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aka How Gaia Has Changed

I joined in 2005, which was not the beginning of Gaia, although it was for me. Things were simple then, and the site was still fairly small for a forum and interaction site, but Gaia was growing. It is still growing, 3 years later, although I'm not sure how many actual accounts from the first days of Gaia are still going.

When I joined, I did not have unlimited access to an internet connection, so I was intermittently offline for days or weeks on end. Around the end of 2006, I really got into the site, after finally getting a connection to the web at home. I was on Gaia every day, and I would go onto the forums, and into the Guilds I was part of every time I logged in. I wasn't a RICH Gaian, but I donated once or twice, got a few donations of my own. I was HAPPY with the site.

As I got my internet connection, I also began to donate on a fairly regular basis. Or, at least, I got the good donation ITEMS on a regular basis. I raised most of the gold for them myself, and only donated a few times. As time passed, I thought it would be cool to see if I could collect every item Gaia had to offer. The ones I actually WANTED anyway. The others were of no importance to me. I sold a lot of items I didn’t want any longer, and some I did (I still miss my Chuck Norris scarf) to buy items. This was when I donated the most, when I started my quest. Eventually, I came back to selling high-end items I owned but did not wear or want, for cheaper items I really craved. Store updates were fairly common at this time, and in my opinion, the bigger the better. I was aiming for all of it.

But I’m not talking about inventory now. That comes in a later entry.

My problems with Gaia actually started with the first type of “Starter Sets”, for new Gaians (aka new accounts on the site). Each new Gaian got one of three “color sets” to choose from: Cool, Warm, or Neutral. In this starter set, they received about 4 outfits and some furniture, as well as (I believe it was around) 500 gold. This began maybe a year (?) after I joined. I don’t want to pull the “when I was your age” line, but… when I started my account on Gaia (which is the one I’m using now, but with a changed username) all I got was a peasant dress, some peasant shoes, and about 300 gold. Maybe a little more. I had a choice of ‘jade’, ‘grey’, or ‘brown’, and starter hair. That’s all. And what made it worse (to the “old Gaians” was that we were tossed into Gaia with very little “instruction” as to how to procure gold. I asked friends who had been on Gaia longer than I had, who asked friends that they met on the site.

Sure, there were ways to get gold listed. But not NEARLY as detailed as the new site design gave the “new Gaians”.

That was also about when the noobs stormed the arenas too. Before then, yeah, you’d see people in cheap clothing from the stores taking up an entry. But they at least tried, or did the “Help me finish my Dream Avatar” spiel. My crappy avatar arena entries were always 100% effort (and they still are), and it was obvious that people worked for that outfit, even a little bit. Once the starter sets came out, the arenas got bombarded by entry after entry of people in starter outfits, with little or no description, besides “vote 10 plz. I give u goldz” or “I’m new here! Let me win!”. The noob entries still continue to this day, and every time I see one, it’s another fresh-off-the-press avatar (that looks just like all the others) with the same clothes, almost always begging. Begging to win, begging for gold. Or there’s no description at all.

After the first starter sets, there really wasn’t a lot to complain about that isn’t covered in another entry, besides how few friends I made still sign onto Gaia anymore.

I’m serious. At least half the people I know on Gaia (on my friendslist) never sign on anymore. EVER. And they’ve either forgotten about the site, tried deleting their accounts, or basically hate Gaia to the point that they never want to hear of it ever again. And if you can’t tell by now, I’m fast becoming one of those people who sells all of their items, leaves, and never wants to talk about Gaia again. It’s become something I’m no longer proud to say that I’m a part of.

Needless to say, I rarely go into the forums anymore. They're full of annoying people, scammers, and beggars, and when I find something I want to talk about, "Flood Control" keeps me from actually responding to people when I want.

I also used to pollwhore. Not that many remember what that means now. Back when EVERY poll gave you ten gold, there was no shortage of pollwhoring guilds. Some point after or around the first starter sets, Gaia decided we couldn't JUST get 10 gold per poll, 15 per forum post, 5 per blah blah blah, etc. They changed it. And it's the same now as when they changed it, and I wish they'd change it back. Forum posting and voting should at least stay above 5 gold per. I don't want to get 20 gold for posting in the chatterbox, get into a conversation, and 10 minutes later realize that I'm not getting gold anymore. I want the flat rates back.

But I (sort of) digress. I'm really not happy with Gaia anymore. I've CONTEMPLATED selling all the items I've painstakingly collected.... but then I think:

"I don't just want to sell them, I want to give the really good items to friends of mine, so that they go to people I like, and know deserve those items."

but then I also think:

Wait, what if they do the exact same thing I do, and quit Gaia say... three months from now? My hard-earned items will get sold to pretty much just anyone!"

So I think that if my account were to grow tiresome, and I didn't want it anymore, I would let all my items ROT in my inventory, so that noobs couldn't get their sticky little hands all over them.

I'm just saying...

Until next time,
Fujoshi Sama