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16:37, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Main Thread Profile image.

Posted by Azraile
Azraile
member, 99 posts
AIM: Azraile
Dislexic
Mon 2 Jun 2014
at 06:46
  • msg #1

Main Thread Profile image

Can we get the option to select an image for the out of game chat?
bigbadron
moderator, 14399 posts
He's big, he's bad,
but mostly he's Ron.
Mon 2 Jun 2014
at 06:54

Re: Main Thread Profile image

Do you mean in the public forums?
Azraile
member, 101 posts
AIM: Azraile
Dislexic
Mon 2 Jun 2014
at 07:00
  • msg #3

Re: Main Thread Profile image

Yes, here and stuff.
bigbadron
moderator, 14400 posts
He's big, he's bad,
but mostly he's Ron.
Mon 2 Jun 2014
at 07:05

Re: Main Thread Profile image

No.  We do not use portraits, or other images, in the public forums.

The FAQs:
Can I have an image for my Account Name in the public forums?

Because we only host role-play-related images, they're not appropriate for "real" people's images, and are not used in public forums.
          /help/?t=faqs&page=frf
Azraile
member, 102 posts
AIM: Azraile
Dislexic
Mon 2 Jun 2014
at 07:07
  • msg #5

Re: Main Thread Profile image

eh... well how do you submit images for RP chars?
bigbadron
moderator, 14401 posts
He's big, he's bad,
but mostly he's Ron.
Mon 2 Jun 2014
at 07:16

Re: Main Thread Profile image

Attach your picture to an email message and send it to portraits@rpol.net and it will be added (if approved) during the monthly update cycle.  Submissions MUST include the user's RPoL account name with the submission.

Some email accounts, whose providers are known to allow spammers, are blocked from sending email to RPoL.  If your email cannot be sent, try sending from a different provider.

Please note that there is a limit of only one emailed portrait submission per person every update cycle.  Your submission should preferably only have one picture.  If your email includes two or three pictures we will choose the one we like best (though none may be suitable).  If you submit four pictures or more the submission will be rejected entirely for the update cycle.

Note that an update cycle is roughly once per month.  Each time the portraits are updated it is announced in the General RPoL forum, so the submission period is from one announcement to the next.
Skald
moderator, 525 posts
Mon 2 Jun 2014
at 07:19
  • [deleted]
  • msg #7

Re: Main Thread Profile image

This message was deleted by the user at 07:19, Mon 02 June 2014.
DarkLightHitomi
member, 498 posts
Mon 2 Jun 2014
at 20:15
  • msg #8

Re: Main Thread Profile image

In reply to bigbadron (msg # 4):

I find this an amusing stance on the topic.

It is the internet, how can pictures that would be acceptable elsewhere on the site be inappropriate here, for so-called "real" people? Frankly these images have a better chance of displaying our personality then "real" pictures ever would.

Really the only reason I can think of why any picture would be bad to use for a general avatar, would be if it was inflammatory, insulting, adult material, etc.
bigbadron
moderator, 14404 posts
He's big, he's bad,
but mostly he's Ron.
Mon 2 Jun 2014
at 21:34

Re: Main Thread Profile image

Regardless, that is the decision of the site's owner - no images in the public forums.
Utsukushi
member, 1301 posts
I should really stay out
of this, I know...but...
Mon 2 Jun 2014
at 22:38
  • msg #10

Re: Main Thread Profile image

I suspect the issue runs more the other way.  If you could have a portrait attached to your RPoL Username, there are going to be people who would want that to be their real picture -- and that means either keeping those separate somehow and hosting another set of portraits, or.. not keeping those separate, which has a whole different set of problems like potentially flooding the portrait collection with a bunch of.. well, you know.  Gamers.

I don't think anybody wants that.

 (More seriously and more to the point, it's a bunch of portraits that aren't actually meant to be used in a game.  And then, even if you've made it clear that any portraits sent in have to be allowed to be used in a game, you get all the weird situations where somebody's in a game and somebody else is playing a character with their picture, and... And, I mean, am I allowed to connect Cruinne's picture to Utsukushi?  'Cause I totally would.  I've seen a picture of her.  I'd snap it up in a heartbeat.)
DarkLightHitomi
member, 499 posts
Tue 3 Jun 2014
at 04:03
  • msg #11

Re: Main Thread Profile image

I haven't seen much issue with the second possibility of having portraits always available at the other sites I've been to.

I would be curious if that is the real reason or some other reason.
Azraile
member, 109 posts
AIM: Azraile
Dislexic
Tue 3 Jun 2014
at 05:42
  • msg #12

Re: Main Thread Profile image

I think it's just there paranoid about people that take RPing way way way way way way way way way to seriously.
bigbadron
moderator, 14406 posts
He's big, he's bad,
but mostly he's Ron.
Tue 3 Jun 2014
at 06:15

Re: Main Thread Profile image

Or it could just be that we do not want images, of any description, in the public forums.
cruinne
moderator, 6427 posts
busy crossing the i's
and dotting the t's
Tue 3 Jun 2014
at 15:24

Re: Main Thread Profile image

In reply to DarkLightHitomi (msg # 11):

There are several of us around who were at RPoL before it had any portraits/avatars at all.  When they were suggested, many people actually didn't want them for a variety of reasons.

In the end, after discussion, we decided that they would be nice in the games to help give characters more of a visual identity on the site, but that avatars intended for role-play would be inappropriate to public forums where we're not (in theory) role-playing/pretending to be other people.  They don't add anything to the conversation, and could be seen as distracting.

I believe that it's worked well for us over the years and the site is not really missing out on anything by not allowing users to choose avatars for public forums.  We've never really been on the "other sites do this so we should to, even if we can't find a good reason to do it" bandwagon.

Anyway, I'm very glad when our thought-out, discussed, and implemented policies can amuse a user so much. ;-)


In reply to Utsukushi (msg # 10):

Awww shucks -- you mean this one?  http://rpol.creativelass.net/ncm315.jpg

You know what they say: after 250, it's all about "moisturize and exercise"!
This message was last edited by the user at 15:25, Tue 03 June 2014.
DarkLightHitomi
member, 503 posts
Tue 3 Jun 2014
at 21:05
  • msg #15

Re: Main Thread Profile image

Well, I never realized that someone could see them as useless. I tend to sort through and identify posters through avatars, and generally not at all through text names.

I have actually posted a few responses to a player who asked me to leave him alone simply because I didn't notice it was him (or her whichever), and not someone else.
Shannara
moderator, 3418 posts
Tue 3 Jun 2014
at 21:13

Re: Main Thread Profile image

That's a pretty dangerous practice, really, as avatars would likely change often while the user name remains constant.  Just think of all the potentially embarrassing moments ...
DarkLightHitomi
member, 504 posts
Wed 4 Jun 2014
at 00:44
  • msg #17

Re: Main Thread Profile image

It isn't really a "practice" it is just how I remember people. I remember faces not names, even in the "real" world. Names are very difficult, but even ignoring that, all text looks the same until you take a closer study of it. Pictures make it easier and quicker to identify who is the poster, in the same way the color reversing highlights a moderator. It works because it takes less looking to identify. Particularly useful when skimming through a thread looking for something.
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