How To Change Gender In Gaia Online

About

Gaia Online is an anime-themed social networking, gaming and word forum site.

History

Gaia Online^[1] was launched on Feb 18, 2003 as Go-Gaia.com by Studio XD employees Derek Liu (also known on the site by his username: lanzer), Josh Gainsbrugh (username: L0cke), Rosann Yip (username: Ling), and Long Vo (username: VO). Information technology acquired its electric current name, Gaia Online, past June 29, 2004^[xix]. In an interview on the Big Boards^[2] discussion forum site, Liu revealed that the site was initially an anime linklist earlier it developed into a community based around social gaming and discussion forums.

On June 18, 2007, Gaia Online won the Webaware Community award.^[3] On December 28, the official Gaia Online Facebook^[seven] folio was launched, which accumulated upwardly of 545,000 likes in the next five years.

Past 2008, Gaia Online was named by Time Magazine every bit 39th on that year'south list of fifty Best Websites^[12]. On Oct 28, 2009, the /r/gaiaonline^[9] subreddit was created. On January half-dozen, 2011, the site won the Mashable All-time Website User Experience Honour.^[iv] Every bit of Jan 2017, the @GaiaOnline^[8] Twitter feed has received more than 16,900 followers.

New CEO Controversy

In March 2013, Gaia Online appointed Gary Schofield as its new CEO^[20]. Since so, Schofield has been met with negative feedback from users and staff, quickly gaining a reputation of prioritizing income to a higher place the Gaia customs.

Negative feedback started during Baronial 2013, when the Cash Shop began selling gold generators (items that gave users a random amount of Gaia Gold). First was the golden generator known as "Flynn'southward Haul". The release of the particular resulted into hyperinflation in the virtual marketplace, making information technology nigh impossible for players to continue up with the over-inflated item prices. Side by side came the announcement for "Club Verge" (shown below), a guild where users would exist invited to if they exceeded 9999 Gaia Cash worth of purchases; giving them access to the "Verge Shop", an exclusive shop selling items of college value than that of the normal cash shop. These releases were met with big amounts of negative feedback from the Gaia community, and has led users to tie everything dorsum upwardly to Schofield. Since and so, the community has regarded both him and Jason Loia, the COO, with an intense dislike, and constantly called for their resignation.

Bearding reviews for Schofield tin can also be found on Glassdoor.com^[11], a job and career site where employees tin can anonymously dish on the pros and cons of their companies. In these reviews, Schofield is generally met with negative reviews from erstwhile site staff (shown below), and had an approval rating of every bit depression as 25% in April 2014^[59].

Upper Management is out of touch entirely with user-base of operations and with employees. The focus has shifted drastically in a negative way where everything is about the bottom dollar. Unsure if the company will be around in the next year. The electric current crew is very understaffed with the amount of work that is being placed on employees. Morale is at an all-time low. Lack of direction from upper management and refusal to listen to employees and/users (customers) resulted in lack of trust from users.	…Atmosphere is pleasant bated from common disdain RE: the CEO. Management fails to heed to its customers and meet their needs and thus has damaged the visitor greatly. Everyone is scared nigh not having a job in a year or two considering of the change in management. Remember that this site was at its near popular in the form of a community-focused site that didn't just see its users as clients to be milked of all their coin. Our approach has become annoying to the people who are supposed to be enjoying our site. If they cease enjoying it, they stop visiting it. If they terminate visiting it, you lose your revenue.
"The creative, nerf-gun shooting office culture was let continue with many talented individuals during layoffs and a reserved and timid civilisation defective in morale or motivation replaced information technology. The new direction killed off all of the worthwhile projects in favor of focusing solely on milking all the money they can from virtual particular sales"	The company is hemorrhaging expert employees. It's getting to the point where few people can stomach working with Gaia anymore, and as a issue they're losing cardinal people who have been with the company a long time. …Rather than trying to tweak the formula to stay current or fifty-fifty just relevant in this solar day and historic period, upper direction relies on tried-and-true dishonest sales tactics to make a quick buck from what few loyal users remain. That money is and then funneled into other projects rather than being used to make Gaia Online a website with a viable future. Company spirit seems to be at an all time low. Employees just seem cleaved, the creative spark is gone. People are there for a paycheck: they get in, they get out. Zero unique or interesting nigh Gaia exists anymore. The few employees who nonetheless care well-nigh Gaia and effort to ameliorate the site for its users are by and large stymied by upper direction, and sidelined into projects that are more than likely to make some piece of cake money for the site rather than create actual improvements. I joined Gaia already well-aware of the visitor's reputation and problems, just it somehow managed to be fifty-fifty worse than I ever imagined. Gaia is a broken arrangement at this point. It's beyond repair. There'southward no signal in offering whatever feedback or advice considering it will never be acknowledged or used by anyone in management. They don't care. … Gaia needs money to survive, only that's non all it needs.
"With new direction this year, the vibe immediately became unpleasant. Exhibiting unabashed cronyism, new managers hired additional managers they'd worked with in the by to help in gutting the company of its talent. Together, they've turned what was one time a pleasant, enjoyable workplace into a humiliating grind to either drink the kool-help and remain employed for some other month, or just throw your easily up and openly apply for other jobs during work hours. I don't believe whatsoever of the remaining employees (sans management) are nether the impression that positive change is occurring, or that Gaia will ever return to the intensely creative and unique studio it one time was."	Information technology's really a shame, this identify used to be such a fun place to piece of work. Unfortunately, information technology wasn't always productive. Some management hired based on their MBA, not skills or competence. Others are hired considering they are good engineers/artists/etc, simply it doesn't necessarily mean they make effective managers. Lack of management and process, making projects run very inefficiently. Sometimes the focus is on the build limitations instead of asking "Is this fun to play?" Non plenty transparency/feedback between teams to know nearly updates/changes.
…Ultimately, not many pros left. Though I fondly retrieve my early years at that place, I unfortunately at present share many sentiments with the other negative reviews here. New corporate management completely out of touch on with the culture upon which Gaia was founded, much less how to maintain basic employee morale. Original fanbase upon which the site was based leaving in droves. … Listen to your diminishing loyal fanbase. Stop valuing the appearance of a total office over actual productivity. Treat your employees with some respect.	"Currently managed by coin-hungry suits and incompetent yes-men. An entirely different company, literally nigh an entirely new staff with piddling regard for its clients, even less for adequately compensating new, underpaid staff. "I have little hope for Gaia in its electric current incarnation, but it might consider better obscuring its motives from its unhappy userbase."

Features

Members of the site'southward community are known as Gaians and each is represented on the site by an avatar that tin be customized with different skin tones, facial characteristics, hair style, gender, race and clothing. Through their avatars, members can collaborate with each others in Gaia Towns, Rally, and other Wink spaces, some of which take been created for paid sponsors. The site contains a diverseness of dissimilar subforums, including boards for general discussion, news, lifestyle, function-playing, entertainment, games and art. Users receive "Gaia Gold" that can exist used to purchase items on the site past posting and replying on the message boards, browsing the site and playing games. "Gaia Cash" is a virtual currency introduced in 2007 that can be purchased for $0.01 each. Users tin buy items with both golden and greenbacks at virtual shops on the site and can trade among each other in a virtual marketplace. Gaia Online holds site-wide annual events for users to play special games and receive unique items.

Games

The site hosts several Flash games that users can play to larn gold and items. The browser-based MMORPG zOMG allows Gaia Online users to battle monsters and complete quests. The breakout game Smashblox features boards that must exist cleared of blocks by players to advance to the next level. The site also features several mini-games, including virtual angling, a lottery, casino games and pinball.

Highlights

Cigarette

In tardily 2003, a Gaia user named Cigarette said in the forums that she was dying of terminal brain cancer. Fellow Gaia user Cycon, still, constitute out that Cigarette was lying and jokingly called her out^[21]. By Feb 2004, she mysteriously reappeared and Cycon uploaded the Flash cartoon "Ode to Cigarette" to Newgrounds in response, where information technology gained around 295,000 views^[22]:

On September 3, 2004, Cycon referenced the incident in another Flash cartoon entitled "A Solar day in the Life of Cycon", where it gained around 189,000 views and a 2nd Place daily trophy at Newgrounds^[23] despite both cartoons being banned from Gaia^[24].

Million Page Thread

On March 28, 2004, Luigi Seno^[28] (known in Gaia as Lupig) started in the Chatterbox forum (the simply area in the Gaia Online forums that allows spam) a thread that aimed to gather a million pages worth of posts (with each page consisting of xv posts each). It has reached it goal on Jan 19, 2019^{[29] p. 1000000}, and since then, it has gathered over 15 million posts across 1.03 million pages^[29], and it'southward often cited by other forums every bit the longest forum thread in existence^{[30] [31]}.

Lolichan

Loli-Chan is the nickname given to an anonymous camgirl from Florida who gained notoriety on 4chan sometime in 2006 at the age of xiii. By her own business relationship, Loli began making friends on the Net via Gaia Online in 2005, and afterwards began experimenting with cybersex through Yahoo! Messenger and trading nude photos of herself for Gaia Gold.

Rules of the Internet

Rules of the Internet is a list of protocols and conventions, originally written to serve every bit a guide for those who identified themselves with the Cyberspace group Bearding. In 2007, 4chan'due south founder Christopher Poole, better known as moot, was asked about the rules during a question-and-answer session at ROFLcon, where he claimed that they were invented on Gaia Online.

Clementine Hacking Incident

Clementine, also known by her Gaia username of "Bluebird", was a member who lost her account afterwards falling to a phishing attempt quondam in September 2007. Her account was not recovered until after Jack Myers of Jack Myers Media Business organization Report intervened. On November 12, 2007, Myers published a news report most the hacking incident^[15], which Gaians ridiculed for existence misleading^[sixteen]. Thanksgiving Day was after declared as Clementine Day in reference to the incident^[17].

Second Longcat Cause

On March 2008, almost i year afterwards Anonymous successfully pressured Subeta into removing items related to Longcat^[13], Gaia Online released the Infinity Hat, a random item generator that can generate random items named subsequently Internet memes. The Longcat Scarf, in particular, bore the following description in allusion to the assail at Subeta:

"Once a true cat that was long was owned by a human being
Who posted its photo on the cyberspace from Nippon
From 2 then to 4, information technology was smuggled 'twixt 'chans,
Doomed to be stolen again and once again." ^[14]

Anonymous thus launched the Second Longcat Cause, an ultimately-unsuccessful raid that sought to repeat their success at Subeta.

To this solar day, the Longcat Scarf and all other items from the Infinity Hat remain at the site.

Boxxy

The YouTube celebrity Boxxy joined GaiaOnline in 2006 equally Grand o fifty d yLunchboxx. By Jan 2008, she began amassing gold for some items she wanted^[xviii], and some of her friends donated to her quest. To thank i of her donors, she made the video "FOAR 4DD1 FRUM BOXXY" (shown beneath).

Smoking Ban

On Nov 18, 2009, Gaia Online announced a ban on the auction of tobacco-related items. This immediately invited complaints from users. A re-create of the announcement on Gaia Online'due south official Facebook business relationship, for example, garnered more 600 comments (with about of them criticizing Gaia on the issue)^[25]. The site's weekly avatar-making contests were flooded with entries that allude to the issue (with at least 1 user submitting an avatar closely-resembling a cigarette barrel^[26]). A few days later, Liu himself apologized for the removal of tobacco-related items and restored them^[27].

Idiot Nerd Girl

Idiot Nerd Daughter is an advice animal prototype macro series featuring a photograph of a teenage daughter wearing thick rimmed glasses with the word "NERD" written on the palm of her left hand. On May 8th, 2010, an unedited version of the photo was posted on the Gaia Online Forums (shown below).

Bento Bunny

On May 12, 2010, Gaia Online released the "Bento Bunny" virtual detail^[60]. The side by side day, however, it was removed after a complaint from Claire "Queen of Dorks" Belton^[61], who noticed similarities between it and the Onigiri Bunny icon (as illustrated in a higher place) that she made on February xiv^[62]. Post-obit heated debates both in Gaia Online^{[63] [64]} and deviantART^{[65] [66]}, Liu and Belton agreed on the restoration of Bento Bunny as long as Belton is credited^{[67] [68]}.

Shellmac

Shellmac was a regular poster at Gaia Online's General Discussion board (also known equally GD). She regularly posted pictures of herself in the GD and commented on the appearance of others who do similarly.^[53] She posted a video which eventually attracted threats from 4chan, to which she responded on Baronial 1, 2010 that "they aren't gonna practise south**t"^[54]. Hours afterwards, she removed the video due to "trolling of mass destruction"^[55]. Withal, someone managed to save a re-create before the video went downwardly and reuploaded it under the username of anon4chanbtard.

Her original business relationship was hacked^[56], but she created one account afterwards another to continue posting every bit other users began reporting her posts for trolling. On October 3, she gained an entry in the Urban Dictionary, where she is described equally a "recently pop troll in the GD, occasionally flirting with hot guys, but mostly calling everyone else names."^[57]

She was last active on Gaia in 2012 with her 104th account.^[58]

Hyperinflation

Hyperinflation in Gaia Online began in Baronial 2013, subsequently the release of items known equally "gold generators" several months later Gary Schofield became CEO of Gaia Interactive. In Baronial 22, 2013, Gaia released a gold generator called "Flynn'south Haul."^[32]. In the accompanying FAQ, the staff said that "it is not predicted to have whatever long-term negative effect on the economy"^[33]. Past September x, Flynn's Haul was offered to those who would purchase at to the lowest degree $5 worth of Gaia Cash^[34]. By September 26, Flynn's Booty returned in the cash store.^[35] Thirty minutes after the announcement, users started gathering evidence to prove that Flynn'southward Booty is the biggest source of inflation on the site^[36].

In September 19, Jason Loia, the COO of Gaia Interactive, made a presentation well-nigh gamification^[37] for Manos Accelerator, a mentorship program for Latino entrepreneurs^[38]. One of the slides displayed Flynn's Booty as an case, while another elaborated on the awarding of Skinner'due south Box to games. By October 6, pictures of Loia's presentation began circulating inside Gaia's forums^[39], and users were angered over being compared to lab rats and began seeing the management equally the ones responsible for the hyperinflation. Yip announced her resignation shortly^[40], leaving Liu as the last remaining founder.

Users were already demanding the discontinuation of Flynn's Booty^[41] and the termination of both Schofield^[42] and Loia^[43], and the discovery of Loia'southward presentation fueled the users' efforts even further. The staff responded through discontinuing the weekly "Ask the Admins" threads^[44] where users tin submit questions for the staff to answer, deleting threads and posts that mentioned Schofield and/or Loia^[45], and banning those who insist on posting their names. By Dec xvi, Gaia fabricated an unannounced update to its Terms of Service to prevent the recurrence of the events that led to the closure of the "Ask the Admins" threads. In comparing to the previous version^[46], the newly-amended version^[47] independent provisions against disparaging, ridiculing, and scorning Gaia, its employees, and officers [Sec. 4a]; and posting personal information (such equally names) of Gaia employees [Sec. 4q]. In addition, Gaia added an amendment to allow them to revise the Terms of Service without notifying its users, reversing their previous opinion of sending notices when updates are made [Sec. 3]. To circumvent censorship, users began giving Schofield nicknames similar "Goldemort"^[48] and "he-who-must-not-be-named"^[49].

As a outcome, some users have left Gaia and went to other avatar-based forum sites where they shared their grievances over the site's operation^{[50] [51] [52]}, while others resorted to vandalizing Gary Schofield's Crunchbase entry, which sporadically persisted until November 2014, when Schofield's profile was deleted.

Traffic

On April 22nd, 2007, the tech news blog Giga Om^[half-dozen] reported that Gaia Online averaged i million posts per twenty-four hours. On September 11th, 2008, the Internet news blog Virtual Earth News^[5] published an article revealing that the site was receiving more than than 7 one thousand thousand monthly users. Co-ordinate to a list of Net Forums on Wikipedia,^[10] Gaia Online has accumulated the nigh posts of any Cyberspace forum with over ii.145 billion.

Search Interest

External References

^[53] Gaia Online Full general Give-and-take – Self drop~~~*~ tell me what you think? [pic drop]

^[54] Gaia Online General Discussion – I DON'T Requite A S**T IF I'VE BEEN 4CHANED, THEY AREN'T GONNA (archived from deleted original)

^[55] Gaia Online Full general Discussion – DUE TO TROLLING OF MASS Destruction I DELETED MY VIDEO

^[56] Pony Fundamental – What is With Your Username?

^[57] Urban Dictionary – Shellmac

^[58] Leap.me – Shaleighr

^[59] Glassdoor – Gaia Interactive Reviews (archived re-create from May 15, 2014)

^[60] Gaia Online Announcements – Cash & Gold Store Update: New Food & Service Items

^[61] Encyclopedia Dramatica – Queen of Dorks (Archived from original)

^[62] QueenOfDorks deviantART – Onigiri Bunny Icon (Archived from now-deleted original)

^[63] Gaia Online Petitions – The Original _{Bento Bunny Reinstation/Revision} Petition!

^[64] Gaia Online Site Feedback – Nice task stealing someone else's art, Gaia

^[65] AntenOz deviantART – Augh. People….

^[66] kanazuchi92 deviantART – Wanna become entertained? Do y'all?

^[67] Gaia Online Customs Give-and-take – It's fourth dimension for more than Bento Bunny!

^[68] QueenOfDorks deviantART – Stray Journal Entry? (Archived from now-deleted original)

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