GAIA ONLINE

Forum and Social Networking based online community

Presentation by:

Evan Trumbull

FIT 1050

Professor Canning

18 September 2014

ORIGINS

Gaia Online was formed as Go-Gaia in 2003 by Derek Vu, Long Vo, and Josh

Gainsbrugh. The site started as an anime “linklist”- providing external links

to videos and forums. It quickly garnered attention, and in 2004, it became

a small community of users. A year later, co-founder Derek Vu stated they

quickly moved into a social gaming and forum based website.

Gaia Online - Wikipedia Page

WHAT IS GAIA ONLINE?

• Gaia Online is a social networking site and forum that allows users to customize their personal “avatars.”

• The site includes features such as games, a currency system, Web 2.0 profiles, “guilds,” and forums

• The site has over 26 million registered users, with an average of 7 million visiting per month

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX0Go7umzRs

AVATARS

• “Avatars” are virtual representations of users on a website.

• Gaia Online offers many virtual items to its users.

CURRENCY SYSTEM

• Gaia Online offers its’ users “Gaia Gold.”

• This virtual currency can be earned throughout the site

• This can be earned either through games or the sites’ virtual auction house

• Users can use gold earned to purchase virtual items from NPC run shops or the marketplace.

GAIA CASH• Users can use real

money to purchase exclusive currency known as “Gaia Cash.”

• “Gaia Cash” is used to purchase exclusive items.

VIRTUAL ITEMS

• Users can use the gold they’ve earned to purchase virtual items from other users or NPC (Non-Player Character) run stores on the site.

• Different items are of different value, depending on availability

• These items can typically be equipped to the users’ customizable avatar, home, aquarium, or car

• Gaia also allows the purchase of rare “Chance Items, Evolving Items, and Premium Items.

STORES

• Gaia Online users can spend their virtual currency at NPC run stores

• Items in these stores are the most common and therefore have little value on the Marketplace.

• Items run from five gold to twenty thousand, making stores the best place for new users with little gold.

Stores such as “Gambino Outfitters” offer different types of clothing. Gambino Outfitters offers, as the site calls it ‘hip and trendy outfits.’

THE MARKETPLACE

• Gaia Online features a virtual, user-run auction house

• Users can buy and sell items for any price they wish.

• Inflation decreased the value of gold by over 2000%.

The GaiaOnline Marketplace

PROFILES

• Users have their own, unique pages

• These “profiles” are completely customizable

A Silent Conversation's Profile Page Coding a GaiaOnline profile

FORUMS• Gaia Online offers a full

forum system

• Politics, TV shows, music, news, and media are only some of the topics covered

• Topic forums carry sub-forums, in which users publish thousands of topics per day

WORKS CITED

• "Avatar." Gaiapedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. <http://gaia.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar>.

• "Cash." Gaiapedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://gaia.wikia.com/wiki/Cash>.

• "Gaia Gold." Gaiapedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://gaia.wikia.com/wiki/Gaia_Gold>.

• "Gaia Online." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_Online>.

• "Marketplace." Gaiapedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://gaia.wikia.com/wiki/Marketplace>.

• "Profiles." Gaiapedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. <http://gaia.wikia.com/wiki/Profile>.

• "Shop." Gaiapedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://gaia.wikia.com/wiki/Shop>.

• "La Victoire." Gaiapedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. <http://gaia.wikia.com/wiki/La_Victoire>