Gaia Online: the Poor Man's version of Ragnarok Online

People who are into big online communities and anime should know about Gaia Online, The first online RPG community with anime elements. For those who don’t know what Gaia is about, read this and maybe you will take a look into it. On Gaia Online , you can do whatever you want to do (provided you follow their ToS), and pretend you’re playing World of Warcraft – Without the weapons and PvP!

Now, this isn’t a replacement for the top tier MMORPGs out there, unless you have a computer that is 3 years out of date with a low-grade video card, and still have a dial-up connection, Gaia is a good place to get to know fellow anime fans. The main objective of Gaia Online is to browse around the site and post on the forums to collect gold to dress up your avatar – just like in any other MMOG. There are no benefits to wearing the clothes, but it will make you stand out from the naked avatars (or noobs).

Gaia Online has guilds for users to join to show off their love for an anime series or a niche, and meet others. There are also mini-games. You can fish at the Ol’ Fishing Hole for junk or rare fish to resell for gold on the Gaia Marketplace, or go to the Casino to win tickets for rares or more gold! Originally, gold was the only way of obtaining popular items. Now items can be brought with Gaia Cash – with real money! Gaia Cash can be purchased from their online store and can be redeemed on the website to use immediately.

I have been around Gaia, on and off, for three years. Back in 2003, Gaia was a disaster. Many users were mean and rude (the majority being a bunch of unsupervised ten year olds), and many places on the site had been abused just to receive gold and disadvantage other users. The site would often lag and eventually shutdown temporarily, and the mini-games wouldn’t work half of the time. Things have changes since then. More moderators were hired, and they cracked down on users who broke the ToS. There are still some bugs that needs to be worked out, but it’s better than it was a few years ago. Many newbies I have met are awesome. Not everyone is nice, keep that in mind: this is the Internet, after all.

Conclusion: Gaia still has alot in store for fans. There are many improvements to come. The content of the site can be addicting, but it doesn’t last. You’re into it for a day or two, the next you find yourself annoyed by the constant bugs (or people) that gets in the way. Overall, If you’re looking for some new friends who are into what you’re into, then Gaia is worth checking out.

Pros: Can be addicting. Meet new people.

Cons: Lifeless kids/griefers are around. Some bugs with mini-games needs fixing.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Written by: Sanjo-chan (507 Posts)

Posted on: September 4, 2007 3:17 (Sugoi Uebusaito!!)
Tag(s): communities, gaia online
Website: http://centakume.info/