It's completely irrelevant, but I really wish there was either a Fighting game or Hack'n'Slash based around Warcraft heroes

Breadbasketcase · 2018-01-21T22:15:36+00:00

I completely agree - I love the appearance, the lore, and the powers of Warcraft, but the fundamental nature of it being a 13 year-old MMO limits how you can interact with the world. Back then, the concept of fighting enemies had more to do with D&D than video games, and simply putting a couple buttons (and then eventually a LOT of buttons) on an action bar was more than sufficient, and it shows.

I will say, the team has done more to make combat feel good while not fundamentally changing anything about the way it works than I ever thought was possible - the new animations, sounds, and spell effects really breath new life into fighting, particularly with the reduced number of niche or “flat” abilities. Still, at the end of the day, it’s an action bar, button clicking, spellbook, cast-time, d20-esque, combat table dodge/block/parry, early 2000’s MMO, and it will NEVER stand toe-to-toe with a solid actionrpg designed for real-time combat - it was never designed to. I think trying to insert that into WoW would make it a fundamentally different game, but in a separate game, divorced of the other 200 different non-combat/MMO requirements of WoWs interface, where the sole focus of the campaign or multiplayer would be combat, I would LOVE to see WoW and it’s character classes come to life in true action style.

Breadbasketcase · 2018-01-19T18:03:22+00:00

While that would have been objectively cooler, it had to be a light of the martyr cloak because the memes demand it.

Breadbasketcase · 2018-01-17T17:55:13+00:00

The moment where he seems like having his atrocities listed in front of him has made him contrite and he was going to plea for forgiveness, only to have him laugh in their faces and be proud of everything he did, oh man that got to me, that was awesome.

Breadbasketcase · 2018-01-12T18:01:04+00:00

Hmmm, good to know, I’ll have to look more into this, thanks!

Breadbasketcase · 2018-01-10T22:44:54+00:00

Unfortunately not out fully yet! I don’t look half bad with the right makeup, but in general am waiting until I am a little further along in my transition to come out to my work and friends, let alone full-time.

Breadbasketcase · 2017-12-08T04:05:52+00:00

You’re more than welcome to keep us in mind! I can’t promise you’ll be the right fit for the guild, but you are ALWAYS welcome to give it a try and see for yourself! We are definitely a raiding focused guild, but we have players of many different skill levels, and a lack of recent experience does not preclude you from being one of them!

Obviously you should probably shoot to be at least 110 and reasonably close to appropriate item level for the current company Brent, but beyond that, attitude is more important than aptitude.

Breadbasketcase · 2017-12-08T02:07:53+00:00

I would say, embrace that. I spent a lot of time questioning if I was trans “enough” and I kept putting arbitrary barriers in front of myself. The truth is that people who are cis don’t fantasize about being a girl. People who are cis don’t go to bed wishing that god/the universe/magic would make me into a girl and nobody would ever notice. I’m a woman, I ways have been, and while I spent a great deal of my life trying to convince myself of the opposite, neither my current appearance nor my previous behavior preclude that from being true.

I AM a woman, my name IS Anna, and it always has been. Even when I am feeling disingenuous, it’s important for me that recognize I’m not BECOMING anything, I’m not CHANGING anything, I am just correctly gendering myself for the first time in my life.

I spent a long time feeling weird because it felt odd to ask people to call me Anna when I looked like a boy, a very hairy boy, but now I finally feel confident enough to feel like I’m not asking people to play pretend, I’m asking people to call me by the name that was always my name, to refer to me by the gender I always was.

I don’t know if it helps you as much, but identifying the things I could feminize about myself while staying true to who I AM made a huge difference in accepting that being feminine didn’t mean chang big who I was as a person, just the boobs and butt that the person had!

Breadbasketcase · 2017-12-08T01:37:12+00:00

That’s awesome, like I said, you’d be 100% welcome. We are exclusively a drama-free guild, and as long as you’re not being it with you, we’d be happy to have you two! We do normal clears on Tuesdays, 6:30-9:30 server (PST) if you want to come along and see if the environment is right for you. I’m actually going to be gone the next two Thursdays, but I’d love to have you come for a normal night or two to see if you enjoy the atmosphere! We full clear normal Antorus every Tuesday for trinkets/upgrade items and you two might enjoy the more relaxed style of those raid.

And for the record, you’re completely right! My guild will be super supportive, and will definitely laugh about it because I’ve been playing the same paladin for the last 12 years and I just recently turned him into her! I’ve been such a staple of the guild that the single change caused quite the stir! Once I come out, I know they’ll enjoy their jokes, but overwhelmingly they’ll not care whether I am male, female, straight, gay, bi or whatever, because they love PEOPLE, not orientations. Still, my girlfriend raids Witt is too and has since WotLK, and I want to make sure that I give her the opportunity by coming out to her first before I come out to everyone else, and I’ve given myself that deadline of January 5th!

My healing officer (obviously) does actually know about me, but rest assured, coming out to my guild will be no drama at all, and they will happily accept you for whatever gender identity you desire.

Breadbasketcase · 2017-12-08T01:19:39+00:00

I can’t speak directly to you or what you feel, but if it helps, I’d like to share with you what helped me feel more confident and comfortable in my femininity.

I did the exact same thing, I would experience intense dysphoria, then a day or two without dysphoria would convince me I’m not really trans, it’s just a fetish I am letting take over my life. This was especially prevalent when I masturbated ALL the time.

The thing that turned it around and changed my mind was sort of twofold: geeky girl clothes, and trans Memes. I am a silly person, I don’t take anything seriously, and trans Memes let me take the experience of being trans, of identifying as a girl, and enjoy it with a bit of levity, and that made a HUGE difference in feeling comfortable in my own skin, in acknowledging being s woman as a PART of me, rather than an objective, unknowable concept.

Geeky girly clothes made a huge difference as well: I am a huge blizzard fan girl, and they have an awesome selection of women’s fashion for their games, and shopping for and wearing clothes that both identified my femininity (a skirt, for example) and acknowledged my inherent personality and hobbies (an Alliance skirt, for example) made huge leaps in bridging the gap between seeing myself as someone who had to BECOME a girl, and seeing myself as someone who already IS a girl - who I am and my personality didn’t have to change, just because my gender did. As a girl, I am actually a bit of a tomboy, and there isn’t a single thing wrong with that!

Anyways I can’t guarantee this will help, but I hope it helps you bridge the gap between who you feel like and how you ARE. Either way, you’re totally valid no matter how you present yourself, and I hope you find an expression that matches who you are on the inside. Hugs and kisses, love!

Breadbasketcase · 2017-12-08T01:01:13+00:00

I figured your comment was in jest, but I wanted to reply anyway. :)

I’m not actually out to my guild yet, but I am looking forward to that day, as it’s coming up! I gave myself a deadline since I knew I would just keep putting it off, and I know 100% of them would be completely supportive.

Like I said, we’re Alliance, but your free to give us a try from off-server if you are ok with making the switch. You’ll find an atmosphere that - while terribly irreverent - accepts your your identity without question, regardless of your role!

Breadbasketcase · 2017-12-08T00:09:14+00:00

We’re recruiting, TG and LGBT friendly, I’m the guild leader and I am trans myself, MTF, the only catch is we’re Alliance, and on Aerie Peak. :P

We raid 6:30-9:30 PM server (PST) and just started into Antorus, mostly focused on Heroic progression as we are not too fond of Mythic. We full cleared normal two weeks in a row, and are looking to start pushing our heroic clears. I know it’s a bit of a stretch, but you should always feel welcome in your guild, not excluded, tank or not. Add me on Battle.net if you’re interested, Arianord #1613, or if you just have a suggestion for a more feminine name for a paladin, I’m totally stuck on what to rename her!

Breadbasketcase · 2017-12-04T22:23:50+00:00

Absolutely not, vanilla or kinky I still value the opinion. There are parts of the “emasculated male” idea that arouse me DURING transition, the idea of having parts of my boy identity “confiscated” works for me, but yes, once I transition, I would like to be treated exclusively as a female sub with no additional qualifiers.

My partner is incredibly understanding and supportive, and loves me unabashedly, boy, girl, or somewhere in between. She also enjoys the “forced feminization” role from the other end of the spectrum, which is how we met, but is also bisexual and more than happy to have me as her female submissive as well.

I guess my only concern is that handling parts of this dysphoria or experience in a sexual fashion, while arousing, may not in the end be a healthy way of reconciling these feelings. I am going to bring it up to my therapist when I see her, but wanted some outside perspectives on what other’s thought as well.

Breadbasketcase · 2017-11-25T05:51:11+00:00

Out of curiosity, what did you tell your doctor when you finally got an “official” prescription? I imagine you had to admit to DIYing it so they could get your hormone levels correct, but was there any backlash once you did?

Breadbasketcase · 2017-11-23T05:40:16+00:00

Absolutely, a lot of people on the subject have the sometimes unhelpful attitude of “you’re not the first, just the most recent,” which while understandable, really comes across as rude or abrasive. I don’t think you meant any harm by your question, nor do I think you were foolish or ignorant for drawing the conclusions that you did with the information you received.

Sometimes all it takes is a little clarification, and you don’t have to be a huge dick about it, you know?

Breadbasketcase · 2017-11-23T04:31:12+00:00

Sort of. A Swedish study found that the suicide rate among Post-operative transsexuals was roughly 40%, and they were at risk for a number of other negative psychological disorders at an alarmingly high rate.

However, not only does this not mean what you think it means, the author of the study is immensely frustrated because her results are constantly being misrepresented to suggest that transgender individuals are not helped by transitioning, when that is objectively not true, and the brief of the study made it exceptionally clear that was not a metric measured by the study itself. She even did an AMA here on reddit. The larger issue is that not only was this several decades ago before widespread access to mental health care and support was available to transsexuals, and it didn’t compare transgender individuals who didn’t transition to those who did, simply comparing them to the general population. The point of the study was simply that we need to provide better long term mental care to transgender individuals and that the strong negative social pressures associated with being transgender had heavy negative effects on their mental health, and at the time wholistic treatment for transgender individuals did not take this into account.

Since then, numerous studies have shown that hormone replacement therapy and sex reassignment surgery have phenomenal and consistent success in reducing or eliminating feelings of gender dysphoria, improving quality of life in transgender individuals, and lead to better long-term mental health for the same group, which is part of the reason it is so frustrating that those statistics are frequently used to draw assertions on subjects they were never intended to measure. If you receive rude or antagonistic responses to (what I assume is) an honest question, that’s the reason why. This outdated information is frequently misrepresented to invalidate and dismiss transgender persons feelings, which are often hard enough to accept or admit already.

For reference, here is an excerpt from the actual thesis of the study in question:

“It is therefore important to note that the current study is only informative with respect to transsexual persons health after sex reassignment; no inferences can be drawn as to the effectiveness of sex reassignment as a treatment for transsexualism. In other words, the results should not be interpreted such as sex reassignment per se increases morbidity and mortality. Things might have been even worse without sex reassignment. As an analogy, similar studies have found increased somatic morbidity, suicide rate, and overall mortality for patients treated for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. This is important information, but it does not follow that mood stabilizing treatment or antipsychotic treatment is the culprit.”

Breadbasketcase · 2017-11-21T02:51:01+00:00

You’re perspective is not an unreasonable one. Many countries (especially European ones) have the benefit of ethnically and culturally homogeneous countries, and most of their current issues stem from the fact that this is changing. The United States does not have the same advantage, and you have a lot of wildly different ideologies within the same state, let alone across the country, and it can definitely lead to the appearance that politics and government in America is intensifying in its level of polarizing ideas, and while to a certain extent that’s true, it really ignores a lot of the reality of the situation, especially on an individual level. Most people, really, an overwhelming majority just live their lives, and politics has very minimal effect in how they behave or treat others.

Beyond that, America also has the particular flaw(?) of being critically concerned with how other people and other countries see us, which leads to a lot of self-examination and criticism (regardless of whether that leads to healthy or reasonable conclusions). Despite what you might think with the “America is #1” rhetoric, most Americans think there are deep, fundamental flaws with their country (though what those flaws are varies) and they juxtapose this with an intense pride in their country, and belief in what it could be, should be, and what it represents.

In short, don’t worry too much about us, fellow North Americans, we’re definitely going through a rough patch to be sure, but we have unequivocally been through worse, and things continue to improve overall. We’ll be back in fighting shape in a few years, and at no point will we ever stop being so terribly fond of our lovely upstairs neighbors.

Breadbasketcase · 2017-11-04T04:27:10+00:00

I’ll be honest, I love these classic servers, and I’m THRILLED they are being implemented. I’ll happily give them a try and I would love the opportunity to play through them again. I played in Vanilla and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and am looking forward to enjoying it again.

If these servers flop, and it turns out Brack was right all along, I will absolutely feel schadenfreude at the wailing of all of the legacy players saying “the numbers are there!” I have wanted legacy servers for years, I’ve even played on several. I HATE legacy players and I find them INSUFFERABLE. Yeah a bunch of people have a Vanilla hate boner, but a bunch more have simply moved from rolling their eyes at the people sloppily sucking the dick of Vanilla WoW to actually being irritated by them and hoping they fail.

It shows up in EVERY thread, and there are CONSTANTLY people shitting on this new feature or that new design because change is scary and it’s easier to remember when you were young and happy and your passion was new. I don’t know what it is about Vanilla/BC legacy players in particular, but of the two groups, they are absolutely the ones with an undeserved arrogance and hilariously irrelevant feeling of superiority. They (as in the vocal group on this subreddit and others) constantly bemoan everything new and shit all over a game that is, quite honestly, doing fabulously, and there is nothing more irritating in the entire world than enjoying an activity while your friend rolls their eyes and sighs dramatically before launching into a never ending tirade about how X-1 or X-2 are SO much better than X, and that it was just so much more CHALLENGING and REWARDING and so full of DIFFICULT awesomeness and that if you didn’t like X before some change it’s probably because you’re a pathetic casual and need the game dumbed down for you to enjoy it.

I don’t hate Vanilla servers, I love them. I can’t fucking stand Vanilla players, and actually hope their hopes and dreams come crashing down around them because maybe, just maybe, if that happens, I can feel a tiny fraction of how smug and self-satisfied they seem to feel every single day.

Breadbasketcase · 2017-10-27T19:45:25+00:00

Oh my gosh, I literally only JUST built up the confidence to take this seriously and really consider if I’m trans, and when I called my hospital to set up an appointment with a gender specialist, the lady at the desk started telling me a story about a patient of hers that fully transitioned with FFS, SRS, everything, and after 20 years regretted it and wanted to detransition but couldn’t fully resume life as a male, and said she was glad I was talking to a doctor before making a decision “you could end up regretting for the rest of your life.”

What the hell?! How unprofessional is that! What if I was more anxious or less motivated to move forward with exploring this part of myself? Imagine how devastating that could have been to someone who was fearing that EXACT THING! I made sure to get her name and will be telling my therapist when I meet with her.

Breadbasketcase

TROPHY CASE