Avatars?

[Matt2000]

i see a few people have avatars on here now, and they look good

i've tried to set mine (the same as my personal picture) but i won't show up on any of my posts. i've had a good nose through the settings, and i can't find anything there. do the pictures have to be given the go-ahead by chris before they are added?

cheers

Matt

[Floyd]

i see a few people have avatars on here now, and they look good

i've tried to set mine (the same as my personal picture) but i won't show up on any of my posts. i've had a good nose through the settings, and i can't find anything there. do the pictures have to be given the go-ahead by chris before they are added?

cheers

Matt

Yep , the avatar will have to be approved before it will show up anywhere . Could take a few days ...

[Mouton]

I find the avatar rules odd, but then again I find it odd that paying members cannot have their forum name changed upon request either... It would take up too much admin time allowing that.

Seriously, what is the point in allowing only "Only avatars which contain an RC model or RC part"? How does that help individual creativity and the abilty to use unique avatars?

I use a photo of a stuffed toy sheep (hence my name Mouton, French for sheep) on lots of RC-forums. It has been my online avatar for six years. Here, I cannot use it since it is not an "RC part".

I understand that you cannot use offensive images, but that could hardly apply to this:

And yes, I did use the correct size when I sent it for approval.

[netsmithUK]

Rules for avatars are simple and clear. The item must feature an RC Model or part.

If you saw some of the avatars that get submitted and rejected you'd understand why we do it this way and why we make the rules black and white. Once you start allowing any picture offensive or not then you have to start getting into debates as to what is acceptable and what is not and those drag on for days and sap a lot of resource, time and effort.

Heres an example - We allow the picture of a sheep, then someone wants to post a picture of their dog. "you allow sheep so why not my dog?" Fair enough, we allow the picture of the dog, then we get "You allow a picture of my dog so I want to post a picture of my Girlfriend" Surely if we allow sheep and dogs then wifes and relatives are ok? We allow the girlfriend picture, some then submits another picture of a woman, wearing slightly less. We've got no idea of if its his girlfriend or just some image off the web. We are a club of mainly men so who would find that offensive? We allow it, some one then posts another woman wearing something else thats a bit revealing...and so on and so on. In the end we spend hours trying to argue with people on the finer details of stuffed animals or the difference in "acceptable clothing or posing" And for what? At the end of the day we are an RC related club, so isn't it fair and easier to say your avatar has to be an RC model or part? For members picking a picture that fits the rules will take minutes, for mods getting bigged down in debates about the finer details of what acceptable and whats not, when the rules are anything othere than black and white takes hours.

The rule doesn't stop creativity or uniqueness, just look at what has been allowed already.

This way its simple for the users and simple for the mods - and back to what I was saying originally, its easy to say it won't happen but from what I have 'rejected' so far I know for a fact that people have very very wide ideas on what is acceptable or may cause offense.

Chris

[Mouton]

Since you manually approve the avatars, the nude women would get caught there. By the way, gender is not the only reason for beeing offended. I think most here agree that a child friendly atmosphere is desirable, thus disallowing nude girls. And why then, if you are worried about offensice photos of nde women, is there no approval necessary for the personal photos? And, if I put a scale willy on my Willy that would be perfectly OK since it is an RC part... Your "simple and clear rules (and logic) is clearly flawed here and it does not make for a user friendly forum. Same goes for changing names...

As for my sheep, I could always morph it over Michelle Mouton's driver's helmet and call it a photo of an RC part...

Seriously, come on and change that rule since you still manually approve all avatars. Anyway you see it an admin/mod would still have to make the call. I would understand it if there was no approval process. I administer a large forum myself and know that there comes a time every now and then when it is time to admit that what we initially thought correct and perfect could be improved. I would like to believe this holds true for Tamiyaclub.com too:)

[netsmithUK]

You've missed my point completely. I'm not talking about the out and out nude pictures, or pictures that some find racially offensive or even those that offend on grounds of taste. Its all the ones that are on the border line. What I'm trying to explain is that if you allow anything then someone will use that the basis for something that pushed the boundary that bit further and we get bogged down in email arguments about why one is allowed and not something else. That is time we could spend on making other improvements that would be of benefit to all. The example I gave was just to illustrate how you can get into the situations very fast starting at even the most innocent of points.

Your picture of a sheep is not a problem, other than the precident it sets for the future which I covered in my example. Members have to look at the wider picture not just at their own personal preference. If everyone thought the same way, had the same taste and had the same boundaries then there would be no problem at all, but they don't.

You are right it still a judgement call from a moderator but the rule as it cuts down on the amount of times we have to make that call.

Personal photos I don't control because I can't - thats the software otherwise I would. I don't worry about them too much as people have to go looking for them to see them, as opposed to avatars which are forced by their owners into the face of every reader. That said if people post 'offensive' pictures there then they will be dealt with as they are pointed out to us.

You are right, rules can change and we are happy to review rules, we have done it many times in the past. In this particular instance though our rules have worked very well, in the 9mths or more we've been operating it this is the first complaint or questioning of it I have had, out of 20,000 + members that is no grounds to change anything.

At the end of the day, not everyone is going to like the rules in every forum, site or service they use. There are forums I don't like the rules in some of them I still use because its worth putting up with those things I don't like to get at the information I need, some of them I walk away from and don't use because I can't work within those rules. Its a personal choice. We are an RC forum for RC fans - in order to provide our members with the best service we can all we are asking is that they choose an RC related avatar.

[Floyd]

I don't know Chris , wanting an RC based avatar on an RC based website seems a little unreasonable too me lol . Sorry , I couldn't help myself . Actually since there are a lot of websites that don't give you an option at all , or a limited "this is what you have to pick from" you should feel lucky if anything that Chris ( netsmithUK ) lets you make your own if you want . As Ive been a mod for years on other websites I can understand completely why Chris has it the way it is now . And if you go to any website that has no limit on what you use you have to admit that 50% to 60% of the avatars are not something you would want for a poster on your child's wall or even see as a smaller "avatar" pic . Plus as Chris has already explained ( twice now ) it would get out of control with people wanting to push the limits of what the rules are . Heck look at you now wanting to push the limits of what has been the rule ( with no complaints until now ) for quite a while .

[bangstick]

I don't know Chris , wanting an RC based avatar on an RC based website seems a little unreasonable too me lol . Sorry , I couldn't help myself . Actually since there are a lot of websites that don't give you an option at all , or a limited "this is what you have to pick from" you should feel lucky if anything that Chris ( netsmithUK ) lets you make your own if you want . As Ive been a mod for years on other websites I can understand completely why Chris has it the way it is now . And if you go to any website that has no limit on what you use you have to admit that 50% to 60% of the avatars are not something you would want for a poster on your child's wall or even see as a smaller "avatar" pic . Plus as Chris has already explained ( twice now ) it would get out of control with people wanting to push the limits of what the rules are . Heck look at you now wanting to push the limits of what has been the rule ( with no complaints until now ) for quite a while .

Lol Good luck with that Floyd, from my experience Chris is as stubborn as an old mountain goat, I have never seen him budge an inch to even to most reasonable request lol. How can you possibly argue that by letting someone have a picture of a toy sheep that automatically allows people to post pictures of naked women, surley you have gone slightly mad no? Its simple to me, if there is gash in picture, don't approve it. If there's some soft toy in it, who is this going to offend??? You say its not black and white, I disagree, but hey stubborness is terminal?

[TWINSET]

Its simple to me, if there is gash in picture, don't approve it.

How about ***** symbols on paintjobs? should they be allowed as they're only symbolic, or is that as bad as a photograph?

Maybe that would necessitate the admin approval of avatars regardless of if they're RC related or not?

Just curious really;

14/03/2006 17:15:39

Cheers chris. The mrs thought it would be funny to make a special stencil in honour of my TC username and i cant believe nobody has spotted it yet :-p by bangstick

[BiggusDitchus]

Lol Good luck with that Floyd, from my experience Chris is as stubborn as an old mountain goat, I have never seen him budge an inch to even to most reasonable request lol. How can you possibly argue that by letting someone have a picture of a toy sheep that automatically allows people to post pictures of naked women, surley you have gone slightly mad no? Its simple to me, if there is gash in picture, don't approve it. If there's some soft toy in it, who is this going to offend??? You say its not black and white, I disagree, but hey stubborness is terminal?

What is the problem with abiding by the rules that have been put in place (whether you agree or not) they arent unreasonable.. choose a picture of your car and use that and stop whinging! Its not a case of stubborness the rule is RC related, that sheep is not rc related so if its allowed then others will want different avatars and it progresses from there.

Can I make a suggestion Chris, take the avatars and signatures off completely, no more problems then!

[RichieRich]

Some people have problems with rules. That's ok, it's just human nature. It sparks innovation and lots of times causes trouble. I don't think we should get rid of sigs and avatars because of a handful of people. Then we'll wind up like the RC car action board that only allows 80x80 avatars only if you have 1,000 + posts. Plus, they don't allow signatures. (Talk about supporting post-strumpeting.) Anyways, most of us are here because we enjoy rc cars. So, logically, it's only fitting that rc related avatars are allowed. If you have an interest in music, soccer/football, phallic symbols or stuffed animals, I'm sure there are forums dedicated to those topics.

[bangstick]

How about ***** symbols on paintjobs? should they be allowed as they're only symbolic, or is that as bad as a photograph?

Maybe that would necessitate the admin approval of avatars regardless of if they're RC related or not?

Just curious really;

Yeah thats true but it was subtle, If its offensive remove it? If you want to be anal about it you could censor my username also ***** based. There are a few usernames which are close to the mark, how about Sunktothenuts? How far does this censorship go? Is the avatar issue really about keeping it clean or making a mark/point? We all know that its overkill not to let a stuffed sheep picture stay. Unfortunately like in most things there is no solidarity and people just accept silly rules for the sake of rules as they are worried about being given one of the famous "black marks".

I think me saying this is Chris being stubborn may have been barking up the wrong tree, I was told today its actually you running TC now. Is this true?

[bangstick]

What is the problem with abiding by the rules that have been put in place (whether you agree or not) they arent unreasonable.. choose a picture of your car and use that and stop whinging! Its not a case of stubborness the rule is RC related, that sheep is not rc related so if its allowed then others will want different avatars and it progresses from there.

Can I make a suggestion Chris, take the avatars and signatures off completely, no more problems then!

Brownie points for you then lol! I am not whinging as you put it, I am airing my opinions on a forum which I am fully entitled to do. You completely missed my point, If it's just as easy for me to put a picture of my car in the avatar it must be just as easy for someone have a sheep in theirs. Its not hurting anyone, thats my point. Why not remove the forum altogether and only have a section where people can all say how great everything is and censor out any points someone might have? I thought the word 'Club' meant its run for the good of all the members?

[BiggusDitchus]

We all know that its overkill not to let a stuffed sheep picture stay. Unfortunately like in most things there is no solidarity and people just accept silly rules for the sake of rules as they are worried about being given one of the famous "black marks".

Open your eyes and look at the broader pic, the admin are not saying no to the sheep as its a stuffed sheep but more a case of a rule is for all not just for 1, if you bend a rule for 1 then it would have to be done for all.

Basically like it or lump it... This is supposed to be a fun hobby so why cause so much trouble and hassle over a little picture?

[TWINSET]

I think me saying this is Chris being stubborn may have been barking up the wrong tree, I was told today its actually you running TC now. Is this true?

Nope, not sure where you get your info from but TC is still very much run by Chris, albeit with a few more moderators.

Yeah thats true but it was subtle, If its offensive remove it? If you want to be anal about it you could censor my username also ***** based. There are a few usernames which are close to the mark, how about Sunktothenuts? How far does this censorship go? Is the avatar issue really about keeping it clean or making a mark/point? We all know that its overkill not to let a stuffed sheep picture stay. Unfortunately like in most things there is no solidarity and people just accept silly rules for the sake of rules as they are worried about being given one of the famous "black marks".

Where usernames are ambiguous, they've been let stand.

Outright offensive ones have always been disallowed, and always will be.

The avatar rule is simply removing any confusion regarding what's suitable/likely to cause offence etc.

Tamiya Club is largely about collecting radio controlled cars, so the avatar ruling reflects that. Simple as that.

A year ago there weren't even avatars on TC, so there's a dead easy choice to make, choose an RC related avatar or don't.

As for "We all know that its overkill not to let a stuffed sheep picture stay" that's kind of a sweeping statement, I'm perfectly happy not to have sheep, gonks, care bears, rainbow monkies or Zippy and/or Bungle as avatars, let alone George.

I thought the word 'Club' meant its run for the good of all the members?

Yay, no non-RC avatars then

[bangstick]

QUOTE(bangstick @ Feb 24 2008, 06:10 PM)

I thought the word 'Club' meant its run for the good of all the members?

Yay, no non-RC avatars then

If all the members were against them

[TWINSET]

The chances of getting all the members to voice their opinions is very unlikely, indeed most of the posts here seem to favou RC avs.

There's no sign of this rule ever changing, it wasn't a 'see how it goes' decision, so it's RC avatars only I'm afraid.

[richytanimal]

OOh, I'll voice my opinion Andy

I'm not sure why all the fuss about the avatar rule, we never used to have avatars, now we have a choice of whether to have an avatar or not, as long as it contains an RC vehicle or part. There are plenty of other rules regarding the use etc of this forum and the club which most of us seem to be ok with.

If I didn't like or want to abide by the rules then I wouldn't bother being in the club to be quite honest.

Maybe I'm getting old but rules are rules and as far as I'm concerned Chris owns and runs the site (along with the mods, who do a great job most of the time ) so it's his prerogative as to how he wants his site run.

Hope this doesn't stir things up too much, just getting a bit fed up with some of the petty issues that seem to be whizzing around at the mo.

Cheers.

Rich.

BTW in case I wasn't quite clear, I'm in favour of RC only avatars

[BiggusDitchus]

OOh, I'll voice my opinion Andy

I'm not sure why all the fuss about the avatar rule, we never used to have avatars, now we have a choice of whether to have an avatar or not, as long as it contains an RC vehicle or part. There are plenty of other rules regarding the use etc of this forum and the club which most of us seem to be ok with.

If I didn't like or want to abide by the rules then I wouldn't bother being in the club to be quite honest.

Maybe I'm getting old but rules are rules and as far as I'm concerned Chris owns and runs the site (along with the mods, who do a great job most of the time ) so it's his prerogative as to how he wants his site run.

Hope this doesn't stir things up too much, just getting a bit fed up with some of the petty issues that seem to be whizzing around at the mo.

Cheers.

Rich.

BTW in case I wasn't quite clear, I'm in favour of RC only avatars

I couldnt have said it better, or agree with that more.. Oh and im in favour of RC only avatars too.

[mymonsterbeetleisbroken]

Yep.

Lets keep the sheep on sheep websites, not RC ones

[Wrc action]

Another voiced opinion.

- Im in favour of RC based avatars, on what happens to be an RC site.

and frankly making a mountain out of a mole hill springs to mind.

as mentioned before rules and rules. TC runs how TC runs, should u like it like I do then I stay, If i didnt then I wouldn't. not that hard a decision to make as there are many other rc forums and clubs on the net to choose from.

[dready]

Another voiced opinion.

- Im in favour of RC based avatars, on what happens to be an RC site.

and frankly making a mountain out of a mole hill springs to mind.

as mentioned before rules and rules. TC runs how TC runs, should u like it like I do then I stay, If i didnt then I wouldn't. not that hard a decision to make as there are many other rc forums and clubs on the net to choose from.

Well said that man.

[Lemming]

Another voiced opinion.

- Im in favour of RC based avatars, on what happens to be an RC site.

and frankly making a mountain out of a mole hill springs to mind.

as mentioned before rules and rules. TC runs how TC runs, should u like it like I do then I stay, If i didnt then I wouldn't. not that hard a decision to make as there are many other rc forums and clubs on the net to choose from.

As per Dready: Well said Ryck and all the others who have said the same sort of thing. Live with it or go elsewhere.

Seem to be too many threads recently complaining about this or that on the forum rather than threads relating to what everyone loves on here: Radio Controlled Toys/Models/Stuff

[terry.sc]

Well it looks so far like everyone else is in favour of r/c only avatars then.

This just smacks of Chris saying its his trainset and we play with it HIS way or not at all.

That's basically the way it is and is probably the best analogy there is. If you want to play on his website you have to abide by his rules. This isn't a corporate run website, it's Chris's personal r/c website that's just got very big, so it's down to Chris how he wants to run his site.

Lets hope Chris doesn't decide all the avatars have to have the 2 Tamiya stars on them otherwise you would have to come up with convincing reasons why thats the way forward lol!

I for one wouldn't be happy about it, but like just about everyone else I would respect his rules and in my case not have one

[madaz75]

Ok Ok..

I've been a spectator to this for too long now to remain silent..

This is all just a "Tempest In A Tea Cup"..

Seriously people.

Go out and Drive your Rc's, Build a New one, Make a post about that Custom Part you made for your Sand Scorcher/Wild Willy/Porsche/High Lift hybrid thing.

Surely there are more constructive things we all could be doing, than arguing about avatars?