Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Poll Results - Befriending based on gamer pic/avatar

Better late than never, right? Here's the latest poll results and (what you've all been waiting for) my opinion.

Have you ever befriended someone based on their gamer picture or avatar?

Yes, their gamer picture was hot = 0 votes
Yes, their avatar was hot = 0 votes
Yes, their gamer picture AND avatar were hot = 0 votes
No, I don't like making friends = 8 votes


With my system crapping out around the time of this poll I can't remember if I voted or not. If I did I would have/did vote for "No, I don't like making friends". And based on how everyone else voted it's kind of amazing that any of us have people on our friends list.

Here's how the poll started.

I was messing around with my avatar trying to find something I liked. I went into the game based extras that you can get to trick out your avatar. Nothing really excited me (except for the lightsaber, but I'm too cheap). I had a small odd amount of points to use so I bought a corset from Fable II. Then I started building an outfit and an avatar around that. I wasn't happy with the results but I left things alone for a couple of days to think about it.

In those couple of days you wouldn't believe the number of friends request I got from total strangers. It seemed that every match I played (no matter what game) someone would send me a message about my avatar or send a friend request. Some I deleted right out. Some I gave a chance too. And some have since been deleted. But it got me thinking.

I remember when our friends list was limited to, I think, 99 people. I had a friend who I have played with since the old Star Wars Battlefront days that didn't have room on his list to add me once I got my 360. He had to delete someone to make room. In the original Xbox, and prior to Party chat on the Xbox 360, you would be stuck in a room listening to everyone who was playing on your team. Sometimes that was good. Some times that was down right horrible. But despite that, I picked up a few friends along the way.

Not having the ability to restrict who I talked to like we can in a Party Chat I got to know MadMax, c5ride, Fbody, cyberWRAT, and a number of other people who are now on my friends list. Since we started to have the ability to use Party Chat I haven't been able to listen, talk to, or get to know anyone I'm playing with outside of my chat circle. Since then my friends list has remained pretty much static. Until I changed my avatar.

Thus the idea for my poll was born.

If we're not talking and getting to know someone via their game play, how else are we making friends? Maybe it's their gamertag (see the "hot chick" posts I did awhile ago). Maybe it's their gamer picture. Maybe it's their avatar. Apparently, based on this poll, nobody likes to make friends.

It's not that I'm not happy with the friends I've already got. You all keep me very entertained on a nightly basis. But sometimes a girl would like a friend who will finish an old game (like Gears of War) on insane mode because she can't do it alone. But, NOOOOOO, that friend is going to trade that game in to get Modern Warfare 2. Come on! My friendship can't be traded in for the latest game out there.

Or maybe a girl just wants a friend to kick back with and play a little arcade game every now and then. Gauntlet is sooooo much better when played with friends. And there's so many arcade games to choose from. I'm just saying.

But if any of you are wondering if your avatar is hot enough to get someone's attention, my dog, Zoe, really likes to jump up to the screen and stare at cyberWRAT, Genghis Khan, MasvHdWndHarry, and Zenra Nukenin's avatars. She hasn't seen Zenra's Halloween wolf yet so maybe she'd change her vote if she did.

7 comments:

metallicorphan said...

for me,i find if it isn't the usual guys and gals that i know who are on my friends list(SWBF/FF11 peeps) its people who have seen my forum posts on xbox.com or 360achievements.org

also,for the first 3 years of the 360 life we only had gamerpics,no avatars(and obviously no gamerpics of our avatars)...i may of got about a dozen(at most) new people on my friends list since the avatars have been out


as for you...its definitely your gamerpic of your Avatar and what part of your avatars body the picture shows :D

if you weren't already on my friends list Penny,after seeing that gamerpic i would wanna change my vote ;)

Anonymous said...

Sure... take a swing at someone just because they have had it up to here (hand at my neck) with Gears of War. I'm sorry I traded it in. If you and I make a specific time, I will go rent it and we will finish it on insane.

By the way, Conner was asking about your "BUSTed" avatar last night. THAT was a interesting conversation.

Evil Ric

Pengwenn said...

So, if I ever change my gamer pic you won't be friends with me anymore, orphan? Maybe I'll try for an ass shot next time.

Evil, give him another 10 years and he'll know. ;) And last I heard you were only THINKING about selling them back. And now you've abandoned me for the next floozy to come along with a "double barrel" shotgun. Typical.

Pogue Moran said...

I never was able to create an assface for Vegas 2. I did get Dick Cheney though.

metallicorphan said...

nah Penny,you are already on my friends list.....its too late for you now,your doooomed


DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMEEEEDDDD!!!

Anonymous said...

I tried my cat for Rainbow Six. Didn't work.

I'll play Gears with you if you're interested. I still enjoy playing it.

I try to avoid using the avatar as a guide for friend selection. When a "hot" avatar affects my judgement, I realize that it's time to put down the controller and get out of the house a little more..

HELLL Weasell

Zenra Nukenin said...

While I'm completely disgusted that Micro$oft is charging money for an Avatar system that we can't opt out of (and that people are falling for it), I just couldn't help myself when it came to the Halloween costumes. All things considered, the $12 I spent on dressing up my Avatar is pennies compared to what I spend on Halloween in the real world :(

I know what you mean about making friends and the ability to converse with random strangers. 95% of the people on my list are from SW: Battlefront (or friends of theirs) and the other 5% are from ChromeHounds. In fact there were a LOT of people in Battlefront that I never bothered to send a Friend request to just because we played together so frequently just by chance. For instance, just among the people on your list there's CLeeLost, EL Sand Dog, MasvHdWundHarry, POZEST and pvt busdriver. There are just as many people on your list that I almost certainly played Battlefront with, but not certain enoght to list them. I imagine you can look at my Friends List and pick out a few that you played with too.

As for the old games: if I've ever played it, I've still got it. Just ask me to play along and I'm game. Of course, I guess you'd have to know when I was online :p