What Kind Of Grabber Are You?

[Darth Daddicus]

What kind of grabber are you?

There are many different ways to play this wonderful goldmine of a game called Booty Grab! The original intent of Gaia for this game seems to be long lost. They had assumed that people would go through the forums, chatting with one another, or reading on a certain subject matter, and randomly find a tank which was glowing that users could open and grab gold. Why they would assume such a thing is beyond me. They should have known there were people on their site who loved to figure out how these things worked so they could use it to the advantage of themselves and other Gaians. Gaians began making threads in the Gaia Aquarium forums with titles such as, "GLOWING TANK! GRAB IT!" so that when their tank was glowing, they could tell more people and earn more gold. Then they made links to their threads and placed them in their signatures so that other people could tell everybody about their glowing tank as well. This became such a popular trend that Gaia had to actually make another sub-forum for people who just wanted to talk about aquariums without having to muddle through the hundreds of glowing tank notices.

Not too long after people became enamored with having glowing fish which they could earn gold from, there came a fellow by the username Absol - Ruler of Chaos. He figured out how to use Gaia's code for the tanks to figure out when the fish would glow, what fish would glow, and how much gold a person could expect to earn from the glowing tank. Another Gaian, King Awesomolocity, was able to replicate and alter the work of Absol - Ruler Of Chaos, to bring us the most widely-used "glow-timer" on Gaia. Now Gaians could not only place a "Bump" code in their signatures, but a "Glow" timer as well. Unfortunately, the hard work of these wonderful Gaians had to be watered down before Gaia would actually allow the timers to remain on their site. I know everybody thinks these timers are absolutely fantastic the way they are, but if you would have been around to see what they once did, and are still capable of doing, you would miss the originals. Currently, King Awesomolocity is hosting both his and Absol - Ruler Of Chaos' codes. King Awesomolocity is also continuously working on his timer to improve anything he thinks needs improved. Absol - Ruler Of Chaos is still a productive member of the Booty Grab community as he has made it possible to give the Booty Prowling Panthers Guild their very own unique glow timer.

I have only categorized the methods I have witnessed and practiced myself, and this is definitely not a HOW-TO guide. I'm not here to give instructions on how to best play the game, but I can definitely tell you how I play it and it works for me rather well. For the best advice, try Lady Zombie Robots Booty Grab Instructional Guide, Awesomolocitys Analyzer usage Guide, Awesomolocitys Lag Reduction Guide, and this amazing History Of Booty Grab Forumentary created by Shadey Kitty!

Now, before anybody starts answering the question at the beginning of this thread, please read through each of the categories because you may, like myself, belong to more than one category.  

[Darth Daddicus]

The Stray Dog

This is the group of people which are our target audience when we create a bump thread. These folks hang out in the Gaia Aquarium Forum looking for active threads to be bumped to the top.
They predominantly stick to the higher-end tanks such as Airsharks, Giant Stone Coatls, and Dolphins, so if you have these fish in your tank, be sure to title your bump thread accordingly.
They are on at all times of the day and night and may or may not understand the language you wrote your bump thread's title in. However, they all know that if something is titled "AIRSHARKS!" it's almost a sure bet that they are going to make a lot of gold when they open the thread.
I call them Stray Dogs because they don't normally belong to a guild or group of Booty Grab friends. They sustain themselves off of the scraps thrown to them by the person who is actively bumping threads. They also have a tendency to run around in packs when they log off of their main accounts and log on to their mules to get as much gold as they can from the glowing tanks.
This method is effective if you're merely going out to earn gold quickly without too much effort. We love these folks because there are so many of them and they earn the tank owners a large amount of gold. However, we don't even know who they are. They don't usually bother with bumping threads as is evident when you see that your tank has 5 players but you have only been bumped by one Gaian.
 

[Darth Daddicus]

The Pet Dog

The difference between the Stray Dog and the Pet Dog is the fact that these folks are kind enough to bump our threads and we sure do like to give them a treat by tipping their bumps. In addition to tipping them, if we see them in our threads often enough, we also socialize with them and give them other things besides just the 25 gold from the tip.
They still only get to collect the scraps from other people's bumps, but they sure are grateful for them.
These folks might be reluctant to start a tank of their own because of the uncertainty of their ability to maintain a profitable or popular tank. As most tank owners are aware, it is no easy task to maintain a profitable aquarium. They may also be reluctant to start a tank because they don't get on Gaia as often as it would take to keep the tank glowing.
This is an excellent method for folks to use because they are well-loved among the Booty Grab community and they don't have to bother with the expense of maintaining an aquarium so they get to keep all of their gold!
Unfortunately, these folks are often coerced into making a tank of their own by the people they have been bumping and end up on the losing side of the equation when they realize how infrequently the people who's tanks they were bumping actually get on to bump their tanks.  

[Darth Daddicus]

Masterbootyers

These folks are great at bumping glow threads........if it's their own! They normally have several mule accounts with which to bump and play their tanks with and do a great job of making themselves a lot of gold. They are also sure to make several friend requests and keep their statuses filled with their tank's next glow time. They will go so far as to put a direct link to their main account's tank with a glow timer on their mules signature just in case their mule was in a thread that their main does not frequent.
They might employ this method because they have invested a lot of gold into their tanks and want to insure they get a decent return on their investment. They might do this because they like playing awesome tanks and what better way to do this then to make your own awesome tank and know exactly when it's going to glow?
If you choose to use this method, you are sure to get at least as many plays as seven, (if you happen to have seven mules and you're online at the time), each time you glow.
The downside to this method is the fact that Gaians pay attention to who is who and what mules are being used and when they see a person using this method, they are disinclined to help out because the Masterbootyer is perceived as being greedy. Add this perception to the tendency of Masterbootyers to ignore the glowing tanks of those who are bumping their threads, and this perception is considered fact. Besides which, I just called you folks Masterbootyers, and I hope to spread that term throughout all of Gaia so everybody knows how much you like playing with your own Booty.  

[Darth Daddicus]

Grateful Stalkers

These folks have or have had an active Booty Grabbing aquarium. They go through their bump threads checking to see who has bumped their threads and they make sure to bump those people in return when their tanks glow. They actively hunt down these folks and make sure they show their gratitude. They will add people to their friend's list so they can see their friend's tank status updates.
You'll never know when these folks will be active. You might be on at different times. Unless you go through your own bump thread to check for bumps, you may never even know you're being stalked by one of these Gaians.
The best part of being a Grateful Stalker is the possibility of people stalking you in return. This is also a great way to use Gaia for its intended purpose, and that is to meet new people and make new friends.
The downfall of this method is that you may end up adding so many people to your stalker thread that you end up making a Booty Grabbing thread or guild and become broken-hearted when you see that you've just missed one of your friend's glows because you have too many pages to keep track of. This guild offers the Grateful Stalker the ability to have their own stalker thread without having to go through any of the coding or tank requesting normally required by such a thread here in Stalkers Paradise!  

[Darth Daddicus]

Guildies/Threadies

Chances are likely, if you are reading this, this is you. Yeah, sure, you want to play Booty Grab, but you also really want to be a part of a community. What better way to do that then to join a guild? A guild or specialized thread helps people become closer to one another and is a great place to make friends and meet new people. People who belong to guilds and threads come from all walks of life. Sometimes, they don't even participate in the community activities, but they sure do like to read the posts of those who do participate. You can tell if your tank is being bumped by a Guildie/Threadie because they use specialized bumps when they bump your tank's bump thread. Take the personalized bump as an invitation to their group. That's the reason for it. Each Guildie/Threadie wants their community or communities to grow. I personally noticed the Booty Prowling Panthers because my tank was being bumped with their bump codes and soon I began asking questions and investigating what this guild was all about. Before too long, I was invited to join their guild. If you notice your tank being bumped by these folks, ask around and get involved. Joining a guild is a good way to get more exposure to your tank. The only negative side of joining a guild/thread is the possibility that you may be asked to become more involved in the community by wearing a specific picture in your signature line or show your loyalty in some other way shape or form to remain in the guild. If you're a passive, introverted type, guilds and threads might not be your thing. However, you might want to give people a chance to get to know you. Just because you might not think much of yourself, doesn't mean others won't appreciate your company. Trust me on this.  

[Darth Daddicus]

Bootymancers

This is the name I designate to those who attempt to summon other grabbers to their glowing tanks or the glowing tanks of their friends by quoting known Booty Grabbers in the thread where the tank is located. The assumption is that Grabbers check their notices when they get a new one and rush to find the glowing tank. This task is accomplished by using the "Quote" button above the reply box and placing the user's name after an equals sign and between two quotation marks. It should look like this, except with brackets:
quote="Username" /quote.
If you become friends with a skilled Bootymancer, you'll end up with more full games than you can handle. However, there is a strict etiquette which is very difficult to follow when becoming a Bootymancer, and you should follow this etiquette at all times. For instance, if you attempt to summon several people just by making a bunch of random quote boxes and pasting the entire lot of them in your glowing thread every time you are glowing, and those people are not online, you're going to annoy quite a few of them. You might possibly annoy enough of them to the point of gathering more enemies than friends. Some of them may quietly scorn or ignore you, but there is also the chance that they will call you out publicly and cause a big scene about it. How do I know this? I've seen the scene. It was not pretty. It was between two people who's tanks I stalked frequently. Of course, the fight wasn't with me or about me, so I continued going about my business pretending I didn't see anything.

As far as I can tell, the etiquette requires these things:
Only summon Gaians who you know are online at the time.
Make friends with the Gaians you are summoning.
Attend to your summons when somebody summons you to their glow.
Bump the thread you are summoned to.
Grab the tank you are summoned to.

It seems like very few rules, but they are very difficult to follow if you're only going to be online for a short time, or you're busy typing out some epic stuff and you don't get your notices until it's too late to grab anything. If you're going to begin doing this, be really careful about it. I've only known of one Gaian capable of doing this with any success, and when he was doing it, he was VERY successful at it.  

[Darth Daddicus]

Casual Gaian

These are just people who happen to be wandering around Gaia through the forums and see a tank glowing. They click the BUMP HERE WHEN I GLOW! link you have in your signature. They bump your glow. They grab your gold. They continue reading the thread after the 60 second interruption. They might not even bump your glow. They might just grab your tank. Whatever. We appreciate that too. They're the reason why you put that dang link in your signature in the first place. You never know when some Casual Gaian might just waltz into your glowing tank. The only way to get these folks to notice your tank is to diversify your interests and get involved with many different Gaians. The downside to this is the tendency Booty Grabbers have with recruiting other Gaians into the Booty Grab community aggressively. "You sure bump my tank a lot! You need to get a tank, bro!" Yeah, sure, tell them all about the millions of gold you make without telling them about the millions of gold you have to spend on fish to replenish it when they're dead. Owning a tank is a big responsibility and there are very few of us who are doing it for a large profit. Sure, Airshark tanks make their owners and other Gaians a lot of gold, but they're also very expensive to maintain. Just let these folks continue to grab and bump you, and don't get too aggressive with the recruiting, and you won't lose another friend because of the needless frustration you put them through. You might have a tank that's in the top 10% every day, but you've also been at this for a while. People know you. If some stranger made a full Airshark tank and thought they would make a fortune their first day, they'd be wrong. We all know this. Regardless, you need to get these people to grab your tank and bump your thread as frequently as possible, so try to make sure your signature link doesn't warn them that clicking on the link takes them to a site outside of Gaia, (even though the link does no such thing), and keep diversifying your interests and spread your friend bubble to other parts of Gaia.