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@YourAzureGoddess; The snug skirts are perfect. <3 The blue one saved me. It still saves me. It's my best blue skirt.

Ah~ I still think the CN scarf is useful for its redness. It's just too big for me now. @ .@ For the last year or so, I've been leaning towards making my avatars as compact as possible. Most of the scarf poses aren't compact. XD;

Ah yeah~ I recommend that everyone have a good base of gold shop items. ^^ It's not always easy to make a good outfit using only MCs, RIG items, EIs. I've seen a lot of newer users try to make outfits with only those items and it ends up looking like a mess.
:3 Some of those zOMG items are very useful. I love that the zOMG has the daily freebies thing. If someone doesn't play zOMG, at least the items are very cheap. (For now. A new update is coming that will have recipes that require other recipe items in order to make them. Prices should raise on those dirt cheap recipe items~)




@Jace; >3 Yep, that explains it. The year 2007 sticks out in my mind. (It could have been 2008, but that doesn't sound like long enough ago~) ...But 2007 was the first time when I saw people post and state that they don't care about old MCs, that old MCs are ugly, that join dates don't matter -- and actually mean it.
Sure those things had been said many times before. But those people were saying it just to incite reaction, rebel or join the fad and be one of the cool kids. That was the first time where a mass of people made those statements... because they truly felt that way... and it all seemed to be the newer users. And not to incite reaction, just because they truly felt that way. As you can probably tell, it had an impact on me. I wouldn't be rambling on right now if it hadn't. (It helped me step back and analyze why I even cared about MCs, join dates, etc.)
Anyway~ XD

I used to buy new things because I wanted to own all the rare items. It was one of the main goals of Gaia- own all the rares. I knew I'd never be able to afford all the old items but I tried to buy all the new rare items as they appeared. It wasn't too hard. We had less site-wide events. And the only rare items were two MCs each month. (Which I bought with real money since I didn't have enough gold to buy them from other users. XD; )
Enter the cash shop.
Oh my gosh, there's no way that I can keep up with owning all of those items. There are too many! I still tried to collect the bigger items.
Enter RIGs.
That's what freed me. I can't possibly own every single rare item. There's no need to try. I'm now free to only buy things I like and not have to buy things that I'll never use (even if they are rare.) Too bad that all the new items I want are the ones from the RIGs that cost millions of gold. XDD ...Or the cash shop items that are much too overpriced. (I swear it still doesn't make sense that items in the Cash Shop can cost more than an MC, yet have the same amount or less poses.)
Buuut~ oh well, I'll live. ^^

Edit; I'm sorry. I wrote this post before going to bed. It was gargantuan. It was also more suited for a journal entry. So that's where I put it. I'll edit this post tomorrow, pull bits of info from the journal entry and turn this into a better reply. I'm off to bed now though. G'night. :3

Afternoon edit;
Exactly, join date does not matter at all. I think that the conditions were right for it to have some bearing years ago when there were fewer people. I think join date means nothing now. And I think that join date snobbery will never go away fully because this is the internet, and some people need things like join dates to put others down and make themselves feel better.

Aw, they really put that in their sigs? That's cute. x3 I'd never do that because only four months have passed since 2009. Their sig could mean any time between jan 09 and Dec 09. I'd be too embarrassed to put that in my sig. XD On the other hand, those people have been exchanging longer than I have.

"But I still think that most really old MCs are ugly and largely useless."
I think the key word there is "most." Here's what I believe though, "I still think that most MCs are largely useless." I don't know why the 03/04/05 items get all the bad rap. All the years have good and bad MCs. It's true for allll of the MCs, not just the really old ones. And yet, the old MCs are what are always complained about. They were coveted because they were part of our few rare items. Just like now, people covet some useless RIG items because they're rare and expensive. And yet old MCs are all people complain about. Poor things.

XD I think it's funny that you named the nm scarf. Of all 03 MCs, that's the one I dislike the most. I believe that most items are useless, but we still all have our own styles and needs. Just as much as people are allowed to dislike items, people are allowed to like them. Some people truly like the 03 MCs for what they are. They aren't trying to be snobs. They don't care about the rarity or fame.
Like~ I like a lot of the 03 MCs. I do like that style of pixeling. I will never quest one of those items, but I like them. I happen to think that most of them are bulky, but they can be used well. The nm scarf is a good example. I hate how awkward, weird and bulky it is, but there are people who can wear it well. I salute them. I'd wear the angelic halo even if it only cost 20k. ...I wish it cost only 20k. o wo

If I joined a couple years after I did, I wouldn't want to buy anything just for the sake of owning it. But back then, that's what people did. The goal of Gaia was to own every single MC. I was too poor to quest and own every single item. I knew I never would own every single item. But the thought was there. Every MC I bought got me closer to the overall goal of owning one of every rare.
It was easier back then with there only being two MCs per month and less site-wide events. It was easier to keep up with rares and feel like you could own every single rare item. Heck, I swear there was an average of three months between each gold shop update. Those items aren't rare, but there were less item updates overall. Nowadays we're flooded with tons of new items each month. With all the rares that exist now, I think it's silly to buy things just for the sake of owning them. That gold is best spent on something you will use. If you never see yourself using the item, why buy it?
... Isn't that idea still ingrained in exchangers, or have they lost it? Don't exchangers still want to own one of every MC? (...Starting with the 03 MCs. XD; ) Isn't it a high flaunt of wealth when you can (and do) buy a multi-million gold item that you'll never use?

I buy items that look like they'd be useful to me. I don't plan outfits ahead of time. I do, however, know what items are missing from my inventory. I need a nice pair of pink contacts. I need decent wigs in red, blue, green, yellow, and more. I need an egyptian anklet recolor update. I need egyptian anklets in like twenty different colors. XD; I need a lighter pair of solid orange socks. I need a decent pair of solid orange tennies. I need a basic pink hat that sits on the normal hat layer. I need... many more things. I just hope that the items I need come in obtainable forms. There's nothing worse than seeing the item I need be released in an RIG and seeing it settle at a price of 5m. XD; I don't care about how rare or expensive an item is. All I really care about is how it will look with the other items I own. But that's my ideal world. I have to care about rarity and price because I swear most of the items I need end up being released as multi-million gold RIG prizes. u .u; And then I have to wait around a few months longer in hopes that a cheaper knock-off is made of the item I still need.
I can't tell you how happy I was that our first solid orange skirt was released in the gold shop. @ w@ With my luck, I thought we'd get it out of an RIG. I needed a solid orange skirt for years. I think I first started whining in early 06. XD;


To tie back into the thread, the least-useful expensive MC I ever bought was the bani clips. At one time, it was one of the best "angelic blue" items. By the time I finally bought a pair, I had better substitutes. I was also much pickier about the colors I used. (Since we had more options.) The bani clips are white, blue, black and pink. The more colors an item has, the less versatile it is. I can't sell them though. I have a fear that I'll want an item soon after I sell it. And I don't ever want to sell an item and have to buy it back for more than I sold it for.

And I just edited this and added two more large paragraphs. XP i need to submit this and walk away before it reaches the size of last night's post.

Youch. I'm late on my reply. I kept meaning to, I just hadn't made it over to this thread yet.

Indeed true. I think the complaining about old MCs did die down with the appearance of very rare RIG items. Now people are focused on complaining about RIG items and could care less about MCs. XD; My comment was out of date.
Very true also. Each year has its "fail" and "win" MCs. I don't understand why Gaia doesn't make more win MCs. Anyone can look at the old, popular MCs and see some sort of pattern. Anyone can look at the fail MCs and see some sort of pattern. I don't understand why we should even have new fail MCs. The artists did very well at the end of 09 and were releasing MCs that at least had some of the characteristics found in MCs that remain popular. And then March and April '10 happened. The artists are taking a step backward again.

XD That would have been a nice chunk of pocket change. I'm just stuck on the a. halo because I was angelic for my first couple Gaia years. I have lots of halos now, but I still don't have a simple golden halo. I love that the Noel gave us a golden halo, but it came with four other rings. I love that we got a free tinsel halo, but it comes on a wire. (I think it's hilarious though. I'd wanted something like that too.) I'd just love to have a simple, typical, yellow/gold halo to go with an angelic theme. Would I wear the a. halo if I had one? Most likely not. Price aside, I don't think it matches anything I own. And i stopped wearing my halo items a couple years ago anyway. I just... don't need them for color anymore. And I don't need halos to complete any themes. So, truthfully, I wouldn't wear an a. halo if I had one. I won't call it ugly just because I wouldn't wear it though. There's a difference. (I'm not disagreeing with anything you said here, just... rambling.)

If you do ever quit, as generous as that would be, I think you should keep your items and gold. I think everyone should keep their items and gold when they "quit." Back in the day, I saw too many of those quests like, "I gave my stuff away when I quit two years ago. Now I'm back. Donate so I can get my stuff back." I don't think there's such thing as quitting Gaia. I think there's no reason to quit Gaia. XD Wellll it'd be good to quit the side of Gaia attached to items, but there's no harm in posting and playing games if you really have nothing else to do. In case you quit and then returned, it wouldn't hurt to have a stash of gold/items to be able to buy new items with~ I say be selfish. XD

^^ That would make sense. I think that it's healthier to approach avatar making the way you do, than the way I do. I'm always after the newest versatile item so that I can add it to my outfit arsenal. I don't think in terms of specific outfits. I just go, "Hey! New purple hat! I need a purple hat to go with my shirt, gloves, skirt and shoes so that i can use them with other items!"

I agree. The elemental hair is not worth it now. It used to be worth it. In a time of few wigs, it was priceless. Back then, Gaia wouldn't give us good wigs either. We couldn't get wigs that looked like normal hair. (Well, we got Sasha's wig, but her hair's not normal either. xD; ) Now that we have wigs that look like actual hair, who needs fire and wind for hair? They're huge!
The mythic hair was always more useful to me. A couple of the wigs at least matched my angelic outfits. The elemental hair was always a much harder match. Now that I think about it. I never use it now and I rarely used it then. Humm.

Contrast? They do crappy MCs so that when they do put out a good one it's really, really popular?

I don't use halos very often. I used the prismatic halo for quite a while on a really simplistic avatar I used to have but I don't even own a Mythrill Halo or a Spirit Halo or whatever. I do have many Wind and Tinsel Halos but I rarely use them. I bought a Dark Halo a few months ago but I didn't end up doing the avatar I had planned to use it in so I haven't used it even once though I had toyed with the idea of using it in this one but decided to go with WtD Horns instead.

Probably a good idea. I would give stuff away, though, I think. But I'd do it sensibly. I'd get rid of the crap I never use, chuck all of my seasonal and short-term hoards, give gifts to my friends here and invest in MCs.

But the way I do it I end up with a chronic shortage of commons that people always complain about if they enviro me. But. Meh. I can always buy commons.

I used to use Elemental Hair all the time before the advent of RIGs and EIs with awesome wigs and skins. I loved the Essence of Angels pose and the Luna pose. Another MC that blows my mind with how useless it is is August '08. Nobody liked that s**t. But now it's super-inflated because of all of the folks in Rally who just MUST have it even though it's ugly and awkward. I was even invited to a guild that offered to teach you how to make a "cool" rally avatar and how to earn gold to get it.

Who is there left for real Exchangers would you say? I can name half a dozen off the top of my head and there are maybe a few dozen who, if I saw them there, I'd recognize them and say that that person is an Exchanger. But most everyone there now is just... "And when did you start Exchanging? Can I make you go read my guide?"

I never sell lower to people who are buying things for keeps or questing things. I have no problem selling things for a price that another person can profit from (as long as I'm getting a good return, too) but I want them to be reasonable. A few thousand gold profit on a 100k item is reasonable. 20k is not and they shouldn't expect it. I, myself, usually pay more for something I intend to keep than something I'm buying to resell.

Mostly I like to go to the Exchange to try to sell or trade off my hoards and to buy things to sell in the MP for a good profit.

I really like the tousled look of the Talsi's Sash wig but I'd love it ten times more if it came in white, dark grey, black or red (or even blue or purple). I just don't think I can use that tan color. >.< Although, I was very proud of myself for my entirely brown avatar. Maybe some day my aversion to colors will be overcome. I mostly use Fallen Wish hair but I've used the wigs from the Drome Egg and a few others quite a bit.

Gaia has a weird obsession with halos even though there are usually better equips to add color to the head.

I personally don't like Glaurels or Wanklets but that's largely because I'm biased against both gold and one-pose MCs. Not to say that other people don't make decent-looking avatars with them. But at the same time a lot of people make horrid-looking avatars with them because they're like: "Oooh. I'm going to make a wealthblob avatar." Or "I'm going to slouch on nicely matching the gold in this avatars because everyone will be so impressed that I have Laurels that it wont matter."

Danklets, on the other hand, I find to be very nice and versatile because they not only have multiple poses but also because they're black and red instead of white and gold. But. I would like them even better if they had one pose that was not totally awkward that didn't contain red. I don't want to make black and red avatars all the time, after all.

But I think I like Slaurels the best. But I don't wear them because they're "OMGBBQ FINALLY a silver counterpart to Laurels!" But with more chatspeak and terrifying butchering of the English language and maybe some kawaii thrown in. >.< I live Silver Laurels more because they finally offer some nice silver/white armbands and anklets than because of the actual laurels. Silver Laurels are one of the few MCs of which I own more than one. But, admittedly, both of them I got as gifts this past Christmas. Still, I think I'd have bought myself more than one anyway.

Really?
I've always found the head pose kinda.. awkward looking?
Its very very rare for me to use them in the head pose. (Its just quite a big hat xd )
Love the anklet&bracelet pose best.

I like the anklets the best and the bracelets a lot but I like the crown pose as well even though it is a little odd-looking.

Admittedly it does look a lot more like some kind of vine than actual laurels. But I still find it useful. Just like other people still love the Egyptian set even though I think they're chunky and awkward and gold. >.<

I was curious: Does anyone here own and/or find Golden Wings to be useful?