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For the past months since my comeback from hiatus, I have been giving lots of deep thought about Gaia Online. To me, Gaia's future seems very bleak. I cannot shake off the prospect that Gaia's current CEO will drain the last bits of the Gaia community dry and then make off with all the money at the end. I have already researched the CEO's past and it's something people should really look at. Sadly, the new management has a way of silencing us should we ever post that content, so there's nothing much we can do without the risk of losing everything we worked so hard for in the past years. There has been a thread long back that pointed out the fact that the current CEO has killed off all the past companies/organizations that he has worked in. That fact leaves me with no doubt that Gaia Online's next one on the death list.

In my return to Gaia last summer, I had new aspirations for my stay in Gaia. There are many things I wanted to do on my list. I wanted to start my very first guild and bring back my old friends so we can have fun like old days. I wanted to collect many items for my avatar. I wanted to make Charity Threads to help newbies who have just joined Gaia. Sadly, each one of these aspirations gradually broke away when the horrors of cash shop came to light. Each passing day, everyone has been constantly bombarded with endless Announcements regarding the release of new cash items and gold generators. Inflation in Gaia's Marketplace went crazy, depriving me of my chances of making gold for my quests. Very little or no regard was given to other stuff such as manga/story updates and even fun Gaia games like Monster Galaxy and Heralds of Chaos were stopped. In this current month, I heard lots of talk in the Gaia Community Discussion (GCD) about no Valentine's Day event and no celebration of Gaia's Anniversary. Clearly, something's wrong with Gaia's management team.

In the past, I had my preconceptions that the Cash Shop was something convenient for users to get their donation items with less effort. I used to donate to Gaia almost every month through postal mail for three years until Cash Shop came out in 2008. In its first appearance, I didn't view the CS as something that would negatively impact the Gaia community. Maybe it's because the previous Gaia management team knew well how to manage it carefully without making the Gaia community upset. They probably knew how dependent we were on Gaia gold and why gold's value was important since Gaia Online's first launch in 2003.

I will not post names here. As I said earlier, Gaia's new management has their way of silencing people who do so and I have seen it. We're not allowed to say the CEO's name, nor post anything about his background in full detail. To anyone dissatisfied, it feels as if their rights in the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution are violated. It feels as if we're under a reign of terror, although Gaia's new management claims we have the freedom not to buy Cash Shop items if we don't want them. But they continue to turn deaf ears to the community's constant pleas to stop the release of gold generators and re-released cash items, which other greedy users enjoy feasting on with the cash they throw away so carelessly for their get-rich-quick schemes. It's an insult to old users who worked off their sweat and blood to get those items and their gold.

As long as there are people in Gaia who continue to desire fame, wealth and control over market economy for themselves, they will not mind to "cheat" their way to the top through the Cash Shop, especially if it means handing over some bucks in exchange for gold generators. These kids do not realize that outsized ambition, greed and corruption will soon lead to an Armageddon in the future that many users feared: the complete shutdown of Gaia Online.

I do not feel like posting in any complaint threads or continue criticizing the new Gaia Management's ways anymore. I know that none of that works. It would take a miracle to undo all the damage done by them. They will continue to prioritize money-making over anything else. As long as the current CEO is in power, nothing's going to change.

But you know, sometimes some things are worth fighting for.