With or without an avatar?

[DarkGrey Heroine]

First of all, hello there~
Jumping right into the topic.

I noticed a lot of users, mostly rather new users, don't upload an avatar for them to use on the forums, and honestly I just wondered why. Then again, why is something like an avatar necessary or unnecessary to you on the forums - is it a nice thing to use, a thing used to represent you or a thing not worth investing time into, in your opinion?

In my case, I often use my avatar on the forums to show one of the many favourite characters I have across various series. I often used Vanitas avatars (as is my current one), but also avatars of favs from Mystic Messenger, Attack on Titan, Undertale, Pandora Hearts, Tokyo Ghoul, The World Ends With You, NieR Automata... All temporary avatars I use to display a character I like, one at a time, because often I relate to a part of them and thus it's like showing a part of who I am, just a part out of many.

In the long run, an avatar often remains in the minds of people I talk with, and it happened in the past that associations between a character and me as a user were made, which I don't mind of course. I think online avatars can create quite a lot of things around them and have meaning (even a simple meaning like "hey, I think this character is cool"), and therefore I always use one, also because it's just fun to see a nice image rather than a blank space where you post a reply, in my opinion.

That's about me,

now, how about you?
​

 

[Deleted member 246005]

I think it just slipped my mind or i was lazy to fix it.

 

[Launchpad]

Newbies get teeny tiny avatars that pale in comparison to the big boy 6000 post avatars. It is a social ghetto and dare I say it, stinky too

 

[DarkGrey Heroine]

Newbies get teeny tiny avatars that pale in comparison to the big boy 6000 post avatars. It is a social ghetto and dare I say it, stinky too

Pff Launchy boi, that didn't stop me from making the most out of my pathetic 100x100 available avatar size back when I was under 1000 posts :'P

but yes it IS stinky as hell, it takes so much to reach a beautiful bigass avatar size around here D: as inappropriate as this may sound lolol

 

[Zen]

Dang, I was hoping for a conversation of what the world would be like without Avatar: The Last Bumbender or maybe Avatar: Smurfs - The Movie.

Anyway, I don't post enough to bother with uploading an avatar anymore. Just don't see the point.

 

[Veevee]

I think it's a practical thing to have besides making a statement. If an user with an avatar posts something, it's much easier for me to align what that person said to other posts later because I remember which "avatar" said that and get an imagination of that person by trying to remember pieces of what that person said across various threads and get an idea of what that person likes or dislikes. It's the same in real life, I have a hard time remembering faces and it already has happened that I wasn't able to recognize a person when they changed their haircut and dyed their hair because I balance this lacking ability of remembering faces by trying to remember quirks and traits of that person like "that person with red hair", "that person who always wears sunglasses" or "that person who always talks about topic x". Avatars fulfill a similar role to me, it's so much easier to remember "the person who likes to use Vanitas avatars" than the person who is "only" a username. Of course that's fine too, it's just more difficult to me and it kinda feels to me that that person probably won't stay long. I don't know where that feeling stems from, but to me, opening an account on an online forum is similar to decorating a house you just moved in, you personalize it, you want to express yourself, for your and other's sake, so leaving no other information than a name kinda feels like I'm only here temporarily and plan to leave soon. Just my two cents.

 

[Chuuya]

Pff Launchy boi, that didn't stop me from making the most out of my pathetic 100x100 available avatar size back when I was under 1000 posts :'P

but yes it IS stinky as hell, it takes so much to reach a beautiful bigass avatar size around here D: as inappropriate as this may sound lolol

This is mostly why I always changed my avie many times, to make it nice despite size.
Also agree it was terrible, can't wait till I join the big leagues which may take me years. :'(

 

[Xelruna]

Honestly uploading an avatar is the first thing I must do on whatever new site I've joined; I just feel naked without it, haha. Plus I like showing off my cute character loves -- in this case, Kagehira Mika from Ensemble Stars. Also thanks for this thread for answering my unspoken question of how others had different sizes of avatars; I have a long way to level up to Bigger Mika Avatars lol.

 

[DarkGrey Heroine]

Of course that's fine too, it's just more difficult to me and it kinda feels to me that that person probably won't stay long. I don't know where that feeling stems from, but to me, opening an account on an online forum is similar to decorating a house you just moved in, you personalize it, you want to express yourself, for your and other's sake, so leaving no other information than a name kinda feels like I'm only here temporarily and plan to leave soon.

Yes, I see the practical aspects too, it's easier to remember an avatar (or a character or something) than just a username, given also how random or simply diverse usernames can be. I quoted only this part of your reply (loved it btw, it was the kind of talk I hoped for) because it's a thing I realized only recently, some users remove their avatars when they plan to either keep their distance or go inactive/on hiatus, like Voido did now that I think about it (don't think you'll see this, Voido, but I hope you're doing well ♥)

This is mostly why I always changed my avie many times, to make it nice despite size.
Also agree it was terrible, can't wait till I join the big leagues which may take me years. :'(

That thought still makes me sad tbh, but what can we do *sigh* I don't want to post a flood of random half-assed replies everywhere just for the post count :[

Honestly uploading an avatar is the first thing I must do on whatever new site I've joined; I just feel naked without it, haha. Plus I like showing off my cute character loves -- in this case, Kagehira Mika from Ensemble Stars. Also thanks for this thread for answering my unspoken question of how others had different sizes of avatars; I have a long way to level up to Bigger Mika Avatars lol.

You're welcome! It is explained with a few more details in this section of the FAQ. The 1000 post mark is not as difficult as it is intimidating, that I can say >:'D
someday perhaps we'll reach the ULTIMATE avatar size to show off our character loves, that will be a glorious day
glorious
or desperate lol

 

[Ðari]

I've gone months on here before without an avatar, both in earlier years and in later years. Either because I got tired of the one i've used for several months to a year, or am not following anything in particular that I'm interested in and will leave it blank for a couple of weeks to months sometimes. Varies. Now I just make my own using dynamic photography when I'm able to get ahold of stuff that rocks for me personally.

Hit up chuman, for tips on how to break 10k posts.

 

[DarkGrey Heroine]

I've gone months on here before without an avatar, both in earlier years and in later years. Either because I got tired of the one i've used for several months to a year, or am not following anything in particular that I'm interested in and will leave it blank for a couple of weeks to months sometimes. Varies. Now I just make my own using dynamic photography when I'm able to get ahold of stuff that rocks for me personally.

Hit up chuman, for tips on how to break 10k posts.

Ever since I noticed this current avatar you have I wanted to ask what exactly is it - a cosplay, an edit, a personal photo etc. etc. It looks awesome!

and lol, I won't bother him with this, even tho he does have the sacred pagan knowledge

 

[shady543]

Lol I actually do the same, my avatar has always been of a character I like at that point in time (it tends to always be male though, and people have often mistaken me for a dude because of that). Sometimes I tend to get anxious of using an avatar from a fanart though so I try my best to go for something that is originally from the person who created the character. It can also be from an event I like to; like the KH3 boxart or hype from a KH3 trailer. Basically how my current avatar came to be. xD

And as for 100x100, as someone who has been in a forum for years where you could never upgrade from a 100x100 I've grown used to it and could care less. I just make the most of it and honestly don't really know any different lol. Guess I need to get onto my posting game, but boy it's hard when you're busy irl.