@Angel Zakuro:

Right there with ya :)

~Lys

@turtle chris:

That giant turtle is Gamera. XD SEE ADAM IT WAS A GOOD IDEA!

Anyways, onto the avatars even though I'm a few days late:

I love making avatars, and because I want good quality icons, I put effort into all the ones I make. However, thanks to sites like Photobucket, plagiarism is an absolute nightmare. Even on LiveJournal (where I post 'em), somebody credited somebody else for an icon I made but that the person didn't credit me for. Ironically, that person is a friend of mine and I beat her upside the head for it. >o>;

I'd say bring back cosplay rathe than create an avatar section. Plenty o' places to find avatars (like the aforementioned bucket of Photos). Plus, like Waffuru said, it's nice to be unique on theO. Having a stock site of 'em would just take away the uniqueness people have.

OMGOSH A GIANT TURTLE!!!!! I must no more! Who is it?

@Hiko:

Haha, thanks. XD Well, that's just how I am. I want to put as much work into any of my artwork as my wallpapers...so avatars and cards included! That doesn't mean you're bad at them if that's what you do. But I'm just saying that it's the same with ANY type of artwork here. Some people put more effort into them than others, but I think that the avi section would open up room for more low-quality or stolen things than the others. ><

Thanks again, Hiko. <33

In reference to Desbreko's comment, I'd just take a look at what we do on OB to build our Avatar Library. It's a system that works well and we still manage to maintain a high standard for images.

People can submit just one avatar, but if they want a whole new avatar category (like for a certain movie), they have to create a minimum number of avatars to launch that category.

As Desbreko said, plagiarism shouldn't even really be an issue here - avatars are very different in nature than, say, full pieces of fan art. And really by definition, almost all avatars are "plagiarised" (like if you take a screenshot from a movie and crop it, it's obviously not your artwork).

So if you choose to go ahead with this, I'd try to find a way to mimmick OB's submission system, which works really well. Alternatively, what if you create an avatar request page? People could post a simple request and other members could see lists of requests. Then they could just quickly make an avatar and upload it for the person requesting it. A service like that could also work and could essentially bypass typical moderation.

Something to think about, anyway.

If you made an icon section, you could get someone to moderate them who's been around them for a while...

*nudges at you*

LIKE ME? LOLOLOL.

*slapped*

No but seriously. I know what's been out there for a while so I'd catch plagiarism. But I think it's a good idea... I always make icons and I don't have anywhere besides Livejournal to put them. And even that site isn't very clean when it comes to layouts.

JUST A THOUGHT.

No, I think must avatars are relatively easy to make. Like, how easy is it to crop an image and puts some words onto it? You could resize ecards.

@Angel Zakuro:

Someone hit it on the dot!
She is right, yours and sesshy's Ecards have so much time and effort in them where other people(like meh) just take a screen shot and add text.

As much as I'd like an avatar section, I think it would be really hard to keep the plagiarism and poorly made avatars from dominating. :/
Unless you know of somehow keeping that from happening: I say put your effort into something else.

Well, I know this idea was pondered upon before...but indeed, there are pros and cons. I think it would be awesome to have submissions for that, but it would be too hard to deal with! It would be sooooo much harder to moderate because, heck, any of them could just be plagiarized and taken from ANY site. And they could be low quality. COULD be.

Saying that making avatars takes no creativity certainly isn't truth. :/ Some people may just decide to put no effort into them, but not everyone. Sakura Kokoro has a World dedicated to icon making, and she has guest posters (like me) who post ones that we've made. And all of them show great effort and are high quality...not just cropped screenshots. You could say the same thing about e-cards, too. Most people slap on some poor text on a crappy screenshot, and that's it, but I (along with many others) take as much time on e-cards as wallpapers, putting A LOT of work and creativity into them...

So it would be the same with avatars...but...I just think it would be way too hard to deal with here. I wouldn't want the site flooded with tons of poorly made avatars or ones that they simply downloaded from somewhere else. I personally think the cons outweigh the pros...

Ok, rant done.

So far I've only had three different types of avatars, and all of them have been fall under the catagory of "WAY too easy to make." Even though I'd like to see an avatar page here on the site, I think it be best to forget the idea all together due to the huge risk of too many people using/stealing the same concepts as another person. Besides, the lack of one provides me with an insperation to give my few avatars a tweek or two every-now-and-then to make then a little more unique.

Avatars can require no creativity whatsoever (cropping out a screen shot or piece of art), or you can add fancy stuff to them. It really just depends on what the person making them wants to do.

As for plagiarism, I figure that if someone posts an avatar online in a form other than using it themself, it's fair game for others to use. Same with using avatars of fan art and stuff; using an avatar of a piece of art is not at all the same as posting the full piece and claiming you made it. It would be pretty impossible to make sure people made all the avatars they submitted, anyway.

If you do add an avatar section, I'd recommend not displaying who submitted them, in portfolios or otherwise. Avatars get spread all around the net and, like I said, it would be impossible to verify that people made them themselves. On OB we have an avatar submission thread in the Art Studio where people can submit avatars to be added to the site's selection of presets and that's how we do it there. No records of who submitted what are kept, unless you want to dig back through the submission thread, and people just submit them to be freely used. That would remove any incentive for people to go raid tons avatars off the net and claim them as their own and instead keep it as simply a means for people to share good avatars with the rest of the site's members.

For the moderation side of things, if you have it set up as described above I think it would be manageable. The main concerns then would simply be weeding out the low quality submissions, avoiding duplicates, and fixing incorrect naming or categorization. If you had a person dedicated to it, I don't think it would be too much work.

I'm not sure I understand why animated avatars couldn't be allowed, though. Couldn't you simply set a maximum file size for submissions?

A avatar section would be cool. As for creativity, it takes just as much as a wall does; some are really good and some don't show as much effort.
Like this vs. this.
One shows much more effort and creativity.

Yep, I think having an avatar section has more benefits than cons but it's up to you. G'luck :]

I always thought an Avatar page would be a wonderful addition to have on theOtaku, but in my head I pictured pages and pages of well thought out, professional looking avatars. The truth of the matter is your are correct, we would just have pages upon pages of cropped photos. That right there could be considered plagerism if you think about it.

Another con would be that people would expect comments on their work, but really what is there to say? 'Hey nice square! Must have taken you a long time to find that image and resize it =.=b'

The idea is great, but the result would just be really sloppy :/ We've survived thus far without an Avatar page. ^^;

~Colleen

Yeah and I agree with the masses. Cosplay section needs to return D:

It's easy in my mind since trying to moderate something like that would be a nightmare... Bring cosplay or something else back instead.

~Crystia

i agree with wallpaperotaku. why dont you bring the cosplay section back.

I don't think an avatar site would add significantly to TheO's appeal. I feel like it would kind of have a warehouse-like appeal, i.e. "find thousands of stock photos here!" I think it's a bit cheesy. Plus, like you've said, people can literally make hundreds in a day. One thing I like about theO is seeing what people come up with for their avatars on their own. I think if there was an avatar part of the site, we'd be saying "Oh look, there's the 219th Naruto eating ramen avatar I've seen today."

TheO already has many places where members can show off their creativity much more positively than a stockpiled avatar site.

I would kinda like an avi section. That would be cool to try out at least.

I dont think an avatar section is necessary. They are too easy to make and just as easy to find. Why don't we bring cosplay back instead?
~Wall-iE

Nah I don't think it's a good idea, like said before, there are MANY places where you can find avatars, and yes, they are easy to make. Almost all graphic places where they offer textures/brushes or other resources sites offer avatars, so I don't think it's necessary putting here also.
I would suggest using the space for something else.

~Lys

I don't think an additon of an avatar site would be good at all. There are THOUSANDS of LJ communties dedicated just to icons, and there'd be a lot of stealing. Also, everbody here has a unique avatar, so there might be more than one person running around with the same avatar.

I'd much rather see the cosplaying section come back then an avatar page...

I would say that you could regulate it and be very strict on quality of them.

I think anyone desperate enough to get an avatar without trying to make one themselves can go over to Somegirl's "iconx" World... nothing wrong with leeching off others, but icons are still incredibly easy... >_>'

It's true avatars take a lot less time and effort to make. I can see it becoming a gallery full of screenshots and duplicates.
It's easy enough for members to google for their own avatars, or make their own Worlds for them.

~NGS

I think adding an avatars site would be great! And as far as animation goes, one can go to iconator.com to resize it, or even animate it, if they make their own frames! I've made several of my own avatars that way...I've noticed that several members made WORLDS especially to showcase their avatar-creating abilities.

Good luck with the MONSTER feature!