Welcome to Gaia! ::

It's in the service forums.... since they didn't have the guts to make a proper announcement.

To many noobs scammed people

I like the idea of banks, but I never really liked the idea of privately run banks. Too many opportunities to scam people, no real records, etc. I wish Gaia would have something like a central bank where your gold could work for you without your having to push it around all the time (like in vending).

But that would be work - and would require hiring more staffers which would cost more money. My understanding is that their staff is pretty much at its limit handling the constant stream of scammers that are already invading.

Yes and yes.

Gaia sets the terms of service. The players here choose to use this site for their own reasons, but agree to the terms of service when they create an account and continue connecting here. And Gaia reserves the right to change those terms of service at any time.

(refer to Gaia Terms of Service, section three, which I quote:

" Modification of these Terms. Gaia reserves the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of these Terms at any time. Please check these Terms and any Guidelines periodically for changes. Your continued use of Gaia Online after the posting of changes constitutes your binding acceptance of such changes. "

The TOS also explicitly states, in section 7, that Gaia Gold is owned by Gaia Online. Therefore, they do retain the right to decide what players can do with it.)

When you put work into something you don't own, it can be thrown away at any time. Projects at real life corporations are often thrown out for the flimsiest of reasons, like politics, even after lots of money and hours have been spent on them.

I'm sorry for the legitimate bank owners, since they're being caught up in a decision that's bigger than they are, but with the sheer number of scammers showing up daily, I understand why the powers that be at Gaia believed this was a necessary step and took it.

Reading over the closure notice, it seems as if the moderators are being more than reasonable, allowing the user banks two months to shut down and offering help and paths to do so smoothly.

I can understand why a change of this magnitude would upset users - from what I've observed, many users tend to get upset when any changes are made. And I do feel for the bank owners who are going to have to find another way to make a Gaian living. But I also understand why this decision was made, and yes, Gaia did have the right to make it.

Sure, Gaia has a right to close the banks just like Argentina had the right to ruin its economy a few decades back. The government should not interfere with the economy.