# No Avatars Here? Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 19, 2012, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626 "2012-06-19T09:55:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/261 "2012-06-20T21:26:38Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Why no…I don’t agree with that. What’s puzzling here, to me at least, is why you picked my fairly innocuous post out of all the ones in this thread to rant about. He likes going on Tangents? ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/262 "2012-06-20T21:33:59Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m thankful that this board doesn’t have Avatars. I find them highly annoying. Especially the monkey, clown, Star Wars & celebrity Avatars. Imagine a serious conversation with those avatars. > > Just my humble opinion. > > If Avatars are made available then I sincerely hope there’s an option not to display them. The :suicide: smiley would come in handy here. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/263 "2012-06-20T21:44:26Z")
If avatars are enabled I am getting an animated GIF of Jar Jar Binks and changing my name to JarJar678. I’ll also hire some hacker friends of mine to disable any attempt to put me on ignore. In addition, they will find a way to pump sound through with the words “messas right!” playing over and over. You’ve all been warned. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/264 "2012-06-20T22:14:29Z")
> [@XT](#): > > You best be careful…I might beat you over the head with my walker or throw my false teeth at you. Whippersnapper. 😛 > > -XT Bring it. My grandpa used to throw his false teeth at us all the time. I’ve got ninja like agility now because of it. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > No-it’s the only possible reply to someone who resorts to personal attacks while knowing that I won’t respond in kind. In this forum at least the only logical response to such wild-eyed histrionics is to shake my head and walk away. If I were to respond in kind, it certainly wouldn’t be in _this_ forum. The personal attack thing I understand you not responding too. But I think his point, at least how I understand it and agree with, about acting “mod like” can be responded to. You were a mod for a long time. When I first became aware of you you were already a mod and you just relatively recently stopped being one. It seems like you were a mod so long that it just became your normal style of posting and stayed that way afterwards. That’s how it seems to me. Now if you don’t see it that way then I accept that. > [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m thankful that this board doesn’t have Avatars. I find them highly annoying. Especially the monkey, clown, Star Wars & celebrity Avatars. Imagine a serious conversation with those avatars. > > Just my humble opinion. > > If Avatars are made available then I sincerely hope there’s an option not to display them. Dude, really? In a Star Wars thread how can you take anyone seriously unless they have a Star Wars avatar? > [@billfish678](#): > > If avatars are enabled I am getting an animated GIF of Jar Jar Binks and changing my name to JarJar678. I’ll also hire some hacker friends of mine to disable any attempt to put me on ignore. In addition, they will find a way to pump sound through with the words “messas right!” playing over and over. > > You’ve all been warned. I like your style. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/265 "2012-06-20T22:16:04Z")
Why is it that when a post about board administration or a moderator are made in ATMB, a bunch of posters who rarely or only occasionally participate in regular threads show up and make twenty or thirty posts? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/266 "2012-06-20T22:43:28Z")
**Ed** rarely posts here, and when he does, it’s almost always in ATMB. So why is he so opposed to something that he wouldn’t even be seeing all that much anyways? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/267 "2012-06-20T22:43:49Z")
That’s the problem with Avatars. A Star Wars fan’s Vader avatar makes sense in a Star Wars thread. But, here we may be discussing a tragedy like a shooting at a school. You would have all these garish pop culture avatars. It’s a bit jarring. They have avatars over on Gallifrey Base. Those don’t bother me as much because all the threads are about Doctor Who. The avatars (usually) fit the discussion. > [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > \ > > Dude, really? In a Star Wars thread how can you take anyone seriously unless they have a Star Wars avatar? > > I like your style. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/268 "2012-06-20T22:45:59Z")
So don’t opt to display them. There you go! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/269 "2012-06-20T22:55:02Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > **Ed** rarely posts here, and when he does, it’s almost always in ATMB. So why is he so opposed to something that he wouldn’t even be seeing all that much anyways? We send him hookers and blow. What do you send him? ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/270 "2012-06-20T23:12:22Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > The reply of one who knows the opposition is right. Mule muffins. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/271 "2012-06-20T23:24:08Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Because I wouldn’t know a grease monkey if it swung in on a vine and lubed up my ass. It’s a small, easy to install Firefox add-on, not the fragmented memories of a weekend in Aruba. I wrote \*\*Polerius \*\*a PM to ask if he would be willing to help put the final touch on the script he started during the last great avatar uprising in 2011. If he responds and I am able to do it, I will post the complete, step by step for anyone who wants to use it as an interim solution. It is very easy, just as fast as the way you would have to set up an avatar directly if the board allowed them. The end result will be that you see avatars of posters who want to show them, and will show your avatar to posters who want to see it. No modding, no labored attempts to explain to busybodies that your choice to use avatars doesn’t impact them in any way, etc. just sweet, beautiful avatars in all their glory without putting the harsh on anyone’s text-only buzz. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/272 "2012-06-20T23:28:03Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > That’s the problem with Avatars. A Star Wars fan’s Vader avatar makes sense in a Star Wars thread. > > But, here we may be discussing a tragedy like a shooting at a school. You would have all these garish pop culture avatars. It’s a bit jarring. True, but it’s the same with user names. For example, due to your name, a thread about anyone choking on a steak would be out of bounds (57 sauce) as well as any and all tragedies in Las Vegas or hardware stores (ace). ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/273 "2012-06-20T23:28:56Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > The end result will be that you see avatars of posters who want to show them, and will show your avatar to posters who want to see it. No modding, no labored attempts to explain to busybodies that your choice to use avatars doesn’t impact them in any way, etc. just sweet, beautiful avatars in all their glory without putting the harsh on anyone’s text-only buzz. Sounds great. Except you will still have to live in private shame knowing you have partaken of such sinful activities. Though if you are Catholic I guess regular confessionals may ease the burden. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/274 "2012-06-20T23:40:43Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Sounds great. Except you will still have to live in private shame knowing you have partaken of such sinful activities. Though if you are Catholic I guess regular confessionals may ease the burden. Don’t be so sure, I think it might have been a priest swinging on a vine in Aruba. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/275 "2012-06-20T23:43:23Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Mule muffins. I’m more of a blueberry person, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/276 "2012-06-21T00:02:53Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > I agree. I just find it hard to understand why so many people want avatars but so few will accept a simple workaround That’s not really a “simple workaround”. Most boards, seeing avatars is clicking one box. That’s simple. Installing Greasemonkey and then installing the script is not “simple”. Really. Do all the anti-avatar folks hate TV and long for the return of radio drama? Do they hate graphic novels? Or books like Breakfast of Champions (Kurt Vonnegut)? Do they buy a book and black out the author’s picture on the dust jacket? I mean I can appreciate the ability to express oneself via text only, but should that be the defining factor here? All other ways are expressly off limits if you lack that ability? These are the same as the anti-smiley arguments. Oh, and I nominate **Czarcasm** to be the sole representative of the anti-avatar argument. Eventually, we will have avatars. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/277 "2012-06-21T00:28:16Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > That’s not really a “simple workaround”. Most boards, seeing avatars is clicking one box. That’s simple. Installing Greasemonkey and then installing the script is not “simple”. Really. It really is, Really. To use the built-option if it were available: 1. Host an image somewhere 2. On the SDMB click “User CP”, click “Edit Your Details”, click “Enable Avatars”, and in the text box type the URL to the image you hosted in step 1. To use the Greasemonkey option 1. host an image somewhere 2. on the SDMB click “User CP”, click “Your Profile” and in the text box type the URL to the image you hosted in step 1. 3. In Firefox select “Tools - Add-ons”, in the search box type “greasemonkey” and click “install”. Then copy and paste a provided script into greasemonkey and click “save”. That extra third step takes about 15 seconds. I don’t disagree that the arguments against avatars are irrational or that it would be marginally easier and better if the board simply supported them with no need of a workaround, but the workaround is simple and does the job. I prefer to have avatars now, we can keep debating the board feature as long as it takes. (8 or 10 years so far) Also if TPTB saw “SDMB Avatar: [www.xyz.com](http://www.xyz.com)” in every third profile because so many people were displaying them with greasemonkey that might just help speed up the process. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/278 "2012-06-21T00:34:00Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > It’s a small, easy to install Firefox add-on, not the fragmented memories of a weekend in Aruba. > > I wrote \*\*Polerius \*\*a PM to ask if he would be willing to help put the final touch on the script he started during the last great avatar uprising in 2011. If he responds and I am able to do it, I will post the complete, step by step for anyone who wants to use it as an interim solution. > > It is very easy, just as fast as the way you would have to set up an avatar directly if the board allowed them. The end result will be that you see avatars of posters who want to show them, and will show your avatar to posters who want to see it. No modding, no labored attempts to explain to busybodies that your choice to use avatars doesn’t impact them in any way, etc. just sweet, beautiful avatars in all their glory without putting the harsh on anyone’s text-only buzz. Hey I appreciate it! And I don’t give a tinker’s damn about shame knowing you have partaken of such sinful activities. But I gotta warn you, if you leave out one step I’ll fuck it up. And as an added bonus, if I (we?) can pull this off I’ll let you pick your own avatar. > [@Siam Sam](#): > > It’s a slippery slope. I’m hoping that’s a whoosh… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/279 "2012-06-21T00:38:53Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > I’m hoping that’s a whoosh… No it’s not dagnabbit! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626/280 "2012-06-21T00:52:26Z")
I wish I could understand why those of you who want avatars don’t just DO them as you have been told how to do it, instead of just arguing forever. Jebus! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-avatars-here-why/625626.md?page=15)