Topic: Hello, PGCers!

[penguincube]

Hey, I'm penguincube, and I just joined Planet GameCube Forums.  I don't know if you have the same problems with newbies that I encounter everyday at my main forum, but you don't have to worry about me, I may be a PGC newbie, but not to message boards.  In fact, the forum that I visit everyday also uses this same FuseTalk client, so I am already very familiar to how to work the forums (and FuseTalk is the best IMO, so good choice).  These forums seem good so far, but I noticed a few...dissapointing things.   No avatars?  What is up with that?  Avatars are a cruceal part of identifying members.  It gives them an identity.  Since all members have a text based or no sig at all, everyone is the same, only seperated by the collection of letters known as their name.  I also you don't use post counts and/or member rankings in anyway.  Not using a post count system is not necisarrily a bad thing, since that can cause problems, but I have grown accustomed to the ranking system, and since this seems to be a well-modded community, I can't see them as a problem.  Alas, "PGC Member" for everyone just adds to the blandness of everyones anomnitity here.  

Will I stay here?  I dunno.  I'll probably pop around for awhile, and if the members are, for the most part, as cool as the members of my forum "back home" lol, probably soo.   Just a little on me, I like...scratch that...love penguins...they are the best animal on Earth.  I have a GameCube and PS2 (and GBA), and my current faves are Zelda OoT, Metroid, Vice City, Sly Cooper, and others.   I just wanted to introduce myself to the rest of the PGC Forumgoers, and I hope I can be a benificial addition to your community.

~Pengy  

[Mingesium]

The content of your post should be your identity. If you read and post more, you will start to pick out individuals.

[penguincube]

Yeah, post content is more important than visual aide, but you can't deny that sigs and avatars don't make the forums more fun.  And in regard to member rankings, since you don't use post counts, you should at least give everyone a custom title, IMO.

[RickPowers]

Ok, I'll get right on giving the over 1500 people registered here all custom titles ... </sarcasm>

[penguincube]

Okay, okay...never mind the custom thing.  

But, I do say I have to applaud the thing in the General Chat forum that says that all ediquette rules still apply.  At the forums I go to, newbies often take the Off Topic Forum for granted.

Nice move.

But why is it that we don't get avatars again?  

[StrikerObi]

I'm pretty sure the no avatar thing is a bandwidth thing.

[yeg0]

If you are on a slow connection, choose the Standard Graphics mode to decrease download times.
(Standard mode will remove all graphics, such as emotion icons and [img] tags, from the messages. Some functionality icons will remain.)

The above is from the customization menu. Perhaps they could do the same thing with the avatars...

[SuperCube]

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Ok, I'll get right on giving the over 1500 people registered here all custom titles ... </sarcasm>

Ever think to let us have the option of doing it ourselves?

What "Pengy" said is the exact reason why I think these forums are the suck. No avatars and no sig crap makes me seem like some kind of a .... meh, screw it. I'm just not gonna post that often here. I'd rather go to VG Cats or use IRC.  

Quote
I'm pretty sure the no avatar thing is a bandwidth thing.

How would avatars that are provided by different sites effect your bandwidth? I think it works like this. That person's computer sees that it has to download a specific picture file. .jpg, .gif, whatever. That computer downloads the file and puts it into their temporary internet files folder. It then puts the picture onto the browser in your site, but it won't effect any of your bandwidth. Only the person who's hosting the file. And yes, it might slow down the load of a page. *gasp*? but who gives a crap? You wait about 4-6 seconds longer if you're on dialup, but I think it's a small price to pay for avatars.

Sorry if I got that wrong, but that's just what I understand by using the internet for over 8 years.    

[mouse_clicker]

Why are you so wrapped up in the aesthetic part of the forums, penguin? Shouldn't coming to a message board be about the DISCUSSIONS, not the avatars and the sigs? I agree that no avatars is kind of a bummer, but that in no way affects the quality of the debates I have with people on these boards. It's so trivial I didn't really even occur to me until I read this thread. It's just not important to me, which is the way it *should* be. You don't need neat little pictures or titles under your name to partake in a good discussion, and just because those things are absent is no reason to ignore a forum. It's like judging a game by it's graphics. The end factor that should determine whether or not you visit a forum is whether or not you like the *people* and what they're *discussing*.

[Cashcow]

Hey Penguincube. I'll assume you remember me .