# Gaia Online Canonical: https://web4.xpay.bi/en/wiki/wp-en-794121/ Language: en Published: 2026-10-30T18:38:02.326Z Updated: 2026-10-30T18:38:02.326Z Gaia Online is an English-language anime-themed social networking and forums-based website with Chibi-style animations. It was founded as go-gaia on February 18, 2003, by Derek Liu, Long Vo, Josh Gainsbrugh, and the name was changed to GaiaOnline.com in 2004 by its owner, Gaia Interactive. Gaia originally began as an anime linklist and eventually developed a small community, but followin ## Key facts ## Overview Gaia Online is an English-language anime-themed social networking and forums-based website with Chibi-style animations. It was founded as go-gaia on February 18, 2003, by Derek Liu, Long Vo, Josh Gainsbrugh, and the name was changed to GaiaOnline.com in 2004 by its owner, Gaia Interactive. Gaia originally began as an anime linklist and eventually developed a small community, but following a statement by founder Derek Liu, the website moved towards social gaming and eventually became forum-based. In 2007, over a million posts were made daily, and 7 million unique users visited each month (with over 26 million total registered users). Gaia also won the 2007 Webware 100 award in the Community category and was included in Time magazine's list of 50 best websites in 2008. In January 2011, the company won the Mashable Best User experience Award for 2010. ## Avatars Members of Gaia Online, known as Gaians, receive a customizable avatar when they sign up. Users have the ability to customize their avatar in many ways, including skin tone, eye style and color, hairstyle and color, gender, race (e.g. human, vampire, elf, zombies), and attire. Numerous clothing items and accessories for avatars can be purchased from a range of NPC-run stores using the site currencies, Gaia Platinum and Gaia Cash. Players may also gift one another clothing items and accessories. Avatars appear next to posts in the forums and profile comments (the post itself encapsulated in a "speech bubble"), and in Gaia Towns and Gaia rallies, and other environments the avatar appears as a movable character that can travel from place to place, interacting with the environment (catching bugs, shaking trees, digging for buried treasure, collecting trash and flowers, etc.) and other users. In February 2018, an avatar based on Doki Doki Literature Club! (DDLC!) main antagonist Monika was released to Gaia Online under the title "Just Dangerous Me", the addition of which has been criticised by DDLC! creator Dan Salvato as Gaia did not seek permission and sold the skin as a microtransaction without compensation to Team Salvato. ## Forums There is a large variety of forums in which users can post in and communicate with one another. These forums are used for general discussion, news, Admin announcements, role-play, general entertainment, and artist discussions. ## Currency The currency used in Gaia is known as "Gaia Platinum" (formerly, "Gaia Gold"). Platinum is regularly distributed to users as they browse around the website, post in the forums, play games, and participate in other various events and contests; the site also rewards users every day with random platinum or items from the Daily Chance. The former virtual currency was known as Gaia Gold, however, after a rapid increase in inflation after gold generating items were released, Gaia created Gaia Platinum and gave users the chance to switch to that currency. In July 2007, Gaia released another virtual currency called "Gaia Cash", which can be purchased with real money. Gaia Cash can be bought through cell phone payments, or directly from Gaia itself. ## AutoCash On September 13, 2010, Gaia announced the introduction of AutoCash. AutoCash is an optional feature where GaiaOnline members can sign up to buy Gaia Cash on a reoccurring monthly schedule. The current cost per month for the feature is $10; users are given extra content for the monthly fee. Staying past three months offers users the bonus of receiving special items. ## Market Sales within the Gaian market can be divided into four areas: Gold Shops, Cash Shops, Trade, and Marketplace. Gold Shops: Items from these stores can be bought with Gold or Gaia Cash (most users purchase with Gold), and can range from regular store items to upmarket items. These are various NPC-run stores that sell a variety of items, such as avatar clothing and accessories, furniture for Gaia Houses, and parts for Gaia Cars. Items found in the shops can also be sold back to the shop for 50% of the shop price. Cash Shops: Items from these stores can be purchased with Gaia Cash only. The majority of Gaia Cash sales are from La Victoire, an NPC-run store that only accepts Gaia Cash. It specializes in high-end items such as "Evolving Items", "Random Item Generators", and "Monthly Collectibles". Most items from La Victoire are continuously rotated in and out of the store. Other Cash-Only stores include "Phin Phang" (Gaia Aquarium items), and "Back Alley Bargains" (power-up items for Gaia's MMORPG, "zOMG!"). Trade: Users can trade items and gold with other users. A majority of these trades are settled in the "Gaia Exchange" forum (and its sub-forums). Marketplace: The Marketplace is a separate area of the site for users to buy and sell items. Rather than self-auctioning an item through a thread in the Exchange forum, users can either put their item up for immediate sale with a "Buy Now" price, or leave their item for auction with a starting "Bid" price. Users can have up to 10 items for sale at once until getting the Tycoon achievement. After that, users can sell 20 items at once, and each item can be listed for a maximum of 14 days. The cost of this convenience is a 5% tax on all gold earned from sales. The site's virtual economy experienced hyperinflation after the introduction of more gold into circulation, partly due to the introduction of purchasable 'gold generators' which generated daily gold automatically. These were introduced by the site's then-owners in an attempt to boost the site's short-term revenue. To maintain that revenue, new and bigger gold-generators were frequently introduced and an arms-race ensued between site users. This would eventually lead to the collapse of the economy, coupled with large declines in the userbase, and the ultimate sale of the site. Later owners substituted a replacement currency, Platinum, currently pegged at 1 Platinum to 10 million of the old Gold currency, and have not returned to currency generators as a way to raise revenue. However, former COO Jason Loia has stated he didn't consider inflation as a significant issue. ## Monthly Collectibles Monthly Collectibles (previously known as Donation Items, also referred on site as MCs) are special items that can be bought with real money meant to support Gaia's maintenance and costs. Established in June 2003 after users of Gaia Online petitioned for a "donation system" in an attempt to increase site revenue, for every US$2.50 a user gives to the site, he or she receives an item known as a "Sealed Envelope" in his or her inventory. Sealed Envelopes go on sale on the first day of every month and are released on the 15th of each month on. During August and September 2008, the envelopes were unsealed on the eighth, but on October 2, 2008, it was decided that the release date should be returned to the fifteenth. The Sealed Envelope disappears from the user's inventory and is replaced by a "Thank You Letter" for the current paid month (for example, a "Thank You Letter for August 2004" represents a payment made in that month of that year). Users are then able to open these virtual letters to choose one of two or three limited-edition items to be granted into their inventory from each letter. These items were known as Donation Items until potential legal problems prompted the name change. Monthly Collectible items and the "Thank You" letter items they are found in are specific to the month that they were released in: for example, the items found in the "Thank You" letter for April 2006 can only be found in that letter, and one could only purchase that letter in April 2006. Letters can be purchased over the phone, with a text message from a mobile phone, via PayPal, credit card, traditional mail or with Gaia Cash through the Cash Shop, "La Victoire". Envelopes and letters can be later bought and sold through user trades or through Marketplace. The production of these types of items were discontinued, with the final Monthly Collectibles released on March 15, 2017. ## Evolving Items Evolving Items, commonly abbreviated to EIs, are items that change or evolve over time. Items begin with one set of item poses, but with each new evolution, a different set of poses become available instead. Additionally, with each subsequent evolution a re-release of the item becomes available at the Cash Shop as a "next-generation" release. When the item has fully evolved all previous poses become available for the item. Times between evolutions are different for each EI, and can be anywhere between a few weeks to a few months. Recent additions of "Rapid Evolving Items" evolve twice a week. New evolution updates are noted in regular site announcements as "Evolving Item Reports" present by the NPC, Dr. Singh. All EIs are available from the Cash Shop "La Victoire", and can be later sold through trading or in the Marketplace. EIs are removed from the Cash Shop sometime after their final evolution becomes available. ## Chance Items/Random Item Generators With Chance Items, referred to as CIs (previously known as Random Item Generators, or RIGs), users play a chance mini-game and the item they are granted depends on their success with completing the game when they decide to stop playing and collect an item, or their failure to complete the game. Games will vary depending on the RIG โ€“ some may require users to choose a "correct" response, while some are simply a choice between continuing the game or stopping and collecting an item. RIGs are available from the Cash Shop "La Victoire" and are eventually rotated out of the shop. ## Gaia Houses Users are able to own their own Gaia House situated in Gaia Towns. Houses are available in three different styles: Round, Square, and Long. To purchase a house is free, however future changes to the style of the house cost an additional amount. Users are also able to relocate their homes to a different Town postcode for an additional cost. A range of decorative furniture items can be bought from the NPC-run store, "The Faktori", such as include floor and wall tiles, tables, chairs, lamps, among others. Rare housing items can be found in Enchanted Wooden Trunks and Enchanted Golden Trunks randomly found floating across site pages. ## Gaia Cars On June 18, 2007, Gaia Online and Scion announced a partnership that allowed users to create a virtual Scion with customizable wheels, decals, fog lights, tail lights, and spoilers. Other car choices available were the fictional Possum and Musculero. The Scion tC, Scion xD, UFO and Kiki Car (which is available only with Cash) were later released, bringing the total to seven possible cars to choose from. Users can own up to 3 cars, which are stored in their Garage. Parts and decals for cars (such as paint color and antenna ornaments), as well as car bases, can be purchased from the NPC-run store, "Sam's Body and Parts". Cars are used as part of the Rally game available on the website. ## Gaia Aquarium Users can maintain fish and other creatures in Gaia Aquariums. Fish and tank accessories can be purchased with both Gaia Cash and Gold from the NPC-run store, "Phin Phang". At certain times, the fish inside a tank (from a different owner, commonly as a signature under a post in the forums) will "glow", enabling the Booty Grab mini-game. Aquarium item bundles (which include various fish and tank items) can be purchased from the main Cash shop, "La Victoire". Items can also be bought at the marketplace. ## Sources - Gaia Online ยท Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/?curid=794121 Source: Wikipedia contributors โ€” https://en.wikipedia.org/?curid=794121&oldid=1380172628 Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 โ€” https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation notice: Reformatted for XPay; the source may be abridged, restructured or translated. Consult the cited revision for the original.