I've been on gaia since middle school and now I'm in university so it's been a good 7-8 years. I remember when I was a "newbie" and discussing gaia with my best friends in middle school, after graduating everyone went their different ways, we would still contact each other but it's not the same. Until a few years back and zOMG was introduced, we would play zOMG together and it was so nostalgic.
Gaia was a big part of my teen life, it used to have awesome regular updates and had a great community. Until the gold generators came in and everything went downhills (you could argue it even happened before that) The arts forum was the reason I got introduced to digital arts, which by the way is my major in university now, so for me gaia wasn't just a "game", and I'm sure many many people feel the same. Which is why I'm heart broken loggin for the first time in half a year and seeing this dying and possibly dead community/game. I don't know what happened to it but the owners/makers of gaia clearly don't give a $#*! about their users anymore. The great site that accompanied me while growing up was gone and I wish I could say it will come back but it's probably not going to. So here goes my condolences to gaia online:
Rest in peace, the game we all loved and grew with. May there be another community that will rise and become as grand as gaia became. :)