Let's get the most important complaints out up front -- if there's one main problem I've found with Gaia Online it's that it is incredibly flaky to get working. I can't place too much blame on my end (I'm running a PC only a few months old, with all my software up to date, and running an internet connection that's proven more than acceptable for all other tasks) but Gaia Online is slow, prone to timeouts, crashes and generally feels completely unstable.

I've tried to spend as much time playing Gaia Online as possible, and I think it may simply be the case that it's just too popular. There's an average of 80,000+ people online at any one time (well, when I've been playing it) and that seems a likely reason for it to slow to a crawl even when I'm just trying to load my profile. The crashes are worse, because they tend to come when loading or closing the javascript MMO sections, which doesn't make me think the technology is up to it.

In addition -- and this is probably because Gaia Online has been built up over such a long period of time -- the interface is unbearably bad. Trying to buy new clothes for my avatar was such an uncomfortable challenge (go to a wide array of poorly arranged shops, look at tiny versions of clothes, have to click and fiddle with to preview, etc.) that I just didn't want to do it. Doing anything in the MMO areas opened new windows that I was never sure how to close without messing things up, and there are just so many options arranged in what feels like a near random manner doing absolutely anything in Gaia was, well, unpleasant.

In fact, it feels like these are all good reasons that the majority of Gaia Online players tend to only use the forums, with their avatar about as far as they go when it comes to the MMO options. Perhaps it's simply that at the ripe old age of 26 I'm no longer young or hip enough to put up with the kind of interfaces the generally younger audience of Gaia Online are, but it was not the kind of experience that made me want to continue.

Neither did the community I found either. I'd like to restate that I spent almost no time on the forums, which seem fine (your usual sort of thing) but the community in the MMO worlds, while not as rabidly monosyllabic as those found in WeeWorld, were not particularly exciting. No obvious chatter, collaboration or even a particular air of fun was to be found anywhere I visited (other than possibly in the fishing game, for some reason) and as a result the whole thing left me flat.

From my conclusion, you'd be fair to say that I thought Gaia Online was absolutely terrible; you'd also be fair to question why it's so popular if it's as bad as I say it is – am I just missing the point? I don't think so. Gaia Online's popularity has grown from its forums, and that's where it mostly stays. The MMO aspects are good in theory at engaging the audience, but they're currently so badly implemented that it's no wonder that few players take them up on it.

However, I don't think that's particularly a problem for them from a business standpoint. Gaia Online is very successful, particularly in attracting sponsors; and their other monetization ideas, such as limited edition items for avatars, are very canny indeed. There are more than enough users willing to put up with the clunky interface and slow loading to watch adverts in the hope of getting swag for their avatar -- after all, I spent time learning about Don't Mess with the Zohan, Skittles and MTV while there -- that I think it will remain very successful for them. It's just not worthy of it.