What d'ya mean, it's only a smile?

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

This is the first time I've seen this thread. I feel like Buliwyf in The 13th Warrior: 'Are you wearing that long face for me?' I had no idea I was thought of so highly.

Further to the origins of my smiley: I'm not that much of an expert; I just did a bit of php scripting when BW needed a hand with Movies. My disproportionate reward for not accidentally deleting the forum was my cancerous yellow friend.

As it happens, he replaces this old fellow: the pimp smiley from the original EZBoard forum, of whom I'm quite fond.

[EDIT]: I've just realised that not everyone can see that smiley, so I've changed it into an attachment.

[Hookbill the Goomba]

I've made some smilies in my time. Including Gandalf, and Saruman, .

Also, I think we should have these fellows:

[The Might]

I second Hookbill on this one.
Phantom, Alien and also Serious smileys are definitely necessary!

[Thenamir]

I am informed that there are a minimum of smileys available on this site, and there is a reason: this is a forum that encourages both reading and creative thought expressed verbally. Smileys are shortcuts (after a fashion) that short-circuit the communication process. In moderation they can be fun, but I understand not multiplying them excessively. (One of the reasons this thread was started was to try to decipher what certain smileys mean, and the variety of comments shows that smileys can be easily misunderstood or used in various contexts to mean different things.)

You could petition the Wight to add these new smileys, but I don't expect he'll receive them gladly. Estelyn is a bit of an exception, deserving of the honor. And the new smiley can be used in various contexts, but the one that occurs to me is sort of an "aw shucks, you mean li'l ol' me?"

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Thenamir

You could petition the Wight to add these new smileys, but I don't expect he'll receive them gladly. Estelyn is a bit of an exception, deserving of the honor.

Hm, I think it's quite good for this site not to have too many smileys, as Thenamir said. And if the "bonus" smileys are reserved only really as great praise, then it would be really silly to degradate this praise by making the "extra" smileys as something common (even though I like Phantom and Alien ).

[Estelyn Telcontar]

"Aw shucks, you mean li'l ol' me?"

After those compliments, I now need a blushing smiley - thag you very buch!

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by Thenamir

this is a forum that encourages both reading and creative thought expressed verbally. Smileys are shortcuts (after a fashion) that short-circuit the communication process.

But are not individual letters nothing more than signifiers for certain ideas? And different cultures pronounce letters differently, just as different individuals interpret images differently given different 'baggage' that they bring to the interaction between self and thought.

Smilies are just slightly more complex symbols, and surely a forum based so much on intelligent communication prizes the artful complexitiy of message?

And as we've all heard, a picture is worth a thousand words. And even Tolkien included illustrations.