Welcome to Gaia! ::

We are all about to be studied and published. Fame awaits. Soon not a single college student in a specific classroom will not know the name Matasoga...Though granted that is only...What, 10, 20 kids?
I'll let him tell you about it. On this historic occasion a male other than myself will set foot on sacred grounds.

Sorry it's going so poorly...I rather thought they'd be more helpful.

Thank you for your help. I hope that others follow your example.

Sorry I replied so late ^^;
Mata is someone I consider a friend. I haven't really known him for long, nor have I talked to him that much. I would like to talk to him more though. I meet Mata in pinball one day and we talked for a while and I added him as a friend. We started PMing and eventually I got his msn from him. One day he just invited me to the guild and I accepted it. I'm glad I did, it's nice to be around girls that I can actually get along with. Who can I not stand... well I can't really think of one person in particular that I don't like that much.

I have a bad habit of believing people know exactly what I mean at times ^^; Yes I meet you in pinball and after we talked for a while you added me to your friends list and then you invited me to the guild.

To me, Josh is a valuable friend who probably gets the majority of my randomness when we talk as opposed to my saneness - which may or may not annoy him.
I'm here because I met him in Pinball, and recognised him as my friend's friend. I think that may have been back in April... Or May. Anywho - I've found some people here easier to talk to than others, which doesn't bother me, because everyone's still really nice. And there's noone I actually cannot stand. I'd say I'm lurking or posting in the guild about 80% of the time I'm here.

Because at least one of you (or so I hear) expressed interest, here's what I've got so far. I warn you that if you put it in Microsoft Word in the default, 12 point font and double space it, with the heading (which I removed, it takes up every last bit of nine pages...If you have the time and patience, though, I hope you enjoy it.

A Look at the Lovelies
The “Matasoga’s Lovelies” guild is an internet site created in message board format as part of a larger site, called Gaia online. The guild is built upon association with the Gaia user “Matasoga.” Only female friends of Matasoga (that have Gaia online accounts, by necessity) are invited to join the guild. Given the narrow scope of interest, the guild sees a relatively considerable amount of activity. Rarely does a day go by without at least one (but usually significantly more) reply to one of the topics being posted.
The guild, established in December of 06, boasts a total of well over 12,000 posts, a number that grows daily. While there are over 15 members with over 100 posts to their name, of them only about 10 are active, but many more with lower posts also contribute on occasion. The guild includes all ages, so long as you’re a female who has befriended Matasoga.
The home page of the guild bares a banner that depicts an incredibly stylized image of a presumably human (though cartoonishly proportioned) male standing next to a scantily clad, violet skinned woman. The male has a goatee and moustache. He wears all black, with the exception of a white cravat, clad in a long coat, glasses, a fedora, loafers and slacks. The two are superimposed translucently on a background of a washed out photograph of a male dressed in a similar fashion to that of the one more cartoonishly depicted. The left half of the banner is dominated by a speech bubble (that could be coming from either the illustration or the man in the photo) reads “Matasoga’s Lovelies Guild.” Below that is an introductory note by one of the vice Captains of the guild. It reads, “Attention all ladies: Do you think Matasoga is dead sexy? Want to become one of his lovelies? Then this is the Guild for you! Come join the rest of his lovelies in ranting about the sexiness. He's waiting for you... ^.~
"~*~Matasoga's Lovelies - Worshiping the sexiness since December '06~*~
"[Note #1: Only female friends of Matasoga are eligible to join. Please friend him first if you would like to join. Thank you ^_^]
[Note #2: Matasoga may be sexy, but he is married. Her user name on Gaia is tinuviel_nyx. Sorry, girls!]"
Given an introduction such as that, it is easy to mistake the purpose of the guild, but Matasoga himself has been known to say that the statement is misleading. According to him, while more than a few of the Lovelies have or had at some point some sort of infatuation with him, the true purpose of the guild is for his female friends to get to know one another in a community that he created himself and hand-picked.
One may further ask why it is that only girls were chosen as part of the community. After some introspection, Matasoga explained that during his high school years he was often bullied and picked on by males rather exclusively. It was most likely then, he noted, that it worked into his sub-consciousness that females made for more pleasant company. It may, also, however, be significant that almost a year after the Lovelies was created, he made a more inclusive guild called “Matasoga’s Minions,” to which all of his male friends were invited, though role-playing took a place of greater importance than socializing, by the looks of the post counts. Indeed it was the inactivity of the guild that motivated Matasoga to eventually invite several of his most active Lovelies to the guild. Even with that inclusion, the membership is well below half that of the Lovelies and the post count well under a quarter, though to its credit it is, as noted, a significantly younger guild.
Located directly below this, a brief description of what lies within. Matasoga’s Lovelies has numerous sub-forums. All of these are easily found by following links on the main forum page, as they are given at the top of the screen. The “Archives,” sub forum houses threads (or topics that have been posted by users) that have either become passé or have not been posted on in a long time. “Role-Playing,” is where the guild members (or “Lovelies,” as they’re often called) can engage in a form of interactive story-telling. The “Art,” sub-forum allows a place for the “Lovelies,” to post any artwork that they would like to share which Matasoga (who also posts his work) often critiques. “Stand-By” houses threads that have become inactive but may be needed for later use. “Philosophy,” houses discussions of a theological or philosophical nature. “Writing,” houses works of original fiction or other written works authored by Matasoga or the Lovelies. “Past Gaia Events,” is where discussions of events hosted by Gaia (usually interactive events that allow Gaia online users to interact in ways that they cannot normally. Such events often include virtual items, usable within the Gaia Online website) are placed, following the event. “Cryptozoology” is the most recent addition, where threads discussing cryptozoological beasts are retired to after the thread ceases to be active.
Of the various sub-forums, however, the most trafficked by far is the Main Forum. This is where nearly all discussions originate and the first place that one wishing to navigate the guild must go. To get something of a feel of the nature of any forum or message board, the easiest way is to peruse the topics of the threads posted therein. The thread order changes, based on which topic was responded to most recently, but word-based games, recent life issues, topics based on one’s take to news-making events, guild-based topics (often dealing with guild improvement), photo threads, and getting-to-know-you topics seem to be the most prolific. Most popular of all, it seems, is the thread asking Lovelies to post photos of themselves.
The homepage lists the number of Lovelies at 131 (at the time of recording) though word has reached me that the guild program has been experiencing glitches as of late and as such the number given may be less than reliable. Additionally, the number may be subject to change, as Lovelies are added as often as Matasoga makes new female friends. While Lovelies are usually American, the connective nature of Gaia allows Matasoga to extend his circle of friends inter-continentally. The top ten users with the highest post-count (a “post” meaning any thread or reply to a thread) include members from Australia, New Zealand, and Portugal but other areas of the world are also represented, among those who post less frequently. As a result, posts can occur at any time and given Matasoga’s sleep schedule (which would be considered rather unusual by most, given his late hours) they are often answered promptly.
Emotions and whim are the driving force of the site, a willful intent of expressing opinions, sharing ideas, socializing, and making friends being some of the relatively few motivating factors to return to the guild. While the occasional harsh word or unpleasant exchange is not unheard of, it is rare. Generally the girls coexist and socialize in a peaceable manner and maintain a friendly demeanor. There is little to hope for from the guild aside from the hopes of socializing or being introduced to new ideas or interests. Due to the relatively high level of activity, one often finds exactly what they came for.
When asked about why they joined the guild and maintained active roles, several Lovelies readily shared their answers. Torzeh, presently the Lovely who maintains the highest post count (Second only to Matasoga) described Matasoga as “an interesting and valuable friend.” When asked, she answered “I'm here to discuss whatever topics take my fancy with other girls who are obviously similar to me in at least one way. I love anyone here who'll hold a conversation with me, and there's no-one that I really feel I can't stand.”
Snickerz_83, presently holding the position of third highest post count in the guild, described him as “An amazing friend. He means a lot to me. His advice has helped me through so many problems with people, and I could not get better advice from anyone else.” She recounts how she and Matasoga met for the first time in a room for on of the games that Gaia has to offer. “He added me on MSN one day,” using the phrase to indicate a messenger service that the two used to exchange instant messages (or IMs) “and talked for probably hours the first night. I can honestly say that I have never had a boring conversation with [him]. All the Lovelies are amazing, and will give advice when they can…All in all, I think I've developed as a person, not only because of being in this guild…but also by knowing [Matasoga].”
Krissi-Chaos, presently number 7 in the guild, also describes Matasoga as “a valuable friend who probably gets the majority of my randomness when we talk.” She goes on to describe that she met Matasoga in a pinball gaming room in either April or May and recognized him as a friend of a friend. On the topic of the guild itself she had this to say. “I've found some people here easier to talk to than others, which doesn't bother me, because everyone's still really nice. And there's noone (sic) I actually cannot stand. I'd say I'm lurking or posting in the guild about 80% of the time I'm here.”
Based on replies such as these, it may well be said that this group is tight-knit but such an atmosphere can alienate others. In fact not long after this, one of the Lovelies left the guild after being fairly active. I feel it very likely that seeing the other Lovelies close emotional proximity to Matasoga may have pushed her to leave. She stated that she felt “Out of place,” and said, “Everyone is in such a tight knit group just makes other people constantly on the outside.”
Matasoga was quick to look for ways to improve the guild and make everyone comfortable. He put the question to the Lovelies in the form of a post, explaining the conversation without giving the name of the leaving Lovely. While the Lovely’s responses to the given question were very helpful, the responses that the Lovelies had were of even more help and granted much further insight.
Torzeh was the first to respond by saying, “To be honest, I find that more than a little strange. As someone who, when around unfamiliar people, has a habit of shrinking into my own little corner, I've found that all of the Lovelies are always more than happy to accept new faces into any conversation. I don't believe there's anyone who would be considered an outsider by really any particular group of Lovelies, that I can think of. I've always found it a very friendly place.”
Krissi-Chaos agreed but seemed somewhat empathetic. “I've found the guild to be civil, and friendly. I can share my views, and everyone treats each other respectfully and kindly. It's not hard to jump into a conversation if you want. Noone (sic) cuts anyone out, regardless of age difference or anything, but I can appreciate where she's coming from. When I joined, I found it kinda hard to find people to talk to, but that goes away after a couple of weeks.”
Ledzie_Campbell appeared to agree with Krissi when she said, “Honestly, I was a bit apprehensive when I first joined the Lovelies. I came in and thought that everyone had known Matasoga for years and I felt a tiny bit out of place. But that quickly went away for me, surprisingly since I'm terribly shy, and I never felt that anyone didn't want me here er (sic) anything though.”
Snickerz_83 added, “I am just shocked that anyone would call the Lovelies ‘a tight knit group’. I never thought that the Lovelies had any cliques, whatsoever. I never thought that anyone acted differently towards certain Lovelies. I can honestly say, that when I'm having a bad day, and need to vent, or just want cheered up, I can come here, and the Minions, and be in a better mood in minutes. I think that all the Lovelies greet each other with open arms, except one or two quarrels, and they weren't too major. I hope that anyone having problems adjusting to the Lovelies would talk to one of us, through PM or any other way out of the guild, and talk to us about any problem they have.”
Tinuviel_nyx was less positive. She presented a rather contrary point of view when she said, “I feel like I'm the victim of Japanese-style bullying...I don't get responses. People act as though I don't write anything at all. The only time people reply to me is when I warn people that the thread is getting off-topic, and then they complain. I can certainly understand [the leaving Lovely’s] point of view.” She then went on to explain that she only stayed in the guild to retain her standing, therein.
Clearly there is a common consensus among the Lovelies, though not all of them agree on how open, warm, and welcoming the guild and its members are. I think it important to note that tinuviel_nyx is married to Matasoga, in real life. Given that information and the apparent closeness that the girls feel with Matasoga it takes little insight to see potential strife arising from it, which could very well have more than a little to do with the inability of tinuviel_nyx and the other girls to get along as well as they might.
It could easily be said that the Lovelies are typically motivated by a simple desire to socialize, converse, meet others, and make friends. As there is little room for ulterior motives (with the exception of hoping to manipulate a situation for social gain) there can be no other reason for being in a guild aside from making gold (virtual currency used in Gaia to buy virtual items, awarded in small quantities for posting) raising one’s post count (a number of how many posts you have ever made with your account on Gaia. Some users may view a higher post count as a mark of prestige). Due to the ease with which both of the latter objectives can be met without joining The Lovelies guild (such as posting on a forum or any number of other user-made guilds) those motives have never been observed as sole reasons for joining and being active in the Lovelies Guild.
Behavioral patterns are at once easier and more difficult to notice in a message board or forum setting. On one hand, the nature of posting in some of the threads may seem a pattern behavior in and of itself by some. Indeed some threads featuring word games have been created where the very objective necessitates pattern behavior by those wishing to participate. On the other hand, certain mannerisms or repeated conversations that may seem perfectly normal in a bar or other social setting would quickly become monotonous, pointless, and tedious in a forum setting, or in the case of mannerisms simply not have an available substitute. While stating something redundant may take only an instant to speak or hear it would take more time to type and read. It is likely due to the permanent, archival nature of the guild’s message-board format, many normal behavior patterns existing in society where face-to-face interaction is involved become pointless.
That said some incidents do occur repeatedly. It has happened that one particular poster takes offense at comments made by others. That said, few other instances of what could commonly be considered pattern-behavior are often exhibited, so far as I have observed.
One may easily ask what exactly the purpose of the guild is. Of course it is a place for female friends of Matasoga to gather and discuss but this begs the question “Why?” Is it really only a matter of Matasoga’s comfort level? Particularly in the early days of the guild, he seems to be unashamedly glorying in the ego-stoking that the guild’s very existence seemed to provide. While he seems to conduct himself in a manner that more firmly suggests that it is a meeting place for his female friends I find it unlikely that no shred of egotism remains in his motivations. Whatever the case, it certainly seems that Matasoga is far from the only one who enjoys frequenting the guild and it has become, to many, a friendly place to meet and relax.

Yeah, it is.