alot of people are bringing up this concern, and I tried to update the OP to address it, but I'll add more here.
non-avatar shops are locked for new users until you get the relevant item, or use the relevant site feature. The exact requirements are:
- you need to have a car for the car shop (through MyGaia)
- you need to have a home for home shop (through MyGaia)
- you need to have a flower for flower shop (through towns or DC)
- you need to have an aquarium for phin phang (through MyGaia)
- you need to play fishing for fishing shop (rod & bait are granted automatically to new users)
- you need to play casino game for Prize & Joy (get a ticket)
- you need to log into zOMG for Back Alley Bargains
I have seen new people get confused by the long list of shops, and all they care about are the clothes anyway, until they explore the site a bit more and find the other stuff you can do. Mules will be able to go through the checklist in about 10 minutes if you want to, and after a certain number of days everything is unlocked anyway (we might tweak the exact number, but its somewhere in between a week and a month).
this does make gaia a little more like a game, and we think that is a good thing! there are other game-like ideas that we are thinking about for later that will enhance gaia as an avatar/forum site, but we are trying to do so in a way that does not create elitism and drive people away. It is a tough balance, so definintely looking for feedback on how this example works out.
