Bravenet Support replied to tell me that they will be adding back the custom avatars before long, as part of a new feature to be called Forum Profiles. So, those who wish to be seen as something other than a capital letter will get that choice again. But I guess the big initial will still be the default way that we see others identified, who don't customize. Or as I said, you can make the icon go away by switching to Board or Thread layout. Interesting point, that the design may be to better accommodate mobile devices. :police_car:

I guess everyone is a bit stand-offish about change (in just about anything). Perhaps this just takes some getting used to.

Seems fine on my PC, the older style layout was rather dated in my opinion. I think the icons are too big at the moment and we could do with some customised avatars.