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Gaia's 2k11 Black Friday
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Commercialism comes to Gaia in the form of exceptionally expensive virtual items on Black Friday. "Black Friday" always known for a day of discounts and bargains, along with lots of purchasing by bargain-hungry shoppers.
Gaia has rolled out overpriced virtual items costing up to $50 each, leaving more than a few Gaians confused.
For the most part I think this sale is a joke, due to an apparently random and arbitrary selection of items and pricing. I was interested in some of the items until I counted the zeros in the price. I've been going back and forth over whether or not I want to splurge on a Kitten Star, Princess Harmony and Faustine's Bottle since I first got the announcement. Finally, I just said NO. I have a hard time bringing myself to spend $20 on Gaia and even then I feel guilty for days afterwards.

Reviewing the Site Feedback Forum the day before; Each thread had some disagreement on how this "Sale" was a good or a bad idea..

It's a BAD idea;
I'm personally relieved that Gaia is pricing the items high to prevent massive deflation, but at the same time, the whole situation is very manipulative. Many users put their time and money into obtaining them initially, and it would be a "screw you" to them if those items started flooding the MP.
I know that most users who aren't losing out here are probably just thinking, "too bad". But even if you're planning to profit in this situation, think of how everyone is kind of getting played here: Gaia created the sky high prices by purposely making them extremely rare and desirable. Then, once people are salivating over the unattainable, you can suddenly pay a ton of real money for it. The perceived "value" of the item was created by Gaia in the first place. If one of the items (let's say Kitten Star) was released brand new for $50, most people would probably say "hell no, screw that price ". But now that it has a pre-established high gold value, about double the normal gold-to-cash value, it's seen as a "deal", and more people will buy it for that. I don't think a pixelated Kitten should be worth $50, ever. Get Real Gaia there is a recession on.
If they really want to make that much cash off of us, then they could screw us all over and sell them for 10 dollars. I gurantee almost every single Gaian would purchase that item then for that rarity.

It's a GOOD idea;
I totally understand where people can't justify spending more than an amount on an item. But there's just no way to please everyone is it?
When they don't release enough items then we get threads bitching about how they're so rare and unattaintable. Now they release them without restriction as long as you're willing to fork out money for it. But now there's threads bitching about this too.
It's really not surprising to see a sale like this, there really are people on this site who spend $100 on a regular basis on Gaia. Lets be honest many people blow more then $50 every month on Gaia. I myself have spent over $100 on Gaia this year with Cash Cards.
I don't see why spending a lot of money on pixels would be worse than spending a lot of money to go to the movies. In both situations you get intangible products meant for entertainment.

Gaia makes oodles of money. Users get both items re-released and at a much less hard fall on gold worth. If they sold for less, more people would buy just to turn for profit, and the market would plummet. Making them more accessible and only worth around 25-30% of what they were originally worth before.
For a fact there are users who are going to stay up and buy these items JUST TO MAKE THE PRICE PLUMMET IN GOLD. I watched the mp to see how this affects the prices of the items and they plummet!

I spent a lot of time questing to get some of my expensive items, not exchanging, but Booty Grabbing. And a hell of a lot of it. I take pride in the fact I worked hard to get them, in the same way I take pride in writing a good essay or story, if you will.

After Today;
Doesn't matter.
There are people who did it and people who didn't.
I'll just look forward to next year's.

I was curious about what bundles will be selling, and what they'll have. Buying five rig bundles and selling them is a better idea than buying the items....
I really hope that they're better bundles than last year.

Bundles
Celestial Blue Bundle
Regal Red Bundle
Understated Black Bundle
Cozy Brown Bundle
Joyful Color Bundle





 
 
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