Popular vs obscure stuff on avatars

I think usually avatars are supposed to help you establish a bit of your own identity. That's probably not going to happen if you use Darth Vader or whatever. It's kind of funny to say, but I often find myself more fascinated by a forum member if I don't know what or who is displayed on their avatar. It makes them intriguing and helps them stand out in my mind. On the other hand, a character from a currently popular show or a recent meme (oh god) can just look like a joke and might make me take the user less seriously. One exception to that is when something well known is portrayed in a slightly unusual way on the avatar so it actually still feels fresh and unique (Doomguy collecting apples would be okay).

I guess not all people feel like this? You could say that I'm just sort of obsessed with the idea of being different from everyone else.

6 minutes ago, Memfis said:

I think usually avatars are supposed to help you establish a bit of your own identity.

I would argue that avatars are something people should feel comfortable with themselves, above anything else, really.

I can relate to what you're saying though. It's like an avatar can be something that may reflect someone's personality, or at least a part of it. And that's certainly interesting. On the other hand, speaking for myself, I rather tend to attribute what a person says, or how said person "behaves" to what that avatar is about. Like, for me it's sort of the other way around, and whatever picture there is, will slowly get "charged" by whatever impression I have of said person. Does that make any sense?

1 hour ago, Memfis said:

something well known is portrayed in a slightly unusual way on the avatar so it actually still feels fresh and unique

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I don't really care what people's avatars depict, and how and if at all is it connected to their personality. I simply prefer when different people have visually distinct ones (and don't change them often), so I can quickly recognize posters without reading their usernames. (Off topic: It's especially helpful for example when trying to find a post on a particular page by any one of several particular people, or just look if there's anybody whom I might not have in mind at the moment but whose post I'd be interested to read if I knew he posted there, the fastest way to do it can be to quickly scroll through the page and stop upon seeing a familiar avatar.)

32 minutes ago, scifista42 said:

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Annoying animated avatar = AdBlocked!

But yeah, it was ok otherwise I think.

I always liked the avatar you had when I first joined Doomworld, Memfis.

I was sad when you changed it. 

Also we have a very similar color scheme in our avatars. I guess you aren't as different as you think you are. :)

I do have a tendency to gloss over usernames if they have some sort of default Doomworld DOOMGUY avatar or something like it. With that said, it can be tricky to pick a good avatar. I've had this one for years, and I've wanted to change it recently but cannot come up with anything to replace it. So Wilcofish lives on....

I tend to use colourful avatars, self-created on MS Paint. Many people would say though that I have a 'dark' personality.

I used the current one as my original avatar on another website, and while many people liked it, a significant number implied that it gave them a few 'sensory' issues. One or two people on this forum will probably be able to work that one out....

All of my avatars have been favorite characters from games I've played. Usually I'd crop out whitespace and all that but for this one it's a much bigger hassle than I expected. Used to be one of those people who changed avatars frequently now I only just have a select few I'm keeping (and I'm pretty sure at least one person liked the previous one I had). I don't really care about other avatars on the forums, but I am quick to notice trends.

The game Blood and its protagonist Caleb which I have for my current avatar may very well be obscure at this point, however my original avatar of Avoozl from Quest For Glory 4 is probably even moreso obscure since the old point and click adventure genre of games stopped being popular at some point in the late 90's, but King's Quest seems to still be remembered and got a recent title.

For quite a while I was the only regular poster with a popular meme avatar.

(Or am I still one? Has Post Hell advanced to the highest transcendental level of "meme"?)

IMO all avatars are OK as long as they're not anime ones. I don't visit DW to watch cartoon chinese porn next to every 2nd post. Go to your goddamn Japan and eat dogs there, weaboos, don't rant about it here.

(Yes, I know dogs are eaten in China Korea, I'm just pretending to be racist. :] )

I understand what you are saying Memfis about avatars and I mostly agree with you, but I also agree with Nine Inch Heels's post. That's why I have my avatar like this. I think it is pretty common for someone in the Doomworld forums to have a demon or Doomguy on their avatar, yet I love hell knights very much, so I chose this avatar as my own. It is not only about what is depicted in the avatar, but also how it is depicted (like you said about Doomguy collecting apples).

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1 hour ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

Does that make any sense?

 

Couldn't make more sense. ;)

31 minutes ago, Pavera said:

I do have a tendency to gloss over usernames if they have some sort of default Doomworld DOOMGUY avatar or something like it. With that said, it can be tricky to pick a good avatar. I've had this one for years, and I've wanted to change it recently but cannot come up with anything to replace it. So Wilcofish lives on....

I guess I'm the guy with the boring avatar...

27 minutes ago, 42PercentHealth said:

I guess I'm the guy with the boring avatar...

Nah. If you like it, then it can be the best avatar in existence. And what makes it different is that it fits perfectly with your profile name, which I don't see in other profiles most of the time.

I'd like to think mine have been somewhat "original" over the years really~ :P

20 minutes ago, ShotgunDemolition said:

Nah. If you like it, then it can be the best avatar in existence.

'Nuff said ;-)

Defo helps when scanning a topic to see whos who.

yup i cant stand when people have a generic avatar or change it frequently; i look at the avatars not the names >.<

regardless of who had the avatar first, for example in my head the '*** intensifies' revenant is rileymartin (now Spectre01) in my head, and i do a double take whenever its another user...

I'm a simple guy. I like purple, it's gotta have purple. Probably going to swap out the subject every couple of months, though I never realized until now how few purple characters there actually are.

2 hours ago, rdwpa said:

I always liked the avatar you had when I first joined Doomworld, Memfis.

 

 

I still do strongly associate this texture/image with Memfis. It's just one of those mental shortcuts that are hard to unlearn.

Oh dear, I used to talk alot back when I was 16 (when I first joined) before the forum upgrade, My avatar doesn't reflect that, Freeman is a silent Protagonist but he is also my favorite character, That is why I chose him.

I'd be a little more original, but since I drew this cacodorable fella and people seemed to like it, then I just ran with it.

Has the added bonus of making my posts on Twitter look like they're the thoughts of a crazy person.

3 hours ago, scifista42 said:

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R2-D2, QuickSupport :)

2 minutes ago, Jayextee said:

I'd be a little more original, but since I drew this cacodorable fella and people seemed to like it, then I just ran with it.

 

Has the added bonus of making my posts on Twitter look like they're the thoughts of a crazy person.

Cacos are such happy, smiley fellows... It's a shame we have to kill them!

Does anyone actually use Darth Vader as their avatar? I'd think that'd make them pretty unique on Doomworld.

Just now, 42PercentHealth said:

It's a shame we have to kill them!

Run it pacifist ;-)

Just now, Nine Inch Heels said:

Run it pacifist ;-)

I tried a pacifist run of some Doom II levels once; but my "everything must die" OCD made it utterly unsatisfying.

UV-Max, FTW!

I change mine every so often, but I'll probably keep this one for a while. I like Regular Show and the character Mordecai, also I have the same hair.

I made my own avatar. I am a aspiring artist and I hope super smart walking USB cables uncover my stuff in the far future and think:

"Yeapspsps, good thing we evolved. Bad thing is that we evolved from these idiots haspspsps"

*dial-up noise heard*

"Shut your port young man! Havenstststs you knowsus youss uncovrss importnss itmss from the prehysterical taaaims"

"SHuddap GRAN! UGH! *e1m1 plays in frustration*

Apparently 20000000 years into the future people have speaking tics that are so rad they play their own theme songs when frustrated.

Until then I hope my scribblings could provide bread to the table. I just need to uncover a good strategy :D

A "Baratus walking" gif wouldn't be a bad avatar either... might change to it someday.

I hardly know what anyone's avatar is here and its not interesting to me at all.

I made this 'logo' of sorts for myself and most of my avatars use it in one way or another. I decided to go for a clean / minimalist version since the new forum software went live and re-rendered my old one. As for other people's avatars, and their names too, I dislike it when people change it too often. I know a lot of people changed their name shortly after the new forums came into play, which is fair enough, but hopefully that is the end of the 'change-wave'. As for avatars, if Scifista42 DIDN'T have R2-D2, I'd be shocked. Same goes for a fair few people here. Some people it would be weird to see them weird WITH an avatar, such as Gez.

2 hours ago, NuMetalManiak said:

Usually I'd crop out whitespace and all that but for this one it's a much bigger hassle than I expected.

Here you go mate. :)


 

36 minutes ago, Jaxxoon R said:

though I never realized until now how few purple characters there actually are.

You could run with Spyro the Dragon next? :)