Who else misses the way older avatars looked?

[paperdoll66]

Now that you mention it, pretty much all of the avatars that I have used have been from 2003 (Usukicon Shopkeeper, Seasonal Attack Pea, and Pirate Aisha), 2004 (Faellie It's Alive and Bleh!!), or 2005 (Curse of Maraqua Supporter). Sometimes I'll use a newer avatar if it's one I'm proud of, but it matters more to me what they look like, so I default to one of the ones I listed.

 

Of the new ones, Lawyerbot is the only one I might use, if I had it. I never manage to get the Festival of Neggs one, but I never feel all that bad about it, because I can't even tell what it is supposed to be. I get that the Neopocalypse is mostly supposed to be funny, but I don't get it.

[Ninth]

Now that you mention it, pretty much all of the avatars that I have used have been from 2003 (Usukicon Shopkeeper, Seasonal Attack Pea, and Pirate Aisha), 2004 (Faellie It's Alive and Bleh!!), or 2005 (Curse of Maraqua Supporter). Sometimes I'll use a newer avatar if it's one I'm proud of, but it matters more to me what they look like, so I default to one of the ones I listed.

 

Of the new ones, Lawyerbot is the only one I might use, if I had it. I never manage to get the Festival of Neggs one, but I never feel all that bad about it, because I can't even tell what it is supposed to be. I get that the Neopocalypse is mostly supposed to be funny, but I don't get it.

 

My default avatar is somewhat of a new one, Battledome Stamp from 2010, but it's still in the old pixel style.

Maraqua Supporter is lovely, I have Pirate Warrior and it's not as nice looking xD

 

Yeah Lawyerbot is nice. Neopocalypse looks like it was thrown together in 5 seconds. Which it pretty much was lol.

 

the new avatars don't have that cutesy feel of traditional pixel art.

it looks like they were created with a fancy program - they're essentially mini gifs.

 

i really do miss the old avatars. lawyerbot has been the only one i actually liked in the past multiple releases.

in general, i think neo doesn't about avatars quite as much.

 

Yeah pretty much :/

And yeah. They don't release avatars as much as they used to.

[cleomiele]

Since I just made this new account recently, I don't have any of the new avatars and I hadn't noticed this until now! You're completely right, though; when I was coming back to the boards for the first time in several years, I would see people using those avatars and have to stare at them several times to figure out what was going on o_O The simplicity of the older ones is definitely more sightly.

 

Good luck finishing your page! Can't wait to see it.

[idriya]

While I do think the older ones are nicer, in TNT's defense, I think the reason they changed the look of their avatars is to distinguish the ones they make from fan-made ones. Now, I'm not familiar with the history of computer art programs, but I would think the ones that were out when avatars were first released were rather primitive and expensive. However, that was around 10 years ago, and they've definitely evolved since then. There's a lot more to choose from; heck, almost everyone has Photoshop on their computers nowadays. My point being that now, anyone who's willing to take the time to learn could make avatars like the older ones. Not only does TNT not like being outdone by the users, but it takes away potential ideas they could have used for avatars. In this case, they're probably trying a little TOO hard to distinguish themselves from the users. :(

 

I think it's that, plus new artists replacing the older artists who made the old, simple avatars.

 

I don't think ALL of the new avatars are bad, though. They've come out with some that I've liked. Including the ones you like plus the Rubbish Dump one, here are a few more I like (my definition of the newer avatars being any avatar that came after the Chef Bonju avatar, since there was a huge hiatus between that one and the first of the new avatars, the Mutant Graveyard of Doom one):

 

Also, I think the Neopocalypse one is intentionally bad as a joke. I think that one can be excused. :P And I know it bothers a lot of people, but I personally don't care about the lack of text, but that's just me.

 

P.S.: Are you behind the Kadventures of Olly and Ninth comics in the NT? I LOVE those comics!!!!!! :D Those and Spooky are my favorites. :)

[Storme]

I agree with idriya that they released SOME nice avvies; it's just the ones where they went completely overboard on the animation that bug me (I agree the Negg & Neopocalypse ones are terrible).

 

I definitely think the pixel-ish look was cute and I wish they still made some that looked like that.

They did a great job on the Lawyerbot avatar though. ^^

[Ninth]

While I do think the older ones are nicer, in TNT's defense, I think the reason they changed the look of their avatars is to distinguish the ones they make from fan-made ones. Now, I'm not familiar with the history of computer art programs, but I would think the ones that were out when avatars were first released were rather primitive and expensive. However, that was around 10 years ago, and they've definitely evolved since then. There's a lot more to choose from; heck, almost everyone has Photoshop on their computers nowadays. My point being that now, anyone who's willing to take the time to learn could make avatars like the older ones. Not only does TNT not like being outdone by the users, but it takes away potential ideas they could have used for avatars. In this case, they're probably trying a little TOO hard to distinguish themselves from the users. :(

 

I think it's that, plus new artists replacing the older artists who made the old, simple avatars.

 

I don't think ALL of the new avatars are bad, though. They've come out with some that I've liked. Including the ones you like plus the Rubbish Dump one, here are a few more I like (my definition of the newer avatars being any avatar that came after the Chef Bonju avatar, since there was a huge hiatus between that one and the first of the new avatars, the Mutant Graveyard of Doom one):

 

Also, I think the Neopocalypse one is intentionally bad as a joke. I think that one can be excused. :P And I know it bothers a lot of people, but I personally don't care about the lack of text, but that's just me.

 

P.S.: Are you behind the Kadventures of Olly and Ninth comics in the NT? I LOVE those comics!!!!!! :D Those and Spooky are my favorites. :)

 

Yeah possibly. I do think it is new artists replacing the old ones. Though I have Photoshop CS5 and can make avs like the old ones. Maybe they're trying the different style but I do hope they will go back to the older style someday. If not, oh well, more avs for me to collect and not use xD

 

I like the shape of the new Assignment 53 one but a bit too animated. But overall it's not a terrible looking avatar.

 

I love BD Stamp because I worked so hard to get that one xD

And Carnival of Terror and Grundo Plushie are nice, not a fan of the others.

 

And yup I am! Thanks xD

[Goldjet32]

A few years back I returned from my Neopets hiatus to see what new avatars came out and I was really disappointed. The first ones I remember were the three Hidden Tower ones; I felt they took no effort in releasing them, both in their design and in the method to getting the avatar. I think the biggest gripe I have with the HT ones is the dark edge around them. Makes it look darker than it needs to be.

 

I used to like making custom fonts for the Neoboards for certain avatars, and I think the factor of simplicity definitely shone in that endeavour. You could choose the cardinal colours of an avatar and revolve your font around that... but avatars like the Neopocalypse are hard to do that for, because they have too much going on. A bunch of random scenes put together.

 

Anyway, I digress. I have to agree with you on your predilection for the older avatars.

[Ninth]

A few years back I returned from my Neopets hiatus to see what new avatars came out and I was really disappointed. The first ones I remember were the three Hidden Tower ones; I felt they took no effort in releasing them, both in their design and in the method to getting the avatar. I think the biggest gripe I have with the HT ones is the dark edge around them. Makes it look darker than it needs to be.

 

I used to like making custom fonts for the Neoboards for certain avatars, and I think the factor of simplicity definitely shone in that endeavour. You could choose the cardinal colours of an avatar and revolve your font around that... but avatars like the Neopocalypse are hard to do that for, because they have too much going on. A bunch of random scenes put together.

 

Anyway, I digress. I have to agree with you on your predilection for the older avatars.

 

Yup, that's exactly how I feel. They're very hard to make fonts for :/