[Sei]

As an off-and-on member and staff member of Gaia since 2004, I've seen it grow and change from the small, wonderful community that I first joined to the bloated cash cow it is now. The reason it's getting so out of hand, from what little I hear about it nowadays, is because the original creators (i.e. Lanzer, L0cke, VO, and Ling) are not at the helm anymore.

The new CEOs that have taken it over see it as merely a business, not a labor of love. From the moment Lanzer was moved to a figurehead, I knew that the commercialism was going to be ramped up tenfold. The wishes of corporate often don't make sense and bend with whichever way the wind blows, which is why fishing was left to die (from what I hear), OMG was abandoned, and countless other features either are dying or are without funding. The bottom line, which comes from GCash purchases, is all they care about at the end of the day.

Is it ridiculous? Absolutely. Would I go back in a heartbeat if Gaia were to be reformed and go 'back to its roots'? Absolutely. Will it ever actually get better? Probably not. The chances of getting someone in charge who cares just as much, if not more, about the community as the bottom line is infinitesimal. That, to me, is the saddest part of the whole situation; Gaia was my start to avatar communities, and it's so sad to see it become less of a community and more of a shop.

Thank goodness I found, Trisphee. Community is and has always been the number one priority here.