Green Goo Glitch
The green goo has supposedly been wiped off the site forever. O: I didn't think that was possible. Anyhoo, in the days that followed, other glitches appeared where parts of avatars were disappearing. There was also one where the color black turned invisible so a lot of people had tiny or large holes in their avatars. That's fixed now also.
I must say, it's nice not having that green goo of a dot on my shiny golden laurels. XD I lived with it for so long that I'd stopped noticing it. But man, that thing used to drive me nuts when it would throw off my matching avatar.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/gaia-news-updates/site-changes/t.63632027_852/#852
Easter Countdown
In an effort to bring back a community feel (or maybe just keep the GCD entertained), the staff has released a puzzle countdown to the Easter event. Each day they hide a new puzzle piece for the users to find. These puzzle pieces build an image that gives a clue about the event's theme.
I don't have the time to puzzle hunt, but I think it's a nice gesture.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/gaia-news-updates/site-changes/t.63632027_854/#854
March 2013 MCs
I remember complaining about the style of MCs a few years ago. No one cared about the MCs because they were stuck in an old esthetic. Everyone cared only about RIGs/CIs. And I (and I saw other people post the same sentiment) would keep suggesting that each MC should look like the type of item we'd get out of a CI. Well, they pretty much hit the mark spot on during 2011. January scared me. Nice items, but they fell too deep into their themes again. But Feb and March of 2013 have been pretty nice so far. n .n Again, they're stuck in themes but at least a bit more versatile.
MCs also usually take advantage of the current trends and what's selling at the time. So we still sometimes get eyes and skins. We're pretty saturated with skin options now though. And we have tons of contacts now too. For some reason, users still can't get enough wigs though. XD (It's probably because the ciel agape scissors is keeping the love of wigs strong.)
We got bangs in one of last year's EIs. o:
We still continue to get anklets. Anklets are falling behind as a trend. I'm saddened by this because I still can't get enough anklets. Seriously, I can't, because I don't have perfect anklets yet. :/
Leg and arm mods have been the current overall trend right now. Some mods are more popular than others, but most avatars have a mod of some sort on.
I believe that makeup is still popular, though we haven't really seen it in MCs. Also, I've seen a large calling for "good" male facial hair. We have a lot of facial hair, but I guess it all looks too unrealistic? I don't know. I am expecting to see more of it though..... which is why we got a bearded wig in this month's MCs. XD; You know, because Gaia always gives us part of what we want, but never the real deal. :/
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/gaia-community-discussion/march-2013-mcs-shy-gardener-rugged-woodsman/t.85109991/
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/community-announcements/march-s-collectibles-have-arrived/t.85109827/
Leg and Arm mods
I like the idea of these items, but not the execution. It makes a lot of the avatar dimensions just.. wonky. It's the same problem as the nm scarf. Used well, it's a great item. However, most people use it with a combo of items that's just... awful. It becomes a bulky distraction. The opposite is happening with the leg and arm mods. People aren't pairing them correctly. They're making midsections too short, too bulky... Stretching out the legs makes the avatar base arms too short. Or they're using the realllly long ciel arms with normal legs --> looks like gorilla arms. D: So, yeah, that's my beef with the leg and arm mods. It's not the fault of the artist or items that these avatars look horrible. It's the fault of the user pairing them incorrectly.
On the other hand, I have seen many beautifully made avatars with great pairings of arm and leg mods. It's just like how I can't hate the nm scarf because I have seen it used well. XD .... Yous people jus needs ta get it tagether.
So.... yeahhhhh.... I wish this trend would move on now. u. u; Avatars just look wonky. The items aren't being used to correct flaws in the bases. Also, while there is room for mixing and matching leg mods, we're losing the socks, stockings, pants, shoes, gloves, bracelets, armlets, etc that allow for more variety. @ .@ Yes people are mixing and matching the leg mods, but everywhere I look I see the same "characters" over and over. > <
/rant
I wish people would return to our trend where we focused mostly on the avatar's facial expression. People still do that, but the leg and arm mods are taking center stage (and not always in a good way).
*laughs* There's a GCD thread on this topic right now. XDD Well s**t. I think with the masses. Apparently threads in SF are demanding less leg mods. I knew I wasn't the only one who held this viewpoint, but I didn't know that others have started to feel passionate about the topic enoguh to discuss it. o:
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/gaia-community-discussion/pants-shoes-vs-leg-mods/t.85080587_1/
EIs/REIs
EIs were phased out a while ago in favor of REIs. u. u; I understand why; I just like the EIs better. For the same 4.99 price, they give users less poses. Bleh. Also, we only really have one REI going at a time. Sure, we have the long ones like catastrophe, owlpocalypse and bunnegedon (what was its name?), but those ones neverrrrr evolve. @ .@;
Paramour's Break is slated to finish tonight so I'll hold off a comment until then.
I think it's a solid item. It looks well-made. It's not normally my style, but those boots are gorgeous. o: The clothing isn't versatile, but they're good pieces to make outfits around. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it got bangs. XD I'm not fond of the color, but I do like the shape.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/gaia-community-discussion/paramour-s-break-fanthread-discussion-finale-tonight/t.84823521/
http://www.gaiaonline.com/marketplace/itemdetail/10006697
Sponsors
Gaia's been really easy to keep up with on this front. Makes me kind of sad. Okay, yeah, so I was annoyed with trying to keep up with all of the freebies in its heyday. But, come on, we have, like, zero now. D: But we've had two sponsors this year so far. O: That's actually a lot. XD
Some sequel to a book that was also advertised here http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/featured-announcements/check-out-the-runaway-king-for-a-free-item/t.84671905/
And an online paypal-sort-of-site for kids http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/featured-announcements/learn-about-virtual-piggy-and-score-a-free-item/t.84469475/
CI- Final Line
This month's CI was Final Line. The items are good, they're just not my cup of tea. I also don't know who's pixelling the last few CIs, but I'm not fond of the style. The style isn't meshing well with the items that I own. It wasn't as obvious with this last CI so hopefully the old style will return.
I hear that the fail rate with this RIG was also incredibly high. Like, people will play three bundles without any victories. I know that the item drop rate does have to decrease. I mean, tons of the older CIs have really been dropping in value. Great for me since I hadn't bought them yet XD but not great for CIs in general. If there's no lasting value, people will stop paying the high market prices for the items. So, the drop rate must decrease. On the other hand, it's been toooo decreased. People don't want to even play the RIGs anymore since all they end up with are the 10-30k fail items.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/gaia-community-discussion/final-line-item-list/t.85070953/
ummm... I've long since given up caring about join date. Er, well, that join date actually gives any leverage of anykind. XD; I do still love my join date. > <;; Enough so that I feel I can possibly start calling myself an oldbie. And possibly even feel okay calling 05ers oldbies. I don't know. The line is very blurry. I must say that I'm usually shocked to see that a lot of the GCDers that post frequently only joined in like 2009 or 2010. Mindblowing. @ .@ You know, since they sound like oldbies. XD; Anyway~
I've never understood all of the subcultures we have on Gaia and what they speak. Sure, there are people who mix up the words "thread" and "forum." But there's a subculture on Gaia who refer to their avatars as a "gaia." It's really weird deciphering their posts sometimes. XD;
Anyway, I just came across someone who made a statement and I figured I'd add that ramble in here.
Quote:
I've only had this profile for a month, but I've had a few other gaia's over the past seven years.
