Rosewind

Starfox, you are a super hero. What a wonderful bunch of points you've brought up and expanded upon -- this is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to see.

Hello everypony! I'm Rosewind. You might know me as that crazy gal that likes to jump on you with her opinions about My Little Pony and net culture, but I am making this thread tonight to highlight --and perhaps bring some higher thought -- into the internal thought processes at work that really help perpetuate the awesomeness of FiM, and the community as a whole. A lot of what makes the show popular is undoubtedly the amazing character design. While it might be easy to discuss why G4 is so much better to some of us than the past three generations of character design, I think it's more important to understand why. First, watch this. Seriously, watch it. If anything, just watch the first 1:30 so you can understand what exactly the Uncanny Valley is, and why it's important to understand how it affects the way we think. My theory is that this paradigm doesn't apply to just things that look human. What if, perhaps, this also applies to how we view ponies? Or anything, for that matter? I think G3 in particular tried too hard to move the cutesy horse model into creepy territory, so we ended up with stuff like this: The more you try to make something look like something it shouldn't be, the more disturbing it is, and the higher chance that we may dislike it. In contrast, the character design in FiM is much more dynamic, and it does not try to emulate the ponies as real ponies. Add rich, layered personalities to the mix, and I think we end up with quite a few likable characters. I don't believe that this alone is the only thing making the series popular. It's one more dynamic working in synergy with other things. So, I'm throwing this question out to all of you: what do you find attractive about FiM over the older generations, and why?

Pardon the sorta-necro. This is mine: http://mlp-vectorclub.deviantart.com/gallery/?set=29968910&offset=240#/d3g75qv

Oh hi, Rose! Nice to see another...Rose.

You don't need to apologize, or even agree with me. I was just giving some insight into your statement, that's all. No hard feelings here, sugar cube! I will say, Hasbro can be really silly. Or can it? There's also plenty of things the company does I don't personally agree with, but take what they do with a grain of salt, since it's their money that keeps the show in production.

Those money-hungry corporate *******s also sign the paychecks of the people who work tirelessly to bring us new episodes. They also have kept their property on a long leash as far as fan-driven content is concerned. You'll notice they only brought out the copyright hammer on the whole episodes around the time of the iTunes season release. They allow the staff of the show to do interviews and create stuff for the brony crowd, they've acknowledged us instead of pretended we're weird and don't exist, like some huge companies might. They've allowed other outlets (WeLoveFine, HotTopic, and others) to do some test merchandizing on us to give us more than just toys to appreciate the series with. They are a business created to make money. They will do whatever they can to meet that end, as the people who run the company have families to feed and bills to pay as well. It was them that asked Faust to revive the franchise. Without that "greed," we'd still be on some weird reinteration of G3, and the cartoon would be nothing more than the two generations before it. I wouldn't be so sharp to put down the company that has allowed FiM to be what it is today on a basis of making money.

With the background pony thing, I'd be super careful about wanting it to happen. Here's why: FiM follows a very specific design, following at least one of six mane characters in an episode. There are the other secondary characters (CMCs, Spike, Celestia, etc.) but they are more or less developed characters that are suitable for whatever story the writers throw at them. Now, let's take a look at Derpy. Imagine if they shaped an entire episode around, say, a typical day in her life. Or maybe she tries to deliver mail to an Ursa Major. While those might be interesting episodes, adding depth to her would only set up something much worse. Maybe she won't even deliver mail -- what if the creative powers decide to have her as a house painter? The more you try to shape, change, and flesh out the character -- especially a character with heavy fanon -- the more opportunity there is for disappointment. We see this quite often with the wacky canon (and the laments of the hardcore RP crowd), as the elements of the series are -- by design -- quite malleble to the creators. I'm waiting for the day we might see Vinyl/Pon-3 without her glasses; what if her eyes were green instead of red? I think the popularity of the background pony crowd should probably be explored in a much different way, one that doesn't require direct involvement or a spotlight on the character, but in a way that they can participate in the story in some way without upsetting the creative expectation we have for them -- much in the way they actually do now. I'd say probably the best example of this would be Pipsqueak. He looks really neat as a character, but we really don't know that much about him, and we haven't seen him since Luna Eclipsed. He was cute and memorable enough, but the focus was never on him. TL;DR - Trying to make episodes about background ponies is a bad idea because it might end up making the character less interesting.

Of course you can! I'm tickled you like it!

I stumbled across a MLP G1-G3 community forum the other day. There were a few G4 enthusiasts around -- and it appeared to be widely accepted there -- but G4 was definitely not the focus. Those sort of places will continue to exist, even after G4 takes its final bow. I can't see this happening for quite a while, though. There have been whispers that S3 is done and S4 has started.

Really? I'm also wrong. According to Ponyleaks that video is, indeed, from The Last Roundup, so we'll get to see what's happening tomorrow probably!

Just a quickie sketchie of Candlemare, cause she's just that awesome.

And because just looking at a spoiler box is boring, I shall post this:

Ask them what they thought about the last episode, that's a good ice breaker.

I love running into bronies. They'll usually get a random hoof or a hug, then much discussion about pony. You should totally approach that group, OP -- I'd bet you my left wing they would like to see another brony!

If you get them to watch most of Season 1, I think it's safe to assume they are terminally infected, and they are probably part of the herd already.

It would probably be a straight to DVD release, not because it would suck, but because of the target audience size. I can't help but think how awesome it would be to watch the midnight showing of a FiM movie with a theater full of enthusiasts, though!

Yeah, that is pretty annoying -- but I suppose you could just crop it off if you can't find the unbranded image.

Despite the fact I was being facetious, the whole original basis (and plot device of FiM as a series) was based on Twi's obsession with studying and books, over other activities, such as making friends. This is completely relevant to the topic at hand.

Welcome to the herd here! Cute OC!

I couldn't agree with you more, Mojo. There's plenty to be learned from a big brother figure like Big Mac, and it would be within the scope of the series to explore it.

Welcome! What are the names of your five cats?

You know, I think Twilight has a rather unhealthy obsession with books...

I'm actually kind of disappointed that episode never went though.

I'm not a guy, but if I saw you wearing that shirt I'd think you are awesome. I got a bag from welovefine and their printing wasn't very solid. I mean yeah, you can turn it inside out, wash it cold, whatever, but that doesn't change the fact that the print quality is "meh," especially at their prices. What I will recommend is CustomInk, I've had a pony top made by them and it's much higher quality (not to mention cheaper) and you can design it yourself using vectors from here -- plus the turnaround is much faster. Downside is you won't get all the cool (and possibly pony) junk welovefine ships along with their orders, but eh, it's just junk.

I think you might want to check out the rules/guides posted here on how to make a character. The pony folk here are sticklers for quality in that department (my understanding is they don't really approve of alicorn characters) -- I'm sure you could get some help from the RP staff if you are interested in sharing your character design and ideas.