What is an avatar to you?

[Miktar]

Is it a way to show people what you like?
Is it a way to show people how cool you are?

What do you think makes a good avatar. What do you think about when making one?

With all the anime and gaming avatars, why do you pick the avatars you do?

[kHayne]

Clearly to the majority it is a case of e-peen enlargement.
Me, I pick any random graphic that amuses or strikes a chord.

[Boggle24]

Clearly to the majority it is a case of e-peen enlargement.
Me, I pick any random graphic that amuses or strikes a chord.

Same.

Note Moleculo.

he is the MOLECULAR MAN.

allthough, I don't mind using a pic of something I really REALLY like from time to time, (*as with my Ergo proxy ava*)

[Q-Man]

hmmm, to me it doesn't really mean that much, at one stage I was changing my sig and ava almost daily :P

Basically if it looks stylish I'll use it. Right now, I like the whole Fallout 3 thing, so I'll keep it until the next best thing.

[Garson007]

Whatever someone makes for me, I'd probably put it on. This one I have now was made for me by James Donaldson some years ago.

Normally though I don't even have an avatar or a signature.

[PloPshoP]

I just use whatever I find interesting or amusing. I'm not too fussed about what others might think about it.

[R4mzy]

My ava is normally just a pic I like. There's space for an avatar, so I fill it with something I like to look at.
My sigs and avatars reflect what I'm interested in at the time.

[spaceman]

an avatar is a visual representation / extension of your nick.
also i use the same one everywhere so people can identify me.
thats the point. isnt it?

[wir]

Just anything I found cool/nice/funny/sweet or something.
Sometimes I'll be watching a movie(I.E. 300) and just think, 'why wouldn't that little piece of animation be a cool ava?'[/b]

[wisp]

I picked mine because it reminds me of the movie The Ring,but i agree there a lot of great gaming ones on offer. I quess that everyone wants a little bit of individuality.

[Antharias]

I just like the characters in the avatar and if it is a pretty picture it shall be my avatar :)

[ShadowMaster]

To be as evil and fear inducing as my name... LOL

[dammit]

for me it should either be pretty or witty

...both show a bit of my personality or self ;)

[echo]

Sometimes it is how I want other people to see me, or just something that I like.

[Squirly]

Something cool that catches my fancy usually wins out at one point. I do have a tendency for Vault-Boy though, on a lot of boards.

[kHayne]

pretty

ORLY? *nudge nudge wink wink say no more*

jokes.. omg plz dont ban me mik

[MrDeVil_909]

Well, having no ava looks a little plain, so I'll use whatever takes my fancy.

The one I'm using now is a default one and suits my nick, and no-one else is using it yet. If someone else decides to I may upload the Starcraft 2 ava I was using in the old forum.

[Nandrew]

An avatar is a convenient first impression that somebody wants to put forward, methinks. A reflection of yer personality and/or interests.

Heck, even the act of just picking a random picture gives people that good ol' "devil may care" impression of you.

Oh, and I luuuurve the Orwellian / trekkie reference sneakily inserted into my ava, thankee Miktar. :P

[Toi]

I do think that it does give somewhat of an impression of who you are or a hint to you're personality at least. That is if its not just some random pick.

I must admit, I really do like a pretty ava.

[RedNax]

Hmm, randomness, interests and personality traits (But most of the time randomness =P)

[Nimitz]

i agree with Nandrew, an avatar is your first impression online
i think of it that way

[Gazza_N]

I view my avatar exactly the same way I view my nick - as a unique identifier of myself on the Intarwebz. Although I don't put that much stock in my ava as a first impression or some incredible personality-exhibition-device, I built a custom one so that I would stand out a little. After all, having your own shiny logo thing is a great way to be unique!

[Mic]

Gazza N... you're theory of a logo I agree with... aswell with the rest of your opinions that its a first impression... I mi
might be changing mine.... but it will always be the same theme... a dwarve withe big axes and hammers :)

[Fredder]

Chose mine yesterday. It is the first time that I actually have an avatar on my profile.

I just dig Doom so when I saw the Space Marine - HELL yeah!!! (pun intended)

[Yumi_kitty]

The anime-game character (Rikku FFX-2 but I like her better in FFX) my ava portrays the same qualities I see in myself! And I like it!It looks good!

[Chippit]

Nice doggy
*pats*

[Yumi_kitty]

Well we can see what you like

[Cyberninja]

A visual representation of what I like. In my case, that with be: Martial Arts, Anime, Street fighter. For shizzle.

Edit: I'm speaking of my previous avatar of cause...

[Yumi_kitty]

I find that some ava's are inspiring b-cos they make you see stuff about that person!

[Tr00jg]

I agree with Gazza. My avatar should be an extension of my nick. But, I am too lazy to get my usual one. I like the Sam&Max one though. It kind of signifies who I am (kinda). :P

[Plan 9]

Personality traits. I usually change my avatar upon interests, however I tend not to change it in short intervals, that way people start knowing you by your avatar :p .

[Epsi]

all i know is people who make a foto of themselfs in some deep thinking pose their avatar is scary! nobody wants to see your mug shot!... also it tells people you have zero creativity.