I'm with you. Anonymity is great, but I also miss the old days when you would become familiar with your forum community, and felt that little spark of joy when someone you recognize or value engaged with your post. The only time I experienced that on reddit was in r/stalker (video game series, not a group of savvy human stalkers). There was a particular user that I really got on well with, bearing the same faction patch/flair as I did. Every now and then I'd see him in the wild and drop a reply to say hello. A small conversation would always follow.

Beyond that, I never really recognized or paid much attention at all to usernames at all, save for blocking Gallowboob and his constant front-page content. I think so long as avatars aren't overtly political or inflammatory, they're pretty harmless.