Gaia Online

Been there for over ten years. Some of the games are fun and the items are nice but they keep increasing inflation, constantly showering us with advertisements disguised as announcements, used some of the money we gave them to create an adult site and they keep constantly going back on their word... well at least Monthly collectables are 2.50 a month.

It's like a dying puppy. You see it there on the side of the road taking its last breaths. And then you kick it.

That's what Gaia's new management is doing. Since i last logged on towards the end of last year til now, prices of items have increased hundredfold. The market has inflated impossibly due to gold generators bought using real money that dole out billions to trillions of gold.

Yet, starter funds for new players? Still pretty much the same. Unless you buy in-game cash, it's impossible to buy items you want to create an avi you want; keep in mind Gaia is heavily focused on avatars and stuff. Advertisements for in-game cash abound; you're hounded by it wherever you go on the site. Until recently they've even been sending private messages advertising in-game cash. Users are treated like money pigs.

People are leaving. Old forums being abandoned. It's a ghost of what it once was. Folks, do not come to this site. Mark my words sooner or later it'll be closed.

Guruaid assisted me with cleanup after my computer had been infected, I think, with malware or some other malady. The assistance was good and the results very satisfactory. I appreciate the help.
Dan

So i start Gaia in 03 back when Gaiaonline was named Go-gaia, it was 17+. Some time passed for 03 to 06 i think that when the age drooped to 13+. Then Zomg came out i played it for like two years in 07 i stopped playing Gaia. In 2011 i came back to see that a hole lot have changed. Back in 03 to 07 the Mark place was better and when you head 1bill that was a lot of Gaia gold. Now the Mp sucks and if you got 1 bill your poor. Back in 03 They talk about how Gaia would never be about the money. Well that is Bull. If you go on your see that it is all about the money there is this thing called Gaia cash if you cant get it there is no point in getting on... The way they are going with the site it looks like to me that they are trying to make a lot of moeny and one day your try to log in and you cant the webpage says that Gaia is off line... So im am riding this train down hill with out the brakes..

Quickly gets boring. Most users are rude and mean bordering on trolls.
Games get stale, manga is blah, the items are cute though, but killer expensive.

Although I very quickly got to a point in which i had billions of gaia gold to spend i hit the point where I couldn't go any further in getting good things without paying irl money for gaia cash. Now as of this review for an empty bottle you can pay over 100 million for it as 2 weeks ago it was around 90 grand. With the constant inflation because the admins do not regulate the shops it seems to be making the game nearly impossible for new players who want to get some good stuff. People are less often donating items in the dumpster diving area and wealth is nearly impossible to get now. The social aspect is segregated, one main section are the pay-to-play players and their good gear which none of em even put any effort into getting, the other is the majority who are discriminated against or in other words the free-to-play players. My first 4 weeks on gaia have been very irritating, the first 2 being before i had millions of gaia gold, I was called names and no one spoke to me. On the other hand when I went over and got millions, and now billions of gold i could buy and get better items, using only the default shops, and dumpster dive I got some amazing gear. This was the point people would begin approaching me and actually having good chats with me, and yet I watched as the newer and poor players flocked around trying to talk to people and being ignored. I eventually got into the bidding aspect, with 32 million gold at the time it was nearly Impossible to win any bidding wars with players topping my 2 million bid with 245 billion gold bids (not even kidding this happened twice to me) getting great items became impossible. After getting over 4.9 billion from a sold item I suddenly was greeted with another aspect of the market... Pay-To-Play gods, they had billions at a time even topping your bet by 1 every time you placed a bet, making it irritating to even try. The 2nd worst thing in this game is how when you place a bid it suddenly displays it to the whole marketplace meaning your stealthy bid is now gonna be topped for hours on end until someone runs out of money (99% its you) and the other person gets the item. With me and my sister both helping each other we both managed to beat 1 player in a bidding battle, Railath is an example of a Pay-to-Play god, he will top your bids for hours on end. After a 2 1/2 hour bidding war we managed to beat him (I am not kidding). The worst part is, the items generally look like crap bur because they are worth a ton players are willing to take part in a mosh pit of horrible practices. The game is constantly giving you 20%-50% off coupons which encourage you to buy $50 or $100 packs of gaia cash by saying "HERE ARE SOME COOL ITEMS WHICH YOU WILL NEVER SEE AGAIN" The vast majority require you to pay over $20 for a single item, which they don't tell you this but the item you just bought for IRL money will only give you 1 piece of the outfit you saw unless you buy more of them. Over all the site is greedy, predejuced, and takes part is some dirty practices.

I first joined Gaia when I was in middle school. It was a great way to relax and have fun at the end of the day. The community was the first thing I noticed as everyone was both welcoming and helpful. It was easy to make gold because user's are allowed to host and run their own contests. People with a talent in drawing can make money by selling art of other people's avatars. With such a creative and unique atmosphere, Gaia became an immediate addiction in which I was logging sometimes 8-12 hours of playtime a day. I actually met someone on Gaia close to when I first joined who I still talk to today. He's one of my closest friends and I can't imagine life without him. I owe Gaia that friend, which is why I don't ever picture myself leaving completely. Gaia still possesses many of these great aspects that other websites just don't have. There is no other Gaia in the online world, it is a product of years of work that cannot be copied. Unfortunately, I don't find myself visiting Gaia as often these days. It has nothing to do with growing up or just being tired of Gaia. Gaia has recently taken an incredible turn for the worse. This community-oriented website has lost it's connection to the users. I no longer trust the staff to make appropriate and correct professional decisions. This is mostly due to an extremely inappropriate and offensive survey that was publicly released and announced on Gaia. It followed up with only 2 apologies, neither of which explained who created it, how it was released, and what it was for. They said the extremely offensive survey was not for us, but then, who was it for, Gaia? Later some rather sketchy images of a high positioning staff member popped up. They were giving a presentation in which Gaia was used as an example of gamification. Whilst gamification has proven a successful money-making strategy, it often brings in a less attractive userbase and frequent problems with site crashes, neglected member feedback, and a lack of unique content. These are just a few of Gaia's recent failures in how they run the site. Another problem we are being faced with is that many of us now view Gaia's big wigs as vicious money eating monsters. This has come about because of all the sales, cash pushes, pop-ups, and various other annoying and disruptive schemes. Gaia's users were once happy to open their wallets for a few dazzling collectables, but now that those "collectables" are being re-released, they are becoming relatively stupid things to spend your money on. The users were also once very willing to fork up hundreds of dollars to buy a few premium items, but now that hundreds of dollars can only get you 1-2 mediocre-at-best items, well I think it goes without saying that it's simply not worth it. Another serious real money problem has been the economy-destroying item known as Flynn's Booty and Flynn's Chest, which are essentially a way to purchase large amounts of gold for cash. The economy has suffered greatly because of this. Recent sales of old items have also contributed to a damaged economy. And don't bother thinking you're getting a good deal on gold or on a gorgeous limited time item, because more of them will be on sale next month and that investment you bought will become worthless.
Overall Gaia still possesses one of the most vastly unique and different communities of the internet, but due to a lack in user happiness, a destroyed economy, bad executive decisions, and one million other horrendous problems; Gaia is a desert wasteland with a few potted roses and is not the type of website anyone should be joining right now.

I will give it one extra star for the community. Gaiaonline's membership is diverse. You have your educated, your trolls, and everything in between. That along with a great admin team, awesome market, and tons of free games made this a great place.

Then the cash train rolled in. Gaiaonline has had options to purchase virtual items for cash for years, but lately it's gotten completely out of control. Some virtual items are going for $150. Yes, $150 for pixels. Back during summer, there was even an item re-released for $999. The prices for items has gotten to an impossible rate for a gaming site, and the virtual gold market that was once the method to get items through work and play has been completely flipped on its head by sister items known as Flynn's Booty Grab and Flynn's Chest, both available for $1-$12 respectively, which when opened delivered anywhere from 50k gold (Which according to a standard prior to the release, 90k roughly values at 1usd) to 250 million gold. Inflation has skyrocketed and questing for items to customize avatars, a large part of the website, has become virtually impossible without spending tons of real money.

The community has expressed concerns about this, but with the new administration (Most the old admins/developers quit or were fired), we have been told repeatedly the same cookie cutter "We are keeping your thoughts in mind" while going about and doing exactly what the community asks them to change. Those that actually do leave from the safe script have very little to say, and often come out rude, the latest one being at an ask the admin meeting (a weekly meeting that is meant to talk to administration and get answers to questions and voice concerns. Sadly directly after this specific event, it was discontinued) a Gaian expressing their concern over the discontent of the members (something easily avouched for looking in the site feedback and community discussion forum) was told by an admin actually asked him if he has any proof, and would accept nothing without numbers to back it up. The members began taking polls, and Gaia responded less than 48 hours later with something along the lines of "we're a business, we're going to be doing this whether you like it or not."

Long story short, Gaia used to be good, but its changed. The moderators are terrible, the economy is a joke, nothing gets updated unless its something you have to pay actual cash for, and the amount you will be paying is just insulting. You're better off putting your time elsewhere and saving your money--You could put a down payment on a house with it.

Gaia. Gaia. Gaia.

Parents need to know that while this site may attract young teens with its lively graphics, games, and opportunities to socialize with other kids, if you don't turn the filter on, adult language and topics are common. There's no doubt that your teen will stumble upon threads discussing "masturbation myths and fads" and "WTF moments" in a matter of minutes. The site also pushes kids to buy buy buy with their Gaia Gold virtual currency. The positive side of that is it teaches kids about money -- and to save up for something they like.

Log on to GAIAONLINE.COM and play games (slots and jigsaw, among them), chat with other 13- to 18-year-old users, collect downloadable wallpaper for cell phones, and buy virtual items in virtual stores with Gaia Gold currency, which is earned with every session spent on the site. As with most virtual worlds, the first stop after your free sign-up is creating your avatar. Via the anime-style character -- whose hairstyles and clothing you can customize -- kids can chat in different rooms.

Though the site appears to be kid-friendly and moderators are supposed to be trolling the boards for inappropriate images, racist and sexist language, and adult content, if you don't use the word filter it's rampant with such fare. For example, on a recent visit, the following threads appeared: "Your best WTF moment was?" "What are your fave pick-up lines?" "Masturbation Myths and Fads" and "Poll: I wanna have sex with a boy." Perhaps the moderators were asleep at the wheel or their safety claim is just that -- a claim. Either way, it'd be good to sit down with the kids as they surf the site or just steer them away. There are plenty of others with cleaner content and just as robust audiences.

I recommend this website for Ages 1518.
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