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A Message From Gaia's Founders [Discussion]

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cett oracle

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Post: 105475326_541 created on Fri, 21 Dec 2018 09:26:59 +0000
Posted: Fri, 21 Dec 2018 09:26:59 +0000

This is my first post in a long time. My friends, irl and online, all stopped logging in years ago, and I generally just log in to re dress my avatar, to get the free daily items, and then leave. Often, I'll miss weeks or months at a time.

I remember, two or three years ago, I went to Fanime. The California Bay Area anime convention that is Gaia's home territory. I went to their panel and listened to things that were coming up and as they talked about the site in general. And they hosted questions form the audience. I asked, what are you planning on doing about the inflation? and the panel shrugged and said, nothing, it was just a few extra zeros at the end of the number.

I have been on Gaia for 11 years and for a couple of years I spent a lot of money on the site, I wanted to collect all the color ways of an item or i really wanted this theme, and it got pretty unhealthy, because before I knew it, the different item events and chance items were overlapping and it became overwhelming. And I stopped playing Gaia, because there were rewards for spending more and more, and the marketplace prices were become steeper and steeper.

Mind you, I went to the Gaia baseball games, when they had a company Baseball Team. Gaia has been a very formative experience for me, for many many years. It was where I started writing, it inspired me to be creative, it gave me an eye for fashion, it got me into pixel art, and balancing sprites. Look, Gaia has done a lot of good for me, but its also been bad.

I've seen Gaia change and grow. Like a lot. But the end has been coming, and it has been for a long time. Through mismanagement or through toxic practices, whatever. (looking at you Tentcl)

Ultimately, what I'm trying to say is. I'm not going to give them any money. Because this isn't real. This claim of transparency is a desperate bid for the attention of people who once loved this website. Am I bitter? Yeah. Am I sad about Gaia dying? Also yes. Will I consider donating money if they became better? Yeah, but they wont.

They rolled out the new currency and nothing changed, they aren't looking for a permanent fix to anything, just bandaids.

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Post: 105475326_542 created on Fri, 21 Dec 2018 12:32:42 +0000
Posted: Fri, 21 Dec 2018 12:32:42 +0000

This is surprising but a relief to know as well. I would feel sad if this site were to shut down. Not just because of nostalgia kicking me constantly when I come here. It's also because, I don't think I could get a similar experience else where. Just watching it evolve over time was neat even though it hasn't always been the best.

So yeah I'll think about it. I probably will because I still want to make avatars and lurk around. ninja

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Post: 105475326_543 created on Fri, 21 Dec 2018 15:40:37 +0000
Posted: Fri, 21 Dec 2018 15:40:37 +0000

PizzaNyah

Maethirion

welian

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Maethirion

XenForo is a forum software, like how Gaia currently runs on (last I checked) phpBB. There are many kinds of forum softwares, like SimpleMachine, MyBB, Invision, etc. This is not to be confused with web browsers, the applications we use to view websites online.

Mobile-friendly/responsive design means that a website can be view on both a desktop and a smartphone, and the content of the website will automatically be rearranged depending on the size of the viewport (aka your screen). When you resize your browser window and the website shifts to fit, this is responsive design. A website is generally considered mobile friendly if the mobile version of the website is a single-column layout that does not require horizontal scrolling (this also includes images in posts that resize to the width of the screen), large text that's easy to read on a small screen, and large buttons that are easy to tap.

EDIT: Extra caffeine and salt help my headaches, maybe a Coke and some instant noodles will help you too?

Thanks, that helps. Sounds useful.

Hi, here are some actual examples of responsive web design.

Thanks for the visual. That doesn’t look expensive or difficult to incorporate while the app is in development.

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Post: 105475326_544 created on Fri, 21 Dec 2018 16:59:34 +0000
Posted: Fri, 21 Dec 2018 16:59:34 +0000

If I just plan on buying gcash with a gift card, is that helping?

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Post: 105475326_545 created on Sat, 22 Dec 2018 00:30:07 +0000
Posted: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 00:30:07 +0000

Lanzer

eterneco

PizzaNyah

Lanzer

eterneco

If they're unable to grant it to you, then they definitely should give 100% of your (and other ticket buyers) money back. If you wait over 1 year and 3 months and they still haven’t even given you any form of confirmation, you should be free to request all your money back. No questions. It’s very weird that they don’t give ticket buyers first priority above every other item release. You paid premium price for a premium item, so you should at least get a quick premium service, quick and effective communication, and very short waiting time (1 week, and no more than 1 month). That’s the least they could do. It’s like they forgot about you and that’s disrespectful of them. They should assign at least one artist (I’m sure at least one of their talented artists would voluntarily move from their massive Cash Shop item spam department) to the very long ticket queue where you’re one of the waiting customers. Then over time move more talented artists to the ticket queue until 100% of the tickets have been completed with beautiful end results. Or they should refund your money back, including all the other ticket buyers. Then after that, if they decide to sell more tickets, they should sell and work on only one ticket at a time. I don’t believe it’s a resource problem, it’s a priority problem. They prioritize Cash Shop item spam, instead of giving people what they paid for. If they’re unable to give people what they paid for, then they really should give you 100% of your money back. Really, all good and serious businesses will agree with this.

Yeah they clearly are unable to deliver what you paid for (custom artwork of your Gaia Online avatar by an official Gaia Online artist named reapersun), you have been waiting for way too long for a premium service you didn't get. You shouldn't have waited more than 1 week (and definitely not longer than 1 month), so they should give you (and everyone else who have been waiting way too long for their tickets) 100% of the money you and they paid them. I quoted Lanzer, maybe he will see our conversation. So Lanzer if you see this, and are unsure what to do about the ticket issue, I wrote 3 simple suggestions that might solve the ticket problem:

1. Have a meeting as soon as possible (and after that, a meeting minimum once per week) with Gaia's artists about the very long ticket queue, and assign enough artists to only work on the long ticket queue until it's 100% completed, and every waiting customer received beautiful end results that they're happy with. And make sure the customers get the artist they want. For example, eterneco (who have waited over 1 year and 3 months) have redeemed her Project Lapis Ticket and wants reapersun to do her custom artwork.

2. Assign more artists over time to the very long ticket queue so your customers can receive what they paid for faster, and repeat step 1. When the long ticket queue is 100% completed, and if you want to sell more tickets in the future, make sure you sell and work on only 1 ticket a time, and make sure that each customer doesn't have to wait more than 1 week, and definitely not longer than 1 month for each ticket, to avoid this issue happening again. This also applies to other items than tickets.

3. If step 1 and 2 is not possible (I think it is, it's not a matter of resources, it's a matter of priority, see step 1 and 2), then please refund/pay back 100% of every waiting customer's money and apologize that you were unable to deliver what they paid for.

I hope Gaia staff will listen, if they really care about their customers and the community, then they will listen cat_3nodding

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Post: 105475326_546 created on Sat, 22 Dec 2018 01:09:15 +0000
Posted: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 01:09:15 +0000

I feel that they're moving in the right direction by addressing what went wrong with the site
that many of us has been complaining about. However trying to fix it will be a difficult feat.

I believe they should start with trying to grow the community again and being more involved
with us, like being at the anime conventions, hosting a platform for artist, gamers, bloggers
and the likes. While i have nothing against how this platform works now, many of gaia's
users have all grown and moved pass their childish/teenage ways and Gaia should adapt to
the communities mindset and maintaining some of the old ways. It would make it easier to
capture the interest of a similar crowd while also catering to it's long term followers.

I've actually been a member since 2005, many of my friends have all moved on due to
having to deal with life as an adult should, but they only return to reconnect with the people
they've made a connection with when they were younger. This site holds a nostalgic place
for me as well and i'd hate to see it go.

Frozen Mist

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Post: 105475326_547 created on Sat, 22 Dec 2018 01:16:35 +0000
Posted: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 01:16:35 +0000

I've given this a lot of thought, and short of doing a hard reset on the economy I don't see how they can make a come back at this point.
The market has become way too saturated, not just with currency but with gold as well. And when they made gaia-cash tradeable, people stopped needing to spend cash to get what they want as well.

I think they would need a hard startover at this point. IMO that would translate as re-releasing every single historical cash shop item as a mix of 1-100 platinum prices, and some 1-10gaia cash prices. Don't touch game items/monthly collectibles, just reset any rig items. Then, thereafter, go back to only doing a MONTHLY item release. Similar to the model when rigs were first created. And also eliminate cash perk prizes. Make this an exclusive store where all the historical cash shop items are, separate from the actual cash shop.

So if you do that with items, next you need to address the currency issues. Putting the items in shops for platinum and gaiacash should help clean SOME money out of the system, but there's still a lot left. At that point, I think the only way to get people spending $$ again would be to add a NEW form of cash currency which is NOT tradeable. Make the monthly cash shop ONLY accept this new form of cash currency. That way, people cannot use hoarded gaia-cash MP to ruin the economy all over again.
The key is you have to leave the old currency in the system though. But only items in the historical cash shop and the marketplace can be purchased with it. And old-Gaiacash would have to no longer be purchasable with new cash.

Then if the website somehow survived that s**t storm, you'd have to rebuild the community. This site was super relevant 10+ years ago, but the world went mobile and gaia is just not mobile friendly yet. It KILLs me that I can't play any of their flash games on a mobile app - I would like to be able to earn stuff on-the-go and that's just not a feature they offer. Mobile views aren't friendly with the avatar system either, they'd need to find a way to make the avatars mobile friendly as well.

I don't think gaia has to keep flooding the market to get more sales, they need a targetted strategy. However the damage is so severe, that is would take a severe change to fix.
I also don't think they need to try so hard to impress the user base. They have a LOT of great game concepts, but they aren't popular because they were never kept up-to-date with technology. I would sincerely like to see each of their flash games recreated as individual game apps, I think they have really great concepts that would thrive well in the app stores. And if they could link back to gaia-accounts, it would give busy users a way to stay connected to the site/continue progressing. When I was younger I wished I had a job to throw money at the site, but now that I have a job I don't have the TIME to throw at a site that isn't mobile compatible.

As much as I hate to say it though every beginning must have an end, and I was surprised gaia even lasted this long. I would sincerely hope that they bring the site down to bare minimum instead of just pulling the plug randomly some day, but who knows. Even though this site may earmark an entire chunk of some of our lives, nostalgia isn't enough to keep it alive through the next generations.

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Post: 105475326_548 created on Sat, 22 Dec 2018 01:17:07 +0000
Posted: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 01:17:07 +0000

Lanzer

Maethirion

PizzaNyah

Maethirion

welian

Lord Elwrind

Maethirion

Thanks, that helps. Sounds useful.

Hi, here are some actual examples of responsive web design.

Thanks for the visual. That doesn’t look expensive or difficult to incorporate while the app is in development.

You’re welcome. Yeah the actual code is free and open source (it’s in HTML5 format) so it won’t be very expensive, time consuming, or difficult to add it. A responsive web design is essential, because then the site can adapt to each screen and device like desktops, laptops, and mobile devices like smartphones. For example, many people use their smartphone’s browser to access the site. So not everyone is interested in downloading apps to access sites. And when the apps are somehow not working, all users could instead easily access the site with any device and browser, if the site was using responsive web design. A truly thorough responsive web design (when 100% of the site works flawless, fast, and responsive on any device) could actually replace any app. Especially since apps are very restricted to platforms (Android, iOS etc.). For example, you can’t run an iOS app on Android and vice versa. Because of this, developers have to develop each app for each platform along with other time consuming and technical issues. A responsive web design in HTML5 doesn’t have all these issues, because of robust HTML5 code in modern web browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox etc.). Developers just have to make the site once in HTML5 with responsive web design, then it will usually work on any device with any modern browser with no issues. If there are issues, they can easily be fixed, and the users will see immediate results. Even now, you can access the site using any device with any modern browser, because it’s in HTML. If they update the site to HTML5 with responsive web design, then it will be even more accessible for more users, HTML5 is a win-win cat_3nodding

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Post: 105475326_549 created on Sat, 22 Dec 2018 01:54:15 +0000
Posted: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 01:54:15 +0000

Nyadriel

PizzaNyah

Serafiella

Alice_Blackburn

Serafiella

Oh, we want to work on a crypto based avatar dressup thing that we’re devoting resources to…that isn’t Gaia

Whoa wait a second, what the hell is this? I've been away a lot, what did I miss?

https://pocketcon.io/en/

Just....just imagine if all of that talent went to new Gaia features...just... crying

Edit: I see others have answered, I was battling 504 errors for ages.

Yeah they should put that talent to new Gaia features, they promised us that cat_3nodding
Don't worry it's good that more people talk about it, then more people will notice it.
I also hope they will fix those 502 and 504 errors, it's really getting annoying.

The 502 and 504 errors are being caused by DDoS-ing by nobody-knows-who. Could be just that the activity by a mass number of people and the servers are not ready for that load (plus the activity of the non-Gaia ads being loaded)

As for the Pocket Coin thing, I had heard of it but never bothered with keeping up with it cause I am not into the cryptocurrency thing which has been around a few years now (lot of rich folks are into it). The site has to make money somehow or other. Ads and sales arent enough to keep up with the monetary needs which really number in the millions. (why I cant get people to understand that is beyond me)

I hope they're able to fix it soon, whatever the reason is for the 502 and 504 errors. Same, I would never trust cryptocurrency. I know they have to make enough money to be able to continue Gaia, but definitely not at all costs. They have to do it in fair and sensible ways that also benefits and respects the users and the community.

heavens exiled

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Post: 105475326_550 created on Sat, 22 Dec 2018 03:42:28 +0000
Posted: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 03:42:28 +0000

PizzaNyah

Lanzer

eterneco

I just want to point out that Gaia doesn't make money selling tickets. They are incentives for people to buy Gaia cash (just like everything in the cash shop). Gaia cash is another form of virtual currency. Gaia made money when someone buys from them. After that, the online currency just exchanges for items they make. Tickets are most often not purchased directly from the shop and are either won via rigs or exchanged between users. Since Gaia cash currency is buyable with platinum, it's easy to never pay a cent for your tickets. Thus, Gaia has no liability to refund anyone anything because of how the person may have obtained the ticket. Gaia cash is not refundable because it's not real money. We already paid for the currency, it just converts to "points" more or less. Now, if you literally paid a Gaia artist, that's a different story.

I do wish the queue was better, but I'm being realistic by saying they have a very small art team. They need to have other incentives besides tickets to make people want to purchase Gaia cash. Be more inclusive of our male users, stuff like that.

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Post: 105475326_551 created on Sat, 22 Dec 2018 15:36:55 +0000
Posted: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 15:36:55 +0000

In order to donate and get the halo, there are only options for PP or credit card.

Is it possible to pay with GC we already have?

Your Neglected Sex Toy

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Post: 105475326_552 created on Sat, 22 Dec 2018 15:59:30 +0000
Posted: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 15:59:30 +0000

playdoh junkie

In order to donate and get the halo, there are only options for PP or credit card.

Is it possible to pay with GC we already have?

No, there aren't other options to donate apart from PP or credit card. The reason for that is the fact that Gaia needs direct money to keep going, if the Halo was available for GCash some people would grind they way through offers (apart from those buying) which would mean missing the point entirely. It's an additional form of help towards Gaia with a special reward.

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Post: 105475326_553 created on Sat, 22 Dec 2018 16:25:27 +0000
Posted: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 16:25:27 +0000

Your Neglected Sex Toy

playdoh junkie

In order to donate and get the halo, there are only options for PP or credit card.

Is it possible to pay with GC we already have?

Thanks. Yep, that's what I figured.

It's not giftable either.

Buying it off the market means that someone purchased it with direct money as well. So either way, someone is paying newly for it.

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Post: 105475326_554 created on Sat, 22 Dec 2018 17:41:13 +0000
Posted: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 17:41:13 +0000

Ok lets look at these thoughts.
I think the people that work at gaia need a few innovated ideas to help with their budget.
1) how much is the staff being paid? If they are being paid too much then they need to take one for the team and take a pay cut (no not below minimum wage)
2) The team in charge of new items being released in cash shop need to absorb the COMMUNITY's ideas of what WE want to spend money on. Their items are considered not worth buying cause they are not perking our interests.
3) make the drop rates for Lucky Catch, Narwheel, ect for the ultra rare items easier to get. Hell if i was able to get the RIG pet easier I wouldnt mind spending money.
4) Have a team dedicated to talking with the community on a DAILY basis. Not just Ask the Staff once a week. Personally i feel neglected and disappointing during ask the staff.
5) they need to do a stricter budget. Where is the money going? is it worth it to spend money in some areas.

As a dedicated Gaian who has been on here since......... 2004 god its been a long time, I think they need to not get stuck with money pits and do a lot of research of our tastes.
Gaia use to be about anime and manga mostly. yes pokemon fell into that category.
There are times where they sell out of a recolor items so fast that I get mad I couldn't get it. Maybe they need to have a 2nd chance LQI run.
Think about it. why not release an item that sold out in 10 minutes a second chance? twice the profits. They are limiting the possibilities.

Next food for thought.
Games.
We all know they are limited on their games and to be honest they had one on Facebook i can admit I spent over $300 to get the rare people and Diedrich...... but they took it down. I LOVED that game...... Any way,..... Why not hold auditions to see WHO is willing to volunteer (for a letter of recommendation for a future potential job) to make more extensive games.
Please think how college students who love gaia with java knowledge, game design ect would love a letter saying they volunteered on a website. If i had a letter for helping gaia with marketing ads i probably would have gotten that government marketing job easier.
Having volonteers or rather interns (not paid) would save them money plus bring fresh blood to listen to the rest of us in our wants. Now some of our wants are way too much but some compromise can be made.

ReColors, Usermade items
We all know how long that wait is. I think recoloring not popular items is a waste of time and artists time. The sailor moon recolors did well and so did pokemon items (digimon did well too). Why not have interns there too? have a team of volunteers BUT have one senior gaia staff teach the volunteers how to recolor their own projects? if there are people who do fast quality work assign them as a usermade task to see how well they do. An entire team of say 20 volunteers doing the workload for say like $20 for every completed gaia task they did successfully. Hell for that I would be a volunteer. It was suggested years ago to give it a try but gaia was resistant. Why resist?

Now gaia cash.
we need more options to buy. I know they are limited but maybe expanding to other companies might help.

Gifts:
We should be able to make anything in our inventory gift-able. I think soul bound should be re-coded to where we can gift it.

There are alot of us on gaia that have gone to college and have knowledge to help them build their brand and keep the quality they have been known for. We all have different ideas that could expand the staffs problems.
I know some gaia staff are worried about their info released but trust comes from those who have been here and love this site.

Any way, they should trust the users and give us a chance to prove our love for this site and let us in a little more with our input. (not complaints my friends input meaning productive ideas).

These are a few of my thoughts. either or not the staff sees them or not who knows. right now they need all the help to rebuild the brand and pull the users who left back and new blood who will fall in love with this site all over again. they need to peek our interests again and WOW us again but not by wasting time by not listening to us who want to help.

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Post: 105475326_555 created on Sat, 22 Dec 2018 22:34:34 +0000
Posted: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 22:34:34 +0000

damn. . . sweatdrop

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