Gaia Online

Well. Gaia has hit a new low. I didn't believe was possible... Even for them.

I saw with my own eyes an GaiaOnline Administrator on Site Feedback, of all places. The section of the site where your suppose to be allowed to give criticism of ideas users submit. And they decided to reprimand users for speaking out against wanting proper pronouns to be placed on the forums.

My only advice to anyone that is left who is still using this site and you have conservative views, or you just don't lean left when it comes to things like political correctness? Get out! Just leave now! Because there is nothing left for you here besides head aches, heartbreak, and disappointments.

Signed up for the trial and once signed up I could not cancel, cancelled twice and they still keep on auto-billing me. I am fed up with companies who offer a free trial in order to get your CC info and then proceed to perpetually bill you even tho you have cancelled and NOT used their services at all, effectively they are stealing. Nothing but thieves.

The website itself is sub-par(garbage really) quality and for the amount it costs, the "content" is definitely not worth it! Don't waste your money and end up like me, locked into a second year(so $200 total) with no refund for a site I've used less than 5 times.

This site has devolved into a cesspool of predators, and it needs to be exposed. I have had run-ins with cult-like groups who meet on other sites where they can discreetly post pictures of people they got from GaiaOnline, then hack, blackmail, and harass them. I've had their victims find me and reach out to help them, and they told me things that correlated with my encounter with the group. I have never had a stalker till I joined the site. I must stress, please do NOT give out your real name no matter how friendly you've gotten.
A relationship was destroyed, my safety was threatened, and I felt trapped because I was found offsite, having to threaten to call the police. Everyone I've met on there is horny, aggressive, or looking to stir up trouble with strangers. There is nothing rewarding to the site for me now. Please exercise discernment with everyone you meet and don't give out your personal information.

I've been a member since 2006 and in the last month I've spent over $300 because I saw that the site was picking itself back up from the crash it had a few years ago and I wanted to support them. And then they suspended my trading pass / marketplace store because of "Suspicious payment activity". Fair, it's to prevent fraudulent payments and a possible hacker. But it's been over three days, the charge on my card has already gone through and I've already paid for it. My pass is still suspended. I've emailed customer support and have not gotten a single reply. That's so rude, especially to a supporter. They try to shove premium items down your throat so that you'll keep shoveling more money, and then they block you and refuse to reply to you. I'm not supporting them anymore.

I signed onto Gaia in 2017 for one year and enjoyed the classes. At the end of the year I tried to cancel my subscription and it was very difficult. Three tries and I finally extracted myself. Fast forward to 2021 and I just discovered that Gaia has kept me on auto renewal all this time! I tried to cancel again, and was told that I have to provide a transcript of the 2017 cancellation (it was a phone call), and though a customer support chat assured me that my subscription has been permanently cancelled (once again), the "finance team" will have to contact me by email to discuss returning $. I am appalled. Beware-there is no phone contact available, and one portal actually tried to get me to sign on to customer support with my credit card! Not very zen at all... I will be following through with every kind of complaint, including a legal complaint, as I'm able, if only for the benefit of other scammed customers.

When they caught me repeating the same mistake, which was overdued by 5 months prior to the ban. They gave no warning or whatsoever before giving the ban hammer, resulting in wasting tons of hours wasted grinding the items inside of the site.
Before the ban I was also talking bout my past banned acc, so the only clue I had was this.

If you criticize the admins of the site, they'll publicly humiliate you in front of everybody on the forums. In fact, they will do this on a weekly basis to beat you into submission for ever contemplating on doing such a thing in the first place.

Honestly, if I could, I would give it a negative rating. Everything's gone down the drain since the new CEO took over. There's a great lack of creativity or appreciation of users anymore. I'm pretty sure that it's being used directly as a cash cow with no concern of bettering the site. In fact, most loyal users - who have been on the site for over several years - are leaving because of this horrible way of running things. For the 'free to play' side of it, gold is rapidly inflating, meaning that you need more gold to buy things that had once been very cheap.

This site went to $#*! after all the founders left and the executives board was replaced with money greedy corporate $#*!s. Donation items from 10 years ago that were granted to those who donated a mere $2.50 to support the site in their initial days as a "Thank You" are now being re-released and sold for $100 ~ $1000 dollars for anyone who is willing to pay. The Site Feedback section of the site is pretty much yelling at a brick wall. Not a single $#*! is being given about the users. Their main focus is milking all their remaining cash cows -- who are also their most loyal users. Absolutely disgusting.

This company, in its current state, needs to be reported to the Better Business Bureau.

Gaia has made a lot of terrible decisions in the last few years, it's true. However, I also see them making an effort to turn things around in the more recent past. Lake Kindred has become a good way to earn gold and items without having to spend a lot of cash. They've recently done a series of surveys, asking for feedback about different features. There are still things to complain about, which is why I don't give it 5 stars. It's getting better, though.

I tried them 4 months ago and after 1 trial month of. 99 and then one for $9.95, decided to cancel. Fine and no billings for 3 months, then out of nowhere they hit my paypal with a random bill, which went to a checking account I no longer use and bounced. I can't reach anyone because of course there is no phone number. Only an email complaint system. I just filed a paypal case so hopefully that will work. But who does that months after a cancellation?

I used to spend a lot of cash to help make the site better... back when they released new content that could be enjoyed by all users. I supported Gaia Online. But now Gaia has become incredibly greedy. The internet just isn't fun anymore. You really can't go anywhere and feel the kind of love you did back when Gaia was new.

What can I say that hasn't already been said.
Gaia used to be fun, and the staff and developers and artists used to really care about what went onto the site, events were well crafted and the plot was driven and inventive.

Now it's just a bit of a wasteland, nothing it updated apart from constant reminders to buy buy buy! I feel like the new CEO is just trying to make as much money as possible before he closes the site up and runs.

Gold sinks that would help inflation are just a joke as gold generators are released straight afterwards with even higher payouts so you can buy back that fake money you just dumped back into the site, worse is that people actually fall for it.

If I could give it zero stars I would, I don't think it can be fixed at this point.

The site used to be a lot of fun, but with the removal of direct feedback to those who run the site, constant sales that cost hundreds of dollars, terrible inflation from gold generators the site keeps releasing, and absolutely zero communication with users and their feedback, it's since turned into a terrible place to be. There's so much wrong that it's hard to get down. Just steer clear. This place probably won't last another two years.

Been with Gaia a long time and after seeing Gaia develop and then abandon game after game and the forums/guilds not change much for years the site has just gone from an innovative site in 2003/2004 to unimpressive. Furthermore, the virtual currency has been demolished by hyperinflation by Gaiaonline allowing users to pay real money to buy massive amounts virtual currency (gold) which is used to purchase items your avatar can wear. Furthermore, new features to the site are required to pay for themselves, so updates are few and far-between or promised and never delivered. I also purchased virtual currency for use for a now-removed Heralds of Chaos game and never got a refund for money unspent when the game was removed. So yeah, purchase gaia cash at your own risk.