You forgot the 50 percent who will be offended by anything that’s done. Like me. Any change is bad.
I said NO, before I read post #2. I don’t like other Msg boards with the animated avatars (takes add’l memory?). But if we can un-enable them, I really don’t care.
I’ve changed my mind. I used to be HELL NO. The logic of allowing people to opt-in is unassailable. There is no good reason I’ve heard for why people who want to see avatars should not be able to flick some switches and see them, and the rest of us “normals” can go happily on about our lives without the stupid things.
I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Sometimes it’s nice to pay attention to what’s being said before noticing who’s saying it. There are many Dopers whom I don’t have a strong mental image of, and that may be a good thing, because it doesn’t prejudice me against what they might say.
Frell no.
Compare the registration dates of those opposed to avatars with those who are in favor of them.
Bearded Old Ones indeed. I must be the only person who registered before 2005 who is in favor of them.
No you aren’t.
I agree with the “opt-in” and the “easy way to distinguish posters” arguments.
On other boards where this has been implemented with taste, I like the effect more than I expected.
Nope. I don’t see what the fuss is about if it’s an optional thing. I voted yes~!
I’m wondering what the purpose of this poll is, when it has already been stated in the other thread on this subject by the pro-avatar contingent that (paraphrasing)“We don’t care if we are in the minority-we want them anyway.”? Will this poll be used as proof that we should have them if the majority votes that way, but dismissed as inconsequential if they don’t?
I voted yes just to be contrary. I doubt they’ll ever happen, but I have no problem, not even with gasp animated ones, as long as they’re not obnoxious and that’s more related to colors than animation per se.
A big-ass NO from me.
Pretty much. I like the uncluttered look, but as long as it is opt-in I see no reason to deny anybody else their fun.
Tsk. Why you be hatin’ on the Old Ones elmwood? I just counted through post #30 and including me and you there are seven declared yes votes that are pre-2005 :).
I don’t care one way or another about avatars. Most avatars (IMHO) are dumb, or an attempt to convey whatever a poster wants to project about themselves. I roll my eyes at avatars of cute anime-type creatures, especially if the poster turns out to be very un-cute and un-anime, appearance wise. Mostly I think they’re lame and I’m interested in what people say, not some little cartoon character/cute pet/poignant image/blah blah everyone (myself included) chooses in an attempt to be one of the Cool Kids.
It’s not my decision to make because it is not my message board. I rather enjoy the bare-bones look olf SDMB.
Animated avatars? Feh. Maybe its a generational thing, but I fucking hate those and find them irritating.
Another oldie here who’s pro-avatar.
I think the OP left out the fact that they’ll be turned off by default ON PURPOSE. 
Czarcasm, did you have a tragic incident with an avatar as a child? Go on, you can tell us, you’re among friends.
I don’t understand anti avatar people. I have been online since 1994. I was online when it was DOS only. I had AOL DOS, Compuserve DOS, and Prodigy when it was the first web based software. And at baud 2400, incredibly slow.
It was still better looking than the DOS pages which you guys seem to prefer the style of.
I don’t.
Then came websites. Oooh. White pages with text links and blue underlines. I thought it was boring too but I still read the hell out of it (diotima.com is one of the first I read thoroughly).
IT’S JUST AN AVATAR. DISABLE THEM IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM. What is even the argument at this point?
And I’m getting this vibe but am I considered less intelligent for wanting avatars?
It’s not even that bad. Once again, enable them if you want to see them. Don’t do anything of you don’t.
Speaking for myself, since I am one of the posters who expressed that in the other thread, I would not count it as proof we should have them if the majority votes in favor or proof we shouldn’t if the majority votes against.
Since it’s a request from a subset of the forum users to the admins and mods, and the outcome won’'t have any impact on anyone else (in any way that has been articulated by the opposition thus far), it would seem it doesn’t require a board-wide vote. It really should just be a discussion between those who would vote “Yes” here, and TPTB, who are the only other ones who would be impacted by it. The opinions of those who are not mods or admins who would vote “no” are, it would seem, irrelevant. They wouldn’t be impacted by the feature being enabled and used by those who are requesting it.
But I voted here anyway because that seems to be the direction the request went despite my stated opinions.
I still don’t get why people who join a message board owned by someone else thinks they are entitled to have an opinion, let alone a persuasive or enforceable opinion, about how the board operates?
I am owner/moderator on a couple of other forums - very busy ones; I have co-moderators because I cannot keep up - and I am sincerely befuddled and gobsmacked by people who waltz in and demand - implicitely or covertly - that their preferences ought to be given consideration. Umm, no. My board, my rules, obviously a succesful format because I get hundreds of posts per day, don’t like it? Don’t participate.
Participating in online discussions on a board run by someone else doesn’t give you any priviledges. Especially if you are a non-paying “guest.”
The pro-avatar people sound a little too desperate. I don’t trust them.
They should cost 1 million dollars.