[Panda]

I can't believe that I'm going to be saying this. I remember when I used to be like 13 or 14, going on avatar sites. It was so different back then, I actually enjoyed coming online every day. It was fun meeting many people, those that I got along and those that I never got along with. People have their own opinion about stuff and I can't judge them.

I was so annoying back then, always trying to post as much as I can just to earn money and buy stuff. Now, it is whatever, I'm older now and I don't really care much about this stuff anymore. It is all about real life now, working, going to school, spending time with my friends and families, going out on trips, etc...

I'm not sure about you all, but I feel like the avatar site community isn't like what it used to be. I think people are moving on to other things now, well that's what I'm feeling. I haven't been on any site in a long time and I don't think I will ever be able to be active again. It is like a stage thing, once you get too much, you're over it.

I'm 20 years old now, going to turn 21 in June. I have been playing for years now and I feel like a dinosaur. I know that there are people out there who had been playing way longer than me and they're still doing so. It was fun getting to know people from all over the world, but I think I enjoy meeting people in person way more now. Avatar sites used to be my go to thing whenever I'm at home bored and can't go anywhere. Now that I got a car and everything, real life is more precious to me.

So..umm, what do you guys think about this whole avatar sites life? What are some of the changes that you made throughout the years? Did you ever think about leaving it completely?

[Lawtan]

Well, I'm 20, and I never experienced things like the avatar community, so I am trying to float around on the debris of the forums. :P

I admit that seeing them so...dead in general is depressing, added to by seeing what was done in the past - I'd love another Taskal War, or to have the common experiences that most on here have. However, you are mostly correct - the only "avatar" sites that seem to still grow are more "word game-sites" with a form of customization via avatars. (Note, this sort of stuff carried my favorite game, Neverwinter Nights, from 1998-2008)

As to posting/money...while I have done so on one site recently (Wanted to earn the ability to have a custom title)...such currency doesn't mean much to me.

So, yeah, I feel like a dinosaur in another sense - much of my younger life has been keeping other things (Boy Scouts, Karate, Technology Students Association) from falling apart due to general apathy. That, making an effort to keep things going for everyone else, is where I feel aged.

[Poggio]

If twenty is old I hate to know what I am. I am not a dinosaur but I grew up with the evolution of the internet. I was there for word processors, color back macs, organ trail. From giant house phone cell phones to the introduction of flip phones, to picture phones etc. I started out with neopets. This to me was the first real avatar site despite it being a pet site. I jumped to gaia, then to other avatar sites, and well while I do not mind forums that do not have avatars, the do not appeal to me and there are really two reasons.

The first being it gives me an excuse to be an older person with a doll. Something my parents said I should stop playing with when I was 12. Virtual communities have given me another way to play dress up and look pretty in a more adult way. The second being is that these communities are generally full of people, like minded people that gathering over the internet. I like talking to these people since there was no way in hell I would meet a lot of them in real life.

I think it has made me a better writer in some ways since I like to rp. I have a vivid imagination for the cliché and wild so until I stop wanting to Rp, dress up, and speaking to people then I won’t have a need for avatar sites. I have left behind two sites fully quit. One was a pet site in which I was an early member. I kept feeling bad for my virtual pets and me not having net to care for them, so I gave my stuff away and left. The second is gaia. My account still exist but hotdamn I cannot stand those teenie-boppers or elitist. Without a middle ground I won’t be going back any time soon.

[Lawtan]

*Shrugs* Age here is in the eyes of the beholder. My nerves are rather short most of the time these days, so I "feel" old.
Also, according to this, avatar sites are not the only thing going down somewhat.
The internet, I think, is settling out, simple as that. ~20 years of internet = no longer novel.

[hyjin]

hyjin is old... really old... 120 years old lol... i live many lives...

[Lawtan]

...You don't look a day past 54 XD

[hyjin]

shush... my life is complicated... and i may have found the fountain of eternal youth so to speak

[Lawtan]

*Gets a Sparrowy-look on face.*
You know, such a fountain is a grand secret to carry, and no one person could carry a secret that grand on their own. Savvy?

[hyjin]

that is right... which is why i must end your life... you know too much already

[Lawtan]

Now stop, stop...are you sure you want to be doing that, matey? Think for a moment.

[hyjin]

-kicks lawtan off the ship-

[Lawtan]

*Mutterings about mutinous mate*

[hyjin]

-waves at the floating lawtan- good bye

[Lawtan]

*Wonders about the treasure hyjin is now sailing towards...*

[Serena Yuy]

Now I will date myself a lot here. I remember when I was in I think 1st grade in the early 90s and we were in the library and our librarian was showing us a computer with the internet. It was one of the first computers at my school to be hooked up. I also remember using a computer with a green screen :P
Growing up, we didn't have a computer at my house, only a webtv thing. I couldn't do much on it because it was so technologically behind, so me using avatar sites was a little challenging. I did have start with Gaia back in 2005 when I started my last year in high school. But even then, I wasn't fully into the whole thing because I didn't have a computer at home and if I did have access to a computer , it was limited access.

I fully came into these sites back in 2008-09. By then I was in my 20s.
What I do like in the sites that I am on, there is a good amount of people who are in their 20s.

[Fauxreal]

You are only as old as you feel!