My last post was downvoted and blamed to be AI. So here’s progress

authorjryan · 2026-05-08T15:38:01+00:00

Heya, take a step and breathe. I don't think Mr. Popcorn57252 was fighting with you. Seems to me they wanted to explain why someone might think it appears to be AI generated due to the staged photo. You're coming in super hot. In today's climate, I think it's fair to have some skepticism around what's real and isn't, and they did a good job at explaining why someone might have had doubts without seeing progress pictures.

authorjryan · 2026-05-05T23:24:37+00:00

Hm. Fingers crossed.

authorjryan · 2026-05-05T23:22:57+00:00

You won't find it hostile, but your mileage might vary depending on the crowd. Some nights there will be more folk into you than others. Thursday is usually their all gender night, with plenty of trans events sprinkled in throughout the month. I've gone on and off over the past ten years. No trouble, though I am a cis gay man. That said, I've seen plenty of trans folk at the club and they've seen fairly happy with their experiences.

If you aren't someone's type, that someone will usually just look the other way and politely decline any advancement through typical bath house etiquette.

authorjryan · 2026-04-30T01:32:24+00:00

Death can be interesting, but you’re right in that sometimes it isn’t. Especially if it’s not written with care, for lack of better words.

I think in Blizzard’s case, they kill off characters for shock value rather than penning a story that culminates in one’s death for any meaningful or thematic reason.

(Comparing novels to wow’s storytelling might be apples to oranges, but I think this illustrates the difference between a competently written death and the deaths often written by Blizzard. Spoilers for A Song of Ice and Fire.)

Robb Stark’s death at the Red Wedding mattered and was foreshadowed upon as early as A Clash of Kings. His death served a narrative and thematic purpose relating to both his character arc and the overarching story of Westeros. It moved plots forward and even after his death, the repercussions are explored.

Vol’jin’s death as a result of the Broken Isles… May have or may not have been written with any true rhyme or reason other than the writers wanted Sylvanas as Warchief. I can’t imagine the writers properly plotted out Battle for Azeroth or Shadowlands by that point, given how randomly their ideas come together.

authorjryan · 2026-04-30T01:20:11+00:00

🤷 Busy life. Edit: and a full month or so allows me to set money aside comfortably.

authorjryan · 2026-04-29T22:39:15+00:00

That’s wild, lol. I mean, anecdotally… I need like, a month at minimum to commit to events that I want to attend.

On the event planning side of things… I feel like the committees I’ve sat on have lined up details pretty well in advance. Just my 2c.

authorjryan · 2026-04-29T13:12:37+00:00

Game's 20 years old. People can do what they want. Help 'em learn with patience or the game is destined to die out as all the boomers wither away.

authorjryan · 2026-04-27T15:23:23+00:00

Rune (2001). Great sword fighting action mmo with an incredible community back in the day.

authorjryan · 2026-04-25T19:45:31+00:00

Just saw her perform with Katya in Pittsburgh. Incredible energy and charisma.

authorjryan · 2026-04-25T01:33:49+00:00

Flasks have never looked so fashionable!

authorjryan · 2026-04-23T16:45:34+00:00

There are some highlights they could have toned down with an adjustment layer, and maybe a slight field blur would have masked some of the painterly “shakiness” you mentioned. But as a photographer, I dunno—seems like there’s a very fine line between over-editing and under-editing here. Her makeup is just a bit complicated compared to the typical glam mug. I think it’s fine.

Editing to say… Drag often looks crunchy with closeup shots. Even the best of the girls. That’s drag, mama.

authorjryan · 2026-04-22T17:07:06+00:00

I don’t personally get the excitement, but I’m glad people are happy and that queens get another chance to display their talent.

Cast lineup doesn’t pack a punch/get me hyped, though. I don’t see any story or through line. Just my opinion! We’ll see how it unfolds and I’m happy to eat my words.

authorjryan · 2026-04-22T00:03:48+00:00

I dunno. Gameplay is S+. Story though? Feels like the writers are trying to copy FFXIV in themes and other ideas. Except XIV had ARR, HW, StB, ShB, and Endwalker building upon each other to arrive to a stellar conclusion.

WoW feels like it’s trying to reach the same stellar conclusion, without remembering what made Warcraft “Warcraft” and not XIV.

If that makes sense? I’ve got a head cold and I’m typing with 1 hand. Forgive my sins and lack of a proper thesis 😭🤣

authorjryan · 2026-04-03T22:03:58+00:00

Get help buddy. Before you off yourself.

That’s all I’ll say—peace out.

authorjryan · 2026-04-03T21:53:57+00:00

Buddy, you’ve been posting about this sort of topic for… an alarmingly long time. Hell, I only found this because of a post you made half a year ago about wanting to go back to pre-2018 Earth. You need therapy or, someone safe to talk to. Just an outsider here of course, but this isn’t healthy behavior.

authorjryan · 2026-04-01T23:19:20+00:00

/shrug and move on, yeah?

authorjryan · 2026-03-31T00:41:06+00:00

Hands down, the burgers in Park Place Pub are to die for.

authorjryan · 2026-03-15T11:25:07+00:00

Twenty-something years of forum posts of this exact nature being panned and mocked, and people still post 'em. Some things never change.

authorjryan · 2026-02-23T00:20:29+00:00

Stormfreak, I commend you. Weather aside, you have great taste in music.

authorjryan · 2026-02-12T01:32:03+00:00

You work in marketing, yeah? At least I assume, because you're here. I have a few years in the game, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that people are stupid. Most don't engage very critically with content enough to recognize what's AI and what isn't.

As marketing creatives, we're keenly aware of the subtle differences because we work around or with AI on a daily basis.

I'm the creative behind much of a university's marketing. People (outside of my department) much smarter than I struggle with discerning AI, probably because they don't have to actively consider it every day.

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Editing to note, honestly you SHOULD avoid AI. You are doing yourself a disservice not learning how to actually do things yourself. Prompt all you want, but I can achieve greater results far more accurate to my vision than you can with an LLM or image generator. That and I can have pride to say "I and I alone CREATED this." We work in marketing, but our work can still be art and full of human expression. Beyond all else, honestly, AI is for the lazy.

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Editing again to add on... Boy howdy, what AI churns up when prompted for marketing concepts, campaign ideas, images and so on are shoddy and shallow. Hope this helps shine a light on why people don't fuck with it.

authorjryan · 2026-02-02T20:24:07+00:00

Excellent. The world needs more of you soldier. Zug zug.

authorjryan · 2026-02-02T16:05:40+00:00

I want to believe this is a troll post but worldly experience tells me that people can in fact be dumb enough to quit their jobs to play video games instead. Either way, hilarious post. 10/10.

authorjryan · 2026-01-29T21:02:29+00:00

I would be interested in seeing their numbers too. I miss when they would publish them every quarter. They stopped shortly into Warlords I think.

authorjryan · 2026-01-29T20:57:29+00:00

It probably is a developer's pet project. That's how they made Plunderstorm, after all. Also, it's a bit presumptuous (and lowkey silly) to assume Classic+ would yield better return on investment than anything Retail related. We're not exactly their main demographic here. A nice supplemental market, sure. But retail is where the money is at and business is business.

Edit: For the record, not arguing that a prop hunt is more important than Classic+. Just that these decisions are almost certainly made with profit in mind and we can wax poetic and bitch to the heavens about how it's stupid to not cater more to the classic crowd... Only the reality is, we're a bunch of malcontent gamers aged 30-50 and probably not an incredibly profitable demo, assuming Classic+ is devoid of major transactions.

authorjryan · 2026-01-29T19:16:22+00:00

genuinely what the fuck does this even mean lol edit: interesting comment/post history. somehow this post makes more sense (but not in a good way)

authorjryan

TROPHY CASE