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First let met state that people need to remember that Gaia is an internet site that has nothing to do with real life. Secondly the event was just a game and that items procured in the event should not be taken seriously.

With that said let me tell you why I am making this journal entry. I am tired of people complaining about how the event went down and about what happened to the skins. Many people are coming up with accusations that just aren't true. Sore losers are complaining, whining, and demanding better "consolation prizes". Sore winners are being bitchy, moany, and over all jerks. There will always be people like this no matter what event comes along. Those of us that know this and try to keep the cat fights down are getting tired of all the idiocy going around. Items are items and events are events. If you don't like the outcome, then deal with it. It's an event. The only time an issue should be brought up is if there is solid proof that hacks, cheats, and over all fowl play has been done.

About the whole issue with skins. Before the event even started, there was an announcement stating that the winners would be able to keep their skins and the losers would lose their skins. The expectation was that there wouldn't be an consolation prize. Knowing this, people chose the side based on what they wanted. Whether that was because they liked the story line, the items, or the sides in general was their choice. But everyone KNEW the loser would lose their skin.

During the Halloween event of 2009 there were many glitches. There are always major glitches during events when there are sides you have to chose. During events where you don't have to chose sides there are less glitches.

These glitches though lead to many people pointing figures and laying blame. Mean words were thrown around and flaming topics were made. The people in charge of the event admitted to messing with the event and causing the glitches early on and fixed what they had messed up. One of the major glitch events happened on the second day of the event (third if you include the day it was taken down). For 7 hours straight, the SIN weapon would not fire. During this time BOO gained the equivalent amount of points for each fire and SIN gained a total of 10 points. After midnight, the firing issue was fixed and around 6am the lost points were given back to SIN.

Another major glitch happened mid event. Another firing issue happened where both sides stayed tied for a good 2 days. This was not supposed to have occurred.

There are questions about the last few hours. Some claim the last few hours was another major glitch which caused BOO's weapon to stop firing while others claimed it was perfectly normal. While both sides have valid arguments, when the crybabies weren't involved, it is clear that there was no glitch. BOO was still gaining points for every fire. The two weapons were firing at alternative times making it seem as though BOO was not gaining points when BOO was gaining points. During these few hours SIN scheduled a mass sacrifice from at least 1000 members, which caused a major spike in the powering of the SIN weapon. I should know, I was a part of this mass effort. I communicated through AIM with several of the leaders of the mass effort in order to keep the effort a secret from BOO mules who were in SIN.

During the last hour of the event though, it was noted that there was a large spike in members suddenly joining SIN. And I mean large. Say about 17,000 large. These were all mule accounts meant to lower the points of SIN. It was also noted that BOO did not have a large spike in new members in the last hour. During the weekend between the last day of the event and Monday, those in charge of the event sat down and calculated the total points. In this calculation any mule accounts that didn't show any effort in the event were removed from the count. These mules included people who stopped after getting the skin, who didn't make an effort to gain any of the items, who didn't make an effort at following or being followed, and people who just sat around. Mules were removed from both sides. With the mules removed, it revealed that SIN in deed have more points then BOO.

I will note that when the first major glitch happened many BOO members were more then happy to accept victory even though they were winning because of a glitch. These does not reflect on all BOO members. I will also note that not every SIN member accepted victory when a few glitches caused BOO to fall behind momentarily.

The point is over all BOO lost and SIN won. Because of this SIN was allowed to keep their original skins and BOO lost their original skin. The expectation was that BOO would lose the skin completely. What was not expected was that they would receive a "consolation skin". Many people have accurately predicted how the event was going to end, with Jack stepping in and stopping the fight. There had been hopes that both sides would be able to keep their skins, but this was not the case. What happened was not expected. The winning side, SIN, did in fact keep their skin. The losing side, BOO, did lose their skins but also received a consolation skin.

This consolation skin is like a commemorative item to show that you participated in the event. Now there are a lot of BOO people who are complaining about it being ugly. Well, in my opinion it looks a heck of a lot better then the original BOO skin looked, but that's my opinion. There are petitions going up for a better "consolation skin" even though it was expected the losing side would lose the skin all together. To demand a better consolation skin is consider greedy and rude. Be happy with what you got and work around the whole soul bound thing.

I need to explain the logical reasoning behind making an item soul bound. Usually soul bound items are soul bound because they are commemorative items. They are to show that you participated in an event, that you were there and didn't just sit around and buy the items after the event. They show a time line to new users. Soul bound items are meant to encourage new users to participate in events in order to get their own soul bound items. Although it doesn't seem fair to make soul bound items, it is. If you were giving away a limited edition item to everyone that showed up and then gave it away to anyone on the street, then it wouldn't be fair to those that actually put the time and effort into showing up. It works the same way for these events.

Soul bound items show that you did take the time and effort to show up and participate, no matter how little or big. No matter what the item looks like you should be proud to have received it. You have an item that many people will not have in the future.

The other reason behind soul bound items has to do with the market. Soul bound items are to soul bound to prevent people from stacking one side with mules in order to get the item and then to later on sell it. By mass flooding the market with these event items, you hurt the market. Also, it's not considered a commemorative item anymore. If everyone has it, then what's the point of remembering who earned it?

Now one thing I will agree with though is that something needs to be done about soul bound items. I don't agree with removing the soul bound thing altogether. It's there for a reason. What needs to be done is for the inventory to be updated to handle soul bound items. There should be an option to either destroy it, which is done with garbage/flowers/bugs, or to be able to store it in the storage. There are some people that don't want it in their active inventory taking up space. This is understandable and acceptable.

In summary, the event is over. Everyone got something for participating and the losers skin was taken away, as we were told would happen. Like I said though, the event is over. We are all gaians again so stop referring to each other as "BOO or SIN". You took the chance when you chose a side, you got a bunch of items you got to keep, and you were able to participate in the event. If you don't like the consolation prize then that's your decision. There are people who hate all the skins, who like all the skins, who like one skin better then the other. Do not ruin what has been done because you do not agree. What you say is not what everyone thinks. It's time to grow up and remember that this is all a game. Just a game. The event happened, it's over, move on. We will have another event in Christmas to worry and argue about so please, stop acting like petty children over something that was planned in advance. Don't come up with accusations and lies just to claim you were cheated out of winning. If you still feel like the event was unfair then be logical about it. Post real reasons not that you "think it happened" a certain way. Don't point fingers and don't accuse an entire group of people because of one bad apple.

For those of you that actually read this through, thanks for taking the time. For the record, I chose SIN because I didn't want to follow someone who orders Liam to be his minions and then tosses Gino aside. I chose the Sentinel because, even though she was evil, she gave us a choice. She didn't demand our loyalty like the Overseer did. I chose to join SIN long before the event even started.

That and I like red items....