Learn how the internet works

[MecaKane]

Ok, seriously. I was just <img src=http://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/rpg_009.gif><img src=http://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/rpg_009.gif><img src=http://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/rpg_009.gif><img src=http://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/rpg_009.gif>ing around and joking in the thread about Nicky, as was everyone besides Matt Cid and Proto, I'm sure.
But here's something everyone, especially people who mod and admin a site on the internet, should know: If you have more than one of the exact same image on a webpage, it only downloads the file once. It can display the image 50,000 times, without using up any more bandwidth on your side or the server's side than it would take to display the image once.
For example: If someone has 50 :beer:s in his sig, while probably going over the hight and width limits , he will not be going over the size lmit, as it will only download the :beer: once, and display it 50 times, which would not slow people on a slow connection down at all.

[m4tt]

Your signature was removed for having two of the same images the first time. What made you think that putting TWENTY FOUR would make me leave it there? When I see 24 images that are 50k each I'm going to remove the sig. I don't care if they are the same image, as it still breaks the rules. I'm sorry I don't make learning everything there is to know about images a top priority in my life.

[MecaKane]

The total size of the all the (one) images in my sig was 49KB. If there was a rule about the number of images in your sig, that'd be different because having lots of small images could slow people down with slow computers, no matter what their connection.
And I know you and other people don't know all that much about internet caches and stuff, that's why I'm telling you. So you won't make the same mistake 3 times. :o

[Yamaneko]

Ok, thanks for telling us. :)

[Shlup]

There's still a rule about width and height, which you broke just to be a pain in the ass. So, yeah, don't do that.

[Dr Unne]

Bandwidth isn't the only reason there's a sig limit. Loading images takes RAM. I can crash a browser by displaying enough of the same image a million times, especially animated ones. (At least I used to be able to with IE.) It's also visually annoying for people who have sigs enabled, even if a browser is capable of loading it.

It's also a rule, and the rules here are arbitrary based upon how we want to run the place. If we decided all sigs can only be green, then sigs that aren't green would be removed. Come to think of it... nah.