Because I purposely opted out of getting one. Let this be a story that everyone who was ever bothered by my lack of avatar can read, so that they know why.
When I first joined the community, I didn't have an avatar. Which makes sense, I guess. I joined because I wanted to start a thread, which, if you want to check my post history you may, didn't go very well. I wasn't really thinking ahead, and I didn't really know what I was getting into. I just wanted to post a thread is all.
The only other forum community I had ever been a part of was the RoosterTeeth community, which was not the friendliest place, to be sure. I had been trolled, flamed, etc. This was years ago though. I was relatively unfamiliar with the nuances of internet communities, and I took things more personally back then. I didn't have an avatar there either, because I didn't care enough to get one. I was just a casual user, and it really didn't matter to me that much.
Then I come here, also no knowing what I was getting into. Little did I know that I was to be a member of one of the strictest policed internet communities in existence. It was actually kind of refreshing when I found out. But regardless, this isn't about The Escapist, it's about my avatar, or lack thereof. I came here unfamiliar with the ways of internet communities. I had never had an avatar before. I never had plans to get one. But I had seen people with avatars, and so I decided that maybe I would get one. I wanted my avatar to be special, unique to me. I wanted something identifiable and creative, and something easily recognizable so that everyone would know it was
Eumersian that was posting.
That didn't really go over. I didn't care that much here either, but I would think about it every once in a while. I would find some pictures on the internet and think "Maybe this one?" sometimes. As it happens, I just didn't get one.
Somewhere around post 250, I consciously decided not to get one. I had become comfortable having no avatar. I knew it wasn't creative or especially individual. I've seen plenty of people around without avatars, a few of them with higher post counts than me. But I identified myself with this, and became wrapped up in the notion that if I ever became a known member of the community, other people would identify me with this as well. I felt like I didn't need one, and me getting one this late would just confuse people. People that know me as "the avatarless ninja" or "the guy that desperately needs an avatar" or whatever. I would just sort of be some other guy that has an avatar.
I can understand that maybe it does bother some people that I don't have an avatar. They might find it strange, or whatever. But plenty of people in this community are, in real life, rather strange, so it really doesn't matter. All I have to say to those people is:
