Q) What is the Annual Ball?
The Annual Ball is one of the largest user run events on Gaia Online. This tradition dates back to March 2003 when a user by the name of Misao decided to host a Ball for his fellow Gaians. The 1st Annual Ball was the first user run event on Gaia and received a great deal of support from the site administration. Since its conception, the Annual Ball has grown into a much larger celebration with more diversified themes each and every year. The Annual Ball has experienced many changes throughout the years, but the one thing that remains the same is the great friendly atmosphere that Gaians have come to love. The Annual Ball is considered a place where Gaians can come together to meet up with old friends and make new ones. This commemoration is deeply rooted in role play elements, but for many the Annual Ball is considered a wonderful excuse to hang out and share fond Gaia memories.
Q) How does it work?
This is a 3 day roleplaying event. There is usually a main host that oversees and coordinates the entire ball and then there are several rooms that fit under the main theme of the entire ball. Each of these rooms have their own co-hosts that run their respective rooms with their own mini themes. All main rooms will have their own thread in the ball's forum, but users are free to make their own threads in the forum, as well. These will not be official, though; the ball's official rooms will be stickied for convenience. Guests are encouraged to hang out in these rooms, but will not be limited to them.
Q) Do I have to make a character for this?
You don't have to create a character specifically just for this event; you can play as yourself or as a character you've created. Dressing up is also not mandatory, but it sure is a lot of fun if you decide to deck your avatar out for the appropriate theme!
Q) Is this an official event?
This isn't an official event from Gaia as it is user-run. We are merely supported by the admins (ie. the forums).
And for the LAST time. This is not the anniversary ball, that's in February and is an actual Gaia Online admin-run event.
Q) Will I get a free item?
That is a tricky question to answer since the first two years yielded items, yet the last few years didn't.
BUT it is safe to say that NO you will most likely not be getting items. The choice to give out items for this ball is purely up to the administration and we have no say in that (as far as anyone knows).
The Ball has plenty of games with a ton of neat prizes though, so don't worry you will still have a chance at some prizes.
Q) What were the previous balls like?
In 2003, Misao made the
1st ever Annual Ball. The admins were so impressed with what she'd done that they released the red rose corsage and black bow tie for her ball. Note that these were the first non-store items on Gaia ever!
In 2004, Misao refused to make the next annual ball convinced that the greed on Gaia was far too much to yield it. In light of that challenge, Setzer appeared. He made a topic in QnF calling for people to help out and make the
2nd Annual Ball. This year, instead of one host there were many each with their own distinct rooms. It gained so much popularity amongst the users that Setzer decided to ask for our own forum to party in. As some of you know, the answer was yes. This was the first time Gaia had ever opened a Forum up for a user run event. Really this ball is extraordinary. Not only that, but again the admins seemed to be impressed and decided to release the G-pins (much to everyone's surprise since we (the hosts) didn't think there would be ANY items involved.
In 2005, it was that time again. Setzer passed the torch onto Razumi Yazura to host the
3rd Annual Ball since Setz thought that it would be best to change the main hosts every year (a very wise decision). That year we developed a theme which was planetary. All the rooms were based off of planets, but they each had their own underlying themes. Again the ball gained popularity and of course we asked for a forum. But this time we were getting the mansion! This of course was the first and last time the mansion was going to be opened for a User event. No items this year, but it was still a HUGE success!
In 2006, the 4th Annual Ball was hosted in a guild, due to unforseen complications, and the fact that the admins didn't want to open up the mansion for the ball. The slim staff of 16 worked day and night a mear two months before the official date of the ball, to keep this seemfully dying tradition alive. No official host was named this year, and command was shared between all those who were involved. Needless to say it was a quiet year that year, but it was the first ball that had a plot totally made by the users! Quiet, but still a success and fun!
In 2007, Leyna hosted this year's ball and the moderators allowed the ball to have its own forum for the
5th Annual Ball for the public to join in on the fun. The Ball's theme this year was Elements and it was quite exciting being able to make it public once more to a new generation of Gaians. It was a huge success and helped to open up the Ball to more people to help.
In 2008, with the Ball so successful as the year before everyone wanted to make this year's the biggest and best of them all. This year's host was chosen to be Freaksrus! Again for the 2nd time in a row the Ball was able to successfully gain a forum for the
6th Annual Ball. The ball was able to gain new ideas with the publicity of the last year and the ball's theme was chosen to be Time Periods after a quick change. Despite being a previous theme chosen for the 2nd Annual Ball all that participated had a ton of fun especially with a fun twist on the plot and the Ball's first time have it drawn out Manga style!
In 2009 Dolly14 was the host, and she created a fantasy world, with a fairy tale themed
7th Annual Ball! The ball brought in a ton of new guests and featured some of the prettiest layouts! Each room embodied a different genre, from a magnificent castle to a wild underwater scene!
In 2010, hosting responsibilities were passed between Valiae, xTrueBlissx, and Psycho Sabs due to real life complications and generally busy lives! The
8th Annual Ball was greek mythology themed! It featured a highly interactive plot with evil chaos goddess Eris going into rooms and messing with guests and NPCs.
In 2011, Princess Angelishia hosted the
9th Annual Ball, and the theme was the Seven Deadly Sins. Each of the seven rooms embodied a sin and its virtue counterpart. Though the sins and virtues were often at odds with each other, the guests had a blast restoring balance, and keeping the tower where they were held from falling.
Reply
