[noemon]

The idea was arrived by taking a look at this banner:

https://twitter.com/spectator

And so the thought is on whether we should update our top banner which requires updating anyway and replace the pictures with caricatures instead.

From that then follows on whether the avatar rule can be extended to caricatures too.

I am a personal fan of caricatures but I understand not all people are.

So please Vote on whether you agree with the 1 suggestion or both or neither.

[One Degree]

No to both. As those examples indicate, caricatures are mainly used to demean other humans. POFO should be above that. Sensible arguments not meaningless criticism.

[noemon]

Caricatures are not necessarily demeaning nor would we use ones that would be, that goes against our policies in the rules.

[Bulaba Khan Jones]

Tasteful caricatures, perhaps. The thing is that we've had black and white face avatars for so long (with some exceptions if photography did not exist to depict someone) that allowing caricatures is going to really change things up. I'll admit I am adverse to change.

[LV-GUCCI-PRADA-FLEX]

Isn't no to avatar and yes to banner the same thing? I voted yes to banner.

[Decky]

No to both.

[Lexington]

I could admit to some tasteful caricatures but the rule would be terribly hard to enforce evenly. Somewhere between Al Hirschefeld's fine caricatures and what some 4chan trolls come up with in MS Paint is...not good.

I think my avatar was technically out of compliance with PoFo rules at one point: no one ever complained about it since it looks right but I think there was a rule that we had use photographs if available. The painting is from 1900.

[Igor Antunov]

Yes to both because Caricatures are more visually interesting, and provide some comedic relief. It would also help attract more people to the forum, for better or for worse (that's up to the mods and their modding frequency).

[AFAIK]

No to both.

It makes the wrong impression like The Week in the UK, which looks like a comic book rather than a news periodical.

[Hong Wu]

I think PoFo suffers from a misconception that you can make someone be serious, or be worth taking seriously, if you make them use a black and white avatar. IMHO it would make more sense to have a "serious discussion forum" that requires or uses serious avatars.

[Frollein]

Different avatars for different forums? How about no. That would just unnecessarily complicate things.

I voted no to both. This isn't reddit.

[noemon]

How about you all go to your avatar section and Play with the awesome Avatar generator, in which you can recreate your own features, choose your clothes, eyebrows and such and tell us your opinion. If you guys like it, we will enable these avatars, if not we shall take it away, so remember to keep your avatar link handy in case you need it again.

[MistyTiger]

No to both.

I think that there are those who will want to use inappropriate caricatures for their avatar. It will just be more work for you moderators to check to see if there are any lewd or rude images used by PoFo residents.

I like the banner with RL images.

Edit: Actually, the avatar generator is quite cool. I thought you meant that people could upload their own caricature images. I would say no to that.

[Igor Antunov]

YES. YEEEEES

Keep in mind though, a more stylised look will attract younger people. This means more misconduct and trolls. Also the custom avatar maker allows for some hilariously inappropriate faces. See mine for reference.

[noemon]

I hope that it does not turn into an epidemic, but 24 hours to decide on whether this should remain or not, so guys please all state your opinions.

[LV-GUCCI-PRADA-FLEX]

Yo, can you add a male avatar with long, curly hair? Those avatars are not representative of my current hair style. Preferably with a part on the left side.

[noemon]

WYSIWYG=What you see is what you get.

[Hong Wu]

I think this avatar generator thing has potential, I like the ones I've seen so far. But can I add Gurren Lagann star sunglasses?

[Bulaba Khan Jones]

No to both; if this is allowed, I won't lose any sleep over it, but it just isn't in the vein of PoFo tradition when it comes to avatars.

[Frollein]

Still no. I like the avatars/banners the way they are. Why the hell do we have to change everything? Are we suddenly working in advertisement and have to rename Rider to Twix for no good reason?!