[Areishia]

Besides Trisphee there are two other avatar sites I regularly visit each day, one of which being one most of you have possibly heard of before, namely, gaiaonline.

Gaia is the oldest and most populous avatar site there is and, as such, they have often made a few mistakes, some worse than others. Recently I think gaia has done, what I consider, the worst possible mistake an avatar site could possibly do. What is this mistake? They have released a pure gold (the equivalent of aurum here) generator... that's right, not something which would grant random items that if a person doesn't like could sell back, but an item that when bought (with real money) would give up to even 10 million gold, and as if this were not enough they then made another such item which could grant up to 25 million gold...

Now, and this must be mentioned, these gold generating items were not sold only for a week or less to "test the waters" and then taken out and never seen again due to it's horrible impact on an already suffering from inflation economy, nope, not at all. After the first time the item was taken out of gaia's cash shop it was re-released only a few weeks later, again and again and again. The item(s) were first released in August and since then they have been re-released around 7 or more times.

As a result of the first release items in the marketplace at least doubled in price within a very short time (hours) and the subsequent re-releases have made some items cost up to ten times more than initially (before the introduction of the first gold generator).

Before the appearance of these site currency only generators, 100k was seen as nothing too much while 1 million could get a few nice cash items off the market, right now one million gold is peanuts...

The most "curious" thing however is the complete denial of the site's staff regarding the effects of the gold generators, as far as they're concerned the hyperinflation of gaia's site only currency is not a result of the billions (if not trillions) of gold which have been artificially inserted into the site's virtual economy, and items doubling, tripling or more in price is perfectly normal despite this never having happened for several years...

To this, I must add, is the fact that gaia's games are still nerfed and capped. This in itself may not seem like something bad (and it isn't) but, the releasing of two site currency generators for cash (and their continued re-release) is not the only worrying event. Shortly after re-releasing the gold generators for, I believe, the fifth time, gaia came out with a massive "sale" of cash items, many of them being sold for more than they had previously been worth. At least two items were sold for double the amount that they have been sold originally while a bundle which contained 3 items (one which had been initially sold for 5 dollars [499 GC] and 2 of it's recolors [one of which also having been sold initially for 499 GC]) went up for sale at the incredible price of 50 american dollars...

When users asked why some (not all) items were being sold for up to double their initial price the staff replied that they had adjusted the GC prices according to the item's price in gold in the marketplace.

Before the introduction of the gold generating (bought for real life money) items it was considered (due to marketplace prices) that 100,000 gold = 100 GC (Gaia Cash), and most of the items were indeed between 500k-700k before the hyperinflation causing gold generators were released and re-released... of course as a result of the aforementioned hyperinflation the prices doubled if not more on many items...

There are a lot of mistakes avatars sites can do; from changing the layout, neglecting features, pushing out features which still are a bit buggy or not managing to respond to questions and reports fast enough, but frankly, I think any and all of these pale in comparison to the mistake of releasing a site only currency generator which is capable of giving more site only currency in one second then one can earn in all of the site's free to play games in one (or more) whole day(s)... The staff refusing to acknowledge the users' dislike of the item and ignoring the problems caused by the item being only the icing on the cake.

However, this is only my opinion. So, what do the rest of you think? Is this the worst possible mistake an avatar site (and other sites for that matter) could possibly do or is there something worse?

NB!

I do not intend to bash Gaia in this post/thread, I just want to hear the community's opinion(s) regarding the decision of an avatar site to sell the site only currency in exchange for real life money and then continuing to do so despite the effects such an act brings with it.

EDIT:

I'm sorry if this isn't the proper forum for this thread.

[littl3chocobo]

i think it /is/ the worst possible thing short of halting all free services a site can do though this is with the added knowledge that in their 'apology' note they said they needed all this estra money and now would no longer have their q&a talk so users cannot even talk to real members of staff directly, i have sat on a million gold(well 20ishk under it) for most of a month because nothing of value can be bought for less than 2.5 million and new items are +5mil even the really bad ones and while i don't play on the site actively or work around in the mp i have been watching and each 'update' pushes things further into the mud. there is a reason so many gaians are quitting despite being painfully loyal, gaia took the fork and started to eat their own feet in their greed

[Poggio]

Honestly, Gaia is a good example of what happened to Germany after the war. While most people do not think its believable to have to pay 1 mill for a piece of bread, try paying that much for a piece of imaginary pixel. I understand that a site needs funding, proper funding to fuel its staff and its many games and server space, the recession etc, etc. But gaia has adverts the site out the ass, and a throng of teeny boopers ready to spend their parents money. I'd like to note that despite the mass marketing campaigns of Neopets, and its commercialization, from tv-spots to plushies, that its in game economy has not gotten this bad. My thing with the gaia economy is that they do not have any real way to counter balance how much money they push into the system. Well aside from buying into their products which, most smart people I know are not going to buy into a piece of hyper inflated pixel.

I think the worse thing an avatar site can do really is just stop.
Gaia will still have its user base because well some users do not go to the site for items. They go for the games and to actually talk on the forums. When its all said and done its a business and its been in the game the longest and has done the best until recently. Imagine if the gaia machine just stopped? It erases any credibility the site has and its most loyal of fans.

[Ultima]

Just from the title, I knew this was about Gaia XD

I quit years ago, before any of this happened because I was getting frustrated at the site's economy and greed. The forums and games weren't fun when thousands of rich people thought they owned the world and everyone else was scum.

I didn't know about this gold generator until now, but... wow. What a dumb decision. And I've known for a while that Gaia staff does not care about their users. I could not name a single staff member. But here on Trisphee, I knew every staff member, their job(s), their personality, and the threads/forums they frequented... BEFORE I even considered becoming staff. Now, I just think of myself as a veteran user with a blue name and a few perks. I do not think I am above regular members. No way. I'm just like you and I post in the forums and chat with you. I love our users!

I'm not trying to bash Gaia either. But seriously, Trisphee is 1000x better than Gaia in so many ways.

[HABIT]

I honestly only stay with gaia for friends and the few items I cherish. I honestly love the avatars, and item layering here the most, and now that the stores around here stopped selling cash cards, this site has the best user interface for donating to, whereas gaia has become confusing and not at all user friendly if you want to use Visa/Mastercard/American Express gift cards to get cash items. When gaia goes under, and it's only a matter of time now, I will be getting my friends to join up here.

[Illusion]

I have so much to say about this topic, you have no idea.
The recent changes over their business practices at Gaia Online were changed by the new CEO. The CEO's goal is to raise the capital, and then he makes his money and leaves. That's been his tactics, he knows how to make money. (Any monkey with basic math skills can easily point out how to make more money on that site.) But he doesn't understand how to handle a community of people, Gaia's online activity has shrunk by 60% in the last few months.
Gaia is a business, businesses need to make money. But Gaia was highly profitable well after these practices began. They are unneeded and will destroy the site for what it is, unless the CEO leaves and Lanzer can ease the gap between the users and Gaia itself once again.
I stated earlier this year before the practices that Gaia has become a much better site, and that if they were to stop being so direct about Gaia Cash I might turn my ad block off for their site and start donating/buying Gaia cash again.... Yeah, quite the opposite happened....

I stated when the Angelic Halo was re-released that Gaia will continue doing these practices that would upset the userbase, and that what will happen is that it will get so bad to a point Admins will have to address it then sooner or later go back on their changes and apologize expecting a apology in reality the damage was done and the CEO got his money. I've seen this happen too many times with corporations, and if Gaia members could do anything they should do everything in their power to make sure the CEO will never find a job again. Informing companies, bashing this guy in articles, and simply making sure anyone who searches his name in Google will find nothing but negativity about him. Harsh yes, but I rather not see someone run a company only to destroy it. I rather destroy him and save a company. :/

Companies can still be profitable, while consumers reeking a ton of benefits. Some people just want to make all the money they possibly can despite customer satisfaction, you should be running a company to make all the money you possibly can with the highest customer satisfaction.

[HABIT]

I agree with Illusion, we really should do everything in our power to get this CEO out of business because he ruins whatever he touches.

[Poggio]

Its actually fairly simple and something that other avatar sites have that gaia does not. Gaia at this point does not have enough to drain their markets of its influx in cash and continues to make it worse by poor choices. They have the money to not care any more since people are still buying the things they put out. So unless sales drop, not the user base because if users that leave never donated it does not even matter. But unless the sales drop then Gaia will do something. I have noticed that in retail. Last year something sold good we have an abundance of it this year, this year if something doesn't sale its already clearance out. Because Gaia is a mirco society it needs to hire an economist to manage what they are doing and then I am sure it will be fine.

[Crystallyn Whisper]

How did I know this was going to be about Gaia?!

At this point I honestly believe that Gaia doesn't know anything about their economy. This isn't a recent thing either. It started with their denial about their influence on the market with the RIGs YEARS ago. Their refusal in making reliable gold sinks is equally frustrating. Fynn's Booty/Chest has been released seven times?! I'm glad I wasn't around for the other five times. Oh, but it's only Site Feedback that's complaining. It's not like the other boards are against it. That's seriously their excuse for the continued re-releases.

Yeah, I agree that it's the worst thing to happen to an avatar site.

@Illusion: Who is this new CEO? Is it the same person that was pushing all the FB nonsense, or is it a new one? I honestly feel sorry for the devs. Especially after how the higher ups ruined the Halloween event this year.

[Espy]

Halloween event got ruined?

[Areishia]

It certainly did >.>...

Gaia has managed to include real money in it's events in the past, but until now it was only to buy certain event themed items and not anything that could drastically affect the balance of the event. Now they made a bunch of cash only potions that can give those with money to spend a real edge in the event compared to those that can't buy the potions... and let's not forget about the recolors for the trick-or-treat items being placed in a game that past a certain lvl is impossible to pass without the use of real life money (and as such around half of the items can't be obtained by those without cash).

Overall it seems that Gaia is making one bad decision after the other and the constant "sales" during the event have annoyed a lot of people... I'm really starting to wonder if that site will even still be around by the time the X-mas event would be expected to launch.

[Crystallyn Whisper]

It's exactly as Areishia says. There's potions that make you invulnerable to attacks and potions to give you boss powers. I'd like to say I was surprised when I saw the OMG in the CS, but I'm really not.

I'm still seeing people asking about Gaia's financial state because of all the cash grabs they've been making these past months. There's been a couple of mentions of taking Gaia to court because complaining on Site Feedback isn't working anymore.

[littl3chocobo]

is gaia too big for that? large companies just buy out and settle

[Chi]

I had to check this out for myself honestly.
Well ain't that just a sight.
Just brilliant.
Well that sucks. -Shrug- :T

[Kalei]

I agree with you all, Gaia has let itself go. I was actually fine with the gold generator. I bought a few myself and averaged about 90k each, so getting a million or more would be rare. The problem lies in how frequently they are releasing it. It would be better for them to release it twice a year rather than twice a month. The inflation could have been managed that way, at least somewhat.

Plus they have increased advertising on the site. You can't play a game anymore with out seeing an ad. They also centered the site to sell ad space. It's annoying, but I can understand why they are doing it. But combined with the gold generator and ridiculous Gaia Cash item prices, they look greedy.

I'm honestly thinking of quitting Gaia. I've dealt with it's issues in the past, but I just don't think I can take it anymore.

[Areishia]

Well, Gaia has sunken to a brand new low today, they just released one of their past DIs from the year 2013 (yes, the current year, I did not make a typo when I typed 2013) for 4 times it's original price!

@Kalei: I must disagree with you on the gold generator not being bad if they had released it a lot less, any site only currency should be earned trough various activities on the site (posting, games, etc.) not bought for cash, the cash currency is there for those who wish and have the means and the possibility to donate to the site and get items that can only be purchased with said cash currency.

Any gold (or insert here another site only currency) generator is as such not only not necessary and harmful to the site only currency economy, it's also pretty much cheating at the game. It's one thing to sell items for cash, it's another completely different thing to sell an item that generates site/in-game only currency out of thin air in seconds.

This is my personal opinion and you're free to disagree with me.