It's all great that you're trying to retain your integrity about who you are, but it might come to be that who you are is annoying and rude for enough people that you get banned. I, for one, wouldn't want to see that. You'd have to contain who you are, in this case. If you aren't willing to do that, you'll have a rough time here and everywhere else on the 'net, really.
You make it sound like it's inevitable, but we're all working together. So it's not a one sided observation here- perhaps there are more conditions involved than simply how I act that determines whether I get banned. It's easy to point fingers, basically.
Can you point out the inconsistency more specifically with an edit or something? I'm not seeing it currently. The shading/tones used appear to be supporting the structure of the forms involved and I don't really see the requirement for anti-aliasing anywhere..
Original on left, edit on right. see my issue with that part of the sprite is the un-anti-aliased part of the hair looks far too sharp and jagged compared to the rest and it sticks out like a sore thumb to me and I find things like that very distracting whether I'm playing a game or just looking at screenshots of it.
Looks better without the anti-aliasing to me. The anti-alias you added just blurs the detail of the surface edge. Hair extends straight and shouldn't be beveled as your anti-aliasing is making it look. Not everything is soft around the edges in the world, nor should it be. Just because you can make it so in a game doesn't mean it'll make the art more pleasing. Often if you do it just makes the art more muddy.
There's no reason for that hair to need to stand out as it serves no gameplay function or feature so I did the edit on the right that just smooths it a bit so it looks more consistent compared to the rest.
I don't understand this reasoning. This game has a lot to do with the characters and how they look, and aesthetic is important. Maybe not to the gameplay, but I don't see how you can make the look of a character unimportant in this case to the extent that you would need to smear out part of it for the sake of making the character appear out of focus.
Ok I also made a couple slight tweaks on other parts of the hair (the more I look at sprites like this the more I find myself not liking them and feeling the urge to tweak them). Also added a couple of the dark 'gray' pixels to the bottom of the hair to seperate it from the shirt as I felt it blended in far too much before and could benefit from a slight bit of seperation.
All you're doing is adding more work than is necessary and blurring the edges, making surface edges appear less clear by making the character appear out of focus.
Anyways now that hair is a bit smoother my eyes draw more to the face of the character which is fine cos the face is more of a focal point. Not saying my edit is 'right' or 'correct' and it could probably be done better, but that's what I see and I certainly prefer it to the original which as I've said bugged me a lot. I still don't even understand why an edit was even requested to explain what I was referring to.
You totally changed the hair's crispness and clarity. I prefer the original because the hair feels more straight and sharp. Slick rather than fuzzy.
You should understand how these changes you are making effect the overall impression of surfaces and texture. It would serve you well as a pixel-artist. Not to do these things based on a knee-jerk reaction for personal preference or habits. This is a suggestion for improving your understanding, not an insult or demeaning comment. You edits may be relevant in other situations, but I don't see the point of it in this case. All your reasoning is stemming from your own personal preference as to how edges should look, and I don't know if you're taking into consideration what it is being represented.
And about being offended it may be an issue on my part that I simply misunderstand your way of speaking (hey I'd happily admit I'm an idiot and far less knowledgable about actual 'arty' terms and techniques) but to me it comes across as very condescending or patronizing and I do not like it.
I don't know what to say about that. I apologize if I make you feel like that, but I'm just trying to help by explaining what I see wrong with things. It can be tough to hear for anyone. I don't like being "wronged" either, but It's not going to prevent myself from sharing what I know is the case if I believe I am right. If people want to take what I say personally, that is not my fault.
