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A catalog of my experiences as an employee and citizen of Gaia.

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Week Eighteen: Surfing With the Alien . NEW JOURNAL ENTRY: The Journal Spotlight is mis-linked to last-week's entry. To see the new entry, click the link below: Click here to read the new journal entry >> Click here to read the new journal entry >> Halloween week! Zurg! Red Bino! Record numbers! WAAAAAHHH!!! It's been a crazy, crazy week that set records and has been a load of fun for Gaians everywhere. Here's what happened... Invasion! The Halloween event started slightly after noon (Pacific Time) on Tuesday, October 31st. Two energy drink competitors opened up shop across from each other: Johnny Gambino, the sales of whose "Red Bino Energy Drink" afforded him the ability to rebuild him demolished mansion. The other, Mother of the Zurg people - who have been visiting and scanning Gaia for the past several weeks. She was selling "Zurg Energy Drink", which when consumed, turned Gaians (like myself) into green skinned, giant-headed aliens! Trick or Treating was happening in the shops AND in Towns, with the MASSIVE Jack tromping around town centers, and roaming randomly around the world map. In exchange for collecting candy, users got special Jack-gear. In the event forum, Zurg were able to probe Gaians and cows, and Gaians were able to zap Zurg and tip cows. Doing enough of either would also win you some special event items. Stuff went wrong, as with any event. More than any prior year, our developer team worked hard to open up any bottlenecks that might break the site during the event. While the event was going on (and all throughout the night) they were on hand to tackle problems, speed things up, and disable some features (like Towns) temporarily so that users could use the rest of the site. I raise a glass to those devs who gave up hours of their personally time to make this one of the most successful Halloween events yet! Yeah, I knew all that. Tell me something I don't know! Okay. Here are a few things you didn't know or may not have noticed. 1. All abducted admins have been returned to the Gaia World with no memory of what transpired on the UFOs. 2. There has been no word on the much beloved UFO 09. Maybe we'll hear from him again? 3. I flew one of the UFOs. But which one, I'm not telling! 4. Apparently, the cows appearing in the forums are mooing in some kind of code 5. This has been the biggest Towns event ever. Bandwidth used up by the 2500+ users using Towns accounted for a large percentage of the bandwidth usage that led to event problems eek 6. Overall user participation is up roughly over 125% of last year's Halloween event! (That's not last year's + 25%, it's really 125% more than last year eek ) 7. The User's Online record was broken by a whole 19% in the last 2 days alone (from roughly 57,000 to today's roughly 68,000!) NEW FEATURE ALERT OKAY! So my feature was being tested all week. It's pretty stable now, but we're still doing some minor testing. NO PROMISES, BUT: I hope to release it next week. Now, I know I've built up a lot of hype, but now a word of warning and a hint. It's something users have waited a while for, so you'll be excited to hear that it was made. However - because of the scope of the project, we are releasing Phase One of the project now, and then as time passes, releasing increasingly robust versions of it. Long story short: It's going to be cool - but it will get cooler with time blaugh We've already had a ton of in-house Quality Assurance done on the project. Because it affects so many aspects of the site, I had to alter and fix bugs in other parts of the site in order to pass the QA process. The feature itself has graced the hands of numerous programmers, at least one in-house writer, our UI designer (Brunosmad), and has undergone several code audits to ensure that it is done well. I'm very happy with it, but we're going to continue to test and refine it until its release. Gaia: Y&T The way Gaia operates has changed a LOT in the last 6 months alone. Here's a brief glimpse into a lot of the improvements going on in this crazy entertainment-factory: Yesterday: Before, whenever a feature on Gaia was made, each developer was kind of responsible for figuring out how it looked, worked, and what everything said. Today: Now, Gaia has a User Interface team that deals with graphics, layout, and text. So developers can focus on writing great code without having to spend time creating a look and feel for the project. And with a single team focusing on keeping the site having a unified feel and appearance, all new features (and old revamped features) will follow the same theme and be much more polished. Yesterday: Testing a new feature was limited to the devs and mods. The actual process was sketchy at best, and while the features were fun and mostly functional, we're still getting burnt by really old bugs to this day. Today: Every feature undergoes a rigorous Quality Assurance process which ensures not only that new features are bug-free, but that they're intuitive, not confusing to new users, and actually enhance the site. All code undergoes a peer-reviewed code audit, wherein the code is checked for best-practices, security, and stability. Bugs are much less likely to sneak in when the application is well designed. We also check to make sure that it won't slow down the site, and that the processes and data processing are speedy and smart. Finally, each feature has to meet a set of guidelines which ensures that it gives users options (like turning off Daily Chance or Gold Notification) and that it can be quickly disabled if it runs into some major problems (like how we could just switch off Daily Chance when it broke the economy!), along with numerous other criteria to ensure that it is ready to be in the Gaia World. Yesterday: The site would go down frequently, major instabilities were prominent (can anyone say "Sushi Error"?), and the site couldn't handle a large user load (e.g., event crashes). Today: Today Gaia has a very smart team dedicated to site stability and scalability - ensuring not only that the site can handle a large user load, but that it can handle rapid growth (which we've been noticing!). If you've been on the site for more than a few months, you'll notice that site crashes and MAJOR site glitches are down significantly. Yesterday: The Battle System would have been promised but lack of resources would mean it wasn't getting built. Today: I saw a working demo of the Battle System. Yesterday: Devs would run around like chickens with their heads cut off developing whatever they felt was cool or fun, even if it wasn't necessarily what users wanted most or if there were old broken features. Today: Goals are set as a group and teams are set to tasks that we all decided will help improve the company. We're spending a couple of months almost exclusively fixing bugs and upgrading features on the site. Hopefully, by the end of that project cycle, the site will be significantly more bug free and enjoyable! SUMMARY: Basically, Gaia's better in every way. We're growing faster, we're improving the user experience, and most importantly we're listening! We have a team here large enough now that we can fix bugs, finish new features, and then do things you guys have been asking for forever! Close Encounters of the Fleep Kind I drank me some Zurg and turned into an alien! Don't worry though, my avi's long, luxurious hair will return when the event is over rofl (Though I will always keep a can of Zurg Energy Drink close to my heart...)

Posted by: Fleep Fri Nov 03, 2006 @ 09:06am

Gaia Isn't Being Money Hungry

User Comments: [492] Viewing page 4 of 10 · Goto Page: « 1 2 3 4 5 ... 8 9 10 » [add]

xXseekeraXx
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Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 03:00am


	cool jornal heart heart heart

Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 04:26am


	nice

satansrose
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Ryoko Echizen
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Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 04:35am


	um...i wonder how aliens will get back ta normal after they stop selling bino and zurg

Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 05:05am


	heart All I know is that I'm ready for almost anything! heart

angels_light19
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krazeelilflip
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Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 05:05am


	u sound busy

Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 05:07am


	you write alot!!!!

darkangelz_84
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Lilly_Love_Heart
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Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 05:17am


	heart dode you have to much time on your hands!!!

Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 05:20am


	Boy did you have to write so much?

Angeltheslayer
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heart_84
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Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 05:21am


	wow that cool!

Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 07:07pm


	kewl

darkress
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RedRoseAya
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Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 09:34pm


	Your link directs me to the announcement page. Is that intentional?

Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 09:59pm


	Hi Fleep! I can't wait for your new feature ^^

Kayvy
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poke-a-holic
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Commented on: Tue Nov 14, 2006 @ 11:54pm


	you guys at gaia do an awesome job and you all rock my socks!!!

Commented on: Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 12:39am


	how do you do the battle system demo, I WANNA KNOW question gonk crying

Darkstar55
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fallen_angel_ryu-jinn
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Commented on: Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 03:53am


	mrgreen mrgreen mrgreen mrgreen

Commented on: Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 04:26am


	ok

jj66
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DtKnight
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Commented on: Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 08:34am


	Rock on!

Commented on: Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 10:20am


	its good i must admit

fxxq mah azz
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vixtor7
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Commented on: Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 04:08pm


	add

Commented on: Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 07:32pm


	wow

vixtor1
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vixtor2
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Commented on: Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 07:33pm


	wow

Commented on: Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 10:03pm


	HI

xHard_candy
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Sir Kyts
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Commented on: Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 11:25pm


	ok blaugh

Commented on: Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 11:30pm


	Save Job! scheem up a fun game for use to play. Get some of your online buds to help you designe it. If you do so you can save face and possably not be fired. That is unless you really want to be. Start a Gaia wide tournament! Like a Papper rock siccors to discover where the best papper Rock siccor warriors hail from. Will it be Delaware, who knows but it is worth looking into.

Gorenza
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All~Mixed~Up
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Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 12:26am


	is this battle system going to be on towns?....you got anything to eat..?..oohh..I'm so hungry (naruto)

Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 12:39am


	dar

vixtor3
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vixtor4
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Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 12:41am


	new

Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 12:46am


	whjoa

vixtor6
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Technomaly
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Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 03:44am


	I absolutely adore the alien event. I love the use of guilds (whether this was originally "canon" to the plot or not -- though, with the 19 thing, anything can become canon, I suppose) and secret society-like groups of users. Has an ARGish feel to it... maybe you guys should use codes and ciphers in the future? wink

Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 04:04am


	MMM, Zurg Energy Drink!

DtKnight
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Mirei Kurokawa
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Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 10:18am


	You Zurg Lovar! heart sweatdrop

Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 05:37pm


	wow

vixtor1
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vixtor3
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Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 05:40pm


	scary

Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 05:43pm


	intense

vixtor4
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vixtor6
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Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 05:47pm


	listen

Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 05:48pm


	lester

vixtor7
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lhistoireancien
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Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 05:56pm


	nice journal

Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 09:31pm


	hi like the jornal heart

jinglepup
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bham_girl2
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Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 09:39pm


	she or he is SOOOOOO UGLY its like he or she is half girl and half boy. the avi hair is a girl and its body is a boy and WHO WILL EVER read this i would not: :arrow: :arrow: Halloween week! Zurg! Red Bino! Record numbers! WAAAAAHHH!!! It's been a crazy, crazy week that set records and has been a load of fun for Gaians everywhere. Here's what happened... Invasion! The Halloween event started slightly after noon (Pacific Time) on Tuesday, October 31st. Two energy drink competitors opened up shop across from each other: Johnny Gambino, the sales of whose "Red Bino Energy Drink" afforded him the ability to rebuild him demolished mansion. The other, Mother of the Zurg people - who have been visiting and scanning Gaia for the past several weeks. She was selling "Zurg Energy Drink", which when consumed, turned Gaians (like myself) into green skinned, giant-headed aliens! Trick or Treating was happening in the shops AND in Towns, with the MASSIVE Jack tromping around town centers, and roaming randomly around the world map. In exchange for collecting candy, users got special Jack-gear. In the event forum, Zurg were able to probe Gaians and cows, and Gaians were able to zap Zurg and tip cows. Doing enough of either would also win you some special event items. Stuff went wrong, as with any event. More than any prior year, our developer team worked hard to open up any bottlenecks that might break the site during the event. While the event was going on (and all throughout the night) they were on hand to tackle problems, speed things up, and disable some features (like Towns) temporarily so that users could use the rest of the site. I raise a glass to those devs who gave up hours of their personally time to make this one of the most successful Halloween events yet! Yeah, I knew all that. Tell me something I don't know! Okay. Here are a few things you didn't know or may not have noticed. 1. All abducted admins have been returned to the Gaia World with no memory of what transpired on the UFOs. 2. There has been no word on the much beloved UFO 09. Maybe we'll hear from him again? 3. I flew one of the UFOs. But which one, I'm not telling! 4. Apparently, the cows appearing in the forums are mooing in some kind of code 5. This has been the biggest Towns event ever. Bandwidth used up by the 2500+ users using Towns accounted for a large percentage of the bandwidth usage that led to event problems 6. Overall user participation is up roughly over 125% of last year's Halloween event! (That's not last year's + 25%, it's really 125% more than last year ) 7. The User's Online record was broken by a whole 19% in the last 2 days alone (from roughly 57,000 to today's roughly 68,000!) NEW FEATURE ALERT OKAY! So my feature was being tested all week. It's pretty stable now, but we're still doing some minor testing. NO PROMISES, BUT: I hope to release it next week. Now, I know I've built up a lot of hype, but now a word of warning and a hint. It's something users have waited a while for, so you'll be excited to hear that it was made. However - because of the scope of the project, we are releasing Phase One of the project now, and then as time passes, releasing increasingly robust versions of it. Long story short: It's going to be cool - but it will get cooler with time We've already had a ton of in-house Quality Assurance done on the project. Because it affects so many aspects of the site, I had to alter and fix bugs in other parts of the site in order to pass the QA process. The feature itself has graced the hands of numerous programmers, at least one in-house writer, our UI designer (Brunosmad), and has undergone several code audits to ensure that it is done well. I'm very happy with it, but we're going to continue to test and refine it until its release. Gaia: Y&T The way Gaia operates has changed a LOT in the last 6 months alone. Here's a brief glimpse into a lot of the improvements going on in this crazy entertainment-factory: Yesterday: Before, whenever a feature on Gaia was made, each developer was kind of responsible for figuring out how it looked, worked, and what everything said. Today: Now, Gaia has a User Interface team that deals with graphics, layout, and text. So developers can focus on writing great code without having to spend time creating a look and feel for the project. And with a single team focusing on keeping the site having a unified feel and appearance, all new features (and old revamped features) will follow the same theme and be much more polished. Yesterday: Testing a new feature was limited to the devs and mods. The actual process was sketchy at best, and while the features were fun and mostly functional, we're still getting burnt by really old bugs to this day. Today: Every feature undergoes a rigorous Quality Assurance process which ensures not only that new features are bug-free, but that they're intuitive, not confusing to new users, and actually enhance the site. All code undergoes a peer-reviewed code audit, wherein the code is checked for best-practices, security, and stability. Bugs are much less likely to sneak in when the application is well designed. We also check to make sure that it won't slow down the site, and that the processes and data processing are speedy and smart. Finally, each feature has to meet a set of guidelines which ensures that it gives users options (like turning off Daily Chance or Gold Notification) and that it can be quickly disabled if it runs into some major problems (like how we could just switch off Daily Chance when it broke the economy!), along with numerous other criteria to ensure that it is ready to be in the Gaia World. Yesterday: The site would go down frequently, major instabilities were prominent (can anyone say "Sushi Error"?), and the site couldn't handle a large user load (e.g., event crashes). Today: Today Gaia has a very smart team dedicated to site stability and scalability - ensuring not only that the site can handle a large user load, but that it can handle rapid growth (which we've been noticing!). If you've been on the site for more than a few months, you'll notice that site crashes and MAJOR site glitches are down significantly. Yesterday: The Battle System would have been promised but lack of resources would mean it wasn't getting built. Today: I saw a working demo of the Battle System. Yesterday: Devs would run around like chickens with their heads cut off developing whatever they felt was cool or fun, even if it wasn't necessarily what users wanted most or if there were old broken features. Today: Goals are set as a group and teams are set to tasks that we all decided will help improve the company. We're spending a couple of months almost exclusively fixing bugs and upgrading features on the site. Hopefully, by the end of that project cycle, the site will be significantly more bug free and enjoyable! SUMMARY: Basically, Gaia's better in every way. We're growing faster, we're improving the user experience, and most importantly we're listening! We have a team here large enough now that we can fix bugs, finish new features, and then do things you guys have been asking for forever! Close Encounters of the Fleep Kind I drank me some Zurg and turned into an alien! Don't worry though, my avi's long, luxurious hair will return when the event is over (Though I will always keep a can of Zurg Energy Drink close to my heart...)

Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 10:27pm


	gaia life is good it's just that there's no attack battle system i no there will b one but it should come quick

thetrigun
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1337er.than.you
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Commented on: Thu Nov 16, 2006 @ 10:36pm


	wow

Commented on: Fri Nov 17, 2006 @ 01:23am


	Fleep,Your avatar is so Hott!!

BeautifullyChaotic1989
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No Longer Max
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Commented on: Fri Nov 17, 2006 @ 04:26am


	I remember the sushi Error on my old account before I gave it to my friend. XD Error were happening all the time but now it has gotten better. ^_^ Your right Gaia is getting better. Oh I can't wait for the battle system my friend has been waiting for it for months.

Commented on: Fri Nov 17, 2006 @ 07:03am


	awesome journal entry!! congrats on appearing on the front pages!

sweetxbabii
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bonerblaster
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Commented on: Fri Nov 17, 2006 @ 05:59pm


	Bahahaha! To everyone who assumed it was the battle system, calm down. I love how everyones freaking out about that now. I've been on here since the URL was 'gogaia.com' Before the majority of the features you now enjoy today. And back THEN, waaaaaaay back then, was when the first battle system rumors dropped. I've waited this long, I think you guys can handle a few more months. wink Edit: Furthermore, to everyone who assumed it was the battle system. WRONG'D

Commented on: Fri Nov 17, 2006 @ 06:23pm


	Wow domokun

jazkaa
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Eldritchess
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Commented on: Fri Nov 17, 2006 @ 06:40pm


	YES!!! Battle... my blood quickens...

Commented on: Sat Nov 18, 2006 @ 02:46am


	good

Darkness_lover_567
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Loving_Life102
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Commented on: Sat Nov 18, 2006 @ 04:16am


	TOTALLY AWESOME JOURNAL!!!!

Commented on: Sat Nov 18, 2006 @ 04:58am


	great job!!

marmiea2
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User Comments: [492] Viewing page 4 of 10 · Goto Page: « 1 2 3 4 5 ... 8 9 10 » [add]

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