How many people does it take to destroy that reputation? No more than a handful. Do we have that handful? Yes, we do.
QED.
Why do you hate the hamster?
Seriously, I don’t fear change, I just think it looks ugly and imho it’s not needed. But the biggest reason I can think of not to allow those things is board performance.
That would be a big negatory.
It’s kind of ridiculous how dated this board looks in comparison to, well, pick any other one on the Internet at random. And just because something can be abused doesn’t mean that it will be.
Avatars wouldn’t hurt. Personally I’d start with that and if the universe didn’t spontaneously combust, maybe test a few other features and see how they work out.
There was a poll a couple of months ago just about avatars; over 52% said “No way - no avatars now or ever.”
Of course, not everyone votes in polls; but in that case, the majority were against it. I doubt the general sentiment has changed very much since then.
I’ve just never seen the problem you guys keep talking about. I’m not sure what you mean by abuse. Using them to be a jerk? Using them too often?
I have no problem with just setting things up where everything is handled client-side. Heck, I already hacked together a script that shows avatars in Firefox. I’ve just been afraid to let other people use it and affect board performance. (I thought about hosting the avatars offsite, but I’m so sick that I’m not sure I could reliably handle that. And even if someone else offered to do it for me, we’d still want to check with the mods first.)
We’ve had smiley and ASCII misuse in the past. Just for fun, but got tiring very quickly, and a limitation on smiley numbers was enforced.
Pretty much.
This is not borne out by any experience in the entire history of the human species.
I have the same thing. I also use a Greasemonkey script called Video Embed that embeds linked YouTube videos within the Dope itself, instead of opening YouTube in another tab. The nice thing about these features is, people who like the neat uncluttered look of the boards the way they presently are can keep it that way. It isn’t necessary to change the boards to allow these features, all a person who wants them has to do is install the scripts onto his machine and other people who don’t want them aren’t required to do anything. Win-win all around.
I’m with you. This place is different from other places for reasons other than the format.
Look at Yahoo Answers, or the comment streams on YouTube - also text-only with no animated avatars or embedded images, yet they’re both a contemptible torrent of lunacy.
If images will make the SDMB like stupid places on the net that have images, why has not plain text already made the SDMB like Yahoo Answers?
If you want embedded videos and instant thumbnails, check out wierdaaron’s awesome awesome Greasemonkey script exclusively for the SDMB. I installed it when he first made it, and every time I access the Dope on some other computer, I’m amazed at how much the board sucks without it 
One theory is that the ratings system draws out the jerks.
Why not limit image embedding to one forum? Surely it’d be more popular than the barn house. Or is the argument than allowing images at all will attract the hoi polloi and clutter up our pristine ivory tower?
Maybe, although it never seems that big a deal on either YouTube or Yahoo Answers - but maybe I’m just not seeing it.
I think this place is different enough - and significantly, contained/controlled enough - that it would survive the introduction of embedded images without turning into a lunatic asylum.
It might give the mods more to do, but I don’t think it’s an impossible thing.
Gee, thanks-love you too. 
Heh. What I meant is that I think it’s concievable to have a message board that has images, but is not a pit of total insanite, albeit at the cost of probably increasing the volume of necessary moderation - that increased volume could be countered by recruiting more mods, of course - it’s not as if there are salary budget limitations.