Gaia Online is an English-language anime-themed social networking and forums-based website with Chibi-style animations.
It was founded as go-gaia on February 18, 2003, by Derek Liu, Long Vo, Josh Gainsbrugh,[1][2] and the name was changed to GaiaOnline.com in 2004 by its owner, Gaia Interactive.
Gaia also won the 2007 Webware 100 award in the Community category[9] and was included in Time magazine's list of 50 best websites in 2008.
Avatars appear next to posts in the forums and profile comments (the post itself encapsulated in a "speech bubble"), and in Gaia Towns and Gaia rallies, 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, digging for buried treasure, collecting trash and flowers, etc.)
main antagonist Monika was released to Gaia Online under the title "Just Dangerous Me", the addition of which has been criticised by DDLC!
[14] AutoCash is an optional feature where GaiaOnline members can sign up to buy Gaia Cash on a reoccurring monthly schedule.
To maintain that revenue, new and bigger gold-generators were frequently introduced and an arms-race ensued between site users.
This would eventually lead to the collapse of the economy, coupled with large declines in the userbase, and the ultimate sale of the site.
During August and September 2008, the envelopes were unsealed on the eighth, but on October 2, 2008, it was decided that the release date should be returned to the fifteenth.
New evolution updates are noted in regular site announcements as "Evolving Item Reports" present by the NPC, Dr. Singh.
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.
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.
Members can vote in the arenas and comment on art, avatars, houses, or written works that have been submitted by other users.
On Sundays at 12:00 A.M. PST, the top ten entries with the highest average score would be rewarded with Gold based on their rankings and had their Avatar permanently featured in the Avatar Arena winner circle that is permanently archived in the Arena features.
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,[21] The Last Mimzy,[23] 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, 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.
Gaia Online currently offers a number of games where users can win different items or gold.
zOMG is a browser-based MMORPG on Gaia where users battled monsters and participated in RPG-style quests.
The game utilized special rings to activate abilities, such as throwing fireballs or conjuring up a defense.
Users did not level up the traditional way via experience points, but instead, through collecting Charge Orbs and empowering their rings with them.
[25][26] On November 6, 2014, the staff announced that due to hardware and engineering limitations, zOMG was to be permanently removed from Gaia Online.
[30] Players should expect the release of a Towns 3 demo once they have completely removed Flash from Gaia Online.
Gaia on the Go, the main application[31] allows users a streamlined way of accessing the forums and making minor avatar edits, as well as viewing the site's marketplace.
Gaia has also released one of their games, Switchem, and a virtual world, Rallys, as separate iOS applications.