Since this week is Halloween, virtual communities all over are having Halloween related events like which usually include trick or treating, new haunted areas, or characters in costume. Gaia Online is no different as the shop clerks wear spooky clothes, candies are out for collecting, and Halloween items are out there to wear. I will examine these events as well as the environmental and personal interactions within Gaia as a whole.
The human interactions in Gaia are extremely limited due to the fact the avatars contain several complex customizable accessory sprites. As far as I can tell all you can do to interact with other people is to chat with each other as if you were using AIM or MSN messenger. You have a list of animating emoticons you can use which are displayed above your avatar’s head. The only real actions your avatar can show others are running and sitting. Speaking of sitting you can’t even sit down in a chair. There are chairs you put in your house but you can in no way sit in them. When your avatar can’t even sit in a chair you know that this world is limited.
One of the player interactions I thought would be really fun was the rally. You can go to a race track and race your friends in your car. Sadly this is just as limited as the rest of the experience. All you can control is your acceleration. The track just goes straight so there is no turning involved. True there are some obstacles but you are expected to slow down to avoid them. Also since it is near Halloween these obstacles include zombies and UFOs. It would have felt much more realistic if you could drive your car to get around the towns, or at least to get in between cities. Like the obstacles here the rest of Gaia is all set up for Halloween.
To represent trick or treating player can either go to shops or towns. In shop the store clerks will give you candy once every few minutes. If you go to towns you can click on candy dispensers to get candy. Both experiences are lacking. After all the whole concept of trick or treating is that you say “trick or treat”. At least in World of War Craft you can talk to the person in charge of the Inn and say trick or treat.
In the towns there are some ways you can interact with the environment. Your avatar can shake bushes to get money, collect the bugs that fly around, pick up litter, and dig up flowers. This doesn’t sound like much and when you compare it to other online communities it really isn’t. In War Craft you can mine from stones, fish, swim under water, and much more. Your options in Second Life are pretty much limitless thanks to user generated content. Of course being a browser game a lot of Gaia’s interactions take place on other sections of the Gaia Online website. For example you can play pinball, cards, jigsaw puzzles, and numerous other events with several people. Sadly your interactions are still pretty much limited to simply chatting. You can see their avatars and view their progress but in the end you are all just playing your own games. Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a multiplayer mode for some of these? What if you could solve puzzles together?
In conclusion when it comes right down to it Gaia Online is nothing but a chat program with elaborate avatars, a shop, and games to play on the side. Direct interactions between avatars don’t exist. They are extremely lifeless and just stand there. Sure they look pretty but when all is said and done words and looks speak louder than actions in Gaia.
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