A wild, random mix of pictures creates a wild, random visual character, imho. I can't say I like that. But maybe that's just me.
I had the foresight 14 years ago to choose a username that would have a bunch of ready made avatars for it.
In your user control panel area(hover over your username at top-right>>>privacy), there are checkboxes that hide your online status and current activity right at the top of the privacy settings page
I'm glad we have avatars. Some are quite inventive and even amusing. Some are images of the actual person/member, like mine. I'm more bugged while reading by the red and white "blank" spots where an avatar isn't being used, and I suspect that Clutch wouldn't mind those being filled by the members who haven't bothered with avatars. It makes a page much easier to view without those "stop signs" busting up the look, in my opinion. My real question to Clutch would be this - can members be prevented from copying another member's avatar? Is there some software in place that prevents that? I can see it becoming a potential problem going forward, if that isn't the case. An avatar should be unique to the individual that has first used it and kept it, in my opinion. That places importance on selecting an avatar early if a member has something in mind. Food for thought, if no one has mentioned this yet.
@Deckard Rather than a single default "blank" avatar of a white silhouette on red background, would be *very* cool (imho) if Clutch could choose defaults for unused avatars, based on some type of rating system -- like Rookie to Hakeem. Spoiler: More dumb thoughts on this example, give a Rookie avatar to someone who is a rookie and stubbornly doesn't make a custom avatar. Then ideally there are defaults for more status levels like the previous Rep levels: Tyus Jones to Bev to Ryno to Drex to Yao to Hakeem I'm willing to bet stubborn posters who won't make a custom avatar like Clutch is hoping, will be more likely to do so if the one chosen for them is a Rockets player who is not their favorite. Heck, you could make the Default Avatars hated Rivals of the Rockets, too. If you really want ppl to create their own custom one.
Interesting thought. I guess the avatars would be based on "Likes," since that seems to be the pertinent metric now. I would suggest that instead of being based on players used for the traditional Rep levels, that Clutch use less well known Rockets from the past. Rookies, for example, could have an image of one of our blown #1 draft picks (there are several to choose from, naturally), with the top spots filled from our stars that more recent fans might not be familiar with, at least as players. In no particular order, players like Elvin, Calvin, and Ralph would be cool. Important players, "ruined" by being Hell in the locker room, or because of a scandal later in life, or by the "i' word, or by walking away from the team at the worst possible time (Max as a "mid-level" player). I'd enjoy seeing those images, and heck, some members might end up preferring them. Controversial, but important Rockets from the past. I'm sure I'm forgetting several who would fit that description. Just a thought.
@Deckard Now we're talking Even if default avatars can only be associated with a member's status, you'd still have three needing image assignments: Rookie, Member and Contributing Member