Gaiapedia:Sandbox/Criticisms of Gaia Online

Some aspects of Gaia Online, such as the new layout, glitches, and controversial advertisements, have been the spark of criticism.

Premium Feature?
A survey released by a third party company included a question in which it mentioned the addition of a paid "Premium" feature. This, along with the release of items the administrators promised against, lead many to believe that they are going against their word and are going to make Gaia more for money rather than for the people.

However, the administrators have stated that such will never happen.

Layout Criticism
The release of new layouts create uproars among some longtime users. Several users dislike new layouts when they come out, believing that Gaia should revert to the previous one or keep it available to users as an option. Users with low resolutions have had difficulty viewing Gaia's most recent layouts. In addition, new homepage changes cause confusion for some. A few users question if Gaia is attempting to make things easier or look "cooler"; others have no objection to new layouts or prefer them.

Some users have nicknamed this Layout fever and noted that in the past Gaia has had over 3 different layouts and each time a new one has been released, users started an uproar saying that it should be reverted to the previous one. In time, most members grow to accept a new layout.

Every time a new layout is added, the site experiences glitches, and runs slowly, sometimes logging users out. These are all problems commonly experienced when Gaia makes changes and/or adds a new feature.

Sexually Charged Ads
There have been reports that some ads being shown on Gaia Online promoted 18+ services of a sexual nature. Many Gaians say that this and similar ads should be removed. Though administrators cannot control the ads, most of these have stopped, though some still continue.

These ads are viewed on occasions including others dealing with the same topic. Many Gaians are disturbed by this, but a small majority of Gaians say there is nothing wrong the ads shown on Gaia Online. If users are disturbed by these ads, they can use Firefox with AdBlock, Opera Browser, IE7Pro, or other browsers/browser add-ons to block these types of ads.

Users may report the advertisement to any moderator so they may deal with it. When reporting the ad, try to include a screenshot, the location of the ad (i.e. the page it was found on) and the link it leads to.

Neglect to Male Avatars and Sexism?
Due to the fact that more items are equippable by female avatars, including the G-LOL items, another controversy has emerged, questioning if male avatars are being neglected. It is considered by a few that male avatars are given ugly faces and smiles, while others feel that female avatars have that same problem. Many also feel that female avatars look childish or too thin.

Females avatars have a greater selection of items under than the males have. Females also have more color selection of their items. Since Gaians have the choice of changing genders, some male users have chosen female avatars for better item selection which alters the male-female ratio on Gaia. However, this may also be attributed to men who prefer female avatars in principle, or that Gaia appeals more to females. It is important to note that many female users also choose to use male avatars.

Some also argue that the recent Item Update of September 11th was a sexist move. These items included the Missy item set, which consisted of items traditionally considered female that were equippable by any gender, including dresses, high heels and mini jackets. Some Gaians with male avatars were upset at this because the Admins have been making female items unisex and not just traditionally male items.

Others, however, had been waiting for the ability to wear these types of items on their male avatars for years and were overjoyed, as previously they were restricted only to traditional male clothing styles. Supporters of this update felt that Gaia had only been sexist before such clothing was made available to male avatars.

The Admins have addressed this issue multiple times, they are currently working on making all clothing unisex, including hairstyles.

Killing Off Characters
Recently, many people were upset after Ian was shot, causing a controversy on killing NPCs. He was not the first character to die, although there was less of an uproar when The Von Helson Sisters were crushed than Ian, who was an NPC from the start. Recently though a storyline update revealed that Ian did not actually die. And that both Gino and Gambino are alive too. The killing of characters secretly could be considered another one of Gaia's twisting plot such as when they lead us to believe that Ian was going to kill Gino.

However, the newest plotline update has revealed that the Von Helson Sisters did not die.

Profane or Bad Words
Some users believe that swearing on Gaia forums is a problem. Many users use profanity, and this makes others uncomfortable. Concerned parents may prevent their children from visiting the site, although anything more than PG-13 rating is against the TOS and children under the age of 13 are not permitted to join Gaia. A word filter was released and by default is activated on all new accounts until the user chooses to change it. Many feel that freedom of speech includes 'bad words' and that anyone who is bothered by it should use these filters.

Chain Letters
Chain letters tend to be very popular on Gaia. Chain letters may disturb or scare other users and urge them to pass the message to others. Of course, like all chain letters, they are all a hoax or joke, and should not be taken seriously. However not everyone is aware that they are a prank or the product of an idle user, and choose to believe the message. Since chain letters generally purport to bring bad luck to users that do not paste the letter in forums or through Private Messages, users are sometimes frightened into passing it on to friends, who also pass it on, forming the "chain" of the name even though Gaia Online disallows Chain Letters and Solicitation. According to the Rules and Guidelines, anyone receiving a Chain Letter should report it. The usage of these had fallen greatly due to the gaia staff.