Poll: The Escapist's Felings on GIF Avatars

[Carbonyl]

See, my problem is that not only am I epileptic, but also synesthetic. I have to physically cover the brightly flashing GIFs with my hand to avoid multi-sensory disorientation and the chance of inducing a seizure (small though it may be).

I understand that people want them, and that not all of them are at a speed dangerous for my epilepsy, but it still causes sounds and textures for me and it's incredibly distracting.

I'd settle for a compromise where there is a maximum speed at which the GIFs can cycle, so at least I don't have to worry for my health.

I have an animated avatar (which doesn't cycle fast, but still), so I'm sorry if this sets off your epilepsy, but I figured you should know that you can turn off avatars in your user options or, if you're using Firefox, stop all gifs on the page from animating (EDIT: By pressing ESC, can't believe I forgot to say). (both of these solutions were taken from earlier in the thread). Hope that helps.

See, your avatar is slow-cycling, unobtrusive, and doesn't flash bright, highly contrasting colors. It's not a problem, especially because the opening to Avatar the Last Airbender is a familiar sequence for me. My problem is with, bright, fast-cycling, stunted, and highly contrasted flashes.
I like people's avatars, I want to be able to see them and identify people, but it's really unpleasant when I'm suddenly bombarded with a bright, pulsating series of flashes. It's like a tiny flash-bang. And I'm using Safari, so a method for getting rid of just gifs has not yet been presented, and honestly, I'm lucky I can turn the damn computer on without setting it on fire.

I'm serious about the speed limit thing, it would solve most of my problems with them.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Those with GIF avatars give a clear message to me, and that message is, "Expressing my opinion clearly isn't as important to me as making you pay attention to my individuality by distracting you with this loop of a japanese dating sim character cuddling with a cartoon pony. Forget about my comment. Be mesmerized by the visual fan-fiction instead."

Sounds like CaramelFrappe to me.

Also sounds like you're paying more attention to the avatar than to what people are saying.

And as I've always said, it's the badges that make the user. Just like in Pokemon

 

[Avatar Roku]

See, my problem is that not only am I epileptic, but also synesthetic. I have to physically cover the brightly flashing GIFs with my hand to avoid multi-sensory disorientation and the chance of inducing a seizure (small though it may be).

I understand that people want them, and that not all of them are at a speed dangerous for my epilepsy, but it still causes sounds and textures for me and it's incredibly distracting.

I'd settle for a compromise where there is a maximum speed at which the GIFs can cycle, so at least I don't have to worry for my health.

I have an animated avatar (which doesn't cycle fast, but still), so I'm sorry if this sets off your epilepsy, but I figured you should know that you can turn off avatars in your user options or, if you're using Firefox, stop all gifs on the page from animating (EDIT: By pressing ESC, can't believe I forgot to say). (both of these solutions were taken from earlier in the thread). Hope that helps.

See, your avatar is slow-cycling, unobtrusive, and doesn't flash bright, highly contrasting colors. It's not a problem, especially because the opening to Avatar the Last Airbender is a familiar sequence for me. My problem is with, bright, fast-cycling, stunted, and highly contrasted flashes.
I like people's avatars, I want to be able to see them and identify people, but it's really unpleasant when I'm suddenly bombarded with a bright, pulsating series of flashes. It's like a tiny flash-bang. And I'm using Safari, so a method for getting rid of just gifs has not yet been presented, and honestly, I'm lucky I can turn the damn computer on without setting it on fire.

I'm serious about the speed limit thing, it would solve most of my problems with them.

Well, maybe there's a plug-in for Safari? Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[Kross]

I'm pretty sure I haven't said anything useful yet, so let my animations serve as a warning to the busy forum lurker.

 

[Avatar Roku]

I'm pretty sure I haven't said anything useful yet, so let my animations serve as a warning to the busy forum lurker.

Unrelated, but I only just realized your post count is i. Awesome.

EDIT: Weird, it said the square root of negative 1 when I posted that...
EDIT2: And now I realize it changed on each refresh. Cool.

 

[Loop Stricken]

I'm pretty sure I haven't said anything useful yet, so let my animations serve as a warning to the busy forum lurker.

Unrelated, but I only just realized your post count is i. Awesome.

EDIT: Weird, it said the square root of negative 1 when I posted that...
EDIT2: And now I realize it changed on each refresh. Cool.

Tuh, bloody sysadmins get all the cool perks.

 

[lacktheknack]

I like my gifs, dammit! It's not meant to take away from my post (I don't even pay attention to other gifs while reading), it's just there to make the passerby laugh (or weep) while they scroll.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Eh, I don't usually care too much, and I've seen a few that are quite entertaining. Some are pretty annoying though.

However, for some strange reason I don't seem to have a problem with simple or minimalistic avatars. Can't seem to think of the reason why though.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Side notes:

- A temporary solution: If you're using Internet Explorer or Firefox, just press Esc. This will stop all gifs from animating until the page is refreshed, or another page is loaded.[br]

Huh, you learn something new every day!

I'm pretty sure I haven't said anything useful yet, so let my animations serve as a warning to the busy forum lurker.

Unrelated, but I only just realized your post count is i. Awesome.

EDIT: Weird, it said the square root of negative 1 when I posted that...
EDIT2: And now I realize it changed on each refresh. Cool.

Zuh? *checks it out*

0,o
This one is extra jealous.

 

[Carbonyl]

See, my problem is that not only am I epileptic, but also synesthetic. I have to physically cover the brightly flashing GIFs with my hand to avoid multi-sensory disorientation and the chance of inducing a seizure (small though it may be).

I understand that people want them, and that not all of them are at a speed dangerous for my epilepsy, but it still causes sounds and textures for me and it's incredibly distracting.

I'd settle for a compromise where there is a maximum speed at which the GIFs can cycle, so at least I don't have to worry for my health.

I have an animated avatar (which doesn't cycle fast, but still), so I'm sorry if this sets off your epilepsy, but I figured you should know that you can turn off avatars in your user options or, if you're using Firefox, stop all gifs on the page from animating (EDIT: By pressing ESC, can't believe I forgot to say). (both of these solutions were taken from earlier in the thread). Hope that helps.

See, your avatar is slow-cycling, unobtrusive, and doesn't flash bright, highly contrasting colors. It's not a problem, especially because the opening to Avatar the Last Airbender is a familiar sequence for me. My problem is with, bright, fast-cycling, stunted, and highly contrasted flashes.
I like people's avatars, I want to be able to see them and identify people, but it's really unpleasant when I'm suddenly bombarded with a bright, pulsating series of flashes. It's like a tiny flash-bang. And I'm using Safari, so a method for getting rid of just gifs has not yet been presented, and honestly, I'm lucky I can turn the damn computer on without setting it on fire.

I'm serious about the speed limit thing, it would solve most of my problems with them.

Well, maybe there's a plug-in for Safari? Sorry I can't be of more help.

That's ok, thanks for trying though, you've been far more respectful than most responses I get when I express dislike for flashing ads, flashing gifs, and flashing embedded videos (it would be nice to have warnings, sometimes.) because of epilepsy. Many people tell me to get over it, that I should get off the internet if it bothers me so much, and outright post flashing images in response.
I'm not severely epileptic, in fact, I have very well-controlled epilepsy, but the chance is still there and a seizure can result in hours of memory loss, days of altered mental processing speed, and the chance of brain damage due to falls. It's a condition that doesn't often get treated with the respect it deserves, so thank you for being respectful and willing to help. You kind of made my day.

 

[Avatar Roku]

See, my problem is that not only am I epileptic, but also synesthetic. I have to physically cover the brightly flashing GIFs with my hand to avoid multi-sensory disorientation and the chance of inducing a seizure (small though it may be).

I understand that people want them, and that not all of them are at a speed dangerous for my epilepsy, but it still causes sounds and textures for me and it's incredibly distracting.

I'd settle for a compromise where there is a maximum speed at which the GIFs can cycle, so at least I don't have to worry for my health.

I have an animated avatar (which doesn't cycle fast, but still), so I'm sorry if this sets off your epilepsy, but I figured you should know that you can turn off avatars in your user options or, if you're using Firefox, stop all gifs on the page from animating (EDIT: By pressing ESC, can't believe I forgot to say). (both of these solutions were taken from earlier in the thread). Hope that helps.

See, your avatar is slow-cycling, unobtrusive, and doesn't flash bright, highly contrasting colors. It's not a problem, especially because the opening to Avatar the Last Airbender is a familiar sequence for me. My problem is with, bright, fast-cycling, stunted, and highly contrasted flashes.
I like people's avatars, I want to be able to see them and identify people, but it's really unpleasant when I'm suddenly bombarded with a bright, pulsating series of flashes. It's like a tiny flash-bang. And I'm using Safari, so a method for getting rid of just gifs has not yet been presented, and honestly, I'm lucky I can turn the damn computer on without setting it on fire.

I'm serious about the speed limit thing, it would solve most of my problems with them.

Well, maybe there's a plug-in for Safari? Sorry I can't be of more help.

That's ok, thanks for trying though, you've been far more respectful than most responses I get when I express dislike for flashing ads, flashing gifs, and flashing embedded videos (it would be nice to have warnings, sometimes.) because of epilepsy. Many people tell me to get over it, that I should get off the internet if it bothers me so much, and outright post flashing images in response.
I'm not severely epileptic, in fact, I have very well-controlled epilepsy, but the chance is still there and a seizure can result in hours of memory loss, days of altered mental processing speed, and the chance of brain damage due to falls. It's a condition that doesn't often get treated with the respect it deserves, so thank you for being respectful and willing to help. You kind of made my day.

No problem. I can't believe people act like that.

 

[Dr. Dice Lord]

This one suspects OP has a gritty silicate in their reproductive orifice. This one recommends a sterile saline solution, before irritation and infection occur.

 

[lacktheknack]

I like my gifs, dammit! It's not meant to take away from my post (I don't even pay attention to other gifs while reading), it's just there to make the passerby laugh (or weep) while they scroll.

Mostly weep.

Mission... accomplished?

 

[SH4DOWSL4Y3R]

Ehh, i'm indifferent to them. The exception is that guy with the damned Fly.

i use a 32 inch screen so that thing looks just about the same size as those little flies/moths that find their way into my room on occasion during the night.

 

[TheNaut131]

I'm pretty alright with them. They typically don't bother me and even with some of the flashier ones, I still focus on what they have typed.

However, I can easily see how such things could bother someone. Flashy, bright, rapid moving objects tend to be annoying. Do slower moving ones bother you too?

 

[Carbonyl]

I'm serious about the speed limit thing, it would solve most of my problems with them.

Well, maybe there's a plug-in for Safari? Sorry I can't be of more help.

That's ok, thanks for trying though, you've been far more respectful than most responses I get when I express dislike for flashing ads, flashing gifs, and flashing embedded videos (it would be nice to have warnings, sometimes.) because of epilepsy. Many people tell me to get over it, that I should get off the internet if it bothers me so much, and outright post flashing images in response.
I'm not severely epileptic, in fact, I have very well-controlled epilepsy, but the chance is still there and a seizure can result in hours of memory loss, days of altered mental processing speed, and the chance of brain damage due to falls. It's a condition that doesn't often get treated with the respect it deserves, so thank you for being respectful and willing to help. You kind of made my day.

No problem. I can't believe people act like that.

Man, I have had someone literally threaten to flick the lights in the room we were in if I didn't join in some stupid party game back in high school. She thought it was SO funny, so she decided to do it, and I sat in a ball in the corner with my eyes covered until she stopped. People can be dicks, and they're often completely ignorant about it, so they just think seizures are funny (which they are often portrayed to be on TV)... until they see one.

People usually view epilepsy one of two wildly incorrect ways:
As something funny that you should just stop whining about "twitchy", "chill out", "If you don't want to be around the strobe light then just leave the school dance/bat mitzvah/15th birthday party (which I knowingly invited you to)"

Or as a debilitating condition that marks you as a delicate sub-human flower incapable of partaking in life or having a shred of cohesive intelligence.

Neither of these is true, but the stigma makes it terrifying to speak up when something is a problem for you.



But this thread is probably not the place for a serious and in-depth discussion on the stigmas of neurological disorders.

 

[SH4DOWSL4Y3R]

You mean this?

Spoiler

Yes, yes i do. Now excuse me as i curl up into the foetal position and cry in the manliest manner imaginable.

 

[The .50 Caliber Cow]

Judge people by there words, not by their avatars. Seriously just turn off avatars if it bugs you that much... GODD

 

[ChupathingyX]

This makes me want to have an animated avatar now. Actually, I've been wanting an animated one for a while now but I just don't know what to choose. Plus, I don't think I can say goodbye to ol' kamikaze Vault Boy.

So no, I don't mind animated avatars at all and actually kind of like them.

SNIP

Your avatar is one of my personal favourites.

It's an avatar of Avatar.

That makes it twice the avatar goodness.