Alicorn voting poll! (The Alicorn Conundrum)

[Pretzelparty]

Hi everypony,

 

There has been discussion over the entire lifetime of the boards (specifically the Canterlot Chronicles area) over the prospect of OC alicorns.  They are currently prohibited due to the possibility of abuse.  However, our community has matured as a whole and we feel it may be time to finalize the discussion once and for all.

 

We'd like to gauge the community's thoughts on this matter.  You guys are what makes Canterlot Canterlot and we can't do something that would fundamentally alter the RP game without consulting our user base first.

 

A couple of us have basically distilled alicorn options down to the core representations of what alicorns can fit into our RP game:

 

1.  A separate species of pony no relation to the princesses or ascension.

2. Ascension of an existing OC that has undergone significant character development. This will require a different type of application process than usual.

3. No alicorns save for those depicted in show canon.

 

Please let your voices be heard!

[moonshineTheleocat]

Uhm... Quick question. Before I make a vote. Exactly how is the ascension going to play out?

Is it where just about any pony is qualified, regardless of race? I know the original requirements were You must make a magic that adds to harmony, Understand the power of friendship, and study to perfect your magic.
Because I am not entirely sure how that's going to work out. While Cadence was a pegasus originally... Pegasus do have access to a more unique magic. Earth ponies on the other hand... not really. There wasn't anything that really confirms what was said about earth pony magic in the show or comics.

Then... the real deciding factor for me... is how managed is this ascension going to be?

 

[Bellosh]

Earth ponies have magic of their own. I wrote about the matter somewhere in our official Lore writeup about earth ponies: http://www.canterlot.com/topic/16260-lore-earth-ponies/

[Pretzelparty]

Uhm... Quick question. Before I make a vote. Exactly how is the ascension going to play out?

Is it where just about any pony is qualified, regardless of race? I know the original requirements were You must make a magic that adds to harmony, Understand the power of friendship, and study to perfect your magic.

Because I am not entirely sure how that's going to work out. While Cadence was a pegasus originally... Pegasus do have access to a more unique magic. Earth ponies on the other hand... not really. There wasn't anything that really confirms what was said about earth pony magic in the show or comics.

 

Me and other staffers who have been working on this issue for a while have actually come up with an application form that would be required to be filled out. A person would have to pitch their concept for their new ascended pony, They also need to make sure they know that they WILL NOT be becoming a princess or ruling over their kingdom, instead the character in question will instead be considered a paragon of their particular talent. They will have their own duties and things to do but will be unlikely to have anything beyond that. They will also be required to explain what they intend to do once their character ascends.

[Pretzelparty]

if it will help people decide I could potentially post the application form on here as well

[moonshineTheleocat]

How heavy of a character development?

[Pretzelparty]

How heavy of a character development?

 

The overcoming and/or lessening of faults, mending of relationships, Attempting to make themselves better in general... I may be missing somethings but Dio is free to correct me if need be and add anythign i may have missed.

[Dio]

We have not locked down particulars. This poll is primarily designed to see if there is even demand for this sort of play rather than hash out specifics on how it is to be implemented.

[Blueblood]

I... don't actually have a strong opinion on this.  Not sure how I'd really vote, in any case.

[Solaria]

Don't make me unload Dio. You know I've been waiting for lazycorn and the only thing holding back my mindspew is my willpower.

 

That said, I would vote for a different species... though I picked ascension as the option didn't seem regulated enough up there. I would want the different species but have hefty hoops and whatnot to jump through for said character to be allowed.

 

Ascension would be my second choice I suppose... alicorns shouldn't come without work.

[Zealot]

Ehhh... I don't know.

 

Alicorns are meant to be rare, if you allow Alicorn applications then I think a lot of people will shoot for it and that will sort of ruin the point in a way. If you have it strict control then people will be upset that they're not being let in. Best to keep them in free for all methinks. I know CC is meant to be loose canon and I would like for Alicorns to be available as an option because, well, I'm all for player freedom and creativity.

 

It's just, ehh, need specifics on how this will work... I'm just worried that everyone will then jump on the Alicorn bandwagon and we'll have them everywhere and it'll be unfair to those that want them but aren't allowed them and whatnot.

 

Like I said, specifics are needed, so I'm voting no for now.

[moonshineTheleocat]

For now, I'll go ahead and plant my vote under Ascension. But I'm a bit particular about the details. I don't like holding back character progression... but I do believe this  needs to be a heavily managed thing.

In the end, it will be interesting to see an earth pony ascend and comically learn how to both fly and use magic.

[Ciraxis]

I agree withe the Ascension option. However as mentioned they should me many, many, MANY hopes to make to do this. Saving the world would be good one .

 

Other should be one limited to age of the character application. While I understand that this favorites older players, it should be noted that if someone Role Players on the site for so long, then s/he is less likely to derail the whole concept. I will be honest, I am a little afraid that they can appear a new user who makes an OC with a single goal of making it Ascent and I don't like it. Our ponies have to me more then the power trip. One who have his/her OC Ascend must understand that it will necessitate different approach with that character. Being Alicorn has privileges, true but that character will be met with responsibility and trouble just because of the rarity of this kind. A simple candy maker would not draw attention of something like W.R.A.I.T.H. or worse Sombra or Tirek (let's face it folks, he will be available for application after further two seasons of the show or something like that), but the alicorn most likely will.

 

I will go further actually. No one should make their own pony ascent by his own wishes. Instead it should be treated as a reward for the top notch talent in writing and character development, handed to them by some kind of referendum of both the Staff and other users.. That way even if someone decides to take that road, even if it will be done by cold calculation -  Kira Light'o style - s/he will involuntarily became better RP'er and the site can can only gain from that.

[CaptainMcDerp]

Maybe characters can start earning curtain badge/award thingies when they've done special things in threads that show they've learned an important lesson. And once all the badges are collected, they can fight the Elite Four! er... become an Alicorn!

[moonshineTheleocat]

I agree withe the Ascension option. However as mentioned they should me many, many, MANY hopes to make to do this. Saving the world would be good one .

 

Other should be one limited to age of the character application. While I understand that this favorites older players, it should be noted that if someone Role Players on the site for so long, then s/he is less likely to derail the whole concept. I will be honest, I am a little afraid that they can appear a new user who makes an OC with a single goal of making it Ascent and I don't like it. Our ponies have to me more then the power trip. One who have his/her OC Ascend must understand that it will necessitate different approach with that character. Being Alicorn has privileges, true but that character will be met with responsibility and trouble just because of the rarity of this kind. A simple candy maker would not draw attention of something like W.R.A.I.T.H. or worse Sombra or Tirek (let's face it folks, he will be available for application after further two seasons of the show or something like that), but the alicorn most likely will.

 

I will go further actually. No one should make their own pony ascent by his own wishes. Instead it should be treated as a reward for the top notch talent in writing and character development, handed to them by some kind of referendum of both the Staff and other users.. That way even if someone decides to take that road, even if it will be done by cold calculation -  Kira Light'o style - s/he will involuntarily became better RP'er and the site can can only gain from that.

 

Well the main problem is Canonically to the show, it's incredibly difficult to become an Alicorn. And literally not just anyone can do it. Other wise you'd be seeing thousands. I mentioned the requirements before that was mentioned by Celestia herself.

 

The harmony bit automatically implies that a pony with evil intent can't become one. Other wise some pony like Sombra would be one by now... which... would probably be the end of equestria. Unless you are talking about a player with cold intent... then sure.

Maybe characters can start earning curtain badge/award thingies when they've done special things in threads that show they've learned an important lesson. And once all the badges are collected, they can fight the Elite Four! er... become an Alicorn!

I don't think the RP team would want to read through all of these RP posts .

[CaptainMcDerp]

I don't think the RP team would want to read through all of these RP posts .

 

Well they should have thought about that before signing up for the job! (obviously kidding)

 

There was a little voice in my head telling me it was a possibly flawed idea but I posted anyways on account of a lame Pokemon joke. This is a tough one though. Not sure how to make the alicorn thing difficult enough without being too difficult for the players and the staff to manage.

[Zeig]

After thinking about it for a while, I ended up voting 'No' on the poll, for a few reasons.

I was active on a RPing forum that had a similar idea, to give a special RP privilege for exceptional RPers. It was meant to act as a reward - instead, it created a whole bunch of negative feelings. Resentment and inferiority complexes on the part of those that tried and didn't meet the standard, and superiority complexes for those that got the special privileges. As Alicorns seem to be a coveted and sought after race for many MLP RPers, I think some would feel pretty bad to be essentially told that they're not good enough to play an Alicorn, or have their existing character become an Alicorn.

Making Alicorns a separate race from those shown on the show would be my second choice, but not a well-liked one, mostly because that would contradict how Alicorns are depicted on the show. Still, this option would be the fairest in my opinion, for the two "introduce Alicorns" choices - if it's allowed for one RPer, it should be allowed for all of them. Every person would have a chance to try apping an Alicorn character.

I'm against the Ascension idea. As McDerp and moonshinetheLeocat mentioned, RP Staff would have to be willing to read through the posts of every character wanting to become an Alicorn. Personally, I can't think of another realistic way for staff to determine if a character has grown enough to become an Alicorn - whose to say the character doesn't take a step backwards, forgetting an important lesson instead of learning a new one? And the idea that a character would epitomize their particular talent doesn't quite sit right with me. If a pony becomes an Alicorn of music, for example - to me, this implies that this character is the end-all musician of the forums. S/he epitomizes everything music and musicality is, and is essentially the best 'music' character, despite the number of characters whose special talents center around music.

So that's just my two cents. I'd personally be content seeing only the canon Alicorns wandering about the forums here.

[Pretzelparty]

The idea that a character would epitomize their particular talent doesn't quite sit right with me. If a pony becomes an Alicorn of music, for example - to me, this implies that this character is the end-all musician of the forums. S/he epitomizes everything music and musicality is, and is essentially the best 'music' character, despite the number of characters whose special talents center around music.

So that's just my two cents. I'd personally be content seeing only the canon Alicorns wandering about the forums here.

 

I think the idea wasn't so much that the pony who ascend was the end all be all of their talent, but having been called to -try- and represent their talent to the best of their abilities.

[Blueblood]

Wait, so the ascension idea refers to existing characters getting the horn-and-wings deal?  

 

Hm... now I'm kind of wanting to make a thread or two about Bluebloods attempt to stand equal to his aunts... of course, given that such an effort is almost certainly doomed from the start, it doesn't matter which way the poll goes.

[moonshineTheleocat]

Well Blueblood has at least -one- friend, if you can call it that. So hope is not entirely lost. He might get an odd look here and there though when he tries to ascend.

[Hippo]

I... don't actually have a strong opinion on this.  Not sure how I'd really vote, in any case.

 

This is kind of how I feel, as well.  I play one character in CC, and he's a cast character.  I would hate for my opinion to affect the rules of others who don't role play to the same extent and shape that I do.

[Lux]

I don't have a very strong opinion on this as I don't have any characters in Canterlot Chronicles. Having said this if I were to rank these options I'dd go with a new species that weren't royalty as this would be the easiest to implement just like Changelings and eventually caribou were added. Second would be the ascension idea, but while I would think it cool to have characters ascend it would be tough to come up with a set of standards that can be used to judge whether a pony was able to ascend. 

[RedCedar]

I voted for alicorns by ascension. Bringing in a new species of them unrelated to the ones we know seems forced, and is really unnecessary when not all alicorns are intensely powerful (such as Twilight and Cadence).

However, to avoid the forums being inundated with them, some definite RP should be involved before anyone is allowed to play one or have their character elevated to being one. Should take some time of good RP and there should be guidelines in place (even if only the staff know them) to ensure it happens evenly and without favouritism.

[DerpRavener]

I don't know if any of the options quite capture my attitude on it.

 

I chose the ascension option, because that seemed like a best fit for how I feel about things.  I kinda like the idea of Alicorns being a playable species, but if they are they should be more demanding than the rest.  I think each alicorn should have some specific and fairly large responsiblities (Princess Twilight as the most straighforward example of this), which means that I'd hope they have a bit more than just the standard application process, and it also means that I wouldn't want them completely disconnected from the canon alicorns.  Different from Celestia and Luna, sure, but not a species the same as the other species.  They wouldn't have to be made royalty, but I think they should have big responsibilities relating to their particular area.  So ascension and the process thereof seems to be the closest to what I'd want, except that I'm not sure I'd find it a good thing to see existing characters changing in that way, and it creates some curious barriers to entry.

There's a part of me that feels that no matter how you include them some people are probably going to be unhappy with it (that's just how life is) so the simplest thing to do is to just not include them.

 

Some ideas: maybe there are set 'slots' where alicorns can fit in (various leadership positions, or ponies at the top of their fields) which are determined by staff and then can be applied for in much the same way as cast characters, only instead of applying for a particular character one creates the character who can fill a particular position.  Alternately, maybe alicorns need some extra categories filled out such as ascension and maybe domain (i.e. sun, moon, love, friendship/magic) or responsibilities.  Sorta like an extra cutie mark story, but with a different theme.

This is all my personal take on it mind, so it's possible it wouldn't work well here.  These are just my random thoughts.

[Sethore]

I cast my vote with the ascension. Although I have no CC characters I'd guess this will most likely be a reward based feature to the more dedicated and trustworthy people on the forum and will give them something special for it.

 

I see just as many problems as positives with the idea, but ultimately my view is; if it becomes to much the admins and staff can retract and remove the Alicorns to repair any damage they might have caused. so why not give it a try?