I, too, would hope that the discussion over use of any particular feature of message board software could occur in a tone that would be acceptable in places other than back-alleys, seedy bars, and after-school playgrounds.
I, personally, dislike the idea of avatars. I think that this site’s interest for me has always been the focus on the words, not the personalities (per se) of the posters. The personalities and habits eventually get exposed in their writings (don’t they, Hal? 
). The minimalist, mostly textual approach of this board essentially forces your attention to the words. Most of the users here DON’T like distraction from the words, or else what was all that uproar over ads at the top of the screen about? I find it ironic that several here who were all up in arms about the flashy banner ad thingies are quite happy to have swimming fish, or laughing clowns or whatever littering their page next to every post. I would like to think that any connection anyone feels with me here has to do with what I write in these threads, and not the fact that I’ve got a cool new .bmp of the latest movie icon next to my name.
Nevertheless, if avatars are popular, if having avatars is a draw, and if avatars can easily be turned off, won’t overload our server and otherwise can be kept from making my SDMB experience less enjoyable, my response is, “ok, <shrug> fine.” But, then, I felt that way about the banner ads, too.
I think there is a deeper and more unhappy problem that has yet to be discussed here. The main reason advanced for allowing things like avatars (and other popular message board features) is because they are a draw. That is, they will make more people who stumble across our little community want to stay. Now, to some extent, I would appreciate that. I have felt that, in the years since we went to Pay to Post, the general quality of the Board has gone slowly down. I see fewer threads where the people posting are people with rich knowledge about subject areas, or people who are deep thinkers offering cogent arguments or helpful thoughts. Instead, it seems to me like we have a regular cast of characters who tend to post the same thing on different days, and many of whom aren’t exactly the most thoughtful about what they want to say. The experience isn’t as “rich” as it used to be, in my opinion, and I notice that several of the older hands simply don’t seem to post here any more on anything like a regular basis. That’s sad.
But having said that, I would be driven away if this place becomes “popular.” I do NOT want to wade through the sort of drivel that one has to read at most message boards. I have tried to participate in other boards, and I routinely find myself simply wanting to automate the :rolleyes: smiley as my answer to most everything posted. Let’s face it: without feeling the least bit “superior” or “elitest” we here have a special quality, that is, we are abnormally interested
in very obscure and usually quite intellectually stimulating topics (the odd sheep or felching thread aside 
). Even our discussions of sports topics (as unintellectual a topic in real life as you are going to find, drawing as they do to the water cooler at work all sorts of morons who endlessly discuss, in less than erudite terms, the shortcomings of their favorite teams’ coaches, players and owners) is out of the norm, often filled with quality statistical analysis, obscure rules references, and fun trivial facts known to very few. In short we aren’t just average joes off the street. We are out in left field, or we approach things sideways, or we are, frankly, completely off the map!
And that, to me, is a good thing.
I don’t want to be part of an experience that is “popular.” I don’t want drive bys, I don’t want childish rants (any more than we already get from time to time!), I don’t want people who are here to discuss endlessly the latest and greatest in cool video games, or who are interested in swapping ringtones, or any of that stuff. And that’s what we would have to deal with if we became “cool” and “popular” and such, with avatars, and all sorts of other bells and whistles we have, to this point, eschewed. Trust me when I say that, for that sort of experience, I wouldn’t pay anything, wouldn’t even stick around. 
Which brings up a much deeper subject that no one is yet discussing, quite surprisingly. The point of becoming popular seems to be to increase revenue from the Board. That concerns me.
This notion that this board must, somehow, become a cash cow for the new owners is quite discomforting. I’ve always thought that the SDMB was an afterthought of the Reader. That is, a place to play provided by the Reader because it enhanced the experience of the Straight Dope column, thereby ensuring the greater success of that column (now website, really - who reads paper newspapers any more?). I was always under the impression that our membership fees were just enough to manage to keep the hamsters (and, since the server upgrade, capybaras) fed and the lights on. I never realized that the owners of The Straight Dope wanted the Message Board to be part of the overall Straight Dope revenue stream. And I’m not sure I like that thought at all.
