The pursuit of the perfect avatar.
By Dalai 56 Comments
Avatars are a staple to just about every forum and these miniscule images are a representation of the person behind the image. These small icons give the person an identity, personality, interests, etc. And it's no surprise that the majority of the avatars here usually represent the person's favorite game, franchise, or character. However, many of us choose an image that best fits our interests outside of games... and a few of us use the avatar as a way to enhance their unusual persona or theme.
There are a few lazy ones that stick to the stock image which completely ruins the concept of an unique identity. All the Solid Snakes around here make me wanna scream. It's easy to change, dammit!
A truly great avatar, however, must fit the person's personality on the forums and must be associated with the person just by the image alone. If you've got a boring name like mine, you need an image that catches the eye and Giant Bomb certainly has their share of awesome avatars used by some really amazing people.
You can't help but smile at Sweep's orally stimulating cartoon burger. I believe Sweep has used this avatar pretty much since the beginning and it's his trademark. The burger has starred in the popularly epic 00Sweep topic. I doubt Sweep will ever change his image now since he is forever connected with the talking burger. Sweep, don't ever change.
The Gerst is a big Neo Geo fan, or at least a fan of the rad 90s style logo. He has used this avatar for quite some time and is keeping it real by leaving it alone. Jeff could've went the Ryan Davis route and switch to the Avatar avatar, but he's now synonymous with the Neo Geo among the forum monkeys.
Brukaoru (I always have a difficult time typing her name) has always kept with the Dante/love theme during her time here at Giant Bomb and I cannot see her changing her allegiance to any other Devil May Cry character or any character, period. If she all of a sudden went with a Nero-themed avatar, I would probably... not notice since they look similar. You know I mean. Brukaoru is Dante is love.
Giant Bomb has not one, but two dudes that have used the moon as their avatar. Ark pimps his avatar up with the moon man silhouette while Endogene keeps it plain and simple. As long as they remain active in the community, the moon will be well represented around these parts. Perhaps they can change their avatars depending on the lunar phase. Just saying... would be pretty neat for a few weeks.
One man utilizes MS Paint more than anyone else here and he sports a large bomb... likely one that's bigger than yours. Many of us go with trusty old Photoshop to enhance our images, but sometimes it's best to keep your avatar crude and humorous. He has changed his avatar a few times, but he always keeps with the MS Paint face theme.
There are some honorable mentions to... mention as well. Snide, Brad, BoG, Hamz, Snail, Jensonb, Jakob187, and Balls all have well-known and distinctive avatars which further enhance their icon status among the community.
And if you didn't notice, mine has changed slightly as of last week... less ass, more class.
