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Review 4/12/2010
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I hate to say that GaiaOnline's staff has a history of poor communication with customers, a failure to live up to promises, and a tendency to change things without any sort of warning, but it does. There are many people who are paying real money to this website and getting less than the promised services in return.
There are items called "EIs"--Evolving Items--that are supposed to have a regular update schedule (usually a week or so between updates or "evolutions") unless otherwise stated. Only one EI has an irregular update schedule that customers are immediately informed of upon reading the small description attached to it. This EI has never updated, and it's been months since its original release. Other EIs, which staff stated would have regular update schedules from the very beginning of the introduction of these EIs, update erratically. There is one of these, too, that hasn't updated for at least a month. Every single EI that is in circulation was purchased with real money. In regards to this fact, I feel that it isn't unrealistic to expect some sort of communication from staff informing users that promised updates will be postponed, at the very least.
There's also the matter of RIGs--Random Item Granters--which are essentially a game of chance. Most of the time, you will receive an item that wasn't worth spending the amount of real money you paid for it at all. Apparently these are quite profitable for Gaia Online, as these are produced with the regularity that EIs should be. Quite a few customers hate this feature and wish that it would be removed, done less often, or changed in a way that makes it more worth spending real money on, but one can rest assured that it never will be.
Aquarium fish, which are paid for with real money, have been subjected to a change recently that customers were not warned of or informed of once it was implemented. This change means that any recent money they spent to fill their aquariums with the highest profit-earning fish--which can cost up to USD $85-90--was wasted because these fish no longer earn the promised profit, or anything close to it. As far as I know, there was no explanation given for this.
GaiaOnline's staff does not listen to its customers, but because it has a virtual chokehold on the market in combination forum/game/dressup websites, it doesn't have to. Apparently it is perfectly acceptable for a website that is marketed to teenagers (but frequented by all ages) to hold something that is arguably a monopoly. If you ever get the urge to visit this website, do not spend real money on it, and expect rampant virtual inflation and poor communication in any and all issues.
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