge bribes for art that isn't worth what they're looking for. Some, yes, their art is amazing and may deserve every bit of gold their asking for. Others... not so much.
Call me old fashioned, call me cheap, but I wish that Gaia could be the way it was just a few years ago before GC was ever introduced.
I'll sign the petition because Gaia needs to start listening to its member base, aka its customers.
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