To anyone and everyone reading this:
Bear in mind, these are just ideas I have floating around in my head, so take them or leave them, but I do hope they help.
One, while you have a standing order with the staff to communicate issue to the user base, from what I have seen, there is a big discrepancy between what is communicated from the staff (which has gotten better), and what the userbase is actually concerned about.
We'll take alchemy for example, since that is the hot topic at the moment.
Several users brought up the issue of Gaia's newer project, with poor drop percentages, statements that have been made by staff that were seemingly inappropriate, issues with the system that are way unbalanced, and as a result, these issues were brought time and again to AtA, with today being a big showing of users voicing their concerns about it.
Yet, what we keep hearing is "we'll look into it, we know folks are unhappy, we're trying." And then...nothing happens that is visible to the userbase. few updates to the issues brought up, no sign that it is being actively looked into, or any real indication that it is in fact being worked on at all.
And that may be standard policy in the office, but it is a poor way to handle the business. gaia is a growing company, and wants to compete with the big names in gaming online right now, such as Zynga and Rovio. But these companies are light years ahead of Gaia in the realm of customer interaction.
It's been my understanding, and yes, I know I may be wrong here, that Lanzer is kind of the defacto "Face of Gaia's Staff" for Gaia's modern format. But half the time, it feels like he's feeding the users candy coated info, and not really addressing the issues at hand. The AtA is supposed to be fun, we know, but it's really the only time we get to directly ask the staff questions and get an immediate response...if we get lucky enough to get to first page of the thread.
If the staff can't all attend (Or at least the Dept. Heads) then why not get a person whose job is to gather info related to the issues from the week before, address them in the first post of the AtA, and then can take follow up question or even nice and silly ones.
I know the staff monitors SF (and to a degree, GCD), and don't have time for ALL the threads, but when a major issue is staring your staff in the face, it feels like it's being swept under the rug.
Maybe what is needed is a more...prominent PR dept.? One whose face is regularly seen, and deeply connected to the dept. heads, getting the information, putting it together in an easy to digest format, and making it presentable to the userbase. And not just the issues the site has, but the stuff you guys have in the works that you are really excited about!
New contests in the GCD by DJ Helsing? Heck yeah, that'll go in. New items in zOMG? Great, let's tell folks! Fixed some long standing issues with some items? Hurray! Let's tell everyone!
PR has always been a huge issue for Gaia, and from what I have seem, I don't know if it is because it's never really been addressed, the pr folks you have aren't stepping up, or there just isn't really anyone there who knows how to do it. But it's hurting you guys. And has you continue to expand and grow, that issue is only going to get worse.
Biggest thing I can suggest, is hiring someone, who has either made this a career goal, or someone who really gets and cares about Gaia like your userbase does. You want someone there who can live and breathe the site like any other user, and is a part of it! And wants to share the best of the site, what's being done to make it better, and really listens to what folks have to say!
Thank you for taking the time to listen. I hope that some of this can be put to good use.
Joshua Diener, aka Ridley Starsmore
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I love living in the future. 
