Racy Avatars - your input needed

[Dobber]

This is a growing concern of mine. It was fine two years ago...still fine, but not as much so a year ago...and even six months ago it was probably acceptable. But it has grown to the point where something needs to be done.
As with all things in life involving humans, if you give them an inch, then one person will try an inch and a half...and another will then try one and three-quarters. Until, over the course of time, that inch becomes, you guessed it - a mile.
We saw an example of this as Henrik Zetterberg's contract morphed into Marian Hossa's contract which morphed into Ilya Kovalchuk's. And then, when something was done about it by the league, all the second-guessers came down on it because nothing was done in the first place.
Well, I did nothing about a motion avatar that showed a woman dancing with cleavage, or a woman sneezing and her dress popping open. They were racy, but didn't really show anything that network television would censor. But add another person's avatar, and then another, and then another...and two years of adding one to another...suddenly we have 25 or 50 members with avatars that are certainly not suitable for children under the age of 13, and also not suitable for businessmen to have on their screen at the office.

This impacts the amount of times they return to my site, which reduces traffic, which impacts my livelihood. And so, my friends, this has caught up with me.

The more rules I add to the site (right now, it's just the basics - courtesy only), the closer it becomes to HF Boards and/or a dictatorship-style message board. But I don't want to exclude my office readers.

What should be done?

[newper114]

quick response to another users post. good stuff. but as mentioned there you can shut off avatars. so i just did that. sucks not being able to see everyones but if you dont want to put forth too many rules than a simple shutoff should solve alot of our problems.

[ericdaoust]

This site/forum should be geared in the way that does the best business. If you feel this hurts business, then ban those types of avatars. It's a hockey site after all (although the term "FANTASY hockey" could mislead people into posting these racy pictures). It's not like you're telling people not to post avatars supporting the Maple Leafs. I'm sure they'll understand.

[dyzfunctioned]

As one member who might be considered to have a "racy avatar" I find that the option to disable them for those it disturbs works fine.

However, if it's truly impacting your livelihood and traffic to the site I'd have no issue changing my avatar or having "racy avatars" banned in general.

Like I said in the other thread, it's nothing that can't be found everywhere else on the internet and there is the option to disable them - but if they truly have a negative effect on the site (such as reducing traffic), then of course action is justified.

[SeaDawg]

In the other related forum to this topic, I just moments ago posted something saying that being able to disable the avatars seemed like a good compromise.

But I never really thought about the business implications for this site. And if there is one thing I believe most of us want more than anything, including me, is for this site to continue to succeed (i.e., be profitable for Dobber, Angus, and company). So I say if this avatar business is bad for business (and I honestly can see now why that might be the case), then I say do away with the racy avatars once and for all.

I will miss the boobies but can view them somewhere else. There is only one place for great fantasy hockey news and advice.

Long Live Dobberhockey!

[2sticks1puck]

How can I vote to increase the number of them?

[jff100]

I voted for "Remove the racy avatars". Why? Because I think that avatars, if used correctly, add a lot to the site (they identify the author quickly, and add interest because of the cool hockey-related ones, plus lots of other reasons as well).

That being said, there would be other options I'd be happy with, e.g.:
* Flag certain avatars as "racy", and have a user option to disable only the racy avatars (enabled by default for safety of kids).
OR
* Place "racy" avatars in a different location on the server that be can be filtered out with Ad-blocking software.
Both these options would require coding effort, so the "Removal" is probably still the best option from my point of view.

[dyzfunctioned]

In the other related forum to this topic, I just moments ago posted something saying that being able to disable the avatars seemed like a good compromise.

But I never really thought about the business implications for this site. And if there is one thing I believe most of us want more than anything, including me, is for this site to continue to succeed (i.e., be profitable for Dobber, Angus, and company). So I say if this avatar business is bad for business (and I honestly can see now why that might be the case), then I say do away with the racy avatars once and for all.

I will miss the boobies but can view them somewhere else. There is only one place for great fantasy hockey news and advice.

Long Live Dobberhockey!

This is what I was trying to say but better worded.

[duducks]

I've seen other forums (particularly for Torrents) where you can disable all avatars, disable "adult" avatars, and allow all avatars.

If you're torn on it, a compromise can always work.

[Ron Burgundy]

I'm a pretty new kid on the block here so take my views for what they're worth, but I'm also a "businessman" who views this site at work. I've got no problem doing that with "racy" avatars, and suspect most office workers wouldn't, so long as there's no nudity. Let's face it, if you're surfing a fantasy hockey website in the middle of the day then there's probably nobody looking over your shoulder.

For those that are concerned though, I was not aware of the turn-off (pun sort of not intended) feature. You might want to make that option more prominent and/or have it as something you have new people check a box for when they sign up to the website.

[A Watch]

I have admitedly had numerous people ask "What are you looking at?" as the site has started to look more like a "hot-chick" forum than a hockey one. I vote to keep it hockey. It's easier to browse at work without looking like a pervert as the girls in the office don't seem to mind a hockey pic but I do get some odd looks these days

[buck0198]

Can we have a vote on who has the best racy avatar? I like the ones with jiggly boobs!

[JagrBomb]

i say just ask the members to remove their "racy" avatars. it is very hard to be discreet at work reading the forums when you have half naked women in a lot of avatars. no disrespect to anyone who has a "racy" girl as their avatar, i just think the site would be better without them.

i just noticed one of the poll options is to ask the members to tone it down. i'm in favor of that. i'm sure if everyone knows that it is hard for some people to view this site because of the avatars then most people will take off the scandalous avatars. theres nothing wrong with having women in your avatars...just as long as she is wearing something you could bring home to show your mother.

[LeTrefle]

I changed my Irish chick in support of this thread.
It's true that it becomes more and more difficult to read this site at the office.
All in all, what's best? Carey Price or a nice Irish butt?
I take Price for my pool!
I will keep the ass for something else...
Good bye little green shorts!

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EDIT:
Changed my mind!
I think my avatar represents me.
I'm Irish and I like nice (but not porn) ass.
It's better than a Carey Price pic.

[JD88]

I know it took me a long time to find mine but I love it!! I say put a plea out or a challange on the forums for the best hockey related avatar!!