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Because I'm paranoid that the board will die or something... and I don't want to write it all out again.
I think that, item wise, what makes someone seem rich and intimidating is not if they have the really, really expensive things. If someone has equipped the less expensive, but more desired items like your horns or the Nitemare Scarf, they may seem to be more rich than they really are.
The world of Gaia is about perceptions. Reality often doesn't matter, it's the vibe that the avatar gives off that makes someone seem rich and, by association, intimidating.
I've been on Gaia for a while now, and I've made some observations which, in my opinion, seem to make sense.
Avatars seem to be able to be grouped in to three or four large, general categories that evoke different responses weather or not that avatar is wearing any particularly valuable item.
1} First and foremost, you have the oldbie-esque avatars:
These people may or may not be wearing valuable items, but can generally be spotted, and the style of the account as a whole can give an impression of richness, weather or not it's been around for a long time, and is indeed rich.
Some basic observations about the Avatar, and the Account in general, Dancer bottoms or almost nude, but creatively so avatars seem to be rather commonly placed in this category.
Avatars that have a theme that is fairly original, or takes an idea and modifies it {I'm thinking of people like Trashcan Banker, and the Toothfairy like person who's been around a while, can't remember his name, and it would take a long time to find it I'm sure.} The Bassken Lake Monster is another one of these. Avatar art in the sig that draws attention to the avatar theme is a common addition.
Departing from avatar specifics, there is also an impression drawn from the account name. Names that are original, one word, and don't have much extraneous punctuation around them seem to get attention. In addition, names that have to do with well known Gaia things, {I point again at The Bassken Lake Monster} again without extraneous punctuation and with an avatar that fits the name, often give off an oldbie vibe which is connected with richness.
Another largely noticeable thing, and I hope nobody is offended by this, is the fact that Gaians who have been around for a long time generally seem to have their own culture. Often times they have names that refer to things you don't generally see with newer users and can have unusual sexual references {your name for example} without noobish clothing that would indicate a troll. Older Gaians seem to care less about modern pop culture, and the embarrassment that such names might present other users. For this they are often respected, and newer people would normally feel uncomfortable with such names.
Of course then you've got the avatars that are just chalk full of old items, generally arranged together to make an avatar that looks really good, and has evolved its own style. {Again I'm thinking of someone who's name I know not, but is very distinctive. She has most of the white angelic items, red hair, and usually gives cooking advice.} These avatars are a dead giveaway that the person is rich, but just because someone has old items doesn't mean that they'll get the respect these avatars receive. Avatars that have an angelic halo, but aren't put together very well don't often garner respect for example.
I have also made general observations about the people BEHIND these avatars from the ones that I know personally, and the threads I have seen. These aren't guaranteed, but these traits are often seen.
They often are very serious Anime fans. Not like most people who obsess over the ones you see all the time on TV, but less common one. Anime that a lot of people have never even heard of.
Frequent convention goers. Almost all the Gaia Oldbies that I know or have come in contact with regularly attend Anime conventions and cosplay while doing it, possibly where they were introduced to gaia.
2} The second set of avatars usually consists of people who are not generally considered oldbies, but have still been around for a while. {I place myself somewhere in this category}
These avatars usually contain some older Donation Items which are generally worn fairly constantly. Perhaps because these people wish to show their status through the less expensive, but generally more sought after items. These include but are not limited to the Nitemare Scarf, Demon horns, Ninja Headband, and other darker items.
The middle avatars and their owners are much more common than the oldbies for obvious reasons, but can sometimes garner just as much respect from newer Gaians, mostly because of the common material fixations that they have. While older Gaians don't generally seem to put as much stock in the items as the overall effect of their avatar, these people often take the items and form avatars around them.
Styles can often consist of fuller body cover than the oldbies, parts of the avatar like the eyes more commonly covered up than any other category of avatar. While oldbie avatars can often strive for more fun looks, these avatars often revolve around more serious and intimidating styles reflecting the darker items that became so popular during their time.
Names again are often original ones, though it's not as consistently seen as in oldbies. The names can often have two or more words, with or without spaces, and sometimes have extraneous punctuations, words, or letters.
This category of Gaian will sometimes have avatar art displayed in their sigs, but like the avatars they are generally not as centralized around humor, but are darker and more serious.
3} For fuller coverage, the third major group of Gaians is the newer crowd, mostly from '06 and onward. This is, again for obvious reasons, the most common type of Gaia user, outnumbering the other two categories combined several fold.
The most noticeable thing about these avatars and accounts is the pop culture influence that usually dominates them. There is of course a wide variety, ranging from the Gangster/Paris Hilton side of the spectrum, to the rabid Japanophile.
The avatars often revolve around more popular themes that is just as wide as the variety of person. The avatars may have valuable items, but they are often valued at 100k or less. These avatars generally reflect more normal people, having clothing that you might see on someone walking down the street, though on the oriental side of the spectrum you can get older Japanese styles like Kimonos.
Cosplays of popular Anime, movies, and other TV shows are popular, though are often poorly executed due to lack of funds.
Names for these accounts are often much more unoriginal than the other two categories. They often include sexual references, gangster/rap references or Japanese elements. This is the group in which Japanese suffixes are most commonly seen {-chan, -kun, -san, etc.} due to high Japanophile density. Names very commonly include extraneous punctuation, letters, and numbers.
Other observations have been made, and though they are common knowledge, they shall be stated here.
This is the group of Gaia users that is most commonly connected with the less reputable pieces of Gaia, and the teenage internet community as a whole. Most notably is Chat Speak or Txt Talk, rule breaking either because of ignorance {chosen or not} or apathy, and posts that attempt to mimic normal speech {Saying "Hi" in seperate posts, introductions using names that are clearly stated along with the avatar, etc.}. Excessive use of emotes is also terribly common, as is begging for money or items.
This group of Gaians often enjoy Anime, but normally not in the same way that the older Gaians would. This group revolves mostly around Anime shows that everyone knows about and can often be seen on TV, often naming themselves after characters in the Anime and giving outbursts of support for their favorite shows.
Now for the disclaimers: Everything written here is an opinion that is generally supported by fact. I apologize if anyone was offended or thinks differently... please don't flame me for this.
I didn't cover everyone I know. I did not cover the extremes, and know that there is a significant number of Gaians that don't really fit in anywhere, this was a general classification and description.
TehOden · Tue Jul 24, 2007 @ 10:05am · 0 Comments |
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