Show Posts

To me, it seems like there just isn't enough information about any of these alternate races that we have to choose from to come up with an adequate back story. I tried with an alicorn OC once, I tried with a batpony, a griffon, I've even contemplated a dragon and a changeling. I've done all this for the sake of originality. Good characters are supposed to be unique in their own ways, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have to be unique physically. Characters are far more interesting when they have in depth back-stories and personalities rather than being the generic overpowered physically menacing OCs we see a lot of. Using alicorns, batponies, or any other none-conventional races is a big risk because there has to be a good reason why that OC is that race and in order for it to be interesting it has to be a good reason. Unfortunately, it is difficult to come up with good reasons because of the lack of information we have on these races. We are only beginning to understand the origins of alicorns and how they are made and/or born, we know next to nothing about batponies other than Lauren Faust and Larson briefly saying that they think they live in deep caves in the mountains and guard Luna's palace, and we literally know next to nothing else about griffons, dragons, changelings, or anything else.

This goes one of three ways for me.

One: Make a unicorn, earth pony, or pegasus OC that has a normal talent and occupation in Equestria. Make this character three dimensional. Give him/her something that they want, something they aspire for. Give them a weakness, something that they struggle with that, to play it safe, is not a dark past story as those can be generic and uninteresting as well. This weakness, however, needs to also be a source of strength. For example, Rainbow Dash can be very big-headed and egotistical at times. She can often indulge in her ego, becoming ignorant and undesirable if she does so. She has also learned a lot from this weakness, however, and has seen a lot of character development from that. Her ego is a source of strength in other circumstances, because it gives her confidence and empowerment to do what's right. This trait conflicts with her and makes her an interesting and growing character. A safely interesting OC needs to have a back story that reflects the discovery of this trait, and needs to have something that can create a conflict within the character.

Two: Tread very carefully and use your adept imagination. It is possible to create an alicorn/dragon/griffon/batpony/changeling that is interesting, but it is risky. Some people try to do this but end up with a very one dimensional character. This is something that can be fixed by avoiding a dark back story, making sure the OC is not unnecessarily powerful, and the reason behind that character being what they are be something that is not generic or over-used. Treading in this territory means that you will have to actually design some of the culture behind that OCs race in order to make it work, meaning that it must be realistic and in depth. Saying your OC is a batpony and he/she guards Luna's palace because he/she is one is bland and uninteresting. Why did the OC choose to guard her palace? What trait did that OC adopt to lead to that eventuality? Why do batponies guard Luna's palace in the first place? What is batpony culture like and how did it effect the OC? These are questions that must be answered in a realistic and creative way in order for it to stay deep.

Three: Nevermind interesting. Make a fanged, multicoloured, overpowered and always angry alicorn dragon cyborg that is always quiet, keeps to himself for some dark mysterious reason, and has mastered the power of changelings, can see in the dark, fly better than the wonderbolts, use high tier dark magic, perform a hypersonic double rainboom that causes nuclear fusion, and is married to Fluttershy with 7 kids. Make whatever strange creation you want because it's fun and awesome. This can be cool, but it almost always ends up in a bland, one dimensional OC that doesn't catch anyone's interest. This is something you would want to do if you didn't really care about any of that. If you did, however, this is not recommended

Pony Off-Topic / Re: How did you become a brony?

2014 Apr 26, 02:41:27

I was one of the /b/ros on 4chan that witnessed the great pony explosion of the internet. Before anyone realized it, 4chan's /b/ board was being uncontrollably flooded by pony content from all directions. Soon, the content would flood a large portion of the other 4chan boards as well. During this time, and in the initial explosion of the first bronies, there was a huge flame war on the internet between bronies and anti-bronies. I was aware of the fact that My Little Pony had an actual flourishing fanbase for quite some time, but I knew little about it until my little brother started watching the show and identified himself as a brony. I remember him showing me members of the fandom getting angry over Derpy being taken out of the show, and I thought it was ridiculous. For quite some time, I told my friends about the brony fandom, explaining it as being a group of large neckbeards that dwell in the basements of their parents. I also heard about the... innuendos side of the fandom and broadly generalized all bronies as being that way. About half-way through season two, I was on a random video spree on YouTube and found a pony music video. Curiously, I watched it, and found myself wondering how something as girly and simple as My Little Pony could possibly support such a massive and diverse fandom. I decided to do some research in the hopes of finding out why my brother and millions of other people had fallen for this show. I moved from one pony video, to the next, to the next, and to the next, until I stumbled upon Mike The Microphone's read-along to My Little Dashie, which is a known emotional fanfic within the fandom. I listened to the whole thing, and to my complete and utter surprise, and despite the fact that I had never watched the show and didn't even know any of the characters' names, it still managed to tug at my heartstrings.

Finally, I decided to go in and watch the first episode of the first season. I looked it up and made it through. The first episode, the second, the third, the fourth. Despite the fact that I wasn't necessarily amazed or in awe at some aspect of the show, but it still managed to keep me watching. It wasn't something I was necessarily enjoying, but at the same time I just kept going, watching them one-by-one, slowly beginning to understand MLP: FiM even more. I came to the eventuality as I pondered how I was able to watch the entire first season of My Little Pony, a little girl's show, without turning off my computer, that the characters were not as one dimensional as most other cartoons. These characters felt real, because they had dreams and hopes of their own. They had weaknesses, weaknesses that they would stumble upon and learn from, but their weaknesses were also their strengths, and their development as characters was something that I found attractive.

I watched the entire second season, joining the brony fandom in the week after week wait for the newest episode. And then came the off season before season 3. Then I exposed myself to the amazing fandom. The art, the music, the talent, and everything else. I found out that DHX was aware of the MLP fandom, I found out that John De Lancie, the man who played Q, my all-time favourite character from Star Trek other than Data, was aware of it, and supported it. I found out about the Brony Cons, the friendships that have been made through the show, the culture behind it, and everything else. Suddenly, I realized that I went from being an ignorant /b/tard that hated on an entire fandom because it broke social norms to being a huge fan of MLP and supporting the fandom. I continued reading fanfictions, posting on forums, exposing myself to the brony community's content, and watching the show wholeheartedly.

Updates Archive / Re: Servers Now Closed

2014 Apr 21, 00:37:44

Wow, that was the most fun I've had in a while. So much work has been done on the game since the previous builds and I'm so looking forward to the final product when it is finished. Lots of crazy stuff happened like the attack of Pinkie clones, all of the fun dance parties, and The Almighty PONE Singularity of Divinity that we forged outside of Sugarcube Corner. Lots of fun guys, things like this just remind me of how awesome this fandom is.