Summer 2k10: Frontier Skies

The Summer 2k10 event started on August 12, 2010, but fully began on the 20th. Along with the header change was a small Wing in the upper left corner next to the Avatar

Event Beginning
With no site wide announcement, the event page opened to the public, displaying a beta set up. Gaians found that they could click a blue wing and be lead to a page that rewarded them a sticker. By coming back everyday to collect an event sticker, they were able to trade it in for exclusive items.
 * Aug 12

An 11-page manga was released, "An Old Friend's Duty", chronicling Edmund's search for Gino, and how he is interrupted by an unlikely creature. Also, a forum opened up, called Frontier Skies. Another happening with the beta event was the release of the winning item of the Create-a-Utility-Belt Contest. However, on August 12th the winning belt was removed, as it was later discovered the Submitter taking a belt design that was not he/r's. On August 17th, a new winner was chosen.

Frontier Guide: Mini Comics

 * Aug 13 :Sam - Frontier Guide: Sam (Love at first sight)
 * Aug 16 :Diedrich - Frontier Guide: Diedrich
 * Aug 17 :Louie Von Helson - Frontier Guide: Louie (Sweary)
 * Aug 18 :Carl the Elk - Frontier Guide: Carl

Event Happenings

 * Aug 20 - Event Main pages changes out of Beta.
 * Sep 28 - Scoreboard is up, although the announcement for it was posted Aug 20, it was delayed due to errors.

Mintaka & Rigel: Announcement

 * Aug 18 Announcement: Cash Shop Update: Frontier Skies Guide Gear!

With so many Gaians rushing to save the giant floating jellyfish demigod, Mintaka and I have collected some excellent fashions celebrating the brave airship guides helping lead the charge. Feast your eyes on these:


 * If you need a captain's hat fit for a vampire king, look no further than Louie's Crew. This beautifully crafted blue and gold hat, complete with matching embroidered coat and renaissance bag, can transform any slob into a regal captain of the skies.


 * Everyone's favorite fact-obsessed grunny is immortalized in Diedrich's Crew, an extremely colorful and professional looking hat, sleeveless coat and sling bag combo. If you're looking to stand out in a crowd, this will help.


 * Edmund's Crew brings the traditional "salty sea captain" look to the skies. With a classic hat, dashing long peacoat and duffel bag, you'll have no trouble inspiring the confidence of your crew.


 * For the more mechanically apt, Sam's Crew offers a stylish hat adorned with gears and goggles, a sharp-lookin' jacket and bag full of tools.


 * For those fatalistic enough to follow a violent, irascible elk into the great unknown, Carl's Crew offers a warm hat adorned with majestic antlers, a heavy fur-lined coat and leather messenger bag. Hopefully Carl doesn't mistake you for a rival or a mate.


 * Or grab all of the above items by picking up the Frontier Skies Bundle, complete with the exclusive Helmsman's Domain bonus item.

To get your hands on any of these great items, just come see us in the Cash Shop. Oh, and good luck on your upcoming journey!

Diedrich:Announcements

 * Sep 28: Announcement: Compare Your Scores in Frontier Skies

Hello!

Did you know that thousands of Gaians set sail in flying ships to save a giant jellyfish demigod??? It's true! I hope he's better now. Sometimes when I hurt, I run in circles until I throw up in a euphoric fit. Then I feel all better! With all the supplies Gaians brought the jellyfish, maybe he's feeling better, too.

Also, did you know that there is a leader board up now?? You can compare scores with your friends and everyone else in Gaia. Also, it is a fact that this is not really late. Yep, those are both rock solid facts.

Now you can make your superior captaining skills a fact, too! OK, bye!

Compare Scores Now

It's all so very true and undeniable. OK, Bye bye!

Goodbye, my sweet friends!

I miss you all so very much already. Bye now!

The Rest of the event:
The event involved Gaians choosing an Airship and a Guide and attempting to brave a journey through forest, deserts, seas, volcanoes and skies in order to save the jellyfish-like Demi God.

Event Items:

 * Frontier Skies Shadow Medal :A memorial token of your success on completing the Frontier Skies Event with Louie as your guide.
 * Frontier Skies Water Medal :A memorial token of your success on completing the Frontier Skies Event with Edmund as your guide.
 * Frontier Skies Wind Medal :A memorial token of your success on completing the Frontier Skies Event with Diedrich as your guide.
 * Frontier Skies Fire Medal :A memorial token of your success on completing the 2010 Summer Event with Sam as your Navigator.
 * Frontier Skies Earth Medal :A memorial token of your success on completing the Frontier Skies Event with Carl as your guide.

Criticism & Compliments:
The Event was complimented for being a unique homage to The Oregon Trail video game, and Gaians noted the amount of graphic work that went into the game. The use of Gaia NPC's as guides were also praised, as each had their own personality tied into the gameplay. The humorous text and objects were the highlight of Frontier Skies.

The criticism stemmed from the amount of time it took to complete the game, and also the repeating clicking involved, as there was not much interaction besides pop up screens and text reading. The delay of the scoreboard and little information on the storyline besides the mini comics, were also criticized.

Glitches & Problems
As no event on Gaia has ever gone on without glitches, the Summer 2k10 event was no exception. Although not as severe as Gaia in its early days. A majority of the time, the game ran smoothly with very little error. Most of the glitches were found to be amusing to some players.

Some Gaians created postings of their glitches and errors so they could be corrected quickly.
 * Gaia Thread: The Official POST YOUR BUGS Thread
 * Gaia Thread: Frontier Skies :: The Glitch/Bug Thread- Post issues here!

Glitches: Game

 * Reminisent of Demonbusters, the Gaia Staff thought they could lessen the impact of error by only letting in a few Gaians at a time.


 * The most problomatic error appeared to be Hunting, in which the game would not allow gameplay or when gameplay was completed, the food gathered would not properly save.


 * At times a Landmark would follow players for a period of time.

Dev Alerts

 * Uh oh! The developers have disabled the game, probably due to servers crashing. We are redirecting you to the homepage. You will be able to continue your game again later.


 * We updated the game client while you were playing and need you to play with the latest version. We are reloading the game for you. No game data will be lost.


 * Looks like something blew up!!! Please refresh the page.


 * General Error
 * This game will be available to you shortly. We are letting in a few users at a time to test it.


 * General Error
 * A valid journey id is required. Make sure your current journey has not ended.


 * Hunting
 * There were errors with your journey set up

• Data double-submitted.
 * Fix these issues or reload the page and try again.

Trivia

 * Around August 26, Frontier Skies became available under the Game tab. It appears the game will be accessible long after the events end.


 * The Wing Stickers that were collected throughout the month were eventually used as currency for the shop called The Treehouse. And although the sticker appeared during the event, the items within the shop did not relate to the event itself.

External links & See also

 * Gaia Event Page: Frontier Skies
 * Gaia Forum: Frontier Skies
 * Marketplace: Frontier
 * Event Gameplay: Summer 2k10
 * Airship
 * Casimir Tree
 * Gaia Deity