Ten Ton Hamster

Questions by: Padma "LadyLotus" Fuller
Answers by: David Georgeson, Sr Producer/Director Gaia Online


The Ten Ton Hamster staff attended the NY Comic Convention this past weekend and had the incredible opportunity to interveiw David Georgeson, the Sr Producer/Director of Gaia Online. There were so many questions that we had for him that we had to split this interview into two parts! Here are the first nine (of 18) questions that we asked him.

1. Tell us about Gaia Online
Gaia Online has been traditionally a social hang out spot for teens 13-17 yrs old. We are the biggest forums spot on the net. There are over one million posts per day on our forums. There are over 5 million active customers. I believe it has been so successful because it allows people to show a little bit of who they are. It has a baby My Space feel to it. You set up your own profile and register as an Avatar that you can dress up and present a unique front that is just yours. You also get a car that you can customize. You can watch movies, go to the car rally, play games, and much more.


2. What inspired you to create this kind of a community to begin with?
It was a few guys who skateboarded together and liked anime. They thought, “We like this stuff….I wonder if other people like it too?” So, they set up a portal, and they were right! A lot of people like that stuff. It was a place to be away from reality and have your own little niche. It has a strong sense of community.


3. Why make an MMO aspect to Gaia Online?
Up until now Gaia has been a lot like a mall. There are lots of things to do in it and it’s a hang out spot. But not a lot of people know about it. We are trying to build a ‘Nordstroms’ at the end of our ‘mall’ so that more people come check it out! The MMO isn’t a different thing. It is really well integrated into the site. Lots of people (who aren’t Gaian’s already) will hear about this free, no download game, and think “Huh, what the heck…I’ll try that” that will lead to them finding out about all the other parts of Gaia like the art arena & forums and its my job to make sure they stick around and find out about all that.


4. Will Gaia Online remain free to play once the MMOG is launched?
Very much so! Yes!


5. Will People have to download the MMOG?
No there is no download at all. It is flash based with java-server back-end. It will be accessible to anyone via their browsers as long as they have flash installed. It is a very seamless experience. Our aim is to support the computers that kids are using in the schools.


6. Is there going to be a name for the MMOG and can you tell us what that is?
They absolutely have a name. We ask our users for a lot of feedback. We had a contest for naming the game and we picked a winner for that. We know exactly what the name is, but we aren’t ready to announce it quite yet.


7. When will that title be released?
Summer 2008


8. Is the game in beta yet?
It’s in alpha beta now. We recently added new aspects to the game so it is extending our alpha phase. The beta will start small (500 people) and eventually will end up where we have ten thousand (or more) in the beta to make sure the stress test goes well.


9. Will you pull from your + 6 million users for beta? Or will it be an outside open beta?
It will not be an open beta. We love our users, the love us, and they are willing to help like you can’t believe! It’s a good thing we have!

End Part I

Click here to read Part II of this interveiw where Dave gives us some details about the upcoming MMOG like PVP, Pets, Leveling, and lots of other great insights to the game!