Welcome to Gaia! ::

features:

Someone in the last ATS mentioned SCAS, and applying to help with the beta testing. I was just wondering if that is still open to apply, and where should one go to do so?

Misc

Are you hiring? If so where can I apply?

Site Feature

also will the gaia pms will get an upgrade too? like forumsv2. I think it would be epic (I had talked about this with Ruce in Discord) and more pms storage space would be nice too (i dont mind spending to enlarge pms space)

Misc

Someone was talking about the possibility of future internships, is that still on the table?

Features
How many times in one time period can we send an email to apply for beta?
Like once every 2 weeks? once every month? etc.

Artist of Gaia

I sent an email of my portfolio to you guys this weekend! Please let me know if you received it or are reviewing it? I understand if you have been busy though of course!

features: signatures
can we please get the my car option returned to acct preferences? theres a thread in site feedback that shows the code needed. it would be nice to have this to show off our cars again in our sigs

Is there anything the userbase can do, aside from donating, to help support the site?

For my own part, I've never had much to give monetarily, but I still do plan to donate. I've seen users in the forums who are unable to donate but are still wishing to give their support. For the users like us, I want to know if there's anything else we can do to help besides providing monetary support. That's the only question that came to mind for me; I mostly wanted to say my piece, and I've been waiting for AtS to start so I could post this. Here's my $0.02.

I have a lot of jumbled up feelings about the message from the staff, and I'll try to properly summarize them here. While this particular account was made in 2009, I've been involved with gaiaonline since 2005, so I suppose in gaian years that makes me an old lady. (Nothing against the logo's sleek minimalistic look, but I'm still nostalgic for gaia's old pink one) I've seen the site go through a lot of changes since those early days. I've witnessed the ups and downs. I've changed a lot as a person, but gaia was a constant I kept returning to.

When Lanzer returned I was very optimistic, despite knowing that the site wasn't in the best place when he did. I trusted him, and I still do. He's trying. The love and support I see coming from other users has me very hopeful. There are users dissatisfied with how gaia is run, too, and I want to see gaia have a chance to be better. I would be lying if I said the staff message didn't have me worried and a little scared, but I respect the honesty; I refuse to surrender to anything other than optimism.

I've had many good times here, made many friends, and spent more time than I'd like to admit making avatars. I don't want to see that go away. I'm going to give my support for the past and for the future. I have faith that improving gaia's mobile will be a huge help, coupled with advertisement. In a time when everyone and their granny has a fancy swiss army phone attached to their palms, it seems like the logical way to go. (And, not to beat a dead horse, but increasing item diversity would also help. I see people asking for masculine items so much, I'm certain that would make a lot of users happy, myself included. This is stuff that's been said time and again, but I figured it can't hurt to echo it)

The staff has worked hard to pull us through server migration while also trying to outfit the site for the future. I want to thank them for that, and for all the good times I've had here - most importantly, I want there to be more good times. I want the site to endure and I want to make new friends. I hope to see Gaia's story and world built on. (I'm also still clinging to the hope that one day there will be a gold sink where I can buy the magician title, because I'm still making moon eyes at it after missing my chance in the 2k17 event. It's a small wish, but if I ever have a title stamped across my virtual gaian person, it will read thusly: sparkly magician, or some variation thereof)

This turned out to be longer than I thought it would be. Essentially what I'm trying to get at is that I love this site and I want to end this with another message to the staff. I want to thank you. Y'all might not always make decisions I agree with, and that's okay. I see you, and I see the hard work you put in. I wish you well and I wish you a happy and safe holiday season. I believe in you guys. Please hang in there, and do not go gentle into that good night. emotion_bigheart

Approximately a year ago, I came to HQ to interview for your Marketing and Sales Manager position that had opened. Though CJ and itamy expressed delight at my business knowledge, graphical artistry, and overall genuine passion for Gaia (as a loyal '04er and Captain of a guild with 70,000+ members), I was not selected, nor was anyone selected, "due to budgetary concerns." I was dismayed; less because I had always wanted to work for Gaia (it had been a "dream job" of mine back in the 2000's), and more because I knew I wouldn't be able to serve the community of Gaians whose needs I understood.

Loyalty is a business' greatest asset. I've been in awe at the sheer tenacity of some of Gaia's members. They, like I, have considerable nostalgia associated with this site, and we do not want to see it close shop. I've made four lifelong friends (all of whom I sent Christmas cards to last week) through this site. I am thankful for their presence in my life, and I know that there are many others for whom this exact fact is true.

Of course I have suggestions for improving the site. When I came to HQ with a pad of paper in my hand rife with ideas/plans, I was ready to make a difference and turn the site back around to what it used to be-- a place Gaian's were excited to log in to every day. At this point I'm feeling a little recalcitrant, and unsure specifying any of them will have an effect. I was one of the ten individuals selected to come to HQ in SJ when Gaia asked for feedback on Tentacl; one of the ten who stated we thought it was a waste of time and resources because it wouldn't appeal to the prototypical Gaian. The management was bad then, but the lesson was not learned-- diversification and external projects were not then and are not now going to strengthen the GaiaOnline brand.

First and foremost, I want to recommend a book that I encourage the entire management staff to read. I read it for my MBA at SJSU. It is called It Starts with One by J. Stewart Black and discusses methodoligies for changing organizations to keep pace with changing industries. It discusses the "Barriers to See the Need for Change," the "Failure to Move to Enact Change," and the "Failure to Finish and Follow Through on Change Initiatives." I feel that it is very applicable to Gaia, who's greatest innovation threat is (and has been for years) mobile/social media, as I specified during my interview.

I have a copy of the book, and I would like to offer to bring it by HQ if you should like, along with my opinions as to the areas of focus I would encourage Gaia to implement going forward. If you'd be willing to grant me that audience, I would be absolutely thrilled, as my love for this site still remains strong.

In any case, Merry Christmas, and I wish the Gaia Team the best of luck in the coming new year.

Misc

Is there hope in the future for sponserships?

Is there other ways we can help our community?

Since the 16+ age limit has been implemented, does that mean certain themes are going to be more lax?

What is one thing you hope to do in the upcoming year?

I love you Gaia.

---

As someone who has been here since Go Gaia, this place means so much to me, and while I can't do much I still want to help with what I can.

[...]

Bonus Points:
Lanzer, have you had the chance to look into the book I recommended, It Starts With One? If so, what do you think? smile

Happy new years staff (from yesterday) hopefully you all have rested up and feel energized for today.

Anyways...

Question: what is the current percentage for the Gaiapledge?

There isn't a category for this so I'll just put it as...

Updates
Do you have any updates for the community? We've been kind of left in the dark when it comes to what projects are currently going, or things like; if Gaia is in the green or not... is towns 3 still suspended....or just a roadmap in general.

Is there anything you can give us?

Misc.

At the end of January, will there be another pledge drive for the completion for the gaiapledge from December's last drive (at 96)?

Uhh.. Gaiaonline as a whole

Have you guys considered doing some advertising for new users? I haven't seen a Gaia ad in years, since TinierMe was still open.

Maybe a friend invite event? Or sending gold cards to conventions like you did back in 2008 (which is how I found Gaia)? Or maybe that event from way back then where we cleverly advertised for Gaia irl and posted the pictures here for contests? I forget what that was called, but it was a great idea. Something with Ms I think...

Anyways, ADVERTISE! Get more users who have money to spend!

Would you relocate after your lease is up? I know Texas has a growing tech industry
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/texas-tech-scene-makes-it-the-fastest-growing-state/

'Name tag' items -- Gaia's Gift / Gift of Aquarius

So last time i submitted this, the only information i received was "theyre launching on the 15th of every month, otherwise we are working on it, and will release more information soon"
You guys shouldve had your name flair details down pat before releasing the aquarius.
[the halo, i can understand. its a new item, last ditch effort to help bring in the extra bucks for the month, gotta iron things out. totally get it]
but then you launched a new one, with no.. information.
just, 'hey here is a new one' without people ever even knowing when it was gonna happen, or that the halo was going away at all to begin with.
[i was at the ats when aquarius was launched, and lanzer mentioned to someone 'oh there is a new one being released today actually!' literally 10 minutes before it was released.. that is NOT a valid release notice]
but thats my 2 cents on the response i got. considering, it was closed before i could respond to lanzer.

onward to my actual post;

dont just bank on exclusivity - yes you guys have relied on it for a long while [considering the limited quantity items, and the chance items, and things like that]
however if the site is hurting for money, and if someone wants to throw money at you for the item, why not let them buy it?? [not like youre going to run out of pixels.. but you can run out of money]

my idea is:
- have a way to show all of the pledges, including a promotion box of the current one being offered
- show the end date of whichever current name tag is being offered/featured [i know theyre going to be announced to always be up with a new one on the 15th, but just in case there are more limited releases, end dates are nice to see]
- but when the deadline is reached, it goes to being 5$ instead of 2.50. that way you get 2x the money for people still wanting the item, they can buy it even if theyre new, or missed previous releases, and everyone wins.
[and have it available for gcash for those who cannot directly pay, that way people spend their gcash and it would be the equivalent of 5$ in gcash -- that way the 'exclusive factor' to buying it early is that 1. its cheaper and 2. you get it first, and we all want things first]
- this way you can have 1 or 2 featured name tags [so you can have one up for like, valentines day, as well as the zodiac symbol if you were to do the zodiac symbols for the entire year]

the only thing i wouldnt want to see with this, is you abuse the deadline and set it to like 2 days or 1 week on special random name tags
keep it fair, keep it simple, monthly releases are just fine, even if you have 1-2 items to choose from

Feature

Lanzer, last month I had asked about addin' achievements each month when to the 2.50 donation.

I wanted to add on to that idea.
My idea is when you donate you get a gift box and when you open it you would have a choice of an item that changes the color of your name. Like what they did the last two months. Or an achievement for the month. That way you could gift or sell the gift box, so if people that can't donate would still have a chance of gettin' the item or achievement. That way each month we could have at least 1 achievement, even if it's somethin' simple.

Also, Thank you for the achievements for the Valentine's event.

Items

About the newer pledge items-

Can you please put in the description or somewhere when there is a glow and when there isn't? I was really upset when I purchased that Valentine's Gift and there wasn't a glow and no way to try it on/see if it had one or not. Thanks.

Just tried it on Firefox. I do have a popup blocker extension, but it comes up as a separate webpage and not a popup. I havent tried it on another browser. I'll try Safari on my phone, thank you.

Question Category Gaia Pledge Flairs.

I guess I'd really like to know why Gaia Pledge Flairs and the like (without flairs) are allowed to be sold and purchased off the marketplace? It was an upsetting discovery when I realized how much it devalues the purpose of supporting each month to keep the site going, especially when anyone can pick it up with virtual currency, even those who don't care if Gaia sinks or swims.

I sincerely feel like people who support you each month should be rewarded with exclusivity and that it would encourage more people to pay $2.50 if that was the only means of obtaining it.
There is a big difference between using real cash to buy from the cash shop and sell on the market for virtual profit, than paying real cash to make sure the site keeps going month by month. One is casual and the other is dire.

It's honestly really upsetting for me personally and I'd like to know why it has to be this way, and if changing it could be considered? I don't see anything wrong with gifting flairs as it's already allowed, because the gifter is still paying for it and if they don't want it anymore it can be trashed. Just really discouraging for me as a supporter to discover all this just so recently.