Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gaia Online Launches zOMG Beta
By Earnest Cavalli EmailJuly 25, 2008 | 8:00:00 PMCategories: Virtual Worlds

Gaiaonline1[was a zOMG! screenshot]

The vast virtual world of Gaia Online is expanding yet again, with the just-launched closed beta of -- I'm not making this up -- zOMG.

This latest, free addition brings Gaia into line with more traditional MMO titles. While it has earned nearly 6 million users with a clever, teen-centric blend of social networking and casual gaming in the past, zOMG adds a world to explore, roleplaying elements and semi-real time combat.

Gaia Online senior producer Dave Georgeson believes that though the game may not overtake World of Wacraft, it should still provide Gaia fans with even more to distract them from reality: "If each of our 6 million subscribers decide to try it for free, and then 30 percent of them enjoy it and keep playing, that's a huge number of players."

But what about that name?

Dave chuckles. It "captures the spirit of our users," he says, pointing out the naming process which saw hundreds of thousands of submissions from the site's rabid fanbase.

Though the company originally planned to fit a standard high-fantasy MMO title to the expansion, Georgeson saw all those "Legends of" and "Realms of" monikers as too dull to truly reflect Gaia's unique (if indecipherable to adults) community.

zOMG, a "sarcastic" jab at "those who too often fall back on" the "OMG" acronym, perfectly represents the spirit of teenage irreverence and rebellion, says Georgeson.

Should I be worried that I'm getting too old to get this stuff?

The name aside, gameplay in zOMG seems very intuitive. Everything is rendered in Flash so there's no need for a high-end gaming computer, and even the UI seems like a simplified nod to those 3-D MMOs that are all the rage.

Gaiaonline2[Was a zOMG! screenshot]

Key to the zOMG difference is the game's attitude. Georgeson demonstrated a bit of the combat in the game -- very rote, point-and-click type stuff -- but then also showed me one of the game's mini-games, a golf-like sport called "Goof."

Goof allows you to bat a large white golf ball toward holes within the zOMG world, though the key to its appeal is that the courses available range througout the combat zones of the MMO. One minute you'll be teeing off and the next you'll be assaulted by angry garden gnomes.

If only real golf were that exciting.

It remains to be seen how Gaia's users will react to a true MMO entering their social networking space, but simply based on the ridiculous success the virtual realm has already seen, I doubt zOMG will have much trouble finding a sizeable audience.

More information on the beta and zOMG in general can be found at zOMG.com.

Image courtesy Gaia Online
http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/07/gaia-online-lau.html

Monday July 21, 2008
GAIA Online: An MMO for Casual Gamers
Categories:

Games & Entertainment
Tags:

Gaia, gaming, MMORPG
Gaia_MMO

Maybe you've always wanted to get into one of those addictive and engrossing online community gaming worlds, but don't want to invest the time or money it takes to engage with a game like World of Warcraft or Everquest. If so, keep an eye out for the new free massively multiplayer online game in the works from the creators of Gaia Online, a popular interactive online hangout for teens and young adults, which boasts more than 5 million unique visitors a month.

Gaia Online MMO promises to be accessible and easy to enjoy for first timers and seasoned online gamers alike. With this new game, Gaia hopes to create an open environment for people of all ages to play games, meet friends, and explore. I spoke to the Senior Game Developer from Gaia Online, Dave Georgeson, who gave me an online demo of Gaia Online MMO in action.


GaiaMMO_01.jpg[was a zOMG! screenshot]

The storyline behind the game begins with a strange phenomenon in the Gaia universe: Inanimate objects spontaneously come to life and wreak havoc. Your character's quest is to explore and battle different monsters to uncover the truth. The game has its own streaming soundtrack of original and licensed music. And though it's free, players can buy premium items that will enhance their gameplay.

GaiaMMO_04.jpg[was a zOMG! screenshot]
Gaia Online MMO will reportedly be more flexible than traditional MMOs. You're not locked into any particular world in the game, so you can jump from world to world to play with your friends. You're also not stuck with a specific type of character. Instead of powering up your character, you power up rings with different skills and powers which you can swap, trade, sell, or share with friends. Gaia Online MMO, like the online community it was derived from, is more focused on giving gamers a fun way to socialize with each other than with grinding away for hours completing tasks and honing items.

GaiaMMO_05.jpg[was a zOMG! screenshot]

The game's creators hope to give players a game with robust, deep game play that is easy to pick up right away and play with friends. The game's Flash-based, so there's nothing to download, and it can be accessed from anywhere you can get an Internet connection.

GaiaMMO_02.jpg[was a zOMG! screenshot]
Gaia reps said the MMO would have a lighter, tongue-in-cheek take on the genre. It looks like they want to give gamers the MMO playing experience minus the rigid structure and grueling work. If you're the serious kind of gamer that derives satisfaction from slaving over your characters and enjoying the hard earned fruits of your labor in the online battlefield, Gaia Online MMO might not be for you. But for those looking for a fun game to play with friends, Gaia Online MMO might be right up your alley.

Gaia Online MMO will be drawing from an already massive community of Gaia Online users, the site boost the second largest forums on the Web after Yahoo, so once the game goes live you should have plenty of people to play with. Of course we still have to see if the game makers can deliver the goods. I pleaded, but they're not letting anyone try out the game until they've ironed some programming bugs. However, they did promise to hook us up with some invites once the site goes into private beta, so hopefully we'll be able to give you a chance to give Gaia Online MMO a test drive in a couple of weeks.
http://www.appscout.com/2008/07/gaia_onlines_new_massively_mul.php