Actually no, its far from Gaia's cash shop.

Thank god.

Originally Posted by FAGGY CHAN

So in other words, it's gaia's cash shop.

Ummm no? It's Menewsha's CI shop.

@FAGGY CHAN: Well there's no point repeating the same tired "we're not Gaia" message throughout this thread, but the short answer is no.

Right now all Mennies are used for is buying CIs. We had to switch to a second currency in order to enable users to buy CIs using alternate payment methods (such as through texts, which has been requested for ages). :yes:

EDIT: Darn my slowness. XD

Kinda like Roliana and Flyff's System of thier currency (Roliana- Platuims,Flyff-G-potatos)

Wait, I think it said that it's $4.99 per message for SMS texting. o_o
Is it? Cause $7.50 and $2.50 are quite different.

Originally Posted by Kaema

Wait, I think it said that it's $4.99 per message for SMS texting. o_o
Is it? Cause $7.50 and $2.50 are quite different.

That depends on the country. The US is $4.99 but you receive 500 mennies. The UK is 1.5GBP but you receive 250 mennies after the exchange rate.

Can you get 250 mennies from SMS texting in the US? Or is the only option 500?

Nope. D: This isn't directed at you Neyor, but I still want to stress that whether it's out of love or not it's still irritating. And if you look at the previous post and others in the thread they clearly state:

it's gaia's cash shop

,

Gaia Cash all over again

,

It's like Gaia all over again

,

Mene is following Gaia down that same dark path

,

I don't like the whole meenies thing.... reminds me too much of gaia now with their whole cash thing.

And that's only skimming the top of the third page.

So this message is in general. Not aimed at any specific person so don't get your panties in a twist. This is Menewsha! First, I will point out that the staff has not been "all talk." They have proven they have no interest in following Gaia's footsteps with the following actions.

Multiple-Equip CIs: They made the decision that users can equip all poses. This decision had the users best interest in mind and the fact that the staff did not like how it is executed on Gaia. Now, on GAIA...if you wanted to equip more than one pose from a CI. You will pay an additional $2.50 or purchase it from a user with gold. In addition, Menewsha could make more money by not allowing you to wear all the poses. But it's been stated that they didn't believe it would be fair to you. Amazing...they put fairness before cash!

Hair: On Menewsha, hair is free! On Gaia, you will pay up to 7380 gold for a hairstyle that will disappear if you buy another one. The reason for free hair is because the staff didn't like paying for hair on Gaia. Go figure!

Eyes: You like all those little peepers, right? For the same reason above all eyes are free. On Gaia, you will pay up to 850 for eyes.

Ears: Also free! There may not be many options. But on Gaia, you will pay up to 4200 gold for a pair of ears. At least you get to keep them in your inventory. Unlike the eyes, hair, and skin.

Skin: Aren't zombies fun! Once again free skin, because the staff didn't like the idea of users paying for it. On Gaia, 100 gold isn't a terrible amount to pay for skin. However, you can pay as much as 24k for a single use potion to become an imp. There are other special creature potions. However, I highly doubt that Menewsha would make it's users pay for a one time use item because it is a ripoff.

Next, I would like to say that it clearly states in the first post:

you asked and we LISTENED! SMS IS HERE!

. So that means in the site feedback forum, users asked for this option. After the staff discussed it, we now have this option. Might I add the reason for bolding the word option, is because that is all that it is. This isn't a cash shop or exclusive item. Those who could not donate and can benefit from this option, now have it. The CI's can still be found in the exchange if someone still can not donate with the 3 available options.

Next, in concerns to having a cash shop. It has already been stated by the site owner:

WE DON'T WANT TO BE GAIA! Mennies were an essential step to handle multiple currencies, and to make things a lot easier to deal with. Compare us like Myspace and Facebook. Myspace is full of spam and ads, Facebook has the users interests in mind and doesn't force anything down your throat more than they have to. Gaia is the Myspace in this situation

Plus there is a thread concerning the cash shop in the site feedback forum where users and the staff have talked about it in great length, here. If anyone took the time to read the responses from staff in that thread, they would clearly see that staff listen and respond to ideas. Where on Gaia did their staff chat with users about a cash shop and ask for their opinions, ideas, and concerns? If I recall correctly, a nice NPC introduced it and that was that.

Another thing, users can clearly see staff members posting in the thread answering questions. There is absolutely no reason to post: "Well on Gaia..." The staff of MENEWSHA are present in this thread. There have been users who have said..."I have a concern about x." or "What if a, b, or c happens?" or "Will q, r, s happen in the future?" If those users can address Menewsha's staff with their questions and concerns, what is wrong with the rest of the users stating what they're worried about or their questions instead of squawking that Menewsha is doomed to the deepest pits of hell...because they're going to be just like GAIA!

In response to the whole Menewsha is just going to get greedy for cash. I'm sure users enjoy the new games, comic updates, items updates, events, etc. Well, Insomniac did not lean forward, bat his eyelashes, and reveal some skin in order to pay for all of these things. I didn't even mention server costs and all of the other things it takes to keep the site running. It all takes money. They have already taken steps to show that they have no interest in becoming Gaia. It seems either people forget or refuse to see it. It's like a company releases a new flavor of ice cream. Even if you don't like that new flavor. You have no obligation to buy it and it may be your neighbor's new favorite flavor. But you wouldn't call up the company's customer support and proclaim that their future has been shot to shit. You could call them and give feedback on the new flavor.

They don't need constant reminders of what not to do. Many, if not all of the staff have been on Gaia and know what Gaia is all about. They're not blind. :/ So the constant mimicry of Gaia is only a dampener on staff moral. There is nothing wrong with feeling anxious or worried. But you can voice how you feel and get feedback without dragging another site into it.

Snowflower, I officially love you. lol. I mean god, I'm not even on the staff and am getting annoyed at seeing the word "Gaia" about 6 times a page. x.x;

You pretty much just said everything I've been thinking, only a lot more nicely than I've been thinking it. XD ♥

Originally Posted by Kaema

Can you get 250 mennies from SMS texting in the US? Or is the only option 500?

Unfortunately at this time you can't. I'd like to be able to, but it's not yet an option. I greatly trust the company we're working with to offer SMS however they are unfortunately a bit behind the times with their price options. In the future I will quite likely trial other companies with other price and country options to give the users more flexibility, but I'd prefer to give the users some stability before doing any testing :)

*waves flag*

D: mene cash

please mene PLEEAAASSEEE

don't become like gaia ;.;

Cmon guys.
=/

We don't have a cash shop.

Mennies =/= Gaia Cash
Mene =/= Gaia AND WON'T EVER BE

Mennies = a way for people to get CIs with a phone.
IT'S ALTERNATE CURRENCY. We can't buy commons with money, nor random money-only items.

IT'S STILL ONLY CONTRIBUTION ITEMS. D<


Now.
What if we'll NEVER use Mennies?

Could the silver money thing be tweaked so that if it's at 0, it'll be on disappear or something? @[email protected];;;;
...-really dislikes the look of two coins-
._.;

People seriously need to chill out over the whole deal of "MENE IS BECOMING LIKE GAIA" and such because they made a CI shop. They haven't even seen much of it and it's already getting complaints. That's friggin' ridiculous to be honest.

All I have to say is, I have faith in this site. I never had faith in gaia because I knew they were just using their shop for profit in the first place. I knew it a while ago. Mene is actually using their shop to give users another way to purchase CIs as they have said from the beginning. Mene actually cares about each and every user.

Now, doesn't that itself tell you how different mene and gaia are?

*Got a headache from reading this thread* D:

I have 2.50 on my Credit card, I send it to the site and it's converted to 'Mennies', I has 250 Mennies and the CI is 250 Mennies. OMG I CAN HAS CI FOR MENNIEZ>?!?!?!

How is that like a 'cash shop'? ATM all you get is a CI. No options for other items, just CI.
Not being rude, but I think alot of this thread just stemmed from people jumping onto the fact that it's a new currency, and not actually checking it out.
It's like a banking system. You have a good pay check, and few things you NEED to spend money on, so you set money aside in the bank for later. But the 'bank' is just 'Mennies' now.


Staffers- Thanks you for this! From what I've seen it's help a few people in other countries, and that in and of itself is a huge and awesome kicker.
On a personal usage note, I think I'll probably use this as well, because I always try to get and set aside a few sets each month, and this will be beneficial to me in it's own way. :3

I THANX THE CEILINGCAT NAO!!! Or should i thanx the Basementcat? D8 *
*Friends and I were speaking like the LOLCATs all day, not quite out of my system yet. XD

Originally Posted by Insomniac

I'm sure yan will read this and looking into fixing it up :)



If that is what you've been doing in the past then yes you have been using Paypal - you just haven't been using an account with them. In that case Paypal is just acting as a credit card processor and is not saving your credit card details for others to potentially abuse.

Ok, got it. Thanks much for explaining.

LOL This is nothing like a gaia cash shop. Gaia cash shop is a shop full of items that you have to pay real money for.. All this is, is a second currency used to buy Contribution items via cell phone. That's it!

You can save up the mennies for a different month, or just buy the CI the month you buy the mennies. Or just buy the CIs the same ol' way you did before mennies.

So many people whining! It's no different than buying CIs every month, just now it's been transferred into a different form.
Awesome, guys. :3 I've been wishing I could pay with my phone for a while.
Though, I will admit...I thought it was an event at first, and I got excited. XD Damn you for crushing my hope.

I think people are just still in shock. I'll admit, I was shocked at first, but now that I've gotten a bit more used to the idea, it seems a bit more appealing. Maybe the same thing will happen to others as the idea of the CI shop grows on people.

*Sniffs the air* This might mean a Cash Shop is in the works. Not that I´m complaining. We are already past the point where we need to establish one.

Well this is a big breakthrough for Mene! I love seeing the site grow and prosper. Keep coming with the awesome updates guys!

I'm glad we've finally got SMS, now it means I can actually buy items ~!

I just want to confirm something that may have been already asked (but I don't really want to slog through 12 pages of posts just to find out. I have things to do, like homework).

So, we buy the Mennies using our paypal accounts (or phones), then we use the mennies to buy CIs? Is it possible to just get the CI's with PayPal still, or do we have to get Mennies to get CI's?

If it is the later, then it seems a bit annoying, having an extra step just to get a CI. Not that I have money in my PayPal account at the moment though...

Yes, you have to get Mennies to get CIs. You cannot directly buy CIs anymore.

But really, how much of a hassle is it? A couple of extra clicks? Not really such a huge annoyance -- at least in my opinion. ;)

I just hope that you don't go all crazy like gaia did and make everything revolve around the purchase of virtual items. I like buying contribution items.... something neat a little to the side that supports the site at the same time... But gaia was to the point of headaches.

Something tells me I will only stick to monthly items... I cannot be sucked into a second attempt at selling me virtual items... Sorry. Although I do like the fact that you finally are labeling it with a virtual currency just in case you want to save it for later.