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Apr 28, 2004

Comments

1.

I misread that post and thought it read that AOL 9.0 is including avatars. But it does not seem to be. Mmm, if Yahoo is gona have them then AOL 9.1 ‘invasion of the avatar’ cannot be far behind.

There is quite a history of simple 2D avatars in chat systems isn’t there? I’m sure I remember seeing a Compuserve version years ago, and certainly when fancy-pants teleconferencing was trying to be all the range rudimentary avatars were used as part of proprietary systems to attempt to give a sense of place for the virtual meeting.

2.

Ren> There is quite a history of simple 2D avatars in chat systems isn’t there?

Yes. TL and Betsy both have written about avatars in 2D chat-oriented VWs. And there is a history of paying real $ for avatar customization in those VWs as well -- some of that is in Betsy's latest paper when she talks about "Super Scott" in V-Zones and furni in Habbo.

3.

Insiders were betting that There would be acquired by Yahoo. Guess they decided to go ahead and avatar-ize on their own.

4.

Just wait Greg...I bet soon you'll be able to upgrade to SuperGreg!

One thing I love about VZones/Avaterra/WorldsAway/Habitat (did I miss any names?) is the fact that the interchangeable heads of avatars were used as currency and head-stealing was apparently a big problem. If I remember correctly, the tutorial for VZones actually warns you to make sure you put your extra heads in your pocket to keep them safe from head-stealers.

Many 2D avatars are indeed like paper dolls but they can be quite elaborate and have as many interchangeable elements as 3D avatars.

The Yahoo avatars remind me of a certain style of 2D avatars called "dollz" or "dolliez" that I first saw in the Palace in the late 1990s. Within the past few years dollz have moved beyond their virtual world origins to grace thousands of home pages belonging to girls who love to display them on their sites, trade them, collect them, hold voting contests for their favorites, etc. Click here for a sample dollz page.

5.

Not Macintosh friendly. :(

As usual. Sigh.

6.

Greg wrote:
>>Ren> There is quite a history of simple 2D avatars in chat systems isn’t there?

>Yes. TL and Betsy both have written about avatars in 2D chat-oriented VWs.

I saw the v-zone stuff in Betsy’s paper. I was thinking further back to graphical BBSs / chat systems (do these count as VWs? How 'worldlike' does something have to be to be a VW does it have to have a persistent environment that can be modified by a user in a way that other users can see over time?).

Actually I wonder if anyone knows what the first use of an avatar in an synchronous communication technology was. Q-Link I think was the first ‘graphical’ bbs but don’t know of them using avatars.

7.

Betsy Book>The Yahoo avatars remind me of a certain style of 2D avatars called "dollz" or "dolliez" that I first saw in the Palace in the late 1990s

Have you seen KiSS dolls?

Get a viewer from here and some dolls from here.

If you can't be bothered to download a viewer but have broadband, see here for a Java example that runs in your browser. Clothes are drag-and-drop. Set 0 doesn't do a lot, so try some of the later sets.

My kids love this stuff...

Richard

8.

In the long run, the bigger news may be the inclusion of Yahoo's "Launch" music service and 2D games. It's impressive how many folks -- Real/Rhapsody, There.com, EA/Pogo, at least -- are going to be impacted by this "IM client." Kudos to Randy and the rest of the Yahoo team as it is an impressive blend of features and ease of use -- well, except for the fact that Mozilla causes it to barf and no Mac version.

9.

Yahoo Japan's had avatars for a while with premium content. The clothes, mostly high fashion accessories, sell for about 80 yen (around 75 cents) each, and they are extremely cute.

10.

Thanks for the lead, Emily!

I just found this, circa two days ago: http://www.beltzner.ca/ifeelafel/archives/000487.html

It has links to the Yahoo! Japan and Korea avatar sites. (My Japanese, however, is very rusty!) Google also produced a report which seems to indicate that Yahoo! is pleased at the way this is rolling out in Japan and is looking at the best way to further expand/monetize it there. http://docs.yahoo.co.jp/info/investor/en/bizres/present/20030717/030717-1q-present-en-bus.pdf.

Who knows, but I expect if Yahoo! finds a market here for avatar clothing, AOL, MSN, etc., won't be far behind...

11.

So I just noticed Ted is speaking at Yahoo! Research Labs on May 5.
http://business.fullerton.edu/ecastronova/
Connect the dots!

12.

who has a funhi invite?

13.

i would like to see on the male avatars some mustaches go-tees and beards or long side burns and ect....would u all be able to do that? maybe some long hair in the back of heads and so on...

14.

type "grrr" into your convo and watch its reaction

15.

hi there

I like to tell you that this site http://cartoondollz.net/ uploaded a virus to my PC automatically, and mcafee antivirus detects it :)... making another test (opening a new page)
got its name (JS/Keylog-Briss.ldr)
Regards
Motlib

16.

Hi, Yahoo Avtars are real cool and i find it really interesting to change clothes every wekk or so... Kepps us fresh... But just a little suggestion.. could you include clothes from all nationalities of the world in the apparels.. and a long skirt and a full covered top and all would be really welcome by us... We do like the indian type dresses to be included.. so we can imbibe ourselves into our avtar... :-) i thing that would be welcome by lots.. thank you for considering my suggestion...
Regards..
Misiriya

17.

Hi

Now only are the avatars totally awesome, but you can finally use cool pictures like in AIM and stuff. A site with a lot of pictures: Yahoo Avatars

If anyone else knows any great sites, post em here!

18.

Hi,
This is my own site with free avatars for MSN Messenger and Yahoo... added a new twist to the avatar thing... people can use their own faces.

http://www.my-toons.com Comments welcome.

19.

you should do games to use our avitars !!!!!!!!!!!!

20.

another update on those yaho avatars. Check out this yahoo avatar installer for messenger 6.
Yahoo avatars installer

21.

I love avatars ther're the best and cutest

22.

my avators do not open because of shockwavw i want to change me avatar please help me

23.

The avatars are the best. They are so cute

24.

They Are So Cute....They look Awesome

25.

I love the avtatrs!But the thing i dont like about them are the backgrounds.And the pants are wierd only the rock star pants are the ony good ones!Please have better pants!

26.

i like the avatar little,it`s not bad

27.

Yahoo Avatars r cute.. The only thing they need more of is the punky/goth clothes. Get more of that and lots more people will start using them!!

28.

hai
see thi and enjoy

29.

i like to make avatar very much,,,i make it everyday,,but when i submit it does'n't comes in display,,,....n one more thng,,can u make it 3d or do like tat we make the avatars of our choice,,u gettng me wat m tryng to say....means differnt beds,,acessories,diffent clothes everyday..,,n etc,etc,,so people will enjoy more i hope u do tat n u understand me,,

30.

i would liek to no if ya could hep me get tehm cool heads by ur anem for yahoo pool like allstar memebrs
thnxs kyle

31.

i would liek to no if ya could hep me get tehm cool heads by ur anem for yahoo pool like allstar memebrs
thnxs kyle

32.

I love yahoo avatars.

33.

if you have yahoo messenger IM me at i_love_animals_4ever. i really like avatars but what is this site about?

34.

i think yahoo is the best site in the world, i mean it has the greastest online chat you can have msn is o.k. but i love YAHOO THE BEST!!! actualy i dont like yahoo meassenger i LOVE IT!!!!!

35.

I DONT LIKE YAHOO MESSENGER I LOVE !!! ITS wayyyyyy BETTER THAN MSN CHAT I HATED IT ...LOL TO ALL YOU YAHOO MESSENGER KIDS

36.

I was looking for avatars to use when I play in yahoo games...Is there such a thing that one can download to use in the yahoo games or are we stuck with the ones that yahoo has already. Please respond to this asap. Thanks so much...

37.

eu quero um avatars!

38.

well...i can't say muh because itz just so awsome cool , sexy and everything postitve. they r just so cute,,,n are so creative n modern...in simple words...i love it...MWAH!!

39.

i want indian avtaars

40.

good

41.

can u plz mail me the site from where i can upload my yahoo avtar.

42.

i would like to have new yahoo pool avatars when i want to play pool in yahoo

43.

i want some new yahoo pool avatars

44.

i won't to change my style .and my picture

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