Community Managers' avatars

We definitely all have our stories and it's not anything secret. We've shared some insight in the past.

Usually when we gain a new member, they choose up to five potential names. Usually we try to find something no one else is using in the game. (There really used to be no other Nethaera's in existence.)

This one I'm using sort of came up as meaning "from the nether".

Then, they choose some potential avatars from various items or creatures in the game. Not a boss or main NPC. I personally liked the deceptive simplicity of a candle. The thing about candles is that they are used in so many ways from religious ceremonies, to clandestine meetings in darkened corridors and while they cast light, they also create shadow by doing so. Their job is to illuminate, but there's always something more in the shadows they cast too. ;)

We as a team go through and figure out which one seems to fit best.

I'll leave it to the other team members to share insight on their avatars should they wish.

I'm definitely curious though as to what others would pick.

Everyone has their process and story of how they arrived at their choice of avatar. In my case, I love birds (anyone following my Twitter account can tell you that) which is good for me; because World of Warcraft has a plethora of birds and bird-hybrids to choose from. With the gryphon already taken, that narrowed the field down slightly.

I wanted something that has a strong silhouette and colors that pop when shrunk down into the size of an icon.

My top choices were Anzu, Silver Covenant Hippogryph, Imperial Eagle, and Duskwing Eagle. The Silver Covenant Hippogryph became my first choice because Anzu couldn't fly and the eagles can be a Hunter's pet (you can't tame me!).

My manager, seeing that noone else has a hippogryph, approved it, and the rest was history.

As for my name, I picked Rygarius because it was easy to spell correctly and I wanted a name with gusto!

NOW THIS THREAD IS ABOUT ME

I remember sending in my five avatar suggestions, but I honestly don't remember what any of them are except for the Felwood tree. It wasn't my first choice though, actually it was my last. I always thought the Burton-esque face-trees in Felwood were just really creative and fun. I put them on the list just because I thought they were interesting, not because it was something I particularly identified with. I remember clearly the email came back from Kristen (Caydiem) saying "It's the tree." and I turned around (we were all in just a single room back then) and said "But... what about..." and unanimously everyone said "No. That's your avatar." and spent about 10 minutes giddily talking about how perfect it was as I sat there somewhat despondent because my higher-up choices were so immediately overlooked and what was almost a last second inclusion would represent who I was for the next X years. But it was actually a bit empowering that they felt it represented me so strongly. It may have also had to do with me having rather long and shaggy hair then, looking a bit like the twisted branches and leaves of the tree.

And I vomit a lot. A LOT. And it's neon green.

Of course it's something I've come to cherish, has represented so much of who I am throughout the years, and although the Drysc name remains retired I'm happy to be back in my goopy face-tree suit.

Wait wait. I've been gone for a while from the forums. I remember Bashiok's avatar as a creature with claws from Diablo or something. Did he quit and you take over the name? And did you quit and come back only to retain your avatar?

I was Drysc. I became the Diablo III CM and changed to Bashiok, with the Fallen Shaman avatar. Now I'm back on WoW, but I use Bashiok for a ton of accounts and stuff already so I decided to keep it, but I wanted a WoW-themed avatar and taking back the tree seemed appropriate.

It confuses me too.

Originally, my top selection for my avatar was the Flame Revenant which I thought at the time was easily one of the coolest looking NPC models in game. The artist who conceived the look was also a friend. Sadly, I don't remember why I couldn't use it so I went back to the drawing board.

I'm embarrassed to admit (not really) that my next thought was to pick something I figured the ladies would think was cute. The Perky Pug was pretty new to the game back then and was my next choice. Voila, here I am! So far, though, my devious plans to take over the world with cuteness hasn't panned out very well.

How I got my name is a whole other process my foggy mind can't seem to remember. When I was a Game Master, I always picked Latin names that meant something relative to my determination to do a good job. When I crossed over to the Community team, I swear that was my intention but when I try to retrace my steps, I get lost somewhere between Elvish and Latin language translator websites.

I was originally hired onto the Community team to do stuff with StarCraft II, hence the protoss avatar.

I chose an Immortal because I wanted Herbie the Goldfish to share my avatar with me. Note the distinct lack of fish in my avatar. It is fishless. Devoid of piscine inhabitants. I may be extremely bitter about this.

Anyway. It's time for a new World of Warcraft themed avatar, and I thought I'd settled on Pierre, but he's been delayed. I might make a different choice in the meantime. Regardless, I'll miss the horrified shrieks of "What the hell is that thing!?" and "Nightmare fuel!"