These Avatars were actually designed ~10 years ago, for our other Social Networking site, iOrbix.
It was initially made to be a Fantasy Battle Game Format (hence the similar looking, young-adult characters, the weapons and other game-like accessories).
We'd have to make adjustments and many new outfits, to better cater for our SW audience. As well as including options to "Age" the characters, and more hair-styles to choose from.
(Different weight and body-types would likely be too difficult to integrate near-term, especially without 3D Mesh avatars.)
We can always just pause on developing this Avatars feature for now, if most users are seemingly displeased with the idea.
(Edit)
The Avatars will Not replace your Profile Picture.
They would occupy a new section of your profile (if we did move ahead with this idea).
They are intended to eventually be usable within SW Games, and possibly other portions of the site that they might be relevant.
(Edit)
I don't consider these Avatar to look like "Kids" (as numerous users are saying). They follow the general basic template/style of a cartoonish character.
(We hired a professional character designer to make them, long ago. They are designed with the typical illustrated character proportions.)
They do lack the detail and variation that other more modern virtual-world platforms offer, but I don't see them as being any much different to the typical standard avatar.
We can make improvements by including ways for each user to "Age" the looks of their avatar, accordingly.
@Andrew As long as we have a choice in the matter and are not forced to participate it’s great . Those things look like the Yugio cartoons my kids used to watch .
@Viper Yes and the name is a misnomer and there are a couple of stories about the origin of the name. The most common one was that the whole team was playing like 'backs' and got mis- reported in the British press as All Blacks and the name stuck. I was brought up with this folklore. However it transpires that this is what it is....simply a story. Their uniform is All Black hence the name. Our indigenous team is known as the Māori All Blacks where obviously First Nations heritage is a requirement.
@DeWayfarer People get bent out of shape about SW selling coins or making avatars. If someone isn't interested, there is no need to use either feature.
I think most of us would like to see the feed straightened out though more than anything.
@Gangstress yeah I think it’s entering a minefield doing avatars lol you should be able to get little aliens ghosts etc, I think it’s a headache in progress lol
Whoa...this took a rather steep direction. 😳 I mean, the idea is great but in order for it to be truly attractive you'd need a really broad library of characters and assets. Meanwhile, you drastically limited options for group titles to choose from so I don't even know where is this site heading. I'm also not sure if you have the right target audience here. The designs presented look like they might appeal mostly to kids and teenagers.
Long, long ago I made several of my own on an avatar site. It might be better to link up with such a site.
Linking up with such a site actually might help promote this site better than just making a few of your own. Mostly because there are many options and because they sort of advertise other sites that promote them.
Here is just one of those that a made of one of those sites...
If a range of cartoon images to choose from might make it easier for some newcomers then it's a good idea. I could go for an avatar of Klothos, the Fate of Greek Mythology who spins life threads, because I'm a writer and I love the .ideas of agelessness, creation and preservation. One could design avatars for archetypes from mythologies from all cultures. It would be fun.
But, for me, keeping it so people can easily upload their own choice makes the range infinite and gives each of us a better chance to fine tune the nuance.
@NerdyPotato Yep, I saw the pinned comments. They just don't make much sense to me - but then, I've never played a video game - have no idea how they work.
If you're going to publish gangsta Riley's avatar on SW, are you going to allow uncensored speech like Riley's too? None of that "This comment has been hidden" BS
make it possible to sell clothes at free prices and limit the number of copies.
for example, look at how this is done at Torn game. You can learn a lot from them if you decide to add a game concept to the site.
it would be more fun that way...
it is really interesting to connect psychological profiles of users with graphic elements. you can hardly do it, although technically it is not difficult.
@AbsolutelyFabulous Are they planning to have an RPG within SW? If so, basic avatars might be ideal.
The problem with "better" or "advanced" avatars is they tend to take a lot of computing power to render. Kind of why so many VR's like Second Life remain a niche market.
Even on FB, I think the VR section never got off the ground. I do not know though cause I spend all of five minutes a month on FB.
SW-User
Not a fan. Reminds me of faceyourmanga which is super old from like 2007, lol
Beautiful idea. I'll be fine with any avatar, however childish they may be, as long as I will be able to keep my own profile free from avatars of any kind. 👍
