The time is coming soon for our new bases! Since many questions were being asked regarding our bases, what they look like, and what is being changed, I thought a more prominent announcement was in order.
Why the Change?
When I started Avaricia, I did not intend for it to be the site that it is today. It was intended to be a fun chatty forum for my comic, with a few fun extras to keep people interested. Instead, it began developing into a fully-fledged virtual community. I created the original bases in the fall of 2007 after realizing it was entirely possible for me to do this. Not much thought was put into the original bases outside of having them. I quickly realized how much they were lacking, and thought that a few changes being made to them would fix the problem. The older bases have actually been changed four times since I began the project. The latest and final change was made to get rid of the "fat" and "lopsided" appearance. But not much else can be changed other than that.
The new bases came about when I realized the capabilities that our new system would bring. Why have this nice system while being stuck with bases that few people like? It's one reason why the community hasn't grown much despite the other great comments we receive. New bases are the key to getting more people here as well as keeping the site more interesting and alive! The community was entirely involved in the development and creation process.
You can read back on the creation of the bases in
this thread
Changes made with the bases:
- Posture issues are gone for good.
- Bases are redone pixel by pixel to look marvelous.
- Due to popular demand, we've kept the curves and bulk. But it's been entirely improved to look appealing even to those who prefer strictly "skinny" avatars.
Some neat features
- Seven natural skintones ranging from pale to extremely dark.
- Several fun and interesting arm poses.
- Various head, nose, and ear shapes to create a variety of realistic characters.
- Wide variety of facial expressions can be created.
- 80+ hair colors as opposed to 20! More vibrant colors!
- Lots of eye colors to choose from!
What can I do to help!?
We are in desperate need for skilled volunteer artists who can help redraw our commons in greyscale to fit our new bases. You can send in a submission by viewing
this thread. Otherwise, SPREAD THE WORD. If you run into people who were previously turned off by our avatar bases, you can mention the new bases and show this thread to them if they don't know already!
Previews:
Here are a few previews of the bases.
Male sample (with redone LEIs)
xxxxxxxxOld Bases
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxNew Bases
Side-by-side comparison of the changes between bases. As you can see, items *pop* much more, the colors are more vibrant and there are greater matching possibilities than before! Everything our artists have learned from a year of working on items for Avaricia definitely shows!
Latest preview: This was made using a few event items and new commons/hairstyles. But we were careful to not spoil anything entirely. Since avatars right now are made in Photoshop, it's a difficult process to go through to make an avatar to preview.
Older Preview: This displayed what some of the items *could* look like on the new bases. However, the bulk of these items have been redone since this preview was made last fall.
More Previews:
Some Facial Features
More base previews
Final Poses (male)
Each arm moves independently from the other. So, you can combine any of these arm positions with another for limitless possibilities.
That is some wicked hair!!! I want it, must have, and this is going to be great. Thanks so much to all of you, staff!
Thanks for the art Dragoness!
