Flight Rising Discussion

@FOXBODY

Oh yeah, for sure.

Like obviously I don't see this as gatekeeping a dragon's identity ( because for God's sake it's a pixel dragon and if I want my pixel dragon to be nonbinary, they're gonna be ), but it is certainly a Feeling I'm Getting from reading some of the forum threads and comments and such.

[quote name="Sevi" date="2020-09-15 07:17:17" ]where i DO digress with my generally positive feelings about the item is the fact that it costs a whole gosh darn 400 gems like WHAT IT'S COSMETIC IN A WAY THAT LITERALLY DOES NOT IMPACT THE SITE'S GAMEPLAY??? why does it cost 50 more gems than the BABY SCROLLL???????? that's the thing i'd love to see staff explain ngl [/quote] What can you do with Eternal Youth dragons? For 350g, you can look at the baby pose. That's it. What can you do with Pose-Changed dragons? For 400g, you can still dress them. Breed them. Coli with them. And now they have the added bonus of wearing accents for the new pose. (And it makes breeding projects easier to get results, while also making G1s more desirable bc G1 collectors often turn down buying them bc they have a specific pose). Easily worth an extra 50g for a cosmetic change.

@Kylaila

I like your point about it being permanent and toggable, which is something the Eternal Youth scrolls don't do. That's actually one of the reasons I'm NOT mad that it's a paid item.

[quote name="bellyacher" date="2020-09-15 07:04:02" ] And as a nonbinary person, I feel like charging 400 gems for a scroll to toggle the already existing artwork is monetizing my identity. [/quote] It's a pose changing scroll not a "trans / nonbinary / other / etc" scroll. Lots of people are using it like that because it makes them happy, which if that's what makes them happy, they should do so. It is not the monetizing of identity which is a real and serious issue that happens (Just check brands on twitter during pride month vs the second after pride ends that's identity monetization / using identity as a way to get money), this is a monetization of a pose.

[quote name="Reilata" date="2020-09-15 07:06:48" ] Why should it not be a paid item? It's along the lines of Eternal Youth, Boon of Fertility, and Scroll of Maturity (etc) in manner of effecting the dragon, and as it is a Gem Marketplace it can't run out, so it would be there whenever you want it. [/quote] Well said. In addition, unlike these scrolls, you don't have to purchase a new scroll to reverse the effects of the scroll. You can flip between the two Silhouettes whenever you want It may be used for trandragons but it is not exclusive for transdragons. The three dragons I've applied the scroll to are not transdragons. My fandragon Haku was changed because the female pose fit his character more. My female ridgebacks were change to the male pose because I am not too keen on the stiff appearance of the female pose. Yes they grew a sword for a nose, but that doesn't bother me. [quote name="Sevi" date="2020-09-15 07:17:17" ] IT'S COSMETIC IN A WAY THAT LITERALLY DOES NOT IMPACT THE SITE'S GAMEPLAY??? why does it cost 50 more gems than the BABY SCROLLL???????? that's the thing i'd love to see staff explain ngl [/quote] Probably costs more because once the scroll is applied you can flip between the two poses as often as you want. With the baby scroll you have to apply a different scroll to reverse the effects

I also definitely think the price is a little bit steep, but I think the main reason I'm so worried about that is just because the treasure/gem ratio is already a little bit off right now.

me before: gender change scroll please please please me now: ?? ,f [emoji=mirror confused size=1]??? though I have to clarify, it's less "i have a problem with it" and more of a "i don't know what to do now??" feeling I do think it's way too expensive though, so there's that. Edit: [quote name="mothscale" date="2020-09-15 07:39:14" ] [quote name="bellyacher" date="2020-09-15 07:22:45" ] Like I get everyone's points on it, but like. I feel bad that some people are just going to end up shelling out so many gems just to be happy with their dragons and their dragon's apparent gender through the displayed artwork, yknow? [/quote] I think this is a lot about community response, yeah. Unfortunately, while I understand why people would be super excited about the existence of an item for lore reasons and react to that in the ways that are happening, that kind of excitement ("finally trans dragons are valid") does end up creating a feeling of "wait, but what about me who doesn't plan to use this for [financial/personal preference/otherwise]" reasons and can create a sort of peer pressure to "my dragons are trans, [i]therefore[/i] I should, [i]therefore[/i] I need the dragon cash for it, [i]therefore[/i]…" etc. When in reality they already existed and were already valid and the site already acknowledged them— Fiona and Scribbles have been here long before pose-change capabilities, for instance. Poor oft-forgotten Scribbles has been here on the site for almost as long as the site's been out of beta! I do think, reading through responses, that there are plenty of us who are used to having dragons who don't "match" expectations, though, and still plan on using the bio and/or customizable tooltip message (rather than the scroll) to good effect. And both of those are, fortunately, free. [emoji=ridgeback happy size=1] [/quote] Thank you for putting into words what I'm feeling. Since I have both trans and cis dragons whose poses don't match their genders, I feel like if I start using the scrolls now, I'm doing my existing dragons a disservice. Yeah they're pixels but it just feels kinda wrong, you know

@mothscale

A: I love your username, it feels very Warrior Cats and I'm digging it.

B: Thank you for such a thoughtful response! The bios and tooltip messages will always be my jam. I guess it's not as crucial for me, because I don't do much with my dragons outside of dressing them up and occasionally neglecting to feed them.

@Gimeurcookie

I know many people explore their own identities through intangible forms because there are less societal pressures in doing so. In a way, being able to be who you really want to be through a dragon on the internet can be quite liberating!

What I'm saying is that, for me personally, watching my LGBTQ+ siblings having to pay for something that makes them happy is...I don't know. It's upsetting in a way that maybe I'm not verbalizing well? It certainly feels like a monetization issue, which is probably why I made that comparison. Is it? Not really, for the reasons you stated. That it's just a pose change scroll.

But I think a large part of that is that the pose was tied to the dragon's gender for so long that it's become ingrained in me ( and maybe others! ) that certain poses are certain genders. Perhaps this is a good time to re-evaluate my own gender expectations and norms in digital settings!

Thank you for your input!

[quote name="ProbablySkeletor" date="2020-09-15 07:40:57" ] I also definitely think the price is a little bit steep, but I think the main reason I'm so worried about that is just because the treasure/gem ratio is already a little bit off right now. [/quote] Yeah, this is my biggest concern following the release of the scroll. Edit: I personally feel that the staff could have timed the release of it better-mayyybe after the release of the ancient breed?