How to pic your pic? pic you pick? pick your...

[negative_headed]

A few days in and I keep thinking to myself, profile pic - probably something I should get done.

But to me this is one of those things where I'm all weird about.

A picture of something I've drawn? well maybe but I draw things that don't necessarily mean much about me personally, if I use picture of a character who's nothing like me then maybe I paint an image of myself that I don't really want.

A picture of something I like? well that kind of addresses the whole meaning much about me part but then it's like what if that same thing is something others hate, probably not a good thing to have a picture of an armadillo or something if that turns out to be an easy source of flame wars in a community.

A picture of my actual self? Well... that's just creepy... and if I'm as attractive as I know I am it's not like anyone would believe it anyway. /ego

So really down to the matter, how do most people go about picking their picture? I have a tendency to over think things, and I know many others probably don't give it much thought at all, they just use what they want to use at the time. So have you thought about it, how so?

Who knows, maybe an exercise in introspection as well as me wasting time while I think between thoughts.

I hope this topic falls in the right boundaries, with the way I think things out I get a little....

 

[Shinma]

My profile pic is part of a logo that my college buddies and I used.

 

[Shaz]

Mine is a character from the first game I ever made. Previously I used a nice anime pic I saw online somewhere. I'm not into anime and had no idea who she was - it was just a picture I liked.


Just pick something you like. You can change it later if you want to.

 

[negative_headed]

Just pick something you like. You can change it later if you want to.

That comes back around to over thinking things again though. See I associate peoples forums identities to their picture, not their name. It makes it easier to scan through posts and see who said what.

If you were to change your picture I'd immediately be a little lost, "Hey.... what happened to the blue squirrel mod." and then a few posts later i'd finally make the shaz association.

And I'm weird but I can't be the only one doing that I think. So changing a picture to me is a lot like digital plastic surgery, yeah they'll realize it's you but it'll mess with their heads for a second. (Or at least it happens to me, I'm weird)

So I like to get things right the first time is all.

Although as a side note your picture being what it is it makes me think "Ah a mod!" quickly followed by "Aw but it's just a nice little squirrelly." So by default I presume your the nice mod...

Again... overthinking...

 

[Shaz]

lol - of course I'm the nice mod Why would you think anything different?

 

[BeardBro]

An avatar is often a reflection of the user's personality. It's clear that you tend to overthink things, so why not pick an avatar to go along with that?

I mean, honestly, you're really overthinking this whole avatar thing.

 

[Probotector 200X]

I overthink choosing my avatars too. Most sites, I pick one avatar when I start, and stick with it, but a few I change it monthly almost...

I also think of the avatar as the user's face. And I feel like it represents "you" more than your actual face, because YOU get to pick it, not...get stuck with what you are born with. (my self-esteem is quite high, lol) I often read a user's post imagining their avatar face speaking...sometimes I even imagine a voice to go with it...

I like my avatar and username to match. For instance, my avatar is Probotector, from Contra 4. My username is Probotector 200X. 200X being a Mega Man reference. I'd feel weird changing my avatar to something else, because it matches my username. If I have a username that I made up completely, I'm more likely to change my avatar once in a while.

Also, I tend to use pictures of characters that I like. Some of them represent "me" in some aspect, but some I just choose because they look cool (c'mon that Probotector picture is awesome) I draw a lot, but I never feel like using my own art. (again, my self-esteem is amazing) Well, except on an art site, but that's the one exception. I can't even put a picture of myself on my blasted Facebook account.

Oh, and...I tend to pick my avatar, and then pick my username. It's like, a certain site makes me want to use a certain picture, and I choose my username from there. This site made me want to use Probotector. One RPG Maker site made me want an Alucard (Castlevania) avatar (which I later changed to Xenogears) One site made me wanna have a Bridget avatar! I often choose based on the site's content, like I used a Bridget avatar on a fighting game website. But Contra isn't very RPG-like...oh well.

Yeah...that's how I choose my avatars...

 

[cabfe]

Mine is a picture of my beloved cat.

Or maybe I am a cat myself ?

 

[Touchfuzzy]

Mine is a joke based on something a disgruntled member once called me that one of the staff here photoshopped up. Usually, I use art that my friends have made of me/my internet persona though.

 

[Emzie]

Mine is a cartoon version of myself, and yes i drew it.

Spoiler

And yes i dress like that

 

[Lorenze]

I just used my avatar off Xbox Live, which in turn was based off a character I created a few years back for a story.

 

[DehPoet]

I used a silly version of Deadpool I found off the internet. I like Deadpool, I'm generally silly, and I like all those things.

 

[djDarkX]

Mine is made using an RM200(3) generator using flash.  The nice thing is that the images it produces are bigger than the standard RM200(3) character faces, so it works out as my avatar, which kinda looks like me, only thinner and with crappy headphones, as where I usually use big headphones when working on music. lol

If you want the link to that, it's here: FaceMaker by ~FoxRichards on deviantART

 

[Seacliff]

I just chose video-game characters I like. I don't care if people don't see it fitting for me or not.

even though some people think I'm a girl

 

[Celianna]

That comes back around to over thinking things again though. See I associate peoples forums identities to their picture, not their name. It makes it easier to scan through posts and see who said what.


If you were to change your picture I'd immediately be a little lost, "Hey.... what happened to the blue squirrel mod." and then a few posts later i'd finally make the shaz association.


And I'm weird but I can't be the only one doing that I think.

Nope, not the only one like that. I myself, quite often, forget members here on the forum. I will forget you even if I have warned you several times - it's actually a big problem with me because I can never remember if you were an rear end in a top hat that needs a severe warning, or if this was your first warning. Avatars help me establish a personality that I can remember, instead of remembering some arbitrary username.


If you change your avatar, I feel lost. ... Who are you again?


My own avatar is rocking pink because I love pink, and I love hearts, and it makes it pretty obvious I'm not a dude (a common mistake people make is to assume everyone's a dude unless specified otherwise). It used to look like this because one user once called me that as an insult. I wore it as a badge of honour for a while because I'm an artist, and I hate it whenever art is overlooked, or deemed unimportant due to story or gameplay being more important in games. I removed it when we all immigrated over to this forum to be more neutral.


I now use it as my own branding.

Mine is a joke based on something a disgruntled member once called me that one of the staff here photoshopped up. Usually, I use art that my friends have made of me/my internet persona though.

I honestly can't even remember how it came to be, even though I was there. I just remember something about eagles.
Edit: Archeia, I'm gonna kill you someday for this word filter.

 

[Shaz]

My own avatar is rocking pink because I love pink, and I love hearts, and it makes it pretty obvious I'm not a dude (a common mistake people make is to assume everyone's a dude unless specified otherwise).

mmm ... people are always assuming I'm a guy. Maybe I should make my squirrel pink.

 

[Touchfuzzy]

I'll be honest, I get confused when staff change their avatars. I no longer know who they are. I would be just as confused at the loss of Blue Squirrel mod as the rest of you.

 

[Celianna]

Well ... at least I remember staff members by name.

... Most of the time.

Stick with the blue squirrel.

 

[Shaz]

oops - I didn't realise just LOOKING to see what it'd look like would actually save it Yeah, I like blue better. I'll just have to live with people calling me 'dude'.

 

[Touchfuzzy]

Well ... at least I remember staff members by name.

... Most of the time.

I'm obviously kidding, pink heart mod.