GigaOM

i just tried it. considering it’s about as lame as myspace (on every level), and absolutely not innovative (just like myspace), it will likely get massively financed, and sold a major media conglomerate for a billion dollars.

Gaia is a fascinating story but its just one of at least 6 casual immersive worlds that have more than 2m UU/mth in the US. All of them are aimed at kids. If you’re interested, I’ve listed the six I know of and broken them down at the Lightspeed Blog. Click on my name in this comment to read it.

Gaia’s been around for ages. I’m particularly impressed with their phpBB powered forum (modified of course).

Interesting writeup. I’ve always wondered why Gaia goes unnoticed, and why aren’t more people innovating on the whole text based RPG area of the web- its a huge one.

While we’re on the subject of online communities, GigaOM should do a piece covering 4chan & /b/.

I rather like this article, even though the forum participation is downplayed a lot. That’s actually the major part of the site - the games etc. are really just fodder. Fun fodder, I admit, but the forums and avatars are the main parts of the site. You really can’t make a comparison to MySpace, as they are two very different types of sites. Wait.. I meant to say ‘COMPLETELY different’.

I’m really happy about the new Gaia Cinemas, though! The PSAs from the 50’s are hilarious!

But I digress… the speed at which Gaia is growing really is phenomenal, and the community itself is a lot of fun.

As a longtime member of Gaia and general web geek, it’s really interesting to see Craig’s view on it (since he doesn’t seem to want to come chat with us in the forums :( ). I agree with Mimi that the forum aspect is being downplayed a lot here, since it is what the site was originally based on and is still the main part for most members.

I’m also a little sad to see the way it’s been solidly branded by the CEO as a hangout for kids - originally Gaia was populated by mainly role players and artists, probably acquaintances of the original team of creators from other popular forums at the time, and the average age was quite a bit higher than it is now.

I suppose it’s to be expected in a website based around very cute avatars, especially with anime becoming more popular amongst kids these days, but I hope Gaia doesn’t get to a point where it’s marketing and producing features solely for a much younger audience.

Unfortunately, with popularity comes a great deal of frustration. I joined back in October of 2003 and enjoyed the Chatterbox and General Discussion areas of the site. Now, however, you’ve got a whole lot more children who act too immature to hold a discussion.

As for the person who says it’s as lame as MySpace, I can only be irritated with a remark like that. MySpace has become a site where you whore out your identity and make as many e-friends as possible to get publicity whereas Gaia Online is about discussion amongst its members. There ARE people out there that treat it like MySpace, but that’s a minority. Try actually participating in the community before you make your judgment, which is something you clearly didn’t.

Can anyone advise on what would the initial development costs for a RPG of this sort …..even if we were to consider more economical options like incorporating freeware and outsourcing as options ……

For a customizable avatar based forum system, not much other than your time - there’s an open source phpBB mod called Nulavatar or something like that that sets it up fairly easily. I’ve seen quite a few of these spring up and die fairly quickly, and a few that seem to have a bit of staying power. Nothing that appears to have a userbase anywhere near that of Gaia’s though.

I saw Craig speak about Gaia on a panel at the Web 2.0 Expo in April. Apparently, this marked the first time that Gaia had spoken out about their site at an industry event.

While I haven’t had the time to sign up and take a look first-hand, I’m mightily impressed by all the stats and figures that Gaia has posted so far. The sense of community that they’ve cultivated reminds me of the early days of AOL and MUDs, when role-players like myself had a vast text-based community of friends to connect with and adventures to hold.

The popularity of Gaia goes to show, in my view, that text is a long way from dead.

Gaia is the best website ive been on so far!
Unlike Habbo, you don’t have to pay to have fun and can still carry on without the donation items, and even if you don’t pay real money for them, you can still buy them on the market.
I think Gaia’s a whole new way of exploring the internet.

I have been with gaia since 2k4 and I, too, have been loathe about the increase of “noobish” characters. Once the battle system comes out this will become more of a problem than ever and many older members will probally quit. Despite this, though, I will remain faithful to a site that has done so much without asking that much from it’s users. Congrats, Derrick Liu, and good luck to another year.

(oh and btw I would REALLY like it if they’d make quests to get older items like the Kitsune Mask)

Really interesting. Was wondering about how people spend their time in Gaia - all the activities you mention add up to between 57-65% (minigames, forums etc etc)of time spent in Gaia…so what do they actually spend the remaining 35-43% of their time doing?

Nuo on Gaia, don’t get your hopes up. The mods & admins have said before that the old donation items/monthly collectables are not going to be re-released. (While we’re on the subject, the Kistune Mask isn’t really that old. The Portable Headphones, now those are old.)

i’m pretty sure i know what people do with the rest of that time… and i’m pretty sure its not entirely within the ToS

I’ve been a member since 2k4, and, like Nuo and others, have become increasingly irritated at “noobs” flooding Gaia. Which, I might add, may be the reason for Gaia implementing the age restriction, with people under 13, I think it was, being suspended until they turn that age so their accounts are reactivated.

I’m also disappointed in the growing numbers of dishonesty and snobbery in Gaia, especially among some (not all) wealthy Gaians and the occasional mod.

As for the other for the other 40% of time use, I don’t believe lurking, PMs, vending in the Marketplace, Avatar changes, etc. were put in those statistics.

I’ve been on Gaia since less than six months after it opened. I’m increasingly disgusted with how ‘kiddy’ and ‘give us your money’ oriented it’s becoming. The movie ‘quests’ are irritating, the inane 12 year olds flooding the boards are painfully omnipresent, and the developers love of doing anything to avoid giving us what they’ve been promising us for years (new layouts instead of a battle system, anyone?) are driving down the respect anyone over the age of 14 has for the site. Somewhere along the line, Gaia lost sight of what it was to begin with. A community of people who like anime and video games, most over the age of 18. The developers stopped listening to the actual people on the site and are now focused on getting more money any way they can. It’s sad, but Gaia is going the way of Neopets. Soon it’ll be so ‘popular’ it’ll be unusable.

i luv gaia
im on all the time
i even got some of my friends to join so now they’re addicted too
i always wondered why people never heard of it…its so much better than habbo and everyones heard of that
gaia rox ^_^

I disagree with many comments about idiots everywhere on the site. There are certain forums that have been lost (Such the General Discussion and Chatterbox), but the generalization that it is all 12 year olds is a little extreme. Noobishness can come from anyone at any age.

Gaia is great if you know where to go. Of course there are idiots, but you get them everywhere online.

I’ve been on Gaia for over 3 years, it’s a lot of fun. Its a nice place to met other artists and have a way to chat with people across the country

As a Gaian myself (3 years now), it’s interesting to see an actual piece about it. Though the forums really are the heart of Gaia. The games are there, yes, as well as the items and purchasing power of designing a unique avatar, it really is the people that keep you coming back. Different ages, from different places, all unique ideas and talents; it’s basically the best part of high school or college: a place to meet interesting people and the chance to express yourself completely.
It’s wonderful, if you haven’t looked into the site, please do so. Look me up, I’ll be more than happy to show you around.
~Roserain

Gaia is amazing. I have been on the site for almost three and a half years. Although more and more younger people have been signing up for it, I know for a fact that many Gaians are adults. I’ve been to the Gaia Panel at the Anime Expo two years in a row, and last year, they had to force people out of the room it was so crowded.

Basically, people who say that Gaia isn’t big or won’t be big are foolish to think this.

I have met the admnistrators, including the founder, and I am positive they won’t get in over their heads when it comes to either advertising or competing with other major sites such as MySpace or Yahoo.

I’ve been on Gaia for about two years now, and I think it’s one of the best interactive sites out there. I hang out in the Breedable/Changeable Pets section of the Mini Shops forum, and everyone there that I’ve met is awesome. I’d recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat ^^

I’ve been on Gaia since December 2003, and I do admit, it has changed A LOT since then. And sadly, yes, the noobs that are in there now makes the place seem more like a child day care than how it was back in December. I’ve seen many people leave, most of them the older members that have been around since 2003-2004, and most of it is due what Gaia is now, and of course whatever life is throwing at them.

It’s not just for teens, however. I’ve seen and talked to many adults on there, and they have just as much fun chatting, exchanging, playing games, etc. like the “younger generation.” It’s pretty much a hangout for anyone on the Internet with an interest in interactive games, anime, and everything else Gaia offers.

Gaia’s very entertaining as well. I don’t think I ever had so much fun on a website before I came here, not even on Neopets. I love playing the games, and made many friends via chatting on the message boards and sometimes through random PMs. I believe it’s just as much fun as it was in 2003, if not more. The events are entertaining (albeit annoying with some of the waiting periods they tend to have), the story lines make me laugh, the quests are something different, and I’m still waiting for the battle system and the tattoo shop they proposed awhile ago. Also several of the items they accidently realeased in the wishlist system, like the contact lenses, and some new things to do with those game items that clog up our inventories.

I recommend going there and giving it a shot. Play for a month, and you’ll see how much fun it can be.

What an interesting write up.

I’ve been on Gaia since mid-03, although I did not become active in the forums until November/December and I must say I’m sorely disappointed with where the site is going.

The administration and backing behind Gaia Online is digging itself into a mighty hole by turning the main focus of the site onto younger teens when clearly the focus in the past has been on older teens and twenty somethings. Those of use who were the backbone of the site are slowly getting more and more turned off by the way the Gaia is being commercialized [for teens and kids] and ignoring the users as they age.

I rarely log on anymore although my net worth is somewhere in the double-digit millions because I’m frankly perturbed by the downward spiral. Gaia will continue to grow and grow and despite the fact that in this day and age when the internet and forums are being used by such a wide base of demographics–they choose to focus on one and ignore the others.

I agree with alot of the statements above about the forums being downplayed. I also think that there should have been at least SOME observance on the RPing that happens in gaia. Role playing is a major part of ALOT of gaians. I admit, the literacy of the RPers has drasticly declined, because there are so many younger children and people who make role play situations out of immature things, but there is still alot of passionate RPers out there that go on gaia mainly because of that.

Gaia is defenatly a place I’d call ‘home’ in a sense. Just like it said in the interview, It really is a place where i can ‘get away from it all’

As for people addressing it as being just like myspace, I highly beg to differ!
My space is a place that bases everything off of appearance and popularity. It’s a very ’shallow’ website, if you will, and gaia is alot more then just a social gathering, it’s an actual community with various things to do, and has way more depth then a website like myspace.

RPing is not as much of a dead art as you may think. If you go into the bars/inn’s sure, but my home forum is breedables and changing pets (user-drawn growing pets) and although you can get yourself some really shiny arts many of the shops have very interative Role-plays.

I’ve been running my shop for 3 years, and some of the RP’s with the older members have been running for almost just as long. Can’t forget guilds either. =D

Gaia =/= MySpace

Gaia is not a popularity contest, nobody cares how many friends you have or how many people comment in your profile. And of course, If you post suggestive pictures of yourself your almost guaranteed to be flamed and made fun of. We are very much an anti-MySpace site. ;D

I have been on gaia for 3 and a half years now. At first, it was fun. When there were full users. Now, the site is over run. The forums are clogged, every item that is published it aimed at pleasing the masses. Too many users spend hours just to get gold for items and to make the perfect and expensive avatar. I am a gaia millionare, to be truthful. It almost makes me sad to think about. If you had joined this site years ago, you would have seen it as a great place to chat. Now a days, I say don’t even join. Find something better to do with your life. Read a book, learn to draw. Do more productive things. Gaia is built on fake money and kids who are attention whores, I’m sorry to say it. The roleplayers died out a while ago, all there is left is semi-literate kids with only sex and money on their minds. Gaia also needs a way to deal with their underage joiners, it’s a serious problem. Just to put this out there, I am 20. I have been on this site since I was 17, and even as I got older it pleased me. I wish gaia would go back. And gain some sense in the items it puts out. This article also claims gaia is free of labels. Hell, it’s full of them. Girls putting pictures of themselves half nude in their signatures, it happens here too. And it ruined the nice community chat site gaia once was.

I’ve only been on Gaia for about a year, but I must say that it is one of the best sites I have ever been to. Honestly, I don’t think Myspace was the best comparison, since many of us Gaians are extremely anti-Myspace. I myself am 13 [Lol. I'm really young. O:], and can honestly say that I do NOT post half-nude pictures of myself as some of the people have said; I do care about my comments though.

And on a side note: Re-releasing some of the older donation items would be nice. It’s nearly impossible to get them now.

Comparing Myspace and Gaia is horrible, even though (sadly) a lot of Gaia-users also have accounts on Myspace.

As for the half-nude pictures: I personally have only seen pictures of people in the GeeDee (GD, General Discussion) and even there I’ve only seen good, clothed people.

It’s a sad truth to say that Gaia’s being overrun by people who only care about getting the expensive items. (Not to say I don’t want a CoCo…) Luckily, most of the “noobs” stay in the Chatterbox, so they can be avoided.

And as for the Roleplaying, I just hope the mega-literate users don’t give up on Gaia. It just wouldn’t be the same without them.

How come sometimes I go on Gaia it said that I have to slow down to open the web page? HELP please!!! :confused

Snort I’ve been a member of Gaia for over two years. And have come and go even before then. Loads of pixel obsessed wannabe dedicated members will gladly sit here and proclaim how “great” Gaia is, but the truth is that this site is one of the worst out there.

From an administrative staff that flat out doesn’t listen to it’s community, to a community full of scammers, cheaters, liars and outright idiots, to a staff of moderators that either don’t do their job or allow their friends list to influence how their job is done, the list of cons greatly outweighs that of the pro.

The site itself is driven soley at gaining more money and comes across a one big greedy mass corporate lie. From “monthly collectables” that can only be purchased with real cash, to a store full of overpriced worthless crap that one would see at your local mall, to “gift credits”.. now named “cash”.. points that you can buy with real money instead of earning gold.

The site itself is full of pixelated items to play dress up with your big headed, poorly drawn avatar. But to obtain them means spending hours on end to earn enough gold to obtain what you want. And with the lovely way they make gold earning decline over time, it means spending even more time on the site.

But it gets even better.

Let’s hear about the wrongly banned accounts. People who are told they did something wrong, have everything taken away and never get it back. Let’s hear about the people who are scammed or hacked. No matter how long you have been on the site, no matter how much money you’ve pumped into it just to see it remain open, no matter how good of a little citizen you are.. once they take your stuff, it’s gone. And no, you don’t get it back.

Let’s hear about the constant glitches, downtime of features and fact that the site flat out doesn’t work when under a big user load. Gee, one would think with all that money being pumped into the system and those fat grants they’ve received.. they could afford to make the mini games they so proudly rave about actually work. Or better yet, actually instate the features they proclaim are coming or the features they once had which simply vanished.

After two years on the site I feel horribly embarrassed to admit I even know it exists. And I wish I had never even bothered signing up. Gaia is a huge waste of time and a total scam.

I’ve been a gaian for four years now and I can say for sure that this is the best web community that I’ve ever been a part of.
Gaia is not going to “sell out” like other web communities. What makes it so special is that the users do have some say in what happens on Gaia. Normally we are consulted in some way to see how we feel about events and the general function of the site.
Gaia was not EVER supposed to be for children. We do have a great number of younger players but they are overshadowed by the majority population which is around 16+ I believe.
This is not a site for the immature as anyone will find out with an in depth visit. It may be anime flavored but anime was never intended for the younger set either. Pokemon and Samurai Champloo are two very different things.
We pride ourselves on being able to carry on meaningful conversations as well as the normal web chatter.
The people who review Gaia and comment should not be biased when they go there. To begin with, you have to enjoy a forum based experience or you’ll never even give Gaia a chance. Spend a little time there and make some friends. There are topics for everyone and if not, make your own. If it’s not for you…leave. It’s free so you’re not trapped in any way. We would rather have people leave if they don’t enjoy it instead of polluting the forums with their negative comments. I am proud to be a gaian and I think with the right attitude anyone can enjoy it.

I luv Gaia!!! I pretty much LIVE in the GD….. it’s fun, you ppl who say u don’t like it, should just try it!

Gaia really is spiraling down. For the people who have played it since the beginning it has been commercializing. The forums have altered horribly too. I’m lucky to login and not see a topic about sex, drugs, alchohol, violence, emos or someone claiming they got hacked.

And everyone who says Gaia isn’t crap, either you’re in denial or you haven’t been playing for all that long.

As a member on Gaia for almost 4 years, my reaction to this article and the comments following are mixed. In my opinion, Gaia is an awesome site, ever since I joined, I have gotten online almost every day, just to see what was going on. I’d have to say, Gaia was even better before it was self aware. At least for me, I enjoyed myself a whole lot more when I could get on, dress my avatar, run about the forums and maps, and participate in the events if there were any. Now it’s a painful reminder this is a website, and reality is always knocking on the door, everytime there’s an announcement about some silly quest. I would like to put it better than that, but I hope you understand what I mean anyway. At any rate, I would tell anyone about Gaia, though chances are, there are very few that would give it a second glance these days.

I am an adult (40+) Gaia member and have been on over a year. I originally joined to keep an eye on my daughter who wanted to be a member. I liked what I saw in the fact that the site actually encourages anonymity. I do not frequent the forums where the young kids hang out. I belong to guilds where there are other adults and we can hold conversations. It has gotten more commercial in the past year, but you can always opt out of the quests and events. It can still be entertaining.

I loved the article, though I, like others, think the forum aspect was downplayed too much. As a member of Gaia since late October 2003, the forums were what got me hooked on Gaia–the people I met and became friends with.

I am a generally new member, and have been on Gaia for a mere four months now.
Yet I must say it is much more addicting and challenging than any other online community I’ve ever been on.
Myspace, Livejournal, Bebo, etc, have nothing against the way Gaia works. There is no need to paste photos, so members are not as shallow as they are on Myspace and Bebo, but there is much more interactivity in a text based environment than that of Livejournal or Xana. And the quests for special items for your Gaian avatar creates a connection for a Gaian user and its online self.
Also, the fact that many younger people join gaia is true. I am 18, so I dont succumb to the childish disagreements these newer members fall in, and definetly agree that they are annoying. I believe that the administrators should enforce the age restriction.

“I’m increasingly disgusted with how ‘kiddy’ and ‘give us your money’ oriented it’s becoming. The movie ‘quests’ are irritating, the inane 12 year olds flooding the boards are painfully omnipresent, and the developers love of doing anything to avoid giving us what they’ve been promising us for years (new layouts instead of a battle system, anyone?) are driving down the respect anyone over the age of 14 has for the site…It’s sad, but Gaia is going the way of Neopets.”

I agree. I’ve been on for only a little over a year, but even over the past year, I’ve seen a lot of changes. My best friend has been on for about 3 years, and she’s told me how it used to be. I admit, I’m not over 18 (I’m 17), but it still irks me to see 12 year olds on there, many of which are constantly PMing me saying, “omg plz donate 2 me, im new and dont have gold,” yada yada yada. Honestly, they don’t know how easy they (and I) have it. My friend has told me how the main way they got gold was by posting. They didn’t have games, or most of the stuff we have now. sighs However, it’s not just the kids that bug me. The site is really selling out, and it’s sad. I still go on Gaia a LOT, but I so feel that it’s going slightly downhill. I agree with some of the other people here, and I feel that it’s likely that more and more of the older members will leave. People also complain about the noobs, and I don’t like them either, but they’re everywhere. Even though Gaia is going downhill, it’s still WAY better than Myspace…I’ve stopped going on that site actually. I admit, I do go on facebook though.

I joined just joined Gaia around this month, just in time for the awsome water balloon event! It was sooo fun. I absolutly love Gaia and don’t care what anyone says about it. It rocks!

What I love about Gaia is that they really do care about the users. Lanzer (the creator of the site) is really down with us. They’d never sell it to wipe their asses with money. It’s so cool and under the radar because they don’t glue ads everywhere. They obviously don’t need to.

Sure, the kids ruin it (I think 15+ as an age limit would do us wonders) but the older members and the friends you make are still worth it, even today.

But as a devout Gaian myself, I must say that this is a rare, decent article but there really needs to be more about the forums.

omg gaia has been blocked by the schools i mean u can’t get on gaia at school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh and wats this thing that people get on others gaia profile their is a web site for this we need a new way to keep our stuff personal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now

I’ve been on Gaia since 2005, and it’s really fun. What really annoys me though, like Nicki said, is the 12 and 13 year olds on there like “omg plz donate 2 mii bcuz i just got hacked!” Or whatever. About a half a year ago, they asked everyone their birthdays, so that helped get rid of a lot of that, because you used to be able to be 12 and older to get on gaia with your parents permission.

The site is going downhill. Like some other people said, it could turn out like neopets. It’s a lot better that myspace. It’s not as dirty.

yo u ppl gotta chill with the negative comments… seriusly. i mean… gaia CAN be boring/annoying/stuffed with n00bz sumj times but like… dude! lol i think its one of the BEST web sites EVER because you can meet ppl n just chill. But i TOTALLY agree with what you guys said about the n00bs n stuff ’cause theyre gettin on my LAST NERVES!… but there are good kinda n00bs too lol.

like my cussin and hiz n00bishnes… but hes alright i gess.
oh and one more think- THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH 12 & 13 YEAR OLDS!!!! seriusly… not ALL of them are childish/gangsta wanna-be/// what ever you think…
and please contact me if ur a n00b (the GOOD kind any ways) your self lol ill be happy to help! (i kinda sorta in a way look like a n00b i gess. but only because my avatar is not HUGE and stuffed with mc’s like OTHER ppl’z around here >.>)

                    -starfire77cherry

I myself have been a member of Gaia since november of 2005 and I’ve witnessed many changes throughout the site. The site seems to be more directed to younger kids, I did a poll in most of the forums and found that the average age of a gaian is between 13-18 years old. I personally think they should only let people join 13 or older.

There is one problem I found with Gaiaonline though, and that would be password security.Many people (mostly rich gaians) get hacked almost everyday and most never get their accounts back. There needs to be a way in which no one can hack your account. Gaia says that if you don’t give out your password, then no one will hack you. Thats not true though because from experience I’ve had people hack me without even have given my password to anyone.

-ichi_the_neko

I’ve been on Gaia for over two years now. A friend of mine got me into it. After a while, I became a pro. I’m 15 now, a sophmore in high school, and the site still hasn’t gotten old. ;)

Ichi_the_neko/angie what you said is not actually true although it is wide known that many people on gaia get hacked what the admins say about not giving your password out is also true, they also say that you should change your password every week or so and make sure your password is unique and not something easy to guess.

I myself have been around since november of 2003 and still on my first account ‘FallenDevil’ I have never been hacked, my friend Captin_Kion has also been here since early 2004 and has never been hacked either, and he has a long list of donation items that could easily make anyone rich.

there are also many more people who have been around just as long and never been hacked.
~~~

Ok now with that said I have been on gaia since late 2003, I am now 17 and still go to gaia everyday it seems to keep in contact with friends but truth be told I have been getting on less since about 2 years ago when i could sit infront of the computer from dawn to night just chatting or rping. Now I feel the site has truely lost its specialness.

I think the truely flawed system although genous as well is the Market, to me the market just ended up making everything much more expensive, but it did cut time and the need to negotiate >.>

Meh…

something that the article should have talked about were the gaia events such as christmas events and halloween events, or even gaia inspired events such as the the gaia games or the water balloon fight.

i am also an adult member of gaia, i joined because my then 13 year old son spent alot of time on the site and as i always monitor his computer usage i was curious, i have a great time there.
I will say that one persons comment above is WAY off, my sons account was hacked last year, he clicked a link and had his password stolen, everything he had was taken, i emailed Gaia from my account to let them know as soon as we realized it, I do regularly buy donation items etc. on the site. at first i got no response, then i contacted a mod that told me it could take up to 3 months for them to resolve the issue. Eventually i emailed the gaia site myself and explained, along with sending them a screen shot of the items my son had, thankfully he had taken one just days before he was hacked. Anyway, to make a long story a little short, we did get all items except game items back, (bugs, tires inks etc) and his account was given back.
I did just discover tonight that there ARE some very explicit profile pages on the site even though most of the pics were anime, they are more explicit than allowed on most other sites allowing kids under 18. I have reported the two profiles i saw, and we will see if anything is done.
Other than that, i love the site and think it does alot for the kids, it teaches them how to save to get what they want, and to watch how they spend their gold, how to market and sell their items or hold onto them until the market rises. all in a fun environment

I have been a member of Gaia since 2k5 and it is a fun site with much to do, i think it is a wondeful safe place to hang out and feel that i have accomplished much in the years i have been a member, i wish there was a way to show more people about this great site :)

As a regular member of Gaia since Feb. 04, it’s obvious by your statistics that the forums are downplayed far too much than they should be. The games and Daily Chance didn’t used to always be there. Gaia as a whole used be marketplace, forums, art arena, and personals + the map and shops. It didn’t start getting fancy until about the middle of 05 and they’re still growing on everything.

It’s just a shame that this site is registered as purely for kids, I’m 19 years old, and yes I was 15 when I first joined, but its still just as fun no matter the age group. I’ve met several people who are above the age of 21 who are just as interesting to talk to than anyone else, and very few children 13 years old who will actually act mature and understand the site wasn’t intended to have the flash games and cars and houses, they just happened.

So please, give Gaia Forums more credit than 30%. People post so often in every forum, by the time you find a thread to post in, its probably already on the second page becuase so many other people are posting new topics.

I’ve been a member since early 2003. I’ve been through most (if not all) of the site layout changes. Gaia’s activities have indeed become more “corporate” for the sake of the almighty dollar. I only use the forums and a private guild occasionally to chat with some old friends.

Gaia is nice but……….
others will tell bad words,gol hacking etc.
But it’s fun………..My sister said gaia online is a game that you want to be in love..
BUT I HATE COUPLES!!!!!!!!!!!
yuck1

I’ve been a member of Gaia for some time… Whenever it was when they released the Guitars of Demona and the Angelic Guitars (May of 04 or05).

I stopped going about a year or so ago. Gaia is increasingly becoming overpopulated with idiots, and the admins never seem to give a damn (so long as they get their all-mighty donations). Becoming a forum moderator was more of a popularity contest than anything. The forums are full of sex-crazed CHILDREN (I’m talking like 12 freakin’ years old) who try to cyber anything that moves. Of course, with that kind of setting, pedophiles are drawn like flies, and infest Gaia like a plague.

There was a decent place at Gaia where forum moderators actually did try to do more than their fair share of keeping the place clean, and that was the GCD (Gaia Community Discussion). That was my last bastion before I finally withdrew from the public forums into Guilds, and later from the site altogether.

From what I hear, since my absence Gaia has become nothing more than a sellout, something we predicted (in our crazy conspiracy theory threads in the GCD) a long time ago. Can’t say I’m surprised, really. And I won’t be surprised when pedophiles cause the site’s ultimate demise at the hands of international authorities.

(And jeebus, all these people there claiming to be “hacked” are nearly as bad as those claiming to know how to hack, heh.)

Gaia seems to have done it again. I myself am a gaiaonline user, and it is truly n interesting site that you can’t help but go to.

gaia is the greatest, but the moderators should really pay attention to hacking more, i got hacked twice and the second time my whole account got stolen.

An easy way to get got is to use bots. Here is one of the best bots i have used.
http://www.freewebs.com/freegaiabots/index.htm

yah gaia is amazing ive been playing it for years and my charter (da_milk_man) is prety cool i mostley help people new to gaia and so do many others…. so if you do you will have help starting up but the hardest thing is to earn money…. just make sure to “FOLLOW THE RULES” and you will have fun and meet friends just never meet them FTF (Face To Face)

….bye, and if you do start-tell me as my name is posted above

I disagree. As a long time user of this site, I think gaia is very innovative. The fact that there is so much of a vast virtual world is amazing. your comment of ‘I just tried it’ leads me to believe that you did not honestly experience it; it sounds like you briefly visited. There are so many points of this website, and you can’t explore them in just five minutes. It took me at least a week. there’s something there for everyone. I highly promote it, because I have made many friends, whom I would have never met in real life. gaia is very creative, and I think they should market it more. Also, it is a site for teens, not adults. next time you visit a community site, honestly explore, and get facts before you tell others how it is.

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Well Gaiaonline is an extremely interesting site…you don’t get bored on it easily and you meet new people and get in touch with new anime’s and it’s really cool I have one as well and it is SOOOO much better than Myspace 100% way to go!! ^^

I think gaia is an excellent site to relieve stress as well… I’ve been a member for over a year now and I barely know everything about it… I just picked up on the Gaia Exchange just a couple weeks before Halloween and I’ve been making lots of gold due to the ‘Buy cheap & Sell high’ theory… Buy cheap in the Exchange, and make sure it’s a popular item… Then sell it for regular MP in the marketplace… Pretty simple… If you want to get in contact with me, my name on gaia is iNagareboshi… PM me and we can chat and stuff…

Gaia > Myspace.
That is all.

I LOVE gaia! It’s SO much better than Myspace.

It’s very obvious to me that this page is link by someone on forum.

Gaia was kind(ish) of innovated in the level you could participate in plot but really~~ Now (or it’s been announced) the plot is passive and it’s all about items.

I don’t think Gaia is very innovative. When it started, the art was Ragnorak-ish and internet doll things existed before than. It sort of started as a place where all anime fandom gather together (and there were an ass load of anime pages at the time) and original was an anime portal/forum. Anime fandom was pretty big (and it still is). I think people who are attracted to fandom tend to be pretty dedicated and as the site got bigger, they donated. Items became an incentive and than a priced items. For a long time, users believed that admins ‘cared’ about the site and what they think. Userfeed back was valued and people felt that they were part of improving the site. To some extent it was true.

Then it went to RP then to ‘internet hang out’ to add universal appeal.

Eventually, they just kept adding things. Right now~ it’s pretty unfocused and everything is just big and customizable. I feel the user experience is valued less than the sponsors~ but I feel that people are to attached to their items or something to leave.

Had they implemented the sponsor system then currently have quickly in 03-05, people would have left. There was an outcry about it when they found the media pack so they stop. Later, when the community was crushed and people just cared about items, they did it very very very slowly and Wahh~ La.

I’ve ben on gaia for about a year now, and I am sad to say that there has ben a huge decline on gaia. I miss when almost everybody was literate, and when you could have a decent conversation. But thats all gone. I do love the site, though and tell people to join, but the good old days of month long rps are over. thats why I joined. but its still a good site none the less. although I could do without the beggers. But I shall stay loyal to the end. ps, for literate rp, pm me! i used my usrn to post this!

omg gaia is really cool. i am like on it every day…… i have met so many friends i had to make more tham one gaia. so far i have about 1000 friends. i know its like amazing and i highly recomend this site XD

Gaia online, to me is the best. I have been one Gaia for about a year and a half. Gaia does have it’s moments where I just don’t want to even get online any more, but I like it.

Well, I already know that the OP doesnt know what hes talking about.
Mainly because of the “Gaia’s online world aspect (which launches in a separate Java-powered window)”. Gaia has never, Ever, used java. LEARN2FACT.

I’ve been a member since March 2004 and love to support the site in any way possible. I don’t mind the easy quests or sponsorships because it takes thousands, if not tens or even hundreds of thousands (per year), to run a site that huge. The Mods and Admins are still userfriendly, if not a little annoyed at the outrageous amount of spam they deal with, and they still care about their users. They try their best to do their job and keep unwanted material out of the forums, but it’s not Gaia’s fault they’re being overrun. It’s the spammers’ faults. :4a7d3d609129a9296bf7ac0608c2097

Though the day they start advertising via commercials, like Neopets, I’ll be one of many walking out the door. I’d rather they spend their money on making the site run better, not advertising more than it already is.

gaia online rocks!!!!!!!!!

Gaia Online has taught me many things, because of this site I am a better writer, artist etc. The users take the time to listen and point out your errors, it’s very rare to find this now -a-days. I have been with them for two years and I can proudly say that I have never once regretted being a member!

Keep up the good work Gaia! I shall never abandon your site.

hey this is so awsome!!!! do you want to do the same thing?????????

Gaia rocks I have my own name it’s fun and I can’t get enough of it.Please help it get more hits and get your own name.It’s completely free.Now limited usage or junk like that.

Mmkay. I’ve been on GAIA since March of ‘05. I remember when nobody knew about it and it was lovely. No-one messaged you about “giving them gold” or anything like that. And to be quite honest like some other people have said. GAIA is slowly becoming unusable. Even I’m growing to dislike it. The thing is, GAIA was much better when you didn’t have all these advertisements all over the site and you HAD to use the map to get to the shops and such. But, all good things come to an end and this this will probably start to end soon. The thing is, is that people expect for things to come out quickly on GAIA and what. We’ve been hearing about this “Battle System” for I think about a year. The “Movies” were great when they came out but I don’t want to pay to watch them. And games, well. You shouldn’t be teaching twelve year olds how to gamble. But overall, In my opinion at least. GAIA was great then but it’s close to horrendous now. Ah well. I’ll probably stick with the website until it shuts down or get completely overrun. So I’m just a hypocrite. :3

I love gaiaonline I have been on gaia online for 2 month now the game are ok and I love makeing new friends on gaia online my boyfriend is on gaiaonline and I get stuff for my anime or what they call it some pll don’t like gaiaonline but I do BECOUSE YOU CAN MEET NEW PLL ON IT yay!!! for gaia I have a myspace and I go on it every day now but I love to go on gaia online a lot if your going to add me on gaia online my name is (little lover anime girl) and you can find me yay sssssssssssssooooooo plez don’t get mad if I don’t add you ass a friend is becouse some time I don’t get on! sorry for that by the way my nick name is little lover anime girl I am funny and I like to make new friends on myspace and gaiaonline bye

Well i think all your comments are cool but ive been a fan since 2k4 myself and i think that i spend most of my time talking in to forums but what the real problem with gaia is that the let new members have good looking items when they start and i quite enjoyed have to struggle with getting gold but its so easy to get money and buy things off the stores and market.

(But im looking forward to the mmo they are making been wating fro something like it. Also im using my screen name on here cause i dont care what happens to it not my problem right now.)

Also just a short note:

I still dont understand their promotion of gaia with the whole go out and show off your gaia hats ans hoodies ya know.

but I still say it would help but wouldn’t you feel weird?

I dont feel weird about it but im just not really understanding it its uhh crap i forgot what they call it…

but your supposd to sign up ans send them pics of what you’ve done to promote the site and you get monthly prizes from it I tryed it but didnt win.

you should try it some time maybe.

and yes most of this is sorta off topic but still.

i do what i want!

the only problems i have with it is all the beggers you say po,itly no and they go all crazy and start swearing the same thing goes for guys begging for girlfriends.
also the people who just go around asking radom people to cyber
and then they do it in public sheesh if you have to get you sick kicks in that way do it in private
and lastly is the hackers and undergrounders
sending random messages saying you win 50,000 gold all you have to do is give me your name and password
like im going to fall for that and then their are the people that use the friend request and race requests to write annoying little messages all i can say is grr
everything else on gaia i love ^_^

Having been on Gaia since December 2006 (don’t let my account fool you, I had to switch to a mule after a system went down.), I have to say I love it. Sure, there are n00bs, and a LOT of them, but they tend to join up once and never return. As for the money, I may have to agree there. But in this rising world of technology, they’re going to have to bring in more funds to keep from being devoured by big-Interweb businesses.

While I wish the MCs were easier to get, I wouldn’t trade Gaia for the world. MySpace is evil, and I can tell you from experience that it’s full of those annyoing little teeny-boppers, that, in the immortal words of JTHM, “Make you want to saw their legs off.”

So…yeah. Gaia rocks. And may it never go down.

• Peridot_Horntail

froggy and you too kimmy you both have points nobody likes beggers and also cybering noobs that and myspace is evil i just like my profile on myspace cause i got kool-aid lol but ya gaia does get those kinds of people and its one of the main reason there arnt very many nice people anymore im still nice i like giving stuff away.

and stuff like that but when people send me a bunch of spam im pissed. After that is sorta like saying its go time and smak those noobs right in the face with a nice big back hand in the face. but really what are teeny-boppers i dont really understand that.

so froggy if you ever get on gaia just send me a msg about what it is my username is mr.blackdog so jusst look me up.

also kimmy the whole thing about winning 50k is really great for me cause i always send them fake accounts and passwords you know its always funny they think they so smart.

(From the mind of Jeff White Hawk.)

I agree with what a lot of people have said already: Gaia is getting flooded by little immature kids and is, overall, going down the drain. I’ve been a member since November of ‘03, and I’ve witness first hand how the site had been spiralling downwards.

Don’t get me wrong, I still hang out there a lot, but the level of immaturity is at a record low, and the site is becoming more and more commercialized. There’s a new “sponsor quest” practically every week! It’s becoming extremely difficult to find a hangout with kind, intelligent people.

I’m still willing to give Gaia a second chance (though, technically, it’s more like a third or fourth chance…), so long as there’s still SOME literacy.