Custom Avatars

[Err]

I hate to beat this dead horse again, but I think I may have an acceptable proposition for the admins.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is tired of waiting for new character avatars. I know we recently got some new ones, but it was long over due and some where of the same old characters we already have. If we cannot get new character avatars, will the admins at least let us set up an approved custom avatar? It will sure make things a bit better. (By the way, I'm not asking for new avatars, so don't lock my thread.)

Here is how I think this custom avatar rules should be set up in order to keep custom avatars an option.

1. Allow members with a certain reputation level to be eligible for a custom avatar. Say, 10 reputation power -- it's a good round number and isn't easy to get. This to make sure people who are good posters and who know the rules are the only ones eligible.

2. After they become eligible they can ask an admin or another member with equivalent powers to enable their custom avatar. This can be done only if the member has not had any infractions and is known to follow the rules. If they are denied they are not eligible anymore and cannot ask for a custom avatar again.

3. Then the custom avatar is put in after it's deemed acceptable. This is done to prevent copyrighted material from being added to the avatars. To prevent people from changing the image, I suggest that the avatars be uploaded instead of linked. The images should be limited to 85x135 pixels which reduces it's size on the server. If all avatar images are about 50KB each, there can be 20 avatars before it's complete size will be one full MB. If 100 people get custom avatars that means 5MB will be taken up. Comparatively, one song is worth as much as 5MB.

Thoughts?

[Rikudo Sennin]

this is a nice idea
but if this happens,
i know many will
say this is "unfair"
but in this way,
we will know who
are the Forum's
Active Members(FAM)

So i guess its a "yay!"

[Lady Tsunade]

Doubt it will ever happen. There is still a significant amount of people with high rep.Even above 10. Admins would be accepting custom avatars for a long time.Like so many people have said before, there are more pressing issues the Admins have to deal with than uploading new Avatars .No no matter how good an idea we come up with, we'll still be waiting a while .

[Err]

Originally Posted by Lady Tsunade

Doubt it will ever happen. There is still a significant amount of people with high rep.Even above 10. Admins would be accepting custom avatars for a long time.Like so many people have said before, there are more pressing issues the Admins have to deal with than uploading new Avatars .No no matter how good an idea we come up with, we'll still be waiting a while .

As far as I can tell, the only other pressing issue we are having are the issues with the database. Very little can be done about it and I know it's out of the admins hands. If the administrators can do anything at all, I know that they can do the custom avatars.

[SRhyse]

The sig image is the best we can give you right now if you meet the criteria, largely because Avatars have to be uploaded to the server.

The latter will do any number of things, none of which are helping a site that's currently overdrawn .

[Shikamaru Nara]

I disagree. I'm a long time member with lower than 10 reputation power and 4 infractions. xD

I'm inclined to believe that I do enforce the rules, and I do help out other members, so maybe it should be changed to activity in the Technical Issues section.

[SRhyse]

Originally Posted by Shikamaru Nara

I disagree. I'm a long time member with lower than 10 reputation power and 4 infractions. xD

I'm inclined to believe that I do enforce the rules, and I do help out other members, so maybe it should be changed to activity in the Technical Issues section.

Was this reply meant for this thread?

[sage mangekyo]

I think the admins should just take in avatars from people and the ones that the admins accept, they put on the avatar page.

[Err]

Originally Posted by SRhyse

The sig image is the best we can give you right now if you meet the criteria, largely because Avatars have to be uploaded to the server.

The latter will do any number of things, none of which are helping a site that's currently overdrawn .

What if we use a third-party website to upload the avatars? Say imageshack, where the images cannot be altered once it's uploaded. This will solve both issues you are having with this. No disk space usage, no bandwidth costs and will not cost Viz a cent.

Originally Posted by Shikamaru Nara

I disagree. I'm a long time member with lower than 10 reputation power and 4 infractions. xD

I'm inclined to believe that I do enforce the rules, and I do help out other members, so maybe it should be changed to activity in the Technical Issues section.

I don't doubt that you've been helpful, but the infractions you've had shows you are struggling with the rules, or at least don't know the rules well. Being helpful doesn't mean you are forgiven, it is however, a progressive improvement on your part.

[sage mangekyo]

What about my idea?

[Err]

Originally Posted by sage mangekyo

What about my idea?

Your idea will require that the avatars be uploaded on Viz servers. Also, just because you like an avatar won't mean other people will. Most people will not select your avatars because it's not Naruto related. Custom avatars allow individual people select unique avatars for themselves with none of those issues.

[sage mangekyo]

Right, but you HAVE to have an avatar. So some one will get used to it.

[zerosameri]

Originally Posted by Err

I hate to beat this dead horse again, but I think I may have an acceptable proposition for the admins.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is tired of waiting for new character avatars. I know we recently got some new ones, but it was long over due and some where of the same old characters we already have. If we cannot get new character avatars, will the admins at least let us set up an approved custom avatar? It will sure make things a bit better. (By the way, I'm not asking for new avatars, so don't lock my thread.)

Here is how I think this custom avatar rules should be set up in order to keep custom avatars an option.

1. Allow members with a certain reputation level to be eligible for a custom avatar. Say, 10 reputation power -- it's a good round number and isn't easy to get. This to make sure people who are good posters and who know the rules are the only ones eligible. 10 rep power is getting to commen, pluse some people have 10 and over rep power might have gotten and infration/muti infration

2. After they become eligible they can ask an admin or another member with equivalent powers to enable their custom avatar. This can be done only if the member has not had any infractions and is known to follow the rules. If they are denied they are not eligible anymore and cannot ask for a custom avatar again. We all know people will ask more than once even if they get a big fat no

3. Then the custom avatar is put in after it's deemed acceptable. This is done to prevent copyrighted material from being added to the avatars. To prevent people from changing the image, I suggest that the avatars be uploaded instead of linked. The images should be limited to 85x135 pixels which reduces it's size on the server. If all avatar images are about 50KB each, there can be 20 avatars before it's complete size will be one full MB. If 100 people get custom avatars that means 5MB will be taken up. Comparatively, one song is worth as much as 5MB.

Thoughts?

This wouldn't be a good Idea, Tons of people spamming Mods/Amid's PM's, Makeing "This isn't fair threads" *like the sudden Neg reps threads*, The "Oh Thats not fair why did Sally-Sue get it wail I didn't" people, and such.

[Kon]

Originally Posted by SRhyse

Was this reply meant for this thread?

hahaha i dont think so SRhyse

anyways it would be hard for custom avatars because so many people would whant to use Viz anime owned show's avatars or websites crazy fake viz avatars "a.k.a future copyright issues"

[<Aurega?>]

Originally Posted by SRhyse

Was this reply meant for this thread?

I think it is him saying he doesn't agree with the threshold to give users custom avatars. Instead he wants users who have helped out a lot to get them.

[SRhyse]

Originally Posted by Err

What if we use a third-party website to upload the avatars? Say imageshack, where the images cannot be altered once it's uploaded. This will solve both issues you are having with this. No disk space usage, no bandwidth costs and will not cost Viz a cent.

That's the thing- there currently isn't a way to use avatars without uploading them to the site that doesn't cause more problems than uploading them to the site. If it could be as simple as image shack linking like in sigs, that'd be great, it just unfortunately hasn't proven to be.

Imageshacking does work in sigs, which is part of the reason we allow that instead of avatars.

Originally Posted by Aurega

I think it is him saying he doesn't agree with the threshold to give users custom avatars. Instead he wants users who have helped out a lot to get them.

If that's the case-

If or when we could get a non-load-creating avatar situation going, it'd most likely start out as sig imaging currently works, then transfer to a threshold system that let users do it based on things like rank/posts/rep/time-with-the-site, being taken away when abused instead of granted when merited. It just scales a bit better.

[Err]

Originally Posted by SRhyse

That's the thing- there currently isn't a way to use avatars without uploading them to the site that doesn't cause more problems than uploading them to the site. If it could be as simple as image shack linking like in sigs, that'd be great, it just unfortunately hasn't proven to be.

Imageshacking does work in sigs, which is part of the reason we allow that instead of avatars.

If that's the case-

If or when we could get a non-load-creating avatar situation going, it'd most likely start out as sig imaging currently works, then transfer to a threshold system that let users do it based on things like rank/posts/rep/time-with-the-site, being taken away when abused instead of granted when merited. It just scales a bit better.

I don't understand what you mean in your first paragraph. What I mean to say is that once we upload the images to imageshack, we can then simply link the images to our avatars. There's no more image uploading on Viz servers. I visit another vbulletin forum that has the custom avatar options available, they have the option to either link or directly upload the images. I don't see a problem.

The details of how this works can be changed. I was just suggesting some requirements as a starting platform. We can set up the custom avatars requirements just like the signature requirements currently are. I have no problem with the details as long as we get our custom avatars.

[Toma RNK]

I was asked to prove offsite hosting does not work.

I uploaded this image to imageshack:

I then used the ACP to set a custom avatar and it was uploaded to the server. I erased the avatar entirely and gave my special usergroup access to upload custom avatars, again linked to imageshack.

As you can see by right clicking on my avatar, it is on the server.

I am unsure if load balancing will screw it up, so it is is screwer up go to http://naruto.vpersuadertron.viz.com and browse to this catagory to see it.

This is why custom avatars can't be allowed. Viz will end up hosting them.

I'll let rice do the rest of the explaining.

Please comment once you have seen this as I am not able to keep this for long.

[SRhyse]

Explanation complete from what I can tell, pending him asking for further input from me.

[Err]

I see. The linked image will eventually be uploaded either way. Thank you for testing this and for letting me see for myself.

I currently don't have any more ideas on this, but if I do, I'll be sure you bump this thread again.