Yeah, I think badges are just better tool for that 
And they already work! I feel like turning avatars into group identifiers is kind of turning a limitation into a feature.
I’d still just prefer custom avatars, but at the same time, I can understand why Epic folks are reluctant to allow them. Exactly because of people like me. There’s a dickbutt.jpg safely stored somewhere on my hard drive, awaiting its moment to become an avatar and shine