How do you decide on a personal icon?

Yup

Google and a few beers

Seriously though your avatar here in the forums is not a mainstay to your reputation. people remember a name more than an avatar.. Hell look at me i change mine every few months and my name at least 6+ times since the beginning of GCI days and people still remember me

I'm sure what you eventually go for will suit you anyhow!

Hell look at me i change mine every few months and my name at least 6+ times since the beginning of GCI days and people still remember me

You're the only person ranked Ambassador that regularly posts, so we can keep track of you easier

Could anyone provide me with some insight as to how to select a personal icon?

If you want to have something unique and memorable, the best option IMO is to just make your own. Even if it's just a stick figure drawn in MS Paint, you will be recognized (the Aldarian Empire did that in GC1)

If you do pick something, it pays to keep it the same once you establish a reputation around it. I used the same one for six years myself before I finally redesigned it a few months ago.

If you do pick something, it pays to keep it the same once you establish a reputation around it. I used the same one for six years myself before I finally redesigned it a few months ago.

And then had to go and get PROMOTED before people remembered who you were

You're the only person ranked Ambassador that regularly posts, so we can keep track of you easier

Bugger it! I knew there was a reason & i had been trying to make it hard for people too

nah you don't need an avatar for folks to remember you. You post good stuff and can be known for that. But if you don't want to make one there is a fairly decent image on a Yugioh card that is called Divine Wrath, you could use that.

I made mine. Not very hard and i think it blends in nicely.

Who said that?

"Mmmn Human snack you come to Drengin!"

Ok, thanks for the input. I'll try some of your ideas. I'm not what I'll come up with, though.

I asked this question because I'm not good with names. I normally reconize people on this forums by their icon, and I figured that other people did the same.

P.S. Feel free to add more ideas.

BTW I found this and thought of you



"Mmmn Human snack you come to Drengin!"

Once upon a time I looked at the Avatars as a way to recognize the poster, however, recently I have found that the Avatars tend to change. People get tired or bored with them and or create or find something better.

I agree with the above statements, you need not have an avatar to be recognized, however, for customization of your character, it adds quite a bit.

Some people like symbols, Yin / Yang, initials, badges of honor, family crests, so on and so forth. Others like items, airplanes, starships, planets, and other things of that nature.

I like to give a face to the character I create. The Quixen Avatar depicts ( at least to me ) the face of a man who is full of determination and the will to accomplish his goals by any means necessary, yet still has compassion for his fellow man.

I am sure whatever you decide will fit your personality.

Good luck sir.

Could anyone provide me with some insight as to how to select a personal icon?

I don't think it really matters all that much. By the time I've come across a number of posts by the same person and I begin to remember what they said in this thread or that, I pretty much remember the name and icon interchangeably.

If anything, if I see a post or comment that impresses me one way or the other I'll make an effort to remember the name. I don't think I've ever made a conscious effort to remember someone’s icon.

I think you should try to pick something unique, the whole space thing is a bit overdone. Also once you pick something you should probably stick with it unless you’re an extremely unstable personality (just kidding DG). I went with Martin Luther because he reminds me of my elementary school teacher, plus who the hell else would pick Martin Luther? Martin Luther King would be far more understandable.

BTW Quixen's icon has always reminded me of Robert Smith from the Cure.

Thanks for the ideas guys. I'll probally be doodling some stuff on a piece of paper for the next few days until I decide upon something.

Oh, by the way, thanks for the icon Drengin. It looks good.

P.S. Feel free to add more ideas.

I just did an image search on the web using a search parameter of interest(Adders or snakes for me). Then I just resize it for the purpose. Some for in game logos, some for avatars and such. Can find millions of possibilities that way.

Choice of (or abstention from) intoxicants aside, doing some image searches on the web can be a big help whether or not you have serious graphics skills. All Windows computers have programs (MS Paint at minimum) that can crop and resize standard graphics files you might find through a web search. Cropping and resizing can go a long way, regardless of the words you might use for a search.

Here are a couple I found. I like the first one, but you'll probably want to edit out the text. The second is from "The Hand on the Clock of Divine Wrath" by Schoenegk 1688.

Quixen's icon has always reminded me of Robert Smith from the Cure.

Heh.. Now that you mention it...

not trying to complicate things, but...

you actually have to pick TWO avatars for this site: one for the forums, and another for your profile page. click on my name and go to profile page where i put a pic of my gorgeous wife.... yeah wife, that's it... that's the ticket.

a pic of my gorgeous wife.... yeah wife, that's it...

Any woman that can carry what appears to be eight beers (plus a magnificent set) is very impressive.   

i guess we know what mumble was focused on!

you might want to count them again...

OK maybe ten beers. But who's counting ... beers that is.   

Sometimes your forum name and avatar just seem to happen on their own. I've always been a Sean Connery fan and also a SciFi B-movie junkie. I had just seen Outland again (I give it a B+, but it's still a B movie) before I got my copy of Galactic Civ, so the movie poster pic and the character's name seemed like a natural. I'm kind of over it now, actually, and trying to figure out if I should change the name or the icon first, then wait a while and change the other to let people get used to it.

OK maybe ten beers. But who's counting ... beers that is.

No kidding... holy heaven in a snapshot!

How do I decide on a personal icon? Simple. I use my baby pictures.

Simple. I use my baby pictures.

*insert joke about doctor smacking mother here*

After a few days of doodling, I have come to one conclusion: I suck at drawing.

I tried to upload the icon that Drengin found, but it keeps saying "Your upload succeeded, but the image(s) have been corrupted. Please check the file and try again.". Is the forums having troubles again, or am I going to have to find another image?

P.S. Since I'm thinking about it, does anyone know of any good sites where you can learn how to draw?

Your upload succeeded, but the image(s) have been corrupted

I'm totally guessing, but there are different size limits on the various images. Did you exceed these limits? Also there are only certain formats supported JPG and PNG but not BMP.