So, as long as we're weighing in on THAT... I would vote no. I think it holds for every forum I've been to for every one that's funny or clever, there are at least five that are just a waste of the screen space and distraction (especially when animated!) or just become tiresome corporate logos that we've seen enough of already.

See DSLReports for a case in point as to how cluttered (IMO) the avatars make their otherwise clean and relatively elegant forum design.