Currency
The currency used in Gaia is known as "Gaia Gold", commonly referred to as gold. Gold is regularly distributed to users as they browse around the website, post in the forums, play games, and participate in other various events and contests; the site also rewards users every day with random gold or items from the Daily Chance. In July 2007, Gaia released another virtual currency called Gaia Cash, which can be purchased with real money; $1 USD is equivalent to 100 Gaia cash. Gaia Cash cards can be bought at Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, Target stores, 7-11, Speedway SuperAmerica, and GameStop. Gaia Cash cards are offered in $10 and $25 amounts. On June 21, 2010 7-11 stopped stocking the $10 Gaia Cash cards.[11] Gaia Cash Cards include a PIN that can be used at the website to redeem the card's Gaia Cash value. Gaia Cash can also be bought through cell phone payments, or directly from Gaia itself.[12]
Paying Gaia users generally spend about $30 USD per month to purchase Gaia Cash which is then used to buy things such as virtual gifts and limited edition items.[13]
AutoCash
On September 13, 2010, Gaia announced the introduction of AutoCash.[14] AutoCash is an optional feature where GaiaOnline members can sign up to buy Gaia Cash on a reoccurring monthly schedule. The current cost per month for the feature is $10, users are given a generous amount of content for the monthly fee. AutoCash can be charged to a credit or debit card and members may also pay for the feature using a PayPal account. The service can be canceled at anytime, staying past 3 months offers users the bonues of receiving items specifically designed and made for those that continue to use the AutoCash feature. The benefits of using AutoCash include:
* 1000 Gaia Cash every month
* 200 Bonus Gaia Cash every month
* An exclusive item for every 3 months of concurrent participation in the feature
* 10% off all Cash Shop purchases until October 31st
Users can still purchase Gaia Cash via GaiaOnline and do not have to purchase Gaia Cash via the AutoCash feature. Users that sign up for the AutoCash feature will notice that any items they purchase using Gaia Cash will be frozen for 7 days. The item(s) purchased are usable but cannot be sold or gifted to other members. Currently the system that is in place is not able to determine the source of the Gaia Cash so if a user signed up for the monthly feature and also purchased Gaia Cash via another source (i.e. cash card, PayPal, on site purchase) any items bought with Gaia Cash will be frozen for 7 days.
Market
Sales within the Gaian market can be divided into four areas - Gold Shops, Cash Shops, Trade, and Marketplace.
* Gold Shops: Items from these stores can be bought with Gold or Gaia Cash (most users purchase with Gold), and can range from regular store items to upmarket items. These are various NPC-run stores which sell a variety of items, such as avatar clothing and accessories, furniture for Gaia Houses, and parts for Gaia Cars. Items found in the shops can also be sold back to the shop for 50% of the shop price.
* Cash Shops: Items from these stores can be purchased with Gaia Cash only. The majority of Gaia Cash sales are from La Victoire, an NPC-run store that only accepts Gaia Cash. It specializes in high-end items, including "Evolving Items" and "Random Item Generators". "Monthly Collectibles" can also be purchased from La Victoire. As the name suggests, Monthly Collectibles are only available for one month before being replaced with the next month's Monthly Collectible. Most items from La Victoire are continuously rotated in and out of the store. Other Cash-Only stores include "Phin Phang" (Gaia Aquarium items), and "Back Alley Bargains" (power-up items for Gaia's MMORPG, "zOMG!").
* Trade: Users can trade items and gold with other users. A majority of these trades are settled in the "Gaia Exchange" forum (and its sub-forums).
* Marketplace: The Marketplace is a separate area of the site for users to buy and sell items. Rather than self-auctioning an item through a thread in the Exchange forum, users can either put their item up for immediate sale with a "Buy Now" price, or leave their item for auction with a starting "Bid" price. Users can have up to 10 items for sale at once, and each item can be listed for a maximum of 14 days. The cost of this convenience is a 2% tax on all gold earned from sales.
Notable Items
Monthly Collectibles
Monthly Collectibles (previously known as Donation Items, also referred to as MCs) are special items that can be bought with real money meant to support Gaia's maintenance and costs. Established in June 2003 after users of Gaia Online petitioned for a "donation system" in an attempt to increase site revenue, for every US $2.50 a user gives to the site,[4] he or she receives an item known as a "Sealed Envelope" in his or her inventory.
Sealed Envelopes go on sale the first day of every month and are released on the 15th of each month. During August & September 2008 the envelopes were unsealed on the 8th, but on October 2, 2008 it was decided that the release date should be returned to the fifteenth. The Sealed Envelope disappears from the user's inventory and is replaced by a "Thank You Letter" for the current paid month (for example, a "Thank You Letter for August 2004" represents a payment made in that month of that year). Users are then able to open these virtual letters to choose one of two or three limited-edition items to be granted into their inventory from each letter. These items were known as Donation Items until potential legal problems prompted the name change.[15] Monthly Collectible items and the "Thank You" Letter items they are found in are specific to the month that they were released in: for example, the items found in the "Thank You" Letter for April 2006 can only be found in that letter, and one could only purchase that letter in April 2006. Letters can be purchased over the phone, with a text message from a mobile phone, via PayPal, credit card, traditional mail or with Gaia Cash through the Cash Shop, "La Victoire". Envelopes and letters can be later bought and sold through user trades or through Marketplace.
Evolving Items
Evolving Items, commonly abbreviated to EIs, are items which change or evolve over time. Items begin with one set of item poses, but with each new evolution, a different set of poses become available instead. Additionally, with each subsequent evolution a re-release of the item becomes available at the Cash Shop as a "next generation" release. When the item has fully evolved all previous poses become available for the item. Times between evolutions are different for each EI, and can be anywhere between a few weeks to a few months. Recent additions of "Rapid Evolving Items" evolve twice a week. New evolution updates are noted in regular site announcements as "Evolving Item Reports" present by the NPC, Dr. Singh. EIs are available from the Cash Shop "La Victoire", and can be later sold through trading or in the Marketplace. EIs are removed from the Cash Shop sometime after their final evolution becomes available.
Chance Items/Random Item Generators
With Chance Items , commonly referred to as CIs (previously know as Random Item Generators, or RIGs), users play a chance mini-game and the item they are granted depends on their success with completing the game, when they decide to stop playing and collect an item, or their failure to complete the game. Games will vary depending on the RIG - some may require users to choose a "correct" response, while some are simply a choice between continuing the game or stopping and collecting an item. RIGs are available from the Cash Shop "La Victoire" and are eventually rotated out of the shop.
Random Event Items
Occasionally, random gift items can be found floating across web pages while browsing the site. Each random gift grants users a rare or uncommon clothing and accessory items that cannot be bought from any store. There are 6 different types of random items:
* Brown Magical Giftbox: Contains uncommon items
* Pink Magical Giftbox: Contains rare items
* Blue Magical Giftbox: Contains items from both the Pink and Brown boxes, as well as a few items found only in the Blue Giftbox
* Enchanted Wooden Trunk: Contains uncommon Gaia Housing items
* Enchanted Golden Trunk: Contains rare Gaia Housing items
* Fat Cat Alert: Contains various cat-related items, some which can be bought from normal NPC-run shops
The currency used in Gaia is known as "Gaia Gold", commonly referred to as gold. Gold is regularly distributed to users as they browse around the website, post in the forums, play games, and participate in other various events and contests; the site also rewards users every day with random gold or items from the Daily Chance. In July 2007, Gaia released another virtual currency called Gaia Cash, which can be purchased with real money; $1 USD is equivalent to 100 Gaia cash. Gaia Cash cards can be bought at Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, Target stores, 7-11, Speedway SuperAmerica, and GameStop. Gaia Cash cards are offered in $10 and $25 amounts. On June 21, 2010 7-11 stopped stocking the $10 Gaia Cash cards.[11] Gaia Cash Cards include a PIN that can be used at the website to redeem the card's Gaia Cash value. Gaia Cash can also be bought through cell phone payments, or directly from Gaia itself.[12]
Paying Gaia users generally spend about $30 USD per month to purchase Gaia Cash which is then used to buy things such as virtual gifts and limited edition items.[13]
AutoCash
On September 13, 2010, Gaia announced the introduction of AutoCash.[14] AutoCash is an optional feature where GaiaOnline members can sign up to buy Gaia Cash on a reoccurring monthly schedule. The current cost per month for the feature is $10, users are given a generous amount of content for the monthly fee. AutoCash can be charged to a credit or debit card and members may also pay for the feature using a PayPal account. The service can be canceled at anytime, staying past 3 months offers users the bonues of receiving items specifically designed and made for those that continue to use the AutoCash feature. The benefits of using AutoCash include:
* 1000 Gaia Cash every month
* 200 Bonus Gaia Cash every month
* An exclusive item for every 3 months of concurrent participation in the feature
* 10% off all Cash Shop purchases until October 31st
Users can still purchase Gaia Cash via GaiaOnline and do not have to purchase Gaia Cash via the AutoCash feature. Users that sign up for the AutoCash feature will notice that any items they purchase using Gaia Cash will be frozen for 7 days. The item(s) purchased are usable but cannot be sold or gifted to other members. Currently the system that is in place is not able to determine the source of the Gaia Cash so if a user signed up for the monthly feature and also purchased Gaia Cash via another source (i.e. cash card, PayPal, on site purchase) any items bought with Gaia Cash will be frozen for 7 days.
Market
Sales within the Gaian market can be divided into four areas - Gold Shops, Cash Shops, Trade, and Marketplace.
* Gold Shops: Items from these stores can be bought with Gold or Gaia Cash (most users purchase with Gold), and can range from regular store items to upmarket items. These are various NPC-run stores which sell a variety of items, such as avatar clothing and accessories, furniture for Gaia Houses, and parts for Gaia Cars. Items found in the shops can also be sold back to the shop for 50% of the shop price.
* Cash Shops: Items from these stores can be purchased with Gaia Cash only. The majority of Gaia Cash sales are from La Victoire, an NPC-run store that only accepts Gaia Cash. It specializes in high-end items, including "Evolving Items" and "Random Item Generators". "Monthly Collectibles" can also be purchased from La Victoire. As the name suggests, Monthly Collectibles are only available for one month before being replaced with the next month's Monthly Collectible. Most items from La Victoire are continuously rotated in and out of the store. Other Cash-Only stores include "Phin Phang" (Gaia Aquarium items), and "Back Alley Bargains" (power-up items for Gaia's MMORPG, "zOMG!").
* Trade: Users can trade items and gold with other users. A majority of these trades are settled in the "Gaia Exchange" forum (and its sub-forums).
* Marketplace: The Marketplace is a separate area of the site for users to buy and sell items. Rather than self-auctioning an item through a thread in the Exchange forum, users can either put their item up for immediate sale with a "Buy Now" price, or leave their item for auction with a starting "Bid" price. Users can have up to 10 items for sale at once, and each item can be listed for a maximum of 14 days. The cost of this convenience is a 2% tax on all gold earned from sales.
Notable Items
Monthly Collectibles
Monthly Collectibles (previously known as Donation Items, also referred to as MCs) are special items that can be bought with real money meant to support Gaia's maintenance and costs. Established in June 2003 after users of Gaia Online petitioned for a "donation system" in an attempt to increase site revenue, for every US $2.50 a user gives to the site,[4] he or she receives an item known as a "Sealed Envelope" in his or her inventory.
Sealed Envelopes go on sale the first day of every month and are released on the 15th of each month. During August & September 2008 the envelopes were unsealed on the 8th, but on October 2, 2008 it was decided that the release date should be returned to the fifteenth. The Sealed Envelope disappears from the user's inventory and is replaced by a "Thank You Letter" for the current paid month (for example, a "Thank You Letter for August 2004" represents a payment made in that month of that year). Users are then able to open these virtual letters to choose one of two or three limited-edition items to be granted into their inventory from each letter. These items were known as Donation Items until potential legal problems prompted the name change.[15] Monthly Collectible items and the "Thank You" Letter items they are found in are specific to the month that they were released in: for example, the items found in the "Thank You" Letter for April 2006 can only be found in that letter, and one could only purchase that letter in April 2006. Letters can be purchased over the phone, with a text message from a mobile phone, via PayPal, credit card, traditional mail or with Gaia Cash through the Cash Shop, "La Victoire". Envelopes and letters can be later bought and sold through user trades or through Marketplace.
Evolving Items
Evolving Items, commonly abbreviated to EIs, are items which change or evolve over time. Items begin with one set of item poses, but with each new evolution, a different set of poses become available instead. Additionally, with each subsequent evolution a re-release of the item becomes available at the Cash Shop as a "next generation" release. When the item has fully evolved all previous poses become available for the item. Times between evolutions are different for each EI, and can be anywhere between a few weeks to a few months. Recent additions of "Rapid Evolving Items" evolve twice a week. New evolution updates are noted in regular site announcements as "Evolving Item Reports" present by the NPC, Dr. Singh. EIs are available from the Cash Shop "La Victoire", and can be later sold through trading or in the Marketplace. EIs are removed from the Cash Shop sometime after their final evolution becomes available.
Chance Items/Random Item Generators
With Chance Items , commonly referred to as CIs (previously know as Random Item Generators, or RIGs), users play a chance mini-game and the item they are granted depends on their success with completing the game, when they decide to stop playing and collect an item, or their failure to complete the game. Games will vary depending on the RIG - some may require users to choose a "correct" response, while some are simply a choice between continuing the game or stopping and collecting an item. RIGs are available from the Cash Shop "La Victoire" and are eventually rotated out of the shop.
Random Event Items
Occasionally, random gift items can be found floating across web pages while browsing the site. Each random gift grants users a rare or uncommon clothing and accessory items that cannot be bought from any store. There are 6 different types of random items:
* Brown Magical Giftbox: Contains uncommon items
* Pink Magical Giftbox: Contains rare items
* Blue Magical Giftbox: Contains items from both the Pink and Brown boxes, as well as a few items found only in the Blue Giftbox
* Enchanted Wooden Trunk: Contains uncommon Gaia Housing items
* Enchanted Golden Trunk: Contains rare Gaia Housing items
* Fat Cat Alert: Contains various cat-related items, some which can be bought from normal NPC-run shops
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