Aminals?

[Dessa]

I realize ponies are animals, but what of animal-animals, in the style of Angel or Gummy? Playable? And are the show's animals playable (that is, could you apply for, say, Owlycious)?

In discussions with some of the mods here, people seemed to like the idea that animals can be NPCs or PCs depending on the context. That is, if an animal is considered someone's "companion animal," then they are RPed by the same player that RPs the pony the animal is companion to, whereas independent animals could exist as well (or even animals created with joint BGs with another PC).

[MyLittlePonyTales]

You are allowed to play companion animals of the main cast IF the person playing the cast character agrees.

Other than that, other small animals are available to play, but wild or not, they will need to be companion animals. That basically means that there is a particular pony they like to hang around, although they may interact with other ponies or spend time alone in the wild.

[BaconofChaos]

It's weird that you post this now. I was only thinking about this a couple of days ago. Specifically I was thinking that someone playing as Angel or Philomena would probably have a lot of fun. This was mostly just an idle thought more than any kind of serious attempt to app an animal, and I already knew that the characters are responsible for their own pets.

But now that you mention it... WillowWisp, if you're reading this, and if you ever want someone to take care of Fluttershy's bunny pal for you... I mean, if you don't mind... I understand if you don't... But if you did.... Maybe I could do it? Just a thought...

I'm only half-serious about this

[Dessa]

No, you'll never get her consent that way, Diego, you gotta THINK like Angel. "FLUTTERSHY, HEY, OVER HERE. You need an Angel. Otherwise you'll just go on and on with the wafflin' an' we ain't got all day here. But don't worry, I gotcha. You be you, and I'll be Angel, and it'll all work out, capiche?"

I dunno, I always envisioned him with a New York accent, if he could talk.

[Skye]

At this venture, what we've decided is that companions can be played as non-speaking roles and can be added to a Pony's app as part of the Pony app itself. As a result, we really don't want an influx of a bunch of companion applications for characters that nobody will really play or want to interact with. Companion Animals can be played by their owners as part of their RP. The exception is if someone wants to specifically play a companion animal to another pony as part of that RP, but I don't particularily care for the precident that sets and would prefer of folks just kept their companions with their established characters.

After all, companions do not thus far get to go on independent adventures without their owners in the show and there's no real reason to believe there will be at this particular venture. With the exception of Owylicious (Who actually wasn't really on his own, he was acting on behalf of Twilight for Spike), there haven't been any other companion characters seen doing anything independently. Even Angel is almost constantly with Fluttershy, Winona is with AJ, Gummy is seen with Pinkie, and Opal is usually in the company of Rarity. But we haven't yet actually seen them acting independently.

The rule right now is that Staffers will be the only ones playing monsters for the purposes of RP's (And usually only special RP's), and we're treating companions on a case-by-case basis at this point. But in my opinion, if we see an influx of these for the sake of having them apped, they will probably be disallowed further.

I hope this answers this question, I would prefer if we didn't end up in a mass-posting argument about whether or not they are or shouldn't be allowed.

[Manestream]

I hope this answers this question, I would prefer if we didn't end up in a mass-posting argument about whether or not they are or shouldn't be allowed.

Its okay if people want to continue the discussion and point out reasons for it, or against it. What I should rephrase for Skye here is that just because a lot of people want it to happen, doesnt mean it will.

But you *are* welcome to discuss it.

As it stands right now, per my last discussion with someone about it (I think Meow and a few others), if a person wants to RP as someone's companion animal, they can put in an application with the acceptance/approval of the Mane Cast pony they are apping the companion for, and create an application. We're considering these case by case, and a pet character app is only as good as the Mane Cast character's app- if the Mane Cast character changes hands, then the pet app is discarded with the old app, and control of the pet character goes back to control of the Mane Cast character.

If you and the Mane Cast character have a genuine interest in some dynamic RP together as Cast/Pet, then you can go ahead and message one of the staff about your interest, and we'll discuss it before any final decision is made

[Dessa]

Certainly, we don't see animals beyond the context of the mane six, but likewise, we don't see ANYthing that doesn't pertain to them. After all, we don't see perytons either, nor have we cause to suspect that Griffin society is as we've imagined. These concepts, and indeed all concepts, were permitted for no other reason than that the community envisioned them mutually enjoyable. Succeeding all of these, we ought to expect specific reasoning for why certain concepts might not be allowed.

What might be thought fun for all isn't something we could ever guarantee consensus on, but there are a few principles that root them. Primary among them: Does a concept agree with the themes, values, and settings of the show? And failing that, does it at least not violate them? In addition, we consider "gameplay," or balance. Might a concept unfairly favor some players over others?

To the first, do we see animals having adventures of their own on the show? No. Do we know them to exist unattached to ponies? We do. We see them in the everfree forest, for instance (and it is mentioned as well, in fact, that the creatures in everfree live untamed). We see them rescue Fluttershy prior to her residence in ponyville. And where it is not explicit, it appears implicit that animals have lives of their own, including potential adventures. The world is likewise as perilous to animalkind as it is to ponykind, after all. As for the final clause -- gameplay -- most animals would not appear to unbalance gameplay or roleplay. Bears and lions might warrant caution, perhaps, but a bird probably can't harm anything.

So my question is this: what about the concept of animal apps warrants special consideration beyond those of others? As I see it, they might be considered as perytons. Given that perytons at least appear uncommon, we are cautious of allowing everyone to play one (although most people will want to play ponies, given that is what they see the most of on the show anyhow), but with just a few people at it, it's just a fun option.

Given that animals can't speak, I suspect that their attraction will be limited (except for the comanions specifically featured on the show) and that there will be no need for special moderation.

[Manestream]

"we ought to expect specific reasoning for why certain concepts might not be allowed.

I like to provide specific reasoning when I can, and so does the staff, but it would be unreasonable to expect us to explain out everything to everyone's satisfaction; that would be impossible, and if the case, we would never get past certain hot-button issues. I just want my stance to be clear on this, I explain things because i like people to understand my reasoning; but there will be times when all the time I have for is a "no, i have reasons", and that should be expected and also respected when I have to use that. I just want that to be clear to everypony just incase its not- our job is to make things work, not just explain why or why not; there isnt time in the world enough for that :'} But I strive to do the best I can.

So my question is this: what about the concept of animal apps warrants special consideration beyond those of others? As I see it, they might be considered as perytons. Given that perytons at least appear uncommon, we are cautious of allowing everyone to play one (although most people will want to play ponies, given that is what they see the most of on the show anyhow), but with just a few people at it, it's just a fun option.

Given that animals can't speak, I suspect that their attraction will be limited (except for the comanions specifically featured on the show) and that there will be no need for special moderation.

I am not afraid of animals breaking the RP somehow. Currently, i am more concerned about getting pony OC's that are awaiting approval approved for the pony Rp. There have been animal apps that have been approved already. Peryton's were approved before I had anything to do with the RP, or any power of the board. There are a few things like that on this board that were approved by Ashi and her reasoning back on the previous location- I cant do anything about those and will have to work around them, even if it seems unfair to other users. My intention is to run the RP right, however, and implement new things cautiously. When we have our guidelines done and the staff up to speed, I imagine any person will be allowed to app an animal if they like within the shows cannon; but I would like to stress that this is primarily a Pony based RP. Its primarily for pony/pony interaction. Thats what my focus is on, animals will have to have a back seat for now.

Animals dodnt need special moderation, but monsters like hydras would. Or an Ursa. For obvious reasons, i'd rather not have users in control of marysue monsters without some kind of guidelines in place. Likely, these things will never be allowed in the mane RP; but are welcome for you to RP in the crossovers section.

[Skye]

Mane's points are right on. The point I was trying to make, however, is that while animals do make independent actions, they don't go on adventures because they're not primary characters. Speaking role characters, of which Perytons are one, get to have adventures on their own and further the events and plot of Equestria while non-speaking roles are supporting or 'color' roles. This means that we won't be likely to see flocks of birds or herds of rabbits running out to save Equestria while the ponies (Or other speaking roles) stand by and do nothing. This is why they don't need to be apped except for special cases and are perfectly fine to be added as a footnote in a pony's application. As Mane states, monsters have a high potential of being Mary-Sue, which is also why only staff will be playing them in special event RP's and their subsequent unavailability as player roles. You won't see them apped either.

But if a supporting animal is requested to be played by another player as a companion for another player character, this is fine and an app can be submitted. But what I was trying to get across is that we have a lot of OC character apps to go through, adding apps for companion animals would increase our workload unnecessarily just to have characters that will likely only ever be used in supporting roles. This is for main RP, mind you. Just like everything else, if you want to play companions in main roles for an RP, the crossover RP section is always available for this purpose.

[Dessa]

Ahhhhh. Gotcha.