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GAIA @ FANIME 2006


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BEFORE YOU GO RAGING INTO SITE FEEDBACK!!!
I should again clarify that the information in this thread is NOT exactly as they said it! I didn't have a recording device and it was hard keeping up, so I ended up with a lot of notes and such which I summarized and went into more detail on later. If it sounds like it's merely a possibility, it's probably only that-- not necessarily set in stone. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ask me for further verification before you make a scene in SF!


Here is all the info I gathered at FanimeCon 2006 on Gaia's future developments. Some of it is from the panel and Q&A session, the rest is from an exclusive interview with LOcke and VO.

Please remember that "might"/"maybe"/"possibly" do not mean "definitely", and that the wording here is not directly quoted. During the panel, I was typing the whole time, and during the interview I had to write in a notebook. There was only time to jot down notes.

For the curious, I did my interview at the booth instead of the panel/Q&A/social. I was helping with the booth on Sunday so it was the best chance for myself, LOcke, and VO.

If you have any questions about the information posted here, feel free to ask.

NOTE! I am still updating the second post with the information from the panel. Please have patience. If you would really like to read it, you can view the uncleaned notes starting on page 10.

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GAIA STAFF::.
    Dri assists with customer service & moderation
    Bill is working on a set of servers on the backend to make Gaia better for games and such, increasing speed and reliability.
    truantduck hangs out with LOcke, works on Flash projects (like Blackjack), moderation tools for games, and other top secret stuff.
    72squared is often responsible for the site going down; he works on site reliability, and scaling the site for things like events.
    Lanzer doesn't need much introduction, he does a little bit of everything.
    VO does lots, and has a hand in everything.
    kaia9 helps 72squared break stuff, and works on backend code for Towns, Homes, and games.
    Jakobo develops features and does programming.
    sharkland is making new cool games.
    LOcke does art, messes things up, and pisses everyone off.
    twobit is the developer of Gaia's profile system.
    Ling and Saka were present as well but were sitting in the audience.

TOWNS::.
    A new feature will be added to Towns allowing you to shake trees or bushes and pick up rocks to possibly find gold or items. There will also be mailboxes and a gold counter. And, homes will be combined with Towns so that they are the same system. Also, there will be a direct link to a user's home, in Towns, available in their profile. Towns will be expanding for those who want to place their homes.

ART::.
    Lots of Gaia concept art was shown including a wolf girl, Xiao-Fahn the monk, a mage, a fat guy, a creepy guy, a ninja girl, a nun, and several others. There were also several sketches.

WORD BUMP MINIGAME::.
    Gaia's first Flash word game will be Word Bump. You'll click tiles with letters on them and press submit to make words up to 8 letters long. The normal goal is to move the letters of the gold word to the top. There's also a variety of rounds available including spam rounds (where you can submit anything), item rounds (where you can win an item-- level 30!)and a Chatterbox round (where you enter bump as many times as possible). In addition, there's a variety of levels to go through, with varying difficulty. The game uses a 200,000 word dictionary, which includes funny net/spam words like "OMG", "PWNED", and "ebil".

PROFILES 2.0::.
    Easier than ever, the new Profiles 2.0 system will be released next week. Using a new system which allows users to drag sections of their profile around, you'll be able to customize your profile on a whole new level-- without knowing any CSS. Profiles start out looking a lot like they do now, but if you want to change it you'll be able to switch into Edit Mode using the edit button.

    Besides removing whole sections, you can add new ones, drag sections around, change section styles (Comments to something more like a shoutbox), add things like other people's avatars, emoticons (including the ones from Towns), images (directly from Photobucket), captions and free-floating text, and much more. In addition to your own images, the Gaia artists have added a ton of stuff that you can use-- including wedding dresses and archs that you can put on top of avatars. You'll also be able to select a background from Photobucket or a variety of available Gaia backgrounds. You can make pages as long as you want for scrolling.

    Your page saves automatically, so you need not worry about losing your work. In addition, it's completely compatible with the previous profile system. While the extensiveness of the CSS use is still being debated, the new profile system will allow you to customize your content like never before.

BATTLE SYSTEM::.
    It's only a matter of time until we do battle! Now in development, you can expect the battle system by the end of the year. Rock puppy was featured as a monster in the video presentation, soon destroyed by the almighty admins of Gaia.

Q&A SESSION::.
  • Hangouts - Many users have been wondering why Hangouts were removed from the site. With the addition to Towns, staff felt they were no longer necessary as many would use Towns instead. The feature was also rather laggy, and not very scaleable. If there is demand for a return of Hangouts, it can be re-engineered.
  • Rock Puppy as donation item-- not planned, but it's a possibility.
  • Bug Exchanging - Currently there are only more plans for ink (including tattoos, house paint, hair dye), but maybe there will be equipable bug items in the future.
  • Carrot Plus - Currently it is unequipable. Initially it was planned to be a backpack of sorts, but was made into a house item. It might get further uses in the future.
  • Tattoos - Might be here in month or so. They require a rewrite of Gaia's avatar system, which will also allow for facial expressions.


Quote:
Interview with LOcke and VO:
  1. What progress have you made on the battle system?
    Several big developments as well as the presentation, beginning graphics, and basic animations. There are a lot more details to work out. So far, a quarter of the conceptual work is done and an eight of the visual work. It is planned to be released before the end of the year.
  2. What new features and locations will be added to fishing?
    There is another planned location which will include more fish and new exchange items (maybe a mermaid tail). LOcke is pushing for some strange fish, like a chainsaw fish or a fish with hands on it's head. There also might be fish that are harder to catch, with an energy meter that, if not empty when the fish is pulled in, will allow the fish to swim back out some.
  3. How will the crafting system further use existing game items like bugs, fish, flowers, trash, and ink, and also, how will it expand beyond them (for example, new game items or exchange items)?
    The quest system is the next major step for crafting and forging items. It is planned for there to be an alchemy system allowing you to synthesize items into combinations, like maybe making an angelic tail out of a devil tail and angelic headband.
  4. It's already been said that the environments of Isle de Gambino and Durem will be introduced to Towns, but will Aekea as well?
    No Aekea style neighborhoods or homes planned right now, but the Gambino and Durem styles, as well as guild housing, will eventually be released.
  5. How will other site features like guilds be integrated into Towns?
    If you haven't noticed, there's 3 empty maps per area. One of these will be used for guild homes. However, there is still a lot of debate about how guild homes will function, such as who will be able to purchase furniture and modify the home. Currently, only Barton style guild homes are complete.
  6. What can we expect from the quest system?
    The level of difficully for quests will range from basic to complex, along with a variety of time for completion, such as from as little as 30 seconds to as long as a year. The most difficult and/or most long quests will yield the best prizes (like backwings or the angelic fishing rod).
  7. What features and jobs can we expect from the classes system?
    Originally it was planned for Gaia to have the traditional RPG job classes like warrior and mage, but it was felt it would be better to have more customizeability and variety in jobs. Instead, it might be made to where your equipment defines your stats and your role, to allow users to make their own jobs, instead of being trapped inside of a job. It may be made to where you can switch jobs whenever you want and train up abilities as you use them. So if you were a warrior, you'd use those skills and level up, but if you needed to be a mage you would be able to switch your equipment and use those skills to level up that job.
  8. What can you tell us about the tatoo parlor and the new town it was rumored to be in?
    The tattoo parlor was going to be released a while ago but was put off because it required an avatar rewrite. It was bumped down in priority because of the workload. The avatar rewrite will allow for a lot more customizing of avatars with things such as expressions and tattoos.
  9. How will Gaia start focusing more on fantasy in it's features and items in the near future?
    Fantasy is not going to be ignored, but it's not going to be heavily focused on either. Instead, Gaia will grow in all directions, including fantasy and modern styles. This will allow for the diversity that has always been a major part of the Gaia experience.
  10. Will we ever have contests in the art arena again?
    Yes. There will be some kind of universal official system for voting thoughout all the different arena types, as well as possible additions of profile and writing arenas. The art arena might also be diversified to allow for different kinds of art besides anime and fantasy.
  11. How do you pick out ideas for donation items?
    There's a visual arts team of four people who come up with the donation items. Usually there's jam sessions, and they also look in the Site Feedback forum (including the item suggestion thread) for ideas. Lots of the donation items have come from suggestions.
  12. What is the NPC creation process? Do you make some kind of character sheet or just sketches?
    LOcke, VO, Saka, as well as another mystery artist come up with the NPC designs. Inspirations include a variety of things like movies (Gambino was partially inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger), video games (Resident Evil), and even people the staff knows in real life.
  13. When will some of the other NPCs, like Josie and the Casino employees, get the spotlight and more background in the plot updates?
    Eventually, but only a few. There are a lot of NPCs on Gaia and they can't all possibly be included in the plot as major characters. In the future when more artists are hired, there may be several storylines going at the same time, which might allow for a broader range of NPCs getting attention.
  14. How many plot updates will we have before fall, or will we have to wait until October?
    An exact number is not known, but at least there will be one in the next two months.
  15. How far ahead do you start planning things like items and story updates?
    Items are usually planned a month in advance, but it really depends on different things for story updates.
  16. Will other holidays like St. Patricks Day and the Chinese New Year ever have their own events?
    Eventually all the major holidays will have events.
  17. Are we done with corporations like G CORP and S CORP yet?
    G Corp is officially done, but the possible starting of other corporations depends on where the story goes.
  18. Are the Von Helson Sisters dead, and either way, will the plot ever go into more detail about them?
    The Von Helson sisters are officially dead, as they were crushed by Gambino's tower. The plot will possibly go into details of the Von Helson family in the future.
  19. Why did you bring back Gambino, and will Gino return?
    Gambino's return was planned from the start. Gino cannot be addressed right now, but you will find out in the next story update.
  20. What coporate partnerships are you planning on going into, and how will the affect the site?
    Right now it's only PhotoBucket, and they were the ones who approached Gaia. There are no other partnerships planned. Partnering with PhotoBucket was seen as a smart move because most Gaians use the service anyway.
  21. What do you consider the current target age group of Gaia, and do you plan on changing it to allow for a larger audience?
    There is no real target age group for Gaia. (VO said something about them simply doing what they see as cool)
  22. What changes are you planning on making to the site layout, including things like screen resolution?
    There are plans for a liquid layout for screen resolutions of 800x600 and up.
  23. Will you ever expand to selling merchandise beyond the Gaia store, like in department stores and such?
    It really depends. If there is a demand for it, maybe sometime in the future.
  24. Are you still planning on making it so that we can trade profile themes with other users for gold?
    No official profile trading, but instead users will be able to sell them in a similar fashion to art commissions.
  25. What exactly were you doing when you thought of the April First Update?
    Well it wasn't instantly thought up, but LOcke wanted to do a Halloween versus Christmas event, so they were done to open up for that.
  26. Admins/Techs: Do you Lurk in certain forums from time to time? Which ones?
    VO: GCD, SF, and sometimes GD
  27. How many hours of sleep per night do each of the admins get on average?
    VO: 3-6; Lanzer sleeps at his desk and continues work whenever he wakes up. It's gotten a lot better as they've hired more and more people to help.
  28. Have you ever considered closing Gaia or finding another job?
    NO!
  29. What are your thoughts on artificial inflation?
    It sucks, but there's no way to control it officially without taking away the freedom of the market. It also takes away from the experience if everything has a set price to it.
  30. The maps are currently only being used for plot updates, and because of that we don't use them as often anymore; will they ever be integrated into Towns or used outside of events so that we can beter experience the Gaia world?
    There's plans to make an actual maneuverable version of all the maps, including the cities, NPC's, and more, that users will be able to explore much like they do with Towns.
  31. What is south of Barton?
    The neighborhoods in Towns.
  32. Is Barton going to remain the center of the Gaia world, or are there going to be other islands, continents, and such?
    Barton isn't the center of the Gaia world, but merely the starting point.
  33. Besides the word game and other upcoming Casino games, what other games are on the way?
    Specifics can't be told, but there are a few strong ideas that are not casino games.
  34. What plans do you have for new features be added to Towns or Homes?
    (I didn't ask this one-- it was answered at the panel so I didn't feel the need.)
  35. How many people are currently employed as Gaia staff (excluding mods)?
    Over twenty.
  36. Is Gaia going to attend any conventions in other countries?
    There are no plans, but probably not anytime soon because of financial and time problems.
  37. Will site mascots like the Rock Puppy ever be featured in plot updates?
    Right now only as references, in the future they will likely be either pets or monsters.
  38. When will the new profile system be released?
    (Answered at the panel-- in the next week or so.)
  39. Why is the layout on Gaia being changed so soon?
    Because of complaints. Originally many said it was too girly and cute, and now people complain that it's not cute enough, so the new layout will be somewhere inbetween.
  40. What do you plan on doing with Gaia Journals in the future?
    There will be a total rewrite of the journals, allowing for further integration with other site features like profiles.
  41. When should we expect the pets system in relation to the battle and quest systems?
    Right now the battle system is actually in development, but the pets system is only in the planning stages.
  42. What video games are inspirations for the battle system? (FFT, etc.)
    Ragnarok Online, Maple Story, and especially Paper Mario. A battle system full of chore-like processes is being avoided.
  43. Why can't Stage 5 Grombie avatars equip head items in combination with the attached grunny?
    The grunny adds a lot of complications with head items and hair, but with the new rewrite a lot of item conflicts will be fixed (like the parrot).
  44. Will there be more poses, such as different ways of sitting?
    Right now, no-- it's a lot of work to redo all the items. Besides adding file size, additional poses also add a lot more time to item development.
  45. What are the names of the upcoming NPC's, and how do you come up with the names as well as those of past NPC's?
    Initially a lot of the names for NPC's came from servers.
  46. Will the battle system allow for parties of players to group together in a team for battles?
    Yes, party play will be encouraged.

The Frostinator's Husband

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I'd like to know if theres any plans for another lake; and also what new features we can expect from the fishing system.

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Ask what the Quest System will be like? I'm very intrigued by that.

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Mmm, I'd probably ask them if they'll ever expand into a Marriage System, or if that would be a bit beyond the PG-13 range?

I'd also ask them if they'll begin to focus on more fantasy related item releases, and less of the current technology?

Right, yes, questions that have probably already been asked many times over.

-Nunzilla the Newblette.

Newbie Noob

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.//______Ho` Shiz Would Appreciate It...

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Nope,
Can't Think Of Anything Right Now,
But Have Fun At The FAnimeCon.
whee
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If You Clicked Here And Voted (AA)______.

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Shaun Holder
I'd like to know if theres any plans for a new lake anytime soon; and also what new features we can expect from the fishing system.
Ah, I see. So, "What new features or locations will be added to fishing?" Would that be good? >_>

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.QuiltQ.
Ask what the Quest System will be like? I'm very intrigued by that.
So, "How will we use the quest system?"

Or would it be, "What can we expect from the quest system?"

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Are we ever going to be able to live in Isle de Gambino, Aekea, or Durem in towns?

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Why isn't there a Gaia panel at Acen? It's in a major city area, Chicago, and it might be benificial to have "Official Gaia Promoters" or "Official Gaia Panels" at not only Acen, but at other major city area Conventions every few years.

Hope that made sense!! xd

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SykoSilver
Shaun Holder
I'd like to know if theres any plans for a new lake anytime soon; and also what new features we can expect from the fishing system.
Ah, I see. So, "What new features or locations will be added to fishing?" Would that be good? >_>


I was playing with the wording. That works for me; since it's fast and requires more of a detailed awsner. 3nodding

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[Nunzilla]
Mmm, I'd probably ask them if they'll ever expand into a Marriage System, or if that would be a bit beyond the PG-13 range?

I'd also ask them if they'll begin to focus on more fantasy related item releases, and less of the current technology?

Right, yes, questions that have probably already been asked many times over.

-Nunzilla the Newblette.
Marriage system...? xd That sounds like a bit of a stretch, but if you really want to know, I can ask.

"Will Gaia start focusing more on fantasy in it's features and items in the near future?" Would that do? >_>

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1337_Ninj4_Junpei
Are we ever going to be able to live in Isle de Gambino, Aekea, or Durem in towns?
That's already been answered; or at least for Isle de Gambino and Durem. Yes, we will.

So, "It's already been said that the environments of Isle de Gambino and Durem will be introduced to Towns, but will Aekea as well?"

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MoonlightThief1412
Why isn't there a Gaia panel at Acen? It's in a major city area, Chicago, and it might be benificial to have "Official Gaia Promoters" or "Official Gaia Panels" at not only Acen, but at other major city area Conventions every few years.

Hope that made sense!! xd
Maybe in the future... they can only go to so many cons a year.

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1337_Ninj4_Junpei
Are we ever going to be able to live in Isle de Gambino, Aekea, or Durem in towns?
That's already been answered; or at least for Isle de Gambino and Durem. Yes, we will.

So, "It's already been said that the environments of Isle de Gambino and Durem will be introduced to Towns, but will Aekea as well?"

That sound's good.
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