Suggestions

[center][size=6][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/ann/2909063]Update 9/15/2020: Silhouette Scroll![/url][/size] Thanks to everyone who's discussed this suggestion, and thanks to staff for implementing it! We finally got it :)[/center] Let's say you have a male or female assigned dragon. But, for story reasons, you'd like them to be a gay or trans dragon, possibly with a mate. (Of course, some already have trans dragons, and non-binary dragons, but this would provide more, I think.) Or maybe you hate how, say, female imps look, but you want an imp breeding pair, or a female imp has the perfect colors for that. You want to change a female-assigned dragon to male or a male-assigned dragon to female. INSTEAD of changing their assigned gender (so, changing a female dragon to a male dragon, as currently defined by the site), there could be an item to change their appearance to that of the other binary gender. Purely cosmetic. [b]No changes to the breeding system whatsoever.[/b] [b]Guidelines for the change:[/b] [list] [*]Dragon retains original Venus/Mars marker, which notes their breeding role and assigned appearance [*]Dragon may still breed with other dragons as previously, but only with the other assigned gender (so, change a female-assigned dragon to a male appearance, they can still only breed with male-assigned dragons, appearance-changed or otherwise) [*]Item (Scroll of Altered Appearance?) costs up to 500 gems: Affordable for those who want it, but still a gem item (350g: eternal youth scroll; 500g: somewhere around skin/accent price for those on the market) [*]Item is single use [*]While the appearance change is in effect, the dragon may not be sold on the AH but may be exalted or traded. (Or, since EY dragons are now on the AH, provide a one-month period before these dragons can be posted on the AH, or simply let them be sold on the AH.) [*]Add parameters to include/exclude pose-changed dragons from an AH search [*]Like with gene removal scrolls, there should be a 10kt removal scroll in the treasure marketplace for this effect [*]An icon would be displayed marking it as pose-changed, like how a broken egg icon shows for EY dragons. (Preferably no question marks or trans symbols. Maybe a chameleon? Or just a scroll icon? Cape or tophat? Butterfly silhouette?) [/list] Alternatively, as proposed by others, this could be a reusable item that works similar to a skin, preferably in its own category (not apparel and not a skin), if that is possible. [b]Concerns:[/b] 1. People would use it as a way to circumvent breeding for their dream dragon. [indent]If they're looking for that "dream dragon" to be a mate to another dragon, they may still go on breeding for that dragon. If it's just the appearance they're going for, well, putting gems into the site just for that can't hurt. I can already buy an accent that gives my dragon a white belly without giving the dragon an actual underbelly gene with a white tert.[/indent] 2. Why bother with this at all? [indent]Some people want two dragons with the same gender models to breed together as gay pairs. Some people want visibly trans dragons. Some people want gay trans dragons. While this can be achieved with just bios, it would be great to have a pair that could breed together, and sometimes people have their dragons' genders change over time and would want to change the model. And some people just want the cosmetic change for other reasons. Maybe they can't stand male tundras, but want a tundra breeding pair. It's the same reason people want skins, accents, apparel, and eternal youth scrolls: Appearance, lore, and rp. [/indent] 3. It would take lots of effort! [indent]Whether the site's coders think it's worth messing about with what's already there in order to allow pose-changed dragons to change pose, wear apparel, and wear skins/accents is up to them. Every new feature takes effort. No new art would need to be made. As for how the coding would work for apparel and skins, I am positive that it is possible. Adding an if-then statement or an extra check, or adding extra genders to the gender system for the pose-changed dragons, would work with current systems and wouldn't be impossible to code. [/indent] 4. This site isn't about roleplay, therefore we don't need LGBT+ dragons. [indent]A lot of players [i]are[/i] interested in roleplay, and past that, stories. And, aside from that, this is also about appearance. Skins, Eternal Youth, apparel... they're all appearance. [/indent] 5. It could be used to trick people. [indent]The dragons will retain the Venus/Mars symbols. There would be no more opportunity for "tricking" than there is with EY dragons. Considering the potentially high cost of the scrolls, such instances would likely be rare. (They would probably count as scamming, too.) Few people buy dragons at 350g+ without putting some thought into it.[/indent] 6. Just put the "this dragon is LGBT+" bit in their profile. No need for a pose change. [indent]I could also put "this dragon has wings made of ice" in the profile, but you know what makes that dragon even cooler? [i]An accent![/i] I can put an accent on my dragon to make them really look like their wings are made of ice.[/indent] 7. We would need new art in order to preserve dimorphism. [indent]That is not part of this suggestion--I don't want to suggest such a huge project. Some people don't like the dimorphism, and most of it is minor. A female imperial could feasibly grow a beard and longer whiskers, just as cisgender women can sometimes grow facial hair, for example. That's not even counting whatever magic could be involved in all this--they can change their markings, why not their nose or fur length? This suggestion is for people who want to change the pose of their dragon to that of the other assigned site gender for whatever reason they desire (gay dragons, trans dragons, distaste for a certain pose or dimorphic trait, etc.). This is based on the already existing art. This is not asking for new art.[/indent] 8. Do we have to bring up LGBT+ people in this conversation? [indent]Yes. Some of the arguments for this feature are based on the desire for LGBT+ dragons. I myself am both queer and trans. These are all reasons I have included the topic in this suggestion.[/indent] 9. Skins and apparel would break. [indent]Only if the coding were not adequately adjusted. It should not be difficult to fix. See my full explanation below. [quote]An extra "if-then" statement in the code would more than likely solve this problem. "If pose-change = 1 AND gender = 2, retrieve skins of gender 1." Very simple and common coding statement that shouldn't be an overwhelming amount of work to tack on. Like I said, I'm not really a coder, but I am familiar with some coding and scripts. If-then conditions exist and I would be surprised if FR's code did not use them.[/quote] [quote]With a modified gender system: [quote] For example, 0 = male, 1 = female, 2 = male with female pose, 3 = female with male pose. 0 and 2 = male in breeding grounds, 0 and 3 = male for appearance purposes.[/quote] If all dragons now are 0 and 1, then simply add 2 and 3. A male skin will apply for 0 and 3, but 0 and 2 will function as male in breeding grounds. An expanded gender system that does little more than add extra numbers and change a bit of code here and there. If we use an if-then statement instead, then a skin can check "if male and if not pose changed, show male skins" or "if male and if pose changed, show female skins". It already runs a check, to my knowledge--checking for breed, gender, and age before showing allowable accents. It would only be a fourth parameter to check.[/quote][/indent]

Hmm, this IS much better than all other suggestions I've seen on this theme. I might actually use it, male skydancers don't look very lively and male guardians have beards :P Wait, I might end up with a lair that looks confusingly all-female :P Except the imps. Male imps are great, and the beard suits them.

Support

No support.

This would be hell to code and would require re-coding a hell of a lot of pages. Weeks of work. Revamping the whole breeding system.

@conduitoftime

How? It's simply an appearance change. The only thing that changes should be the dragon's image, plus implementing some limits which already exist for Eternal Youth dragons. It won't have any effect at all on the breeding system.

[quote name="conduitoftime" date="2014-08-15 14:48:56"]No support. This would be hell to code and would require re-coding a hell of a lot of pages. Weeks of work. Revamping the whole breeding system.[/quote] In my opinion, this is not a good reason to be against a change or suggestion. Most changes require a lot of work, not necessarily in executing the change itself, but also in finding bugs that crop up whenever any little thing is changed. It is up to the coders and site administration to decide what is too much work and what isn't. This would not require a whole revamp to the breeding system. With this system, it affects the appearance of the dragon but how it breeds stays exactly the same way it did before being altered. That aside, I think this is a good solution. Being a queer person I'd love my dragons to be just as queer as I am but I understand that allowing anything to breed with anything greatly reduces the challenge of finding partners for dragons. So this proposition allows dragons to be queer without altering the system. Support!

I have to admit, I groaned when I read the title. XD But I can totally support this.

@TaffertianTales

Indeed--I get tired of the topics too. I'm not terribly invested in it--might use it, might not--but I want a solution for this annoyance for at least some people.

@Velyanthe

Sorry, I misread! Been a long day here and I wasn't focusing correctly!

If it's just changing the appearance, that would actually be cool! As long as some restrictions were put on selling/trading.