| Type | Corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet Social Networking MMORPG |
| Founded | February 18, 2003[1][2] |
| Founder(s) | Derek Liu Long Vo Josh Gainsbrugh |
| Headquarters | San Jose, California, USA |
| Key people | Mike Sego (CEO) |
| Employees | 90-95 (estimated) |
| Website | www.gaiaonline.com |
Gaia Online is an English-language, anime-themed social networking and forums-based website. Gaiaonline was founded in 2003.[1][2] but the name was changed to GaiaOnline.com in 2003 from go-gaia by its owner, Gaia Interactive. Gaia originally began as an anime linklist and eventually developed a small community,[2] but, following a statement by founder Derek Liu (username "Lanzer"), the website moved towards social gaming, and[3] eventually became a forum-based website.[4][5] Today, over a million posts are made daily[4] and it is visited by 7 million unique users each month[6] (with over 23 million total registered users). Gaia also won the 2007 Webware 100 award in the Community category.[7] In January 2011, the company won the Mashable Best User experience Award for 2010.[8]
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Members of Gaia Online, known as Gaians, receive a customizable avatar when they sign up. Users have the ability to customize their avatar in many ways, including skin tone, eye style and color, hair style and color, gender, race ( i.e. human, vampire, elf) and attire. Numerous clothing items and accessories for avatars can be purchased from a range of NPC-run stores using the site currencies, Gaia Gold and Gaia Cash. Avatars appear next to posts in the forums and profile comments (the post itself encapsulated in a "speech bubble"), and in Gaia Towns and other environments the avatar appears as a movable character that can travel from place to place, interacting with the environment (catching bugs, shaking trees and rocks for gold, digging for buried treasure, collecting trash and flowers etc.) and other users.
Forums are the public message boards. There is a large variety of forums in which a user can post, such as forums discussing topics regarding the Gaia community and NPC story lines, forums for casual conversation and lifestyle discussions, various types of role play, general entertainment, featured games on Gaia, and artist discussions. There are also forums for users to buy and sell items, as well as a forum for user-run businesses, e.g. art commissions, and thread-bumping services. Users may make threads in almost every forum, as long as they follow each forum's guidelines. Users also have the option to add polls to their thread. Posting and replying to threads, as well as voting in polls yields gold.
The currency used in Gaia is known as "Gaia Gold", commonly referred to as gold. Gold is regularly distributed to users as they browse around the website, post in the forums, play games, and participate in other various events and contests; the site also rewards users every day with random gold or items from the Daily Chance. In July 2007, Gaia released another virtual currency called Gaia Cash, which can be purchased with real money; $1 USD is equivalent to 100 Gaia cash. Gaia Cash cards can be bought at Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, Target stores, 7-11, Speedway SuperAmerica, Blockbuster, and GameStop. Gaia Cash cards are offered in $10 and $25 amounts. On June 21, 2010 7-11 stopped stocking the $10 Gaia Cash cards.[9] Gaia Cash Cards include a PIN that can be used at the website to redeem the card's Gaia Cash value. Gaia Cash can also be bought through cell phone payments, or directly from Gaia itself.[10]
Paying Gaia users generally spend about $30 USD per month to purchase Gaia Cash which is then used to buy virtual things such as evolving, chance, collectible, and limited edition items.[11]
On September 13, 2010, Gaia announced the introduction of AutoCash.[12] AutoCash is an optional feature where GaiaOnline members can sign up to buy Gaia Cash on a reoccurring monthly schedule. The current cost per month for the feature is $10, users are given a generous amount of content for the monthly fee. AutoCash can be charged to a credit or debit card and members may also pay for the feature using a PayPal account. The service can be canceled at anytime, staying past 3 months offers users the bonues of receiving items specifically designed and made for those that continue to use the AutoCash feature. The benefits of using AutoCash include:
Users can still purchase Gaia Cash via GaiaOnline and do not have to purchase Gaia Cash via the AutoCash feature. Users that sign up for the AutoCash feature will notice that any items they purchase using Gaia Cash will be frozen for 7 days. The item(s) purchased are usable but cannot be sold or gifted to other members. Currently the system that is in place is not able to determine the source of the Gaia Cash so if a user signed up for the monthly feature and also purchased Gaia Cash via another source (i.e. cash card, PayPal, on site purchase) any items bought with Gaia Cash will be frozen for 7 days.
Sales within the Gaian market can be divided into four areas - Gold Shops, Cash Shops, Trade, and Marketplace.
Monthly Collectibles (previously known as Donation Items, also referred to as MCs) are special items that can be bought with real money meant to support Gaia's maintenance and costs. Established in June 2003 after users of Gaia Online petitioned for a "donation system" in an attempt to increase site revenue, for every US $2.50 a user gives to the site,[4] he or she receives an item known as a "Sealed Envelope" in his or her inventory.
Sealed Envelopes go on sale the first day of every month and are released on the 15th of each month. During August & September 2008 the envelopes were unsealed on the 8th, but on October 2, 2008 it was decided that the release date should be returned to the fifteenth. The Sealed Envelope disappears from the user's inventory and is replaced by a "Thank You Letter" for the current paid month (for example, a "Thank You Letter for August 2004" represents a payment made in that month of that year). Users are then able to open these virtual letters to choose one of two or three limited-edition items to be granted into their inventory from each letter. These items were known as Donation Items until potential legal problems prompted the name change.[13] Monthly Collectible items and the "Thank You" Letter items they are found in are specific to the month that they were released in: for example, the items found in the "Thank You" Letter for April 2006 can only be found in that letter, and one could only purchase that letter in April 2006.
Letters can be purchased over the phone, with a text message from a mobile phone, via PayPal, credit card, traditional mail or with Gaia Cash through the Cash Shop, "La Victoire". Envelopes and letters can be later bought and sold through user trades or through Marketplace.
Evolving Items, commonly abbreviated to EIs, are items which change or evolve over time. Items begin with one set of item poses, but with each new evolution, a different set of poses become available instead. Additionally, with each subsequent evolution a re-release of the item becomes available at the Cash Shop as a "next generation" release. When the item has fully evolved all previous poses become available for the item. Times between evolutions are different for each EI, and can be anywhere between a few weeks to a few months. Recent additions of "Rapid Evolving Items" evolve twice a week. New evolution updates are noted in regular site announcements as "Evolving Item Reports" present by the NPC, Dr. Singh. EIs are available from the Cash Shop "La Victoire", and can be later sold through trading or in the Marketplace. EIs are removed from the Cash Shop sometime after their final evolution becomes available.
With Chance Items , commonly referred to as CIs (previously known as Random Item Generators, or RIGs), users play a chance mini-game and the item they are granted depends on their success with completing the game, when they decide to stop playing and collect an item, or their failure to complete the game. Games will vary depending on the RIG - some may require users to choose a "correct" response, while some are simply a choice between continuing the game or stopping and collecting an item. RIGs are available from the Cash Shop "La Victoire" and are eventually rotated out of the shop.
Occasionally, random gift items can be found floating across web pages while browsing the site. Each random gift grants users a rare or uncommon clothing and accessory items that cannot be bought from any store. There are 6 different types of random items:
Gaia holds various special events throughout the year - some are yearly, regular holiday events, while some are and Gaia-specific events which may or may not be run yearly. In the past, these have included: April Fools, Halloween, Easter, Christmas, Valentine's Day, GaiaOnline's Site Anniversary, yearly Summer festivities, and the Gaian Prom. During the majority of events, users take part in site-wide mini-games and tasks, such as carol-singing during Christmas events by visiting NPC-owned stores to eventually collect commemorative Christmas items. The 2009 Halloween event saw the introduction of the Aquarium Overseer in his human form along with his nemesis, Sentinel. During the event, users were to ally themselves with either The Overseer or Sentinel, and perform certain tasks in order combat the opposing side. Events such as these can determine storyline outcomes.
Users can form guilds, which are clubs specially devoted to certain topics. These include hangout guilds, role playing guilds and guilds for various discussion topics. In previous years, guilds were simply run using a thread in the Guilds forum, however Gaia later expanded on this, allowing users to create private forums for guilds. Joining a guild can depend on the guidelines set by a guild captain and their crew - some may require a payment to join, others are completely free, while some may be invitation-only. Some guilds are public (viewable by everyone and anyone can post in it), private (viewable by everyone, but only members can post), and some are hidden (only viewable by members). The guild captain, vice captain(s), and crew are responsible for moderating threads within their guilds. Guilds cost 20,000 gold to create, and additional sub-forums may be purchased for 2,500 gold.
Users are able to own their own Gaia House situated in Gaia Towns. Houses are available in 3 different styles: Round, Square, or Long. To purchase a house is free, however future changes to the style of the house costs 500 gold, and after that, 10,000 for the largest style. Users are also able to relocate their home to a different Town postcode at a cost of 1000 gold. A range of decorative furniture items can be bought from the NPC-run store, "The Faktori", such as include floor and wall tiles, tables, chairs, lamps, among others. Rare housing items can be found in Enchanted Wooden Trunks and Enchanted Golden Trunks randomly found floating across site pages.
On June 18, 2007,[14] Gaia Online and Scion announced a partnership that allowed users to create a virtual Scion with customizable wheels, decals, fog lights, tail lights, and spoilers.[15][16] Other car choices available were the fictional Possum and Musculero. The Scion tC, Scion xD, UFO and Kiki Car (which is available only with Cash)[17] were later released, bringing the total to seven possible cars to choose from. Users can own up to 3 cars, which are stored in their Garage. Parts and decals for cars (such as paint color and antenna ornaments), as well as car bases, can be purchased from the NPC-run store, "Sam's Body and Parts". Cars are used as part of the Rally game available on the website.
Users can maintain fish and other creatures in Gaia Aquariums. Fish and tank accessories can be purchased with both Gaia Cash and Gold from the NPC-run store, "Phin Phang". At certain times, the fish inside a tank (from a different owner, commonly as a signature under a post in the forums) will "glow", enabling the Booty Grab mini-game. Aquarium item bundles (which include various fish and tank items) can be purchased from the main Cash shop, "La Victoire". Items can also be bought at the marketplace.
There are four main arenas on Gaia Online: Housing, Art, Avatar and Writing - with some of these arenas have subcategories. Members can vote in the arenas and comment on art, avatars, houses or written works which have been submitted by other users. Entering the Avatar Arena costs 1,000 Gold and rewards up to 50,000 gold for winners. Entries to the Writing Arena costs 10000 Gold (recently changed from 100g to lower so many trash entries). Entering the Art and Housing Arena is free, and no prizes are awarded.
The Gaia Quest system grants users items for performing certain tasks. Although previously quests for doing tasks around the website (similar to Gaia's current Achievement system), quests on the site are now for promotional purposes, granting items related to a featured movie, video game, or series for watching trailers or advertisements. Movies, video games, and other products that are promoted by the Gaia Quest system include Gracie, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, The Golden Compass, Nancy Drew,[16] The Last Mimzy,[18] The Spiderwick Chronicles, Kung Fu Panda, Bee Movie, Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce, You Don't Mess With The Zohan, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, The Sims 3, Sonic and the Black Knight, Harry Potter, August Underground's Mordum, PopStar Guitar, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, among many others. Anime series and TV shows have also been promoted, such as Naruto, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, and The Hills. There are a few for games such as "Dragon Quest Swords" and the "Naruto: Ultimate Ninja". There are also some quests for advertisement such as the new Crazy Cores Skittles.
Achievements are tasks that can be performed around the site. Completion of Achievements grants users Achievement Points, some which additionally grant users gold. There are a variety of different Achievements that can be obtained - tasks to gain these can include posting in a thread, changing one's equipped avatar items (or equipping specific items), selling an item in Marketplace, among many others.
Gaia Online currently offers a number of Flash games, and users can win different items or gold from these games. These games comprise of 10% to 15% of total site activity.[4]
zOMG is a browser-based MMORPG on Gaia where users are able to battle monsters and participate in RPG-style quests. The game utilizes special rings to activate abilities, such as throwing fireballs or conjuring up a defense. Users do not level up the traditional way via experience points, but instead, through collecting Charge Orbs and empowering their rings with them. zOMG was made public and open to beta testing in November 2008, and since then a number of updates have been made to the rings and flow of the game.[19][20]
Monster Galaxy is a Facebook application located in the Game category created by Gaia Online. Appearing November 13, 2010, the app is inspired by the popular franchise Pokémon and various other creature catching series. The creatures in the game are Gaia World related, seen from various item releases such as Chance Items, Evolving Items, and creatures original to the game or have yet not seen on Gaia Online. As of now its in the Beta, and is free to test by anyone willing to give it a try. Monster Galaxy is now the 7th largest game on Facebook. [21]
There are various mini games which can be played to earn gold and items. Games can pay out gold, items or tickets-- which can convert into items. There are several games on gaia including:
•Gold Lotto--A game where a player buys tickets with a chance to win a jackpot.
•Gaia Fishing--Virtual fishing where the fish may be exchanged for items.
•Rally--Race cars against another user.
•Cards & Slots--Casino games including blackjack and slots.
•Booty Grab--Where a player tries to catch gold falling from fish.
•Tiles--A game involving matching tiles based on either color or another attribute.
•Word Bump--A player makes words out of given letters.
•Jigsaw--Players complete Jigsaw Puzzles for gold.
•Electric Love Faktori--A puzzle game involving making the longest chain by rotating tiles.
•Pinball--A Gaia themed Pinball game.
A recent partnership with the OMGPop! website has allowed players to play 3 more mini games on the website: Draw My Thing: Players join groups of other players in a game of charades. Each player takes turns drawing whatever word is chosen for you. You have 60 seconds to do so. As the player is drawing, the rest of the players must type in what they think it is. There is no penalty for random guessing. The first person to guess the picture correctly gets 3 points, and everyone after that gets 1 point. The artist gets 2 points for the first person that guesses correctly. Round lengths depend on the amount of people playing in the group. A full 7 players take up 1 round. 3 - 6 players take up 2 rounds. 1 - 2 players take up 3 rounds.
Gaia Towns (often simply called Towns) is a virtual world where avatars may move and interact with each other. While in Towns users can pick up various items. Bugs, litter, and flowers can be collected while in towns, these items can later be made into other items for a small cost. Shaking trees, rocks, and shrubs can yield small amounts of gold to be collected.. Users may use a virtual chat system while in the towns. Homes can be found throughout Towns and more than one user can visit someone else's home. The towns often host events such as snowball fights and trick-or-treating.
Since 2009, Gaia has been implementing virtual worlds, similar to Towns, for various site sponsors. These have included a rainbow-styled world for a Skittles sponsor, a castle for an Alice in Wonderland film promotion, a large forest tree for the Legend of the Guardians film, among many others. Users can interact with certain NPCs in these areas, and are often awarded prizes for visiting these areas.
In November 2010, Gaia Interactive laid off 15-20 of their 110 staff members.[22] As suggested by VentureBeat, this could be due in part to the decline in ad sales since the recession. 40% of Gaia's revenue stems from advertising geared toward Gaia's target audience; 13-25 year olds.[23]