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I haven't been keeping up with these journal entries, but some things happened in the last couple weeks that I'd like to keep track of/remark on.


LQI
When Limited Quality Items first appeared Black Friday 2013, it was stated that LQIs would not be re-released for 6 months. Gaia adhered to that rule for a while. Then Gaia messed up and released some of the items early.
Gaia tried to back track, stating that only the Black Friday 2013 LQIs had the six month policy. All others were just guaranteed to not be re-released for couple months or so (an unspecified amount of time). Well, now that just makes them as non-special as other Cash Shop items. :/
As of 09/03/14, Gaia released its official LQI policy and returned to the 6 month rule.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/gaia-news-updates/staff-updates/t.63632027_1145/#1145


Inactive Account System Disabled
Gaia made a system that locked accounts that hadn't logged in for ... Oh dear, now I'm hazy. Was it 1 year, then six months, then five years? Something like that. Anyway, even though the policy had relaxed, that first more strict ban locked tons of accounts. People were waiting six months + to regain access to their accounts.
As of 09-24-14, that system was deactivated. O: All locked accounts are free!
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/gaia-news-updates/staff-updates/t.63632027_1151/#1151


Philosopher's Cache Update
Even though the caches have a store price of 50k, it was not possible to actually sell the item. All you could do was open, donate or trash. It's not possible to sell them back to the store for 25k.
This is useful because while they won't admit it to themselves, users are trolling by dumping thousands of caches into the dumpster. Yes, while those items are useful... If your main goal is to piss off some users by dumping caches into the dumpster, you're trolling. Just be honest.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/gaia-news-updates/staff-updates/t.63632027_1151/#1151

Ask the Staff
Is this our new reincarnation of Ask the Admin!? o wo We'll find out on 10-13-14
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/gaia-news-updates/staff-updates/t.63632027_1156/

zOMG Maintenance
zOMG was supposed to undergo maintenance earlier this year. That's finally happening. It's gone for an unknown amount of time. Some users worry that this is the first step in saying, "Sorry. We can't fix it. It's permanently removed."
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/community-announcements/zomg-maintenance-has-begun/t.94302041/


Tiered spending events started in September 2013


AutoCash Subscription Update
"We've made AutoCash more enticing than ever by adding some amazing new rewards for our subscribers: 20% bonus free Gaia Cash for each subscription tier, and free bonus gold every month you remain subscribed! You'll also receive an achievement for being a fantastic supporter and subscribing to AutoCash, as well as membership to Club Verge if you subscribe to a higher tier!"
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/community-announcements/autocash-update-20-free-gc-gold-rewards-and-more/t.94314141/

Halloween Kickstarter
Some mini site wide events were supported by kickstarter. Even some user-run events, like the Annual User Run Ball and NSTG Summer Event received kickstart funding (the Gaia Spirit Week took place earlier this year, before the URB got funding). But even now the uber event of the year is receiving Kickstart treatment? Since when do we have to pay for the events that are what keep most users returning to Gaia? Oh yeah. Since gold generators. XP
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/community-announcements/help-ivan-sleep-by-donating-to-ivan-s-timely-predicament/t.94330283/



Updates are happening to the various shops:
Rococo
This was supposed to be updated with exclusive items made by artists. It barely got updated. It now houses some items that used to be in La Victoire (the Cash Shop). I'm glad to see it being used, however, this shop seems unnecessary.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/community-announcements/recolors-are-back-in-rococo/t.94239039/

H&R Wesley Kickstarter
The shop was held for ransom. Donate x amount of gold (80 Trillion) within like five days or we'll permanently remove the shop. The goal was reached, however, when the shop returned the prices had been gouged. D: Seriously!? In the midst of this new market, not even gold shop item prices are sacred anymore.
Announcement below links to the items that it returned with.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/community-announcements/gold-shop-update-new-scholarly-fashions-in-h-r-wesley/t.94304999/

Mecha Neko
Mecha Neko had not received any love for a long time. I don't know what's up with Gaia, but it doesn't bring in any sponsors like it used to. No polls to click, videos to watch, virtual spaces to visit... Mecha Neko housed a form of sponsorship where CIs based on various anime partnerships could be bought.
Now it houses cheap cash shop items. I'm okay with this idea. I'm glad it's getting used. Plus, now non-US users should be able to visit the shop (at least, I hope so). It's filled with some cheap cash shop items, plus some CIs that now have a 99c price tag. I'm okay with that.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/community-announcements/sponsorship-items-temporarily-vanishing-from-mecha-neko/t.94389609/
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/community-announcements/mecha-neko-updated-to-have-amazing-thrifty-items/t.94388111/