Avatar Community Sites!

[VarenRaven]

Some of you might be familliar with these kind of sites, some of you might not be. These sites lets you dress up a virtual version that you created of yourself. Well known such as IMVU, Second Life, Tinierme (English Version closed down) and Gaia Online might come in mind. I'll be talking about forum-orientated avatar sites, existing and up-coming.

I've noticed that there's been quite an increase in the forum orientated avatar sites lately, as an inspiration derived from Gaia Online. Created by former Gaia users or former users of other avatar sites. It it a very interested process and if you are interested in checking out other sites similar to Gaia Online:
Eos Online
Ernya
Solia Online
Roliana
Trisphee
Syndrone Online
Zantarni
Sapherna
Caedon

For anyone who loves dressing up, role-playing, meeting new people and chatting I do recommend checking these places out, since they have great small communities and staffs. :>

However, if you wanna recommend me avatar sites please do just tell I'll check it out and add it to the list. Same goes for developments.

Also, they are other sites that is also under development that I recommend an eye out!
Khiru Starlings
Skye: Endless Realm

So here are my questions...
I was wondering if people are familiar or is in interested in them? And if you ever been a part of these communities what drew you into them? And what are your experiences? Can you recommend me some more avatar sites? Know ones that are in development and upcoming?

[Vae]

I have quite a strong love-hate relationship with Gaia.
I've been using the site since 2004. Lotta nostalgia packed in there. Fiance used to get on there a lot with me, and he was even quite a popular user (in the Chatterbox, anyway), until he got fed up and quit and tossed all his items at me.

I hate that the place is basically just being absolutely wrecked by real-money pushes, though. Some of the items are being sold for $500 (You think I'm exaggerating? Haha, you wish.) real world cash. Not by users, oh no, but in the actual, legitimate cash shop.
$25, and $50, and $250 pixel items are becoming a regular occurrence on the site.
I don't even pay attention to what comes out, any more, unless it's solely in the gold (site money) shops.


I've also tried Solia, Ernya, Syndrone, Menewsha, and Roliana, and didn't really like any of them.
The rules were too strict, and earning items took way too long.
All of the real cash garbage started creeping up into them, too, which immediately just put me off. Even if it's not quite as bad as it is on Gaia. But if I'm going to go to one of those, it's going to be to escape that kind of nonsense.

[Vae]

[VarenRaven]

The concept of Gaia was always an interesting concept. What drove me away typically would be the community. Gaia specifically was not at all the worst but I always found them to be pretty deterring.

The same goes for Second Life and a few others actually.

I'd be willing to try if the avatar customization is indepth, the aesthetics are pleasing, and the community is tolerable.

I do feel the same way, especially about how IMVU, Tinierme and Gaia all turned out. It wasn't much about how the sites are run but the community within it that mostly ruined it for me. The majority of the users became hostiles after awhile and such, but in later years I found that all three said sites have also become extremely greedy with money, and only cared about that. That's why English TinierMe died. :/

I have quite a strong love-hate relationship with Gaia.
I've been using the site since 2004. Lotta nostalgia packed in there. Fiance used to get on there a lot with me, and he was even quite a popular user (in the Chatterbox, anyway), until he got fed up and quit and tossed all his items at me.

I hate that the place is basically just being absolutely wrecked by real-money pushes, though. Some of the items are being sold for $500 (You think I'm exaggerating? Haha, you wish.) real world cash. Not by users, oh no, but in the actual, legitimate cash shop.
$25, and $50, and $250 pixel items are becoming a regular occurrence on the site.
I don't even pay attention to what comes out, any more, unless it's solely in the gold (site money) shops.


I've also tried Solia, Ernya, Syndrone, Menewsha, and Roliana, and didn't really like any of them.
The rules were too strict, and earning items took way too long.
All of the real cash garbage started creeping up into them, too, which immediately just put me off. Even if it's not quite as bad as it is on Gaia. But if I'm going to go to one of those, it's going to be to escape that kind of nonsense.

Don't worry, I KNOW. Gaia is ridicculous! They charge users for recolours for $45 during the Christmas 'Sale'. That's a goddamn sale for Gaia, a $45 for a small pixel item. Single one. And they dare charge $1000 for a goddamn old halo, is just nbnakdsfhgas. I've quit the site as well to be honest since the economy was inflated, the community has a lot of creeps and the it's just going down from now on. :/ Which is sad, because the site itself had a really, really concept and features and it's gone to waste.

And with the other's, I'm not gonna lie. I'm not fond of Ernya's, Solia's or Syndrone's community either. The staff teams in those sites play favourism within their staff team and userbase and will not banned a person who broken a lot of rules, as long they are their 'friend'. And that's a real dick move right there. However, I did found great friends in Syndrone, but I'm not keen on the staff team, never did really. The original owner 'Krank' of the site personally target my friends and I on another site, and has abused just because we just so happened to be in a staff team of her 'enemy', someone who we didn't considered a friend of ours. When we registered on Syndrone and Krank found who we were she pretty much pulled the pranks and even went ahead and banned my friend's account just cause she found out my friend is one of 'us'. My friend hasn't made a single post yet on the site, just BOOM immediate banned! While, my other friend found that her posts, signature and profile were changed to degrading wordings. AND THIS ALL HAPPENED BECAUSE WE WERE JUST FORMER STAFF WITH HER ENEMY. WE DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING TOWARDS HER. I think Krank didn't even realise who I was though, cause I didn't got any attacks coming my way. Although, it does annoy me that she acts like that. :/ or why she let's her staff team acts like that.
Also with these communities being more cash? I'm just talking from a point of view of someone who has been a part of a few avatar sites staff teams. I do see why it would be necessary, of course not everyone does it because of these means, but some do it because of financial struggle to keep the site online or pay the staff, usually the money spent on the site is coming out of their own pockets. So, it's not surprise that some are increasing their encouragement to buy cash currency. However, I do hear horrors of strict rules from Menewsha, Solia, and also of course Syndrone. Ugh.

Right now, I'm just enjoying the alpha days Sapherna though. small, friendly community and the items are just being build up so there you have it.

Looking forward to Khiru Starlings and Skye. Both developments shows promising features that most avatar sites don't have.

Five hundred dollars...

know what you can do with $500???

giveittome :u

lol

[Vae]

I really only go on Gaia to troll and take the piss. It's what I've always done. That's why I stay in the Chatterbox.
I keep quitting and coming back because of the cash shop pushes, but as of late, I've made the decision just to ignore basically everything on the site that comes out, unless it's free / for gold.
I even went so far as adblocking the announcements notification, because I got tired of seeing 12 a day for cash shop bullshit.

And yeah, I've seen some favoritism there. Not in such a blatant way as it was displayed to you, probably, but little touches here and there that you pick up on. That's what happens with such a small community that is basically run by friends of friends. I'm not fond of circlejerking coming into business practices, especially on a site like that where they're encouraging you to buy stuff.

I can see the need for a cash shop, but I don't like it when it starts going overboard. Solia, if I recall, started doing that pretty bad, and I just didn't want anything to do with it because of it.

[JackalTeeth]

The concept is really neat, and tbh I'd probably look into getting one. The only thing that could be off-putting is the community each site could/does attract.

Though, I tend to enjoy Second Life much more, as it's a very open-ended environment (also I like building things heh).

[VarenRaven]

I really only go on Gaia to troll and take the piss. It's what I've always done. That's why I stay in the Chatterbox.
I keep quitting and coming back because of the cash shop pushes, but as of late, I've made the decision just to ignore basically everything on the site that comes out, unless it's free / for gold.
I even went so far as adblocking the announcements notification, because I got tired of seeing 12 a day for cash shop bullshit.

And yeah, I've seen some favoritism there. Not in such a blatant way as it was displayed to you, probably, but little touches here and there that you pick up on. That's what happens with such a small community that is basically run by friends of friends. I'm not fond of circlejerking coming into business practices, especially on a site like that where they're encouraging you to buy stuff.

I can see the need for a cash shop, but I don't like it when it starts going overboard. Solia, if I recall, started doing that pretty bad, and I just didn't want anything to do with it because of it.

HAHAHA, Well if you want to troll Chatterbox is definitely the perfect place! The amount of people who are just there to troll or in arguments, just makes it the best place. And bleh, Gaia's sale is still a rip-off and just annoying how they often spam the users with announcement every-goddamn day. :/ even the cash-shop sales are ridiculous.

I never liked the idea of playing favourism in a staff team as well, whether it'll be about a staff or user. I always disapprove of it, and never in favour. Which resulted me to be kicked off a certain staff team just because I decided to speak my mind and called them a 'close-knitted group'. Funny enough months later they invited me back. Wahahahah. Please. A view avatar sites to be a business despite the minimal income or no income that they receive at the end of the day, but that doesn't seemed to be the case for some site owners, which becomes a big concern within the staff team and community.

Ugh, ew. That sucks. I never registered to Solia but man, that's pretty much Gaia all over again.

The concept is really neat, and tbh I'd probably look into getting one. The only thing that could be off-putting is the community each site could/does attract.

Though, I tend to enjoy Second Life much more, as it's a very open-ended environment (also I like building things heh).

Yeah I do see the concern about the communities, but I find with smaller communities, it seems like it's always the same bunch of users from the previous sites. <u >;; So, you start getting along with each other and become friends after a few months or chats. That is if you end up getting along with them.

Haha, I love the idea of open-ended environment as well. So much freedom + u +

[Carnau]

I log into Solia online once in a blue moon, but it really is too hugboxy for my taste personally.

Gaia online is a laughing stock now and I don't really know what happened to Lanzer. Don't know if I care to know really. I was banned for something that I wasn't even supposed to be banned for to begin with, and the newer mods are really young. Though I know age shouldn't normally matter, I personally think they were undereducated for their jobs. I was a member there since 2005 to 2013, and all my items where on one account so once I was banned I said screw it, this community is crap anyways.

[Zombimatic]

I wish the graphics were a little less girly/animu/cuties on every things
all of them look like Gaia-rip off, or that kind of drawing you see on tumblr.

Maybe because I have more love for ugly/weird characters, but I wish there was more diversity others than "your character can be white, asian or black, wee!"
I'm not even asking for a chubby character, I mean, long noses, acne, hairy, etc.

maybe I have bad tastes lmao

[Aiko]

To be honest, SyndroneOnline is a really bad community.
I was harassed on there by two users going by the names of A R T and Narshe.
It's currently down (thank god) for maintenance for the next couple of months, but I honestly hope it never comes back up. The community is very cliche and rude, you either choose one clique to be in (ha, lmao if they even accept you) or be alone on your own.
I finally quit, plus their items were getting too damn expensive and after the drama and harassment where it took the admins two and a half weeks to do something, I eventually just set the hammer down and said, "I'm not taking this abusive bullshit anymore."

On the other hand Trisphee is pretty drama free. The admins are always helpful and the community is pretty active!