Smileys observations

[Circ]

I was browsing throug our extensive [URL=http://otakuboards.com/misc.php?do=getsmilies&wysiwyg=0&forumid=58]collection of smileys[/URL] and remarked a few things:

We have two icons listed as matching up with :nope:

:moron: is nothing but a different-colored version of :cry:

[Sandy]

I've made the observation that the new smilies are crappy, no offense to the person who made them. I'm just bothered by the way the circle in them isn't even.... :/

But in the end, it doesn't even matter to me, since I've given up the graphic smilies, and am using only text-based ones. ;D

I just wish it was possible to disable graphic smilies by default, so I wouldn't have to edit my post if I've forgotten to check the disabling box... :/

(Now somebody tells me that there is in fact such an option in the profile, and I'm just too blind to see it. :P )

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]The main problem is that smileys have been added over the years by different people. So it's a bit of a mixed bag at the moment.

I'd thought of doing something new with smileys, but I wasn't really sure whether or not it was worth spending the time on that at the moment. Perhaps I can talk to Desbreko about it, since he has done such a good job organizing our avatar library.[/font]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]I was never a fan of the new 'Anime' smilies. I always found the original ones to be so much more appealing.[/size]

[Dagger]

Haha, I was the one who lobbied for the anime-style set. Luckily, though, the most intuitive shortcuts--like :) and ;) and :p--still lead to the older ones, and it's not like any were replaced (to my knowledge). So... er... everyone should be happy. Theoretically. *glances around nervously*

Anyway, excuse me whilst I go back to fanning over the new Liquid banner. It gets better every time!

(Funny... well, okay, not-so-funny story: I disabled in-text smilies so the examples above would show up, and then tried to add a different one to the end of my last sentence. Time to start taking those idiot pills again. *headdesk*)

~Dagger~

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.

I've never been a fan of the Smilies at all, though as a newbie I'll admit to having used them when the words to properly articulate my emotions wouldn't come. Just looking at the little things as I go to reply to this post is irritating as I've always considered them to be an enemy of good posting quality. One in a post to compound your feelings is OK, but a multitude of them is just asking for trouble.[/SIZE]

[Sandy]

I actually think Smilies are a great way to express your feeling and tone of voice in an internet dialogue, where those things can't really be heard.

Honestly, [I]so[/I] many of my sayings would've irked somebody if I didn't have a humorous smiley next to them!

...Well, actually, in some cases even the smiley hasn't helped... XP

[Delta]

[SIZE=1]^ Hmm, true. Smileys helps dense people catch sarcasm/irony when it's there, yeah?

How about keeping them smiley faces [COLOR=olive]yellow[/COLOR] (save for those angry/embarrassed smileys, of course)? I know it's asking too much but when someone sends off a barage of smileys, the least they can do is not make it look like a string of angry Christmas lights.

And now for a rare smiley: :frog: [/SIZE]

[Desbreko]

[QUOTE=James][font=franklin gothic medium]The main problem is that smileys have been added over the years by different people. So it's a bit of a mixed bag at the moment.

I'd thought of doing something new with smileys, but I wasn't really sure whether or not it was worth spending the time on that at the moment. Perhaps I can talk to Desbreko about it, since he has done such a good job organizing our avatar library.[/font][/QUOTE][color=#4B0082]Yeah, I've thought about bringing this up. But the problem is that if we change the smilies and/or codes for them, any old posts that used smilies will be a bit messed up. Though personally, I wouldn't see this as a big deal.

Mainly I think a little more consistancy in the codes for them would be nice. For example, it's impossible to do :[i][/i]pwhatever: as a smiley code because the :[i][/i]p part of it will turn into a :p smiley with the rest of the code hanging off it. And if we're going to be adding/changing around smilies ever, that could end up being a problem.

And personally, I like the anime style smilies. :animesigh is my favorite. Probably because I sigh a lot while dealing with spam and such.[/color]

[TheShinje]

[size=1][color=Indigo]I prefer the original smilies to the anime ones, I've grown quite fond of them since I started coming here, especially the :p smiley, It's just so cheeky! I don't mind the anime ones either and their addition added some variety.

As for the future of the smileys here, I reckon we should do something along the lines of the avatars with the smileys, have forum members create a few and send them in, we could get a whole unique library of our very own. [img]http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/2039/tounge4zn.gif[/img] [spoiler] tounge remix by your's truly ;)[/spoiler]

I'd like to see bigger, MSN messenger style smilies make their way onto OtakuBoards, I reckon they'd go down a treat.[/color][/size]

[Doukeshi]

[SIZE=1][quote name='Shinji][size=1][color=Indigo] I'd like to see bigger, MSN messenger style smilies make their way onto OtakuBoards, I reckon they'd go down a treat.[/color'][/size][/quote]

Oh please don't, those things scare me something fierce. Also they would be abused on a regular basis by people who just like sticking them in for the fun of having a large goofy picture in their post.[/SIZE]

[Sara]

I think it would be snazzy to have a uniform size/style for all smilies, but I don't know if that's going to happen. I like the different colors.

I do kinda wish we'd get rid of all the flaming/angry smilies, though. Or at least hide them at the very end of the list, heh.

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I am thinking of ditching all of our smilies and having someone develop a custom set specifically for OtakuBoards. Obviously that's a more difficult solution, but it's something I'd like to do. The question is whether or not we get that done on this version or the next.

For now though, I'd be happy to have Desbreko clean up the smilies (both their codes and removing smilies that are too big, dimension-wise). Deb, if you are happy to do that, feel free to go ahead with it. At least that way we'll have a slightly cleaner smiley library.[/font]

[Sara]

[quote name='James][font=franklin gothic medium']I am thinking of ditching all of our smilies and having someone develop a custom set specifically for OtakuBoards. Obviously that's a more difficult solution, but it's something I'd like to do. The question is whether or not we get that done on this version or the next.[/font][/quote]That would be [i]fantastic[/i]. Do you have an idea of what direction you're hoping to go with that? Like, just new stock smilies? Or any kind of smiley that fit the style of the new OB smilies?

I could see a set of custom, slightly-larger smilies specific to OB. It would be cool to have something more... professional? than the hodge-podge we have now. (Not that I don't have my favorites. I think everyone does. I just think it would be cool.)

[James]

[QUOTE=Lore]That would be [i]fantastic[/i]. Do you have an idea of what direction you're hoping to go with that? Like, just new stock smilies? Or any kind of smiley that fit the style of the new OB smilies?

I could see a set of custom, slightly-larger smilies specific to OB. It would be cool to have something more... professional? than the hodge-podge we have now. (Not that I don't have my favorites. I think everyone does. I just think it would be cool.)[/QUOTE]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Well, I know a couple of pixel artists who are extremely skilled with things like icons and smilies. One of them is particularly good with fine detail and animation. So if I'm lucky enough, I might be able to get one (or both) of them to develop a new set of smilies from the ground up.

I suppose that my intention would be to have smilies that are slightly anime-themed, although unique to OB. I don't want uniform colours - the colours would be different, for sure. And we'd obviously have animated and non-animated smilies.

I'd want uniform dimensions and it's also possible for us to have "non-smilies" (like small icons or objects that you'd use like a smiley but that isn't simply a round face with an expression - like a little sign post or something).

Right now I'm just thinking aloud, but this is the direction I'm hoping to go in. I'd much rather have unique smilies that really suit OB and are relevant to us, rather than freely-available stuff that you can find anywhere.[/font]

[Horendithas]

[QUOTE=James][font=franklin gothic medium]Well, I know a couple of pixel artists who are extremely skilled with things like icons and smilies. One of them is particularly good with fine detail and animation. So if I'm lucky enough, I might be able to get one (or both) of them to develop a new set of smilies from the ground up.

I suppose that my intention would be to have smilies that are slightly anime-themed, although unique to OB. I don't want uniform colours - the colours would be different, for sure. And we'd obviously have animated and non-animated smilies.

I'd want uniform dimensions and it's also possible for us to have "non-smilies" (like small icons or objects that you'd use like a smiley but that isn't simply a round face with an expression - like a little sign post or something).

Right now I'm just thinking aloud, but this is the direction I'm hoping to go in. I'd much rather have unique smilies that really suit OB and are relevant to us, rather than freely-available stuff that you can find anywhere.[/font][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=Indigo]I know that I would enjoy the inclusion of non-smile icons or objects, as I have never been a big fan of smiles in general. But that?s primarily because I?ve seen them used excessively on other sites and I?ve never cared for a post that has two sentences and two paragraphs of various smilies.

I say we keep the one with the tongue sticking out though, or at least make sure we have a good replacement as I?ve seen enough of [B]Desbreko?s[/B] posts that I always think of him when I see one.
[/COLOR]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]Can't get rid of :p though. I just won't allow it.

There are actually a number of really good smilies in our collection - it would be a shame to ditch them all.[/size]

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]Yes, as long as I have any say in it, the :p smiley will exist in some form. Definitely my most used one out of them all.

But yeah, I'll go through and do some trimming and reorganizing/renaming. Probably add a few of my own smilies as well.[/color]

[Oceanborn]

Well, *I wanted to drop this by before James-sama's idea*, but I remember a rare set of original japanese 101 smileys which I really loved, just in case the OB ones won't be too good or won't be done at all.

[url]http://forum.anilab.ru/index.php?act=legends&CODE=emoticons&s=[/url]

<=warning, it has to be slow, I suggest. They are hosted on an old serv now >.<

[Circ]

[QUOTE=Oceanborn]Well, *I wanted to drop this by before James-sama's idea*, but I remember a rare set of original japanese 101 smileys which I really loved, just in case the OB ones won't be too good or won't be done at all.

[url]http://forum.anilab.ru/index.php?act=legends&CODE=emoticons&s=[/url]

<=warning, it has to be slow, I suggest. They are hosted on an old serv now >.<[/QUOTE]

Actually, I've always hated that format/style of smileys: they're just [i]way[/i] too big. In my opinion, a smiley should not strech up an unsized line of text.

[Sandy]

Awww, but they're so cuuute!! Squee! ;D

Well, a little big, but the kawaii-theme would be [I]perfect[/I] for example for the Anime Lounge. I understand though that they're too big, and wouldn't fit everywhere here... Actually, [I]nowhere[/I] outside Tokyo-3, heh.

Hmm, a different set of emoticons for all four different sections...?

[Baron Samedi]

[QUOTE=Sandy]Awww, but they're so cuuute!! Squee! ;D

Well, a little big, but the kawaii-theme would be [I]perfect[/I] for example for the Anime Lounge. I understand though that they're too big, and wouldn't fit everywhere here... Actually, [I]nowhere[/I] outside Tokyo-3, heh.

Hmm, a different set of emoticons for all four different sections...?[/QUOTE]
[size=1]Sorry, but that's a terrible idea. Why on Earth would you want to have different emoticons for different sections of the Boards? Also, why wouldn't they fit anywhere but Tokyo-3?

That is just a really poorly-conceived idea.[/size]

[Sandy]

Actually that wasn't an idea, just a thought thrown into the air. Of course it wouldn't work in practice!

And what comes to the kawaii smiley-blob-thingies, I really can't see them used in for example the Play it-section or the Arena... They are just so clearly [I]manga[/I]. But it's of course my own opinion, maybe seeing them "in action" would be different...

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]I think I'd start having nightmares if I had to see those smilies all over OB. And can you even imagine what it would be like when one of those smiley-crazed newbies showed up? :twitch:[/color]

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]I have to admit I really like the idea of some smilies specifically designed for OtakuBoards, because we could create a few that are related to in-jokes from OB. Imagine for a moment if we could create the "[I]Des kicking Shin in the nads[/I]" animation for use in all manner of situations, or the "[I]Mimmi gives you a cookie[/I]" smiley for those who are feeling down. I know it'd probably be a real challenge to create smilies like the above but I think it would really add something to OtakuBoards that would make those who use smilies to their nth degree more bearable.

Maybe I could even get an "Interesting, most interesting" smiley that would stroke it?s chin while looking wise... [/SIZE]