[NPC] Gaia Staff
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- Posted: Thu, 06 Mar 2025 20:16:20 +0000
Frequently Asked (the Staff) Questions
I have a question/concern about content or behavior that violates your Terms of Service!
Please see what to do, including a list of moderators you can contact, in this thread!
I have a question about the site, items, or a feature that isn't related to it's creation or development!
Use Site Questions & Assistance for questions about using Gaia Online site or any of its features! Our knowledgeable users are eager to help!
I have a suggestion or feedback to provide to Gaia Online staff!
Please share and discuss it in our Site Feedback forum! We don't respond to every topic but we read every post!
A feature isn't working as it should be, who do I contact?
Our Staff are frequently checking our Bug Report & Technical Support forum to pass these issues to the appropriate team for review and resolution. Please create a topic there using these tips and tricks!
Can I have an ETA or update for when (new feature, feature update, bug fix) will be released?
We generally avoid providing any sort of timeline as there are guaranteed to be unexpected delays, and we don’t like committing to a deadline we won’t be able to keep. We do our best not to disappoint you!
Can you make sure we have the option to favorite everywhere we can see another user's avatar?
Some features, such as the storefront, doesn't have metadata for supporting favorites, so we'll need to overhaul the feature to support favorites. This is on the to-do list for a future update.
When will I be able to marry more than one of my friends at once?
We need to change the backend system before it's allows for more than one relationship per user. It'll take a bit of time and effort.
Will zOMG ever get a new [worlds, monster, storyline, etc]?
For the time being, we don't have resources to expand zOMG story-wise, and it will be a challenge to do so if/when we do; tools for managing flash content aren't readily available these days.
Please bring Gaia Cinemas back!
There are two main things keeping us from bringing Cinema back - 1) it's made in Flash, and we will need to make changes to the program since API access for YouTube will have changed since 10 years ago. We currently don't have Flash developers to help with making major changes. 2) Even if we can make changes to Gaia Cinema, there's a high chance that we cannot re-create the effect of a video showing up inside the cinema screen because YouTube has changed how their embedded API works in order to promote their own player and advertisement display capabilities. If we have the resources, we can probably work around limitations and make it work. But for the time being we are not likely to find someone with the expertise to make it happen. We'll let the community know if that changes.
Will flash-based games/worlds that are working with Ruffle (ex: Aquariums, Fishing, Slots, Towns 2, Rally, Virtual Hollywood) ever get an update?
There’s ongoing work to increase compatibility with Ruffle where possible, but any additions to these spaces are unlikely.
Towns 1 isn’t playable with Waterfox+Flash or with Ruffle, will this ever be fixed?
Towns 1 encountered a problem with our avatar flash compiler and it's currently not a problem we can fix easily. We’ll update the community if this ever changes.
I miss Frontier Skies! Any chance of bringing that back?
Probably not. Unfortunately, whoever disabled Frontier Skies deleted the database and we can't find the info needed to bring the data back.
Can we stack copies of non-game items in trades just like we do with game items?
Stacking of non-game items can be done but will require a major re-write on the front end to allow for these types of actions. It'll be a sizable project. The backend actually has a size limit and needs a re-write similar to what we did to the wishlist and friendslist. That is another aspect that will take a lot of time as part of the same project.
Can we have a shopping cart function for the marketplace?
We can look into this! It might take a while to implement as the Marketplace is a bit more dynamic than the Platinum/Cash shops. We’ll need a good way of handling changes in availability while items are in the cart or during checkout.
Can you add an option to “Open All” when I have multiple copies of the same item generator/bundle?
This is on our to-do list. The biggest obstacle is figuring out the UI for handling many items, potentially hundreds, which takes a bit of planning.
Can we make offers for Game Items and Lake Kindred eggs/Kineggs?
This is something we’d like to add in a future update for offers, but isn’t a simple or quick addition. These items function a bit differently and we’d need to determine the best way to implement this.
Can we see a return of the Kindred Seal tickets?
We don't currently have any plans to bring back Kindred related tickets. Kin (both new and recolors) take up a fair bit of time and money, and we're currently at the max for what we can handle with them. Should we acquire more resources that we can devote to kindred, we can revisit tickets.
Will you ever bring back the [retired Project Custom/Recolor ticket] ticket?
It's not something we are considering at this time, but we can't say it's impossible for the future.
Will we ever see new Evolving Items (EIs)?
It is unlikely that Evolving Items will return.
Can you re-release [item]?
You can request items to be rereleased here!
When will Astra Items be fixed?
Astra Animated Items were created using Flash, which unfortunately is no longer supported. The static poses of Astra Items can still be equipped, but the animated poses will not work. We will do our best, whenever possible, to remake your favorite Astra Animated Items as Prisma Animated Items! Integrating Ruffle has been able able to bring back functionality to some of the Astra Animated Items, but it's not guaranteed to do that for all of them.
Can we have a freebie as a tribute to a death, celebration of an event, etc.?
Grants are made in artists' free time, so it always depends on if someone feels passionate enough about a subject to do free labor.
When will Gaia release the items from banned and long inactive accounts?
This is not something that we'll ever do for inactive accounts; we want Gaians with accounts in good-standing to return to their account being in the same condition as they left it. We don't have the resources to consider this for certain banned accounts -- accounts banned for obtaining goods illicitly would be immediately disqualified, for instance -- and don't plan to discuss this any time soon.
Can active Gaians request usernames for abandoned accounts/when will these requests be reopened?
This is pending the assistance of our dev team, and our support team will be making that request of them as soon as reasonably possible. With so many ongoing projects, we've asked that Support holds off on asking until some of them are completed. Releasing inactive usernames is really low on our list of priorities among everything else, but we'll update the site, likely via Staff Notices, once that changes.
Can we delete all profile comments we’ve made on other users’ profiles/that’s been made on our profile?
This is planned for a future Profile update!
Please add [suggestion] as a marriage title!
We recently had a discussion about marriage title requests, and we're not going to be taking these through AtS/Pre-AtS anymore. We do want to continue expanding the marriage title list, and are still discussing how we want to arrange that going forward (whether that's doing something like a gold sink as community votes, and/or other avenues).
Please start IP banning the people who keep returning to Gaia to cause problems!
IP banning is ineffective. Many of the people Gaia ask us to IP ban are already using VPNs in an attempt to stay under the radar longer. Many positive members of our community also use VPNs. Anyone who rotates onto a banned IP in the future would be negatively affected whereas we'd have little to no impact on the individual(s) we actually wanted to remove from Gaia. We have to be careful when implementing any obstacle that is intended to slow down or stop these parties from coming back as they will impact everyone's experience.
Can we have an official Gaia Online Discord server?
We don't have the resources to create or moderate an official discord server, sorry. If you're looking for more modern environments where you can chat with friends and meet new Gaians, please give Avatar Chat a try!
When will Gaia bring back some of the older IRL merchandise, like the OMG hat?
We miss these, too! If we ever find someone else to reliably remake these older designs we'll definitely let the community know. For now, our merch is limited to what is available in our Redbubble shop.
What are Gaia's long term plans for bringing new or returning Gaians to the site?
We have a longer term project to update the UI and simplify the experience before we do any advertising. We think that the current layout is not only dated but quite confusing for new players. The bigger thing we wanted to tackle is on currencies and how to make that aspect less daunting. We wanted to create a better experience for new users to get started and experience the community effortlessly.
When will Gaia update or replace the mobile app?
The mobile app needs a lot of work. Before moving onto that, we're going to finish the main site's redesign first.
Will the updated mobile app have games?
We won't be able to add flash based games but ones like the Jigsaw re-write can be added to the app when the time comes.
Check out our archive of past Ask the Staff events for more questions and answers!
You can also submit a question in the Pre-Event thread for the next AtS, stickied at the top of the Gaia Community Discussion forum!
Contacting Us
I have a question/concern about content or behavior that violates your Terms of Service!
Please see what to do, including a list of moderators you can contact, in this thread!
I have a question about the site, items, or a feature that isn't related to it's creation or development!
Use Site Questions & Assistance for questions about using Gaia Online site or any of its features! Our knowledgeable users are eager to help!
I have a suggestion or feedback to provide to Gaia Online staff!
Please share and discuss it in our Site Feedback forum! We don't respond to every topic but we read every post!
A feature isn't working as it should be, who do I contact?
Our Staff are frequently checking our Bug Report & Technical Support forum to pass these issues to the appropriate team for review and resolution. Please create a topic there using these tips and tricks!
Features
Can I have an ETA or update for when (new feature, feature update, bug fix) will be released?
We generally avoid providing any sort of timeline as there are guaranteed to be unexpected delays, and we don’t like committing to a deadline we won’t be able to keep. We do our best not to disappoint you!
Can you make sure we have the option to favorite everywhere we can see another user's avatar?
Some features, such as the storefront, doesn't have metadata for supporting favorites, so we'll need to overhaul the feature to support favorites. This is on the to-do list for a future update.
When will I be able to marry more than one of my friends at once?
We need to change the backend system before it's allows for more than one relationship per user. It'll take a bit of time and effort.
Games/Virtual Spaces
Will zOMG ever get a new [worlds, monster, storyline, etc]?
For the time being, we don't have resources to expand zOMG story-wise, and it will be a challenge to do so if/when we do; tools for managing flash content aren't readily available these days.
Please bring Gaia Cinemas back!
There are two main things keeping us from bringing Cinema back - 1) it's made in Flash, and we will need to make changes to the program since API access for YouTube will have changed since 10 years ago. We currently don't have Flash developers to help with making major changes. 2) Even if we can make changes to Gaia Cinema, there's a high chance that we cannot re-create the effect of a video showing up inside the cinema screen because YouTube has changed how their embedded API works in order to promote their own player and advertisement display capabilities. If we have the resources, we can probably work around limitations and make it work. But for the time being we are not likely to find someone with the expertise to make it happen. We'll let the community know if that changes.
Will flash-based games/worlds that are working with Ruffle (ex: Aquariums, Fishing, Slots, Towns 2, Rally, Virtual Hollywood) ever get an update?
There’s ongoing work to increase compatibility with Ruffle where possible, but any additions to these spaces are unlikely.
Towns 1 isn’t playable with Waterfox+Flash or with Ruffle, will this ever be fixed?
Towns 1 encountered a problem with our avatar flash compiler and it's currently not a problem we can fix easily. We’ll update the community if this ever changes.
I miss Frontier Skies! Any chance of bringing that back?
Probably not. Unfortunately, whoever disabled Frontier Skies deleted the database and we can't find the info needed to bring the data back.
Items/Transactions
Can we stack copies of non-game items in trades just like we do with game items?
Stacking of non-game items can be done but will require a major re-write on the front end to allow for these types of actions. It'll be a sizable project. The backend actually has a size limit and needs a re-write similar to what we did to the wishlist and friendslist. That is another aspect that will take a lot of time as part of the same project.
Can we have a shopping cart function for the marketplace?
We can look into this! It might take a while to implement as the Marketplace is a bit more dynamic than the Platinum/Cash shops. We’ll need a good way of handling changes in availability while items are in the cart or during checkout.
Can you add an option to “Open All” when I have multiple copies of the same item generator/bundle?
This is on our to-do list. The biggest obstacle is figuring out the UI for handling many items, potentially hundreds, which takes a bit of planning.
Can we make offers for Game Items and Lake Kindred eggs/Kineggs?
This is something we’d like to add in a future update for offers, but isn’t a simple or quick addition. These items function a bit differently and we’d need to determine the best way to implement this.
Can we see a return of the Kindred Seal tickets?
We don't currently have any plans to bring back Kindred related tickets. Kin (both new and recolors) take up a fair bit of time and money, and we're currently at the max for what we can handle with them. Should we acquire more resources that we can devote to kindred, we can revisit tickets.
Will you ever bring back the [retired Project Custom/Recolor ticket] ticket?
It's not something we are considering at this time, but we can't say it's impossible for the future.
Will we ever see new Evolving Items (EIs)?
It is unlikely that Evolving Items will return.
Can you re-release [item]?
You can request items to be rereleased here!
When will Astra Items be fixed?
Astra Animated Items were created using Flash, which unfortunately is no longer supported. The static poses of Astra Items can still be equipped, but the animated poses will not work. We will do our best, whenever possible, to remake your favorite Astra Animated Items as Prisma Animated Items! Integrating Ruffle has been able able to bring back functionality to some of the Astra Animated Items, but it's not guaranteed to do that for all of them.
Can we have a freebie as a tribute to a death, celebration of an event, etc.?
Grants are made in artists' free time, so it always depends on if someone feels passionate enough about a subject to do free labor.
When will Gaia release the items from banned and long inactive accounts?
This is not something that we'll ever do for inactive accounts; we want Gaians with accounts in good-standing to return to their account being in the same condition as they left it. We don't have the resources to consider this for certain banned accounts -- accounts banned for obtaining goods illicitly would be immediately disqualified, for instance -- and don't plan to discuss this any time soon.
Accounts/Account-specific settings
Can active Gaians request usernames for abandoned accounts/when will these requests be reopened?
This is pending the assistance of our dev team, and our support team will be making that request of them as soon as reasonably possible. With so many ongoing projects, we've asked that Support holds off on asking until some of them are completed. Releasing inactive usernames is really low on our list of priorities among everything else, but we'll update the site, likely via Staff Notices, once that changes.
Can we delete all profile comments we’ve made on other users’ profiles/that’s been made on our profile?
This is planned for a future Profile update!
Please add [suggestion] as a marriage title!
We recently had a discussion about marriage title requests, and we're not going to be taking these through AtS/Pre-AtS anymore. We do want to continue expanding the marriage title list, and are still discussing how we want to arrange that going forward (whether that's doing something like a gold sink as community votes, and/or other avenues).
Moderation
Please start IP banning the people who keep returning to Gaia to cause problems!
IP banning is ineffective. Many of the people Gaia ask us to IP ban are already using VPNs in an attempt to stay under the radar longer. Many positive members of our community also use VPNs. Anyone who rotates onto a banned IP in the future would be negatively affected whereas we'd have little to no impact on the individual(s) we actually wanted to remove from Gaia. We have to be careful when implementing any obstacle that is intended to slow down or stop these parties from coming back as they will impact everyone's experience.
Other
Can we have an official Gaia Online Discord server?
We don't have the resources to create or moderate an official discord server, sorry. If you're looking for more modern environments where you can chat with friends and meet new Gaians, please give Avatar Chat a try!
When will Gaia bring back some of the older IRL merchandise, like the OMG hat?
We miss these, too! If we ever find someone else to reliably remake these older designs we'll definitely let the community know. For now, our merch is limited to what is available in our Redbubble shop.
What are Gaia's long term plans for bringing new or returning Gaians to the site?
We have a longer term project to update the UI and simplify the experience before we do any advertising. We think that the current layout is not only dated but quite confusing for new players. The bigger thing we wanted to tackle is on currencies and how to make that aspect less daunting. We wanted to create a better experience for new users to get started and experience the community effortlessly.
When will Gaia update or replace the mobile app?
The mobile app needs a lot of work. Before moving onto that, we're going to finish the main site's redesign first.
Will the updated mobile app have games?
We won't be able to add flash based games but ones like the Jigsaw re-write can be added to the app when the time comes.
Check out our archive of past Ask the Staff events for more questions and answers!
You can also submit a question in the Pre-Event thread for the next AtS, stickied at the top of the Gaia Community Discussion forum!
Last updated: 21 October 2025
We will update this list as time allows.
We will update this list as time allows.