While I think that they have really gone a little overboard with their countdown clocks, and multiple signature lines, which sort of drive me a little crazy, I don't think there is anything particularly low-substance or childish about the information contained on www.cruisecritic.com It is actually a much larger and more popular board than FT and it just happenes to contain very tasteful avatars. It would also suspect that the general population of CC is actually older than that of FT.

My real-life samplings of both groups have hooked me up with some flat-out amazing new friends who have truly enriched my life, as well as some folks who were pleasant enough, but who didn't really change my life for better or worse.

Avatars are just another enrichment of a website which some folks will love and leave on, and some folks will hate, and turn off.

If the default mode is set to "off", it won't change the look or feel of FT at all so why not let all posters be happy?