2003

2003 was the year when Gaia Online was created. Founded on February 18, 2003 by Derek Liu (username Lanzer), Josh Gainsbrugh (username L0cke), Long Vo (username VO) Ling and a team of their friends, Studio XD artists, and programmers/web designers.

Since its creation Gaia Online has grown to be more than just a single forum site, it now holds a variety of items, a unique Avatar dress system and its own storyline starring many Characters. Though the site continues to revolve around its forum, avatars, and in-game currency, it has expanded to include features such as games (slots, cards, and fishing), virtual worlds such as Gaia Towns with homes; a Marketplace, a virtual aquarium, a Cash Shop, a cinema and its most present creation, the zOMG! MMO, which was headed by game developer David Georgeson (username Qixter).

Trivia & External Links

The 2003 banner clearly shows that Gaia was influenced by the popular MMORPG Ragnarok Online.
From 2003 and 2004, the site heavily focused on the Japanese media of Anime and Manga, the Link List was provided for Gaians to search for various anime sites.
The year of 2003 started the theme of Angelic and Nitemare styled items. This has continued in various other forms by color opposites and a theme of conflicting opposites.
In the banner is the "White Wolf Girl", her design was used for the Black Wolf Monthly Collectible in July 2009.
Also in the banner (and in the lower corner) is a small hamster creature called "Moobie", its design was used for the creation of the Hammi Hat Monthly Collectible in April 2004. The story behind Moobie's presence on the homepage was said to be a tribute to the deceased pet of one of Gaia creators. _{(note unconfirmed)}
Below the banner is the ever present Rock Puppy, a rock creature with unknown origins; he is considered Gaia's Mascot.
Wikipedia: Gaia Online
Memorable Threads: Gaia's First Year Memory Timeline
Featured Announcements: Timetravel (2003)

Events in 2003

February

February 18 - Go-Gaia is born.
February 19 - Temporary Server Shutdown at 3AM PST 2/20/03
February 20 - Server Back Up ^^
February 20 - Next Updates Info
February 21 - Solution to SPAM - The Chatterbox is created.
February 22 - GUILDS Forum has been added.
February 24 - Not Receiving E-mail Activation?
Darker Avatar skin tones are added.

March

March 07 - The First Gaian Annual Ball.
March 12 - UPDATE 3/12/03
March 19 - Server upgrade today
March 20 - Shutdown and rollback announcement - The first Rollback occurs.
March 25 - Items List and Rare Items System added! - Rare Events are introduced.
The dressing room is added to Gold Shops.

April

April 01 - New Gaia Personals
April 16 - Update Preview!
April 20 - Easter Egg Hunt event!!! - The first Easter event.
The trading system is introduced.
The Exchange Forum is born.
Random Event: Pink Links are added.
April 25 - New Items Update 4/25
April 27 - Server Shutdown Notice

May

May 01 - Store Update 05/01
May 19 - UPDATE Coming Soon
May 20 - GAMBINO UPDATE - New Town: Isle de Gambino was added to the World Map, introducing Meredith (Bank of Gambino), Sasha (Gambino Outfitters), Ruby (Gambino Hat Rack) and her son Peyo.
May 24 - New Feature - Second Chance for rares and glowing links!
May 24 - Rare Item Price Change
May 24 - System Upgrade Next Week
May 24 - Seeking Sponsors and Donations Accepted.
May 27 - Server shutdown notice
May 30 - New servers online!
May 31 - Rollback and Server shutdown in one hour
May 31 - Rollback and rare item restoration explained

June

File:TYL June2k3.PNG

Thank You Letter for June 2003, contains the first Donation Item the Angelic Halo.

June 03 - Art Arena - Top 10 drawings now rotated monthly
June 06 - Gaia Email and referral system now on-line!
June 11 - About hackers and hacking attempts
June 12 - Signature control now in place
June 16 - New chatroom is here!
June 17 - New items update!
June 24? - Donation Item: Angelic Halo File:AngelicHalo.png The first donation item released.
June 25 - Upcoming server upgrades
June 27 - The Gaia moderators are here.
June 28 - No spamming on the Art Arena and Link List please

July

July 01 - Thank you for all your donations, and about the halo
July 01 - Please turn off all scripts and macros used on Gaia
July 07 - New Server Upgrades Coming Soon
July 11 - Main page revamp - The Main page gets its first revamp.
July 14 - Database error - rollback to July 12
July 21 - Updates
July 30 - Donation Items: Panda Hat File:PandaHat.png and Kodiac Grizzly Bear Hat File:KodiacGrizzlyBearHat.png
The Avatar Spotlight is added.

August

August 12 - Last warning for those running automated scripts or macros
August 13 - False Hacker Email
August 14 - Introduction of Forum Subcategories
August 14 - New banner ads on Gaia
August 25 - Donation Items: DJ Studio Headphones File:DJStudioHeadphones.png and Portable Stereo Headphones File:PortableStereoHeadphones.png
August 28 - Item Update!

September

September 04 - A final word about scripts and macros (botting)
September 15 - Post deletion on Chatterbox
September 24 - Donation Items: Mini Angel Wing File:MiniAngelWings.png and Mini Nitemare Wings File:MiniNitemareWings.png

October

File:Avatar Jack 2k3.jpg

October 07 - Rollback due to hardware error
October 07 - New hardware installed.
October 08 - To all users using the Opera web browser
October 14 - Maintenance Downtime tonight
October 16 - It's that time of the year! >:D
October 25 - Donation Items: Angelic Sash File:AngelicSash.png and Devil Tail File:DevilTail.png
October 26 - Servers down for maintenance
October 29 - HAPPY HALLOWEEN! - A Halloween layout is added temporarily.
October 29 - Concerning Halloween Items in Store
October 31 - TRICK OR TREAT BEGINS! 12am to 12am, Today ONLY! - Gaia celebrates Halloween 2k3 with Trick or Treating, this marks the introduction of Jack the "King of Halloween".

November

November 03 - Art Arena and Search pages are down for maintenance
November 05 - Name and Gender Change Now Active (revised)
November 07 - EARN BONUS GAIA GOLD -- Sponsored by Videogame Depot!
November 08 - Search is now back, but with limitations
November 12 - Rare event debuging help
November 25 - Donation Items: AFK Hat File:AFK.png and OMG Hat File:OMG.png
November 28 - Winter Items Are Here!
November 29 / 30 - Gaia Reached 16.7 Million Posts - (that was the post limit at the time)

December

Charity 2k3 — The Year of Jolly Hats, Jolly Slippers and Red Nose Reindeer Mask.

December 01 - Important Announcement Regarding Donation Letters
December 07 - Database outage on December 6
December 09 - Problem with inventory page
December 22 - Gift Wrapping feature is here~
December 23 - New Holiday Themed Items Available!
December 24 - Service outage tonight
December 25 - Donation Items: Angelic Scarf File:AngelicScarf.png and Nitemare Scarf File:Nitemarescarf.png
December 25 - Regarding lost items due to gift wrap bug
December 25 - Christmas Event!