I found this thread through scanning images in the FlyerTalk Gallery and seeing nroscoe's examples which were referenced in post 275.

I'm in favor of disable-able, static avitars, with the default set to disable avitars, and perhaps a refresh of non-animated smilies.

Avitars could add additional personality to the FT community. The FT layout is somewhat sterile compared to many of the other boards - not necessarily a bad thing. I enjoy FT's simplicity, but it sure is bland. Flags and airline logos are a great idea too. Can I request a Pirate flag?

However, I would most likely not use a head-shot avitar.

As just an ordinary FT user, not on TB or a moderator, I'm really not concerned about the additional burden of policing. If it's decided that avitars and added smilies add perceived value to the FT experience, I'd expect the FT powers-that-be to figure out how to support it. Anyways, I'd expect minimal extra policing work for the Mods - they're reading the posts anyways, and FT'ers would still be able to "report bad post" and alert a Mod to improper posts/avitars, right? Even if the mod had avitars blocked, they could momentarily unblock them to view the reported questionable avitar.

I dont agree with the "visual clutter" argument and feel that with size limitations, avitars could be implemented well (as demonstrated in nroscoe's examples). Comparisons to Cruise Critic are misplaced. Cruise Critic's garishness is primarily caused by their (unlimited?) signature lines. CC's blinking text, multiple countdown clocks, etc remind me of the web circa '94. FT's signature line character limit prevents that gawd-afulness here.

The one question I haven't seen definitively answered is the bandwith costs that FT would incur with the addition of avitars. I really can't imagine it to be that big of a deal - many other BBs use 'em.