Gaia Online
4.17
RATE IT:
.: Style
Gaia Online is a colorful, aesthetically pleasing social networking site of anime fans and gamers that clearly enjoy interacting and being part of an online community.
Gaia online takes advantage of the Flash player in order to create games, avatars and other interactive activities allowing its users to earn “gold” simply by participating. You earn 2 gold just from moving from one page to another – so the more you surf, the more you earn, and participating in forums earns you points for every single post, so users that are trying to rack up a lot of extra gold can be seen participating in the forums every day.
Known as “Gaians,” you start out by designing your avatar as you see fit. Once you have chosen your characters design, you are already free to roam in the Gaia world. The front page is full of the basics, with stats about how many members are online and how many people are participating on various online games.
There is also the Gaia world, which may be one of the most impressive aspects of the website. In this world you can find a variety of different towns, where people own their own homes and members and their avatars walk around and introduce themselves to each other. Often you will find groups of friends that are having chat conversations much like they would in chatrooms, except these chat conversations show up as voice bubbles.
There are also “Gaia Cinemas” where users can purchase tickets to watch actual anime clips and other video right on their screen, as though they are sitting in a theater.
.: Plot
Because it is far more of a social networking site than a single game, there is not much of a plot per se. There are, however, several goals with which to reach, and customizing your avatars, earning gold, and finding and purchasing rare items are activities many people try to obtain.
Some games do have their own goals. For example, the goal of fishing is to find rare fish in order to earn more gold for selling them. Since there are many places to fish, there are many places to try to find these rare fish, so members often go searching in various areas, upgrade their equipment, etc., in order to find some of the rarer creatures.
There are also seasonal games that do have plots. These special events have their own specific sub plots and all users are allowed to participate – and sometimes vote on the plot outcome. The storylines are usually themed towards some holiday or special event, such as Halloween and April Fool’s day, and Gaians that participate are rewarded with special items or avatar choices that are unavailable in the basic world.
Not all events are related to holidays either. Gaia recently completed its “Prom Crashers” event, complete with specialized prom suits and dresses for purchase. The event was such a success that they are polling members about making it a permanent part of the Gaian online options, and the results thus far have been a resounding “yes.”
Despite all of these smaller plots, in September 2008, Gaia has announced that it is planning to release an MMORPG (“Massively multiplayer online role-playing game”) complete with RPG style quests and battles. The game, which is planning to be named “zOMG!” plans to resemble WoW and other online RPGs, except you will be able to use the same avatar you use to participate in the online community.
Overall, despite Gaia’s current lack of any specific plot, the sheer volume of activities and the sub goals of the activities create the impression that Gaia is plot rich and exciting. .: Safety
As with any social networking site there are always some safety risks, but Gaia does a good job minimizing those risks. For example, when you sign up for Gaia you provide absolutely zero personal information, other than your email address, which also remains private (members are allowed their own email). With no personal information, there is no direct way that someone can take advantage of a player offline unless that player provides their own personal information.
Since Gaia is also free, credit cards and other payment information need never be placed on their website. They also have self-regulation systems to avoid any objectionable content. In smaller communities, it can be difficult to stop all objectionable content since the speed with which people report it is slow. But with Gaia and its sheer volume of members, objectionable content is easily stopped and deleted. Gaia also receives a great deal of financing from sponsors and advertising, as well as the ability to go offline and purchase Gaia cash at Wal-Mart and Target. So they have several trained individuals on staff to help regulate the community.
There have been reported scams on Gaia, but these scams have only affected the online avatar and account, not the personal information that goes with it. Gaia members take “gold” on Gaia very seriously and often do whatever they can to earn it. Some members have received faked emails from administrators as well as other methods of deception to try to trick members into providing them with their password, so that they can take their gold. These scams are few and far between, however, and since they do not put the actual gamer at risk for any type of identity theft, they are not difficult to ignore and are not much of a safety issue. Overall, Gaia does a great job of remaining a safe online community for all of its members. .: Gameplay
You have the options of either starting games right away, going to the
shops (when you begin, you do not have enough gold for most of the
items in the shop), or simply browsing around in the forums. Although
the community aspect of Gaia is very appealing, the games are equally
entertaining and are the recommended place to start for a new user.
Instructions are easily available and the games are very user friendly
(though fishing proved itself to be at least moderately difficult at
first).
While Gaia Online may not yet have a single, specific online game, its gameplay is phenomenal. The flash system they use for their games makes them incredible user friendly and interactive, yet simple enough that anyone can enjoy it.
One of their newer games, pinball, runs glitch free and occasionally references anime characters (which is, of course, the purpose of this online gaming community). The more points your rack up the more gold you get as well, so pinball is yet another way to earn gold points if you are not fond of participating in the forums.
Fishing is one of the most popular and well known games on Gaia. With fishing, you swing your pole into the water and wait for a fish to bite. Once it does, you move the fish back and forth within the designated lines and try to pull the fish back towards you. Fishing is not quite as user friendly as pinball, but only because it starts out with a surprisingly high level of difficulty right off the bat, so users that are trying fishing for the first time will likely struggle through a few rounds.
There are also slot machines that are easy to use and tend to give winning coins quite often. Once you have enough winning coins you can cash them all in for tickets and use those tickets to claim other prizes.
What is most impressive about all of the games on Gaia, however, is that all of them allow you to chat with other users. They all have chat windows and you can see the other user’s avatars that are participating in the game at the same time standing next to you. Within minutes someone that likes you avatar will say hello or compliment your avatar’s design. Gaia has managed to make its games a part of its community as well, which is certainly an impressive feat.
Travelling to towns builds on that ability. You can walk around in the towns and talk to any avatar you want, just as if you were in a chatroom. Friends that use Gaia together can often be seen standing in the middle of an area, having actual conversations which you can even eavesdrop on if you are standing close enough, or join in yourself. The map can be slightly difficult to maneuver but not enough to be considered an inconvenience, and the load times are simply superb.
Overall Gaia has made no mistakes in their gameplay. All of the games are aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable, and there is little they need to fix in terms of glitches or additional features. If they continue this trend in everything that they do, “zOMG!” is going to be something to look forward to. .: Community
Despite being considered a “game,” Gaia’s primary strengths are as
community that happens to have incredibly interactive activities. There
are over a million visits per day on Gaia, with over a billion visits
since the site’s inception, and these Gaians often interact on the
website for several hours each day, discussing anything they wish in
the online community.
You cannot be a social networking community without a great deal of community features, and Gaia certainly provides them.
As mentioned earlier, the ability to chat with other users while playing one of their games is an outstanding feature, and Gaians are able to find friends in the online world very easily if they like.
In addition, however, the forums are easily one of the most popular places for members to go. As an anime themed website, often times there is discussion about the users’ favorite Anime and Manga series, and the discussion threads often go on for thousands of comments, as users actively participate at their leisure.
On Gaia online, you can “friend” people much like you can on other social networking communities. You also have the ability to create “enemies” that are generally users you ignore due to inappropriate behavior or, simply, not getting along.
With its features, Gaia has managed to resemble MySpace except without all of the annoying glitches. Profiles are customizable, there are journals with which users can share their thoughts with the community, as well as its own messaging system so that its users are able to send personal messages to each other.
There are also “Guilds” which are essentially groups that users can join and participate in guild related forums. Most guilds are related to various anime themes, but there are several other guilds available to meet an individual’s personal preferences.
Gaia has gone one step further and created “arenas” where users can submit artwork, compare avatars, or compare homes. The artwork section is carefully monitored to ensure it is not abused, and artwork is put up for rating where it is graded by the community. Some of the artwork is very impressive and looking at it can be enjoyable for all members, even those that do not often participate in art communities themselves.
Finally, the Gaian chat style – where users can walk around in the Gaia world and hold conversations while other members stroll around them is easily one of its most impressive community features. It turns the standard social networking community into a far more interactive one, so while offline the user may be sitting at their desk and typing, online they can go out and meet new people or hang out with their friends as though they were doing so in real life.
Overall, what makes the community aspect of Gaia Online such a powerful force is their ability to make every aspect of the site into its own community. With the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends in Gaia no matter what you are doing, Gaia has essentially created a second world for its users.
4.00
Gaia online takes advantage of the Flash player in order to create games, avatars and other interactive activities allowing its users to earn “gold” simply by participating. You earn 2 gold just from moving from one page to another – so the more you surf, the more you earn, and participating in forums earns you points for every single post, so users that are trying to rack up a lot of extra gold can be seen participating in the forums every day.
Known as “Gaians,” you start out by designing your avatar as you see fit. Once you have chosen your characters design, you are already free to roam in the Gaia world. The front page is full of the basics, with stats about how many members are online and how many people are participating on various online games.
There is also the Gaia world, which may be one of the most impressive aspects of the website. In this world you can find a variety of different towns, where people own their own homes and members and their avatars walk around and introduce themselves to each other. Often you will find groups of friends that are having chat conversations much like they would in chatrooms, except these chat conversations show up as voice bubbles.
There are also “Gaia Cinemas” where users can purchase tickets to watch actual anime clips and other video right on their screen, as though they are sitting in a theater.
.: Plot
3.00
Some games do have their own goals. For example, the goal of fishing is to find rare fish in order to earn more gold for selling them. Since there are many places to fish, there are many places to try to find these rare fish, so members often go searching in various areas, upgrade their equipment, etc., in order to find some of the rarer creatures.
There are also seasonal games that do have plots. These special events have their own specific sub plots and all users are allowed to participate – and sometimes vote on the plot outcome. The storylines are usually themed towards some holiday or special event, such as Halloween and April Fool’s day, and Gaians that participate are rewarded with special items or avatar choices that are unavailable in the basic world.
Not all events are related to holidays either. Gaia recently completed its “Prom Crashers” event, complete with specialized prom suits and dresses for purchase. The event was such a success that they are polling members about making it a permanent part of the Gaian online options, and the results thus far have been a resounding “yes.”
Despite all of these smaller plots, in September 2008, Gaia has announced that it is planning to release an MMORPG (“Massively multiplayer online role-playing game”) complete with RPG style quests and battles. The game, which is planning to be named “zOMG!” plans to resemble WoW and other online RPGs, except you will be able to use the same avatar you use to participate in the online community.
Overall, despite Gaia’s current lack of any specific plot, the sheer volume of activities and the sub goals of the activities create the impression that Gaia is plot rich and exciting. .: Safety
4.00
Since Gaia is also free, credit cards and other payment information need never be placed on their website. They also have self-regulation systems to avoid any objectionable content. In smaller communities, it can be difficult to stop all objectionable content since the speed with which people report it is slow. But with Gaia and its sheer volume of members, objectionable content is easily stopped and deleted. Gaia also receives a great deal of financing from sponsors and advertising, as well as the ability to go offline and purchase Gaia cash at Wal-Mart and Target. So they have several trained individuals on staff to help regulate the community.
There have been reported scams on Gaia, but these scams have only affected the online avatar and account, not the personal information that goes with it. Gaia members take “gold” on Gaia very seriously and often do whatever they can to earn it. Some members have received faked emails from administrators as well as other methods of deception to try to trick members into providing them with their password, so that they can take their gold. These scams are few and far between, however, and since they do not put the actual gamer at risk for any type of identity theft, they are not difficult to ignore and are not much of a safety issue. Overall, Gaia does a great job of remaining a safe online community for all of its members. .: Gameplay
5.00
While Gaia Online may not yet have a single, specific online game, its gameplay is phenomenal. The flash system they use for their games makes them incredible user friendly and interactive, yet simple enough that anyone can enjoy it.
One of their newer games, pinball, runs glitch free and occasionally references anime characters (which is, of course, the purpose of this online gaming community). The more points your rack up the more gold you get as well, so pinball is yet another way to earn gold points if you are not fond of participating in the forums.
Fishing is one of the most popular and well known games on Gaia. With fishing, you swing your pole into the water and wait for a fish to bite. Once it does, you move the fish back and forth within the designated lines and try to pull the fish back towards you. Fishing is not quite as user friendly as pinball, but only because it starts out with a surprisingly high level of difficulty right off the bat, so users that are trying fishing for the first time will likely struggle through a few rounds.
There are also slot machines that are easy to use and tend to give winning coins quite often. Once you have enough winning coins you can cash them all in for tickets and use those tickets to claim other prizes.
What is most impressive about all of the games on Gaia, however, is that all of them allow you to chat with other users. They all have chat windows and you can see the other user’s avatars that are participating in the game at the same time standing next to you. Within minutes someone that likes you avatar will say hello or compliment your avatar’s design. Gaia has managed to make its games a part of its community as well, which is certainly an impressive feat.
Travelling to towns builds on that ability. You can walk around in the towns and talk to any avatar you want, just as if you were in a chatroom. Friends that use Gaia together can often be seen standing in the middle of an area, having actual conversations which you can even eavesdrop on if you are standing close enough, or join in yourself. The map can be slightly difficult to maneuver but not enough to be considered an inconvenience, and the load times are simply superb.
Overall Gaia has made no mistakes in their gameplay. All of the games are aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable, and there is little they need to fix in terms of glitches or additional features. If they continue this trend in everything that they do, “zOMG!” is going to be something to look forward to. .: Community
5.00
You cannot be a social networking community without a great deal of community features, and Gaia certainly provides them.
As mentioned earlier, the ability to chat with other users while playing one of their games is an outstanding feature, and Gaians are able to find friends in the online world very easily if they like.
In addition, however, the forums are easily one of the most popular places for members to go. As an anime themed website, often times there is discussion about the users’ favorite Anime and Manga series, and the discussion threads often go on for thousands of comments, as users actively participate at their leisure.
On Gaia online, you can “friend” people much like you can on other social networking communities. You also have the ability to create “enemies” that are generally users you ignore due to inappropriate behavior or, simply, not getting along.
With its features, Gaia has managed to resemble MySpace except without all of the annoying glitches. Profiles are customizable, there are journals with which users can share their thoughts with the community, as well as its own messaging system so that its users are able to send personal messages to each other.
There are also “Guilds” which are essentially groups that users can join and participate in guild related forums. Most guilds are related to various anime themes, but there are several other guilds available to meet an individual’s personal preferences.
Gaia has gone one step further and created “arenas” where users can submit artwork, compare avatars, or compare homes. The artwork section is carefully monitored to ensure it is not abused, and artwork is put up for rating where it is graded by the community. Some of the artwork is very impressive and looking at it can be enjoyable for all members, even those that do not often participate in art communities themselves.
Finally, the Gaian chat style – where users can walk around in the Gaia world and hold conversations while other members stroll around them is easily one of its most impressive community features. It turns the standard social networking community into a far more interactive one, so while offline the user may be sitting at their desk and typing, online they can go out and meet new people or hang out with their friends as though they were doing so in real life.
Overall, what makes the community aspect of Gaia Online such a powerful force is their ability to make every aspect of the site into its own community. With the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends in Gaia no matter what you are doing, Gaia has essentially created a second world for its users.
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