Reboot

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2014 16:53:58 GMT -5 The Shadow Pony said:

I think Fox just wants Sombra cause he looked cool

Pish. : p I think it's because he was cool, the first real evil overlord-type villain (and the first major male pony since Big Mac). And what really clinches it for me, his potential wasn't realised. That's always alluring to me -- when a show doesn't "do something right" I want to pick it back up and see what might have been.

But yeah, involving him means involving the Crystal Empire. It wouldn't play out like in the show however. I want to credit Celestia with brains so she'd send a small army up there to reinforce the newly awakened Crystal ponies, so a newlywed couple and a gaggle of teens. And if she did send the Mane Six she'd equip them with the Elements of Harmony. Sombra on the other would probably do more. He might look outside the Empire for ponies susceptible to his influence in order infiltrate his capital for him, etc. And if he succeeded in regaining control, he'd then try to invade Equestria proper.

I'm not sure I want to do this however. On the one hoof it's kind of a neat way to launch if we're starting directly after season 2, kind of a "this is where we diverge from the show" kind of thing (although I'm not so sure that I wouldn't want to tweak prior canon, either). On the other hoof, it's not the kind of plot I'm excited about as said, and it requires the Mane Six around to use the Elements. I'm not sure we can count on getting all of them.

I hope Feathers doens't mind our cutting in. ^^; Anyway, I don't think a pegasus would be *needed* to designt he airships -- an Earth pony would be quite capable of studying bird wings and translating that into a mechanical design. But as far as airship crews go, I think they'd be a mix. Pegasi don't *need* airships but that doesn't mean they wouldn't want in on the action... without necessarily being outlaws.

And *I* can see ponies as pirates -- but more as the fun-loving light-hearted rogue kind, not the darker more realistic kind. I just don't see ponies seriously hurting other ponies. Now non-Equestrian ponies mgiht be different... but then, how would they have acess to a fresh invention?

Another question this brings to my mind is how close do we want to adhere to the light-and-soft "for kids" aspect of the show? I for one would to stay pretty close to it, but make room for a bit more violence and more importantly real tragedy (which does not *have* to involve violence). Not that things *have* to be tragic but I want the stakes to be real, if you understand me. Also I'mma insist that the board's rating be changed to 0/0/1.

What I'm saying is that I want the board to be serious, but not abandon the over-all impression that Equestria is a good place to live, and that ponies are largely good folk. Also fairly peaceful, such that if they have differences they're more likely to settle them by discussion than violence. And they have good reason to be -- Celestia's reign has presumably been just and beneficent and they have the lesson of the Hearth Warming to remind them what might happen if they go to war.

I think for a main plot therefore I think we should do one of these, or perhaps a mix:

Elements of Disharmony: A powerful villain, (escaped from Tartarus), kidnaps and imprisons the Mane Six (so we don't need to have them claimed) while bringing forth six Elements opposed to theirs, bestowing them on people whom he has beguiled with promises of power/wish fulfillment. (And yes, this was the board with the Elements of Strife, so I don't feel so bad about reusing that idea. )

Return of Nightmare Moon: The Children of the Night infiltrate Canterlot and befriend Luna, subtly encouraging her to return to her Nightmare Moon persona, and also attempt to steal the Elements of Harmony, succeeding in at least one case -- the Element of Magic is my preferred one.

Diplomacy Breakdown: Some foreign power, probably non-pony, demands that Equestria share the cider tech, being already angry that the ponies control the world's weather and seasons. The "negotiations" break down, and this power then invades/sends in spies to steal the tech. Or it could be a different scenario, but the idea is non-ponies/foreigners coming into conflict with the Three Tribes.

Now the three could be mixed up a bit. The Big Bad could distribute the Disharmony Elements to foreign creatures with a grudge against Equestria, for instance; or the emissaries could be werewolves who fawn over Luna and get her on their side, causing a rift between the two sisters.

The reason i like these three is that the Elements of Disharmony seems a natural thing, being in direct opposition tot he show's main theme. And, apart from being a NMM fanboy, the latter two appeal to me because if the ponies do have a flaw it's that they're somewhat bigoted. I'm sure the reason Luna has such a huge fandom (and Celestia such hate) is because she really *was* underappreciated by her subjects because ngiht was "scary", out of the ordinary. And then even more telling -- look at how they treated Zecora at first. She's an equine, but nonetheless they acted at first like she was a monster.

So there would be natural tension between them and non-ponies. Which could lead them to reevaluating their prejudice against non-ponies, and produce the kind of drama I like.

[The Shadow Pony]

I had an idea. Maybe there should be a limit on the number of royals that can be made on the site total. You know a bunch of bronehs will want to make royals and when we have 50 relatives of luna and celestia around the whole thing becomes absurd. Just a thought... .3.

Also back to earlier statement bout alicorns, I totally agree with the latter version of Alicorns being created because that is how one of my OCs became one. It wasn't of his own free will either.

I could see a conflict arising with a non-pony nation and equestrians.

Personally I can see 1 and 3 being a thing, but the nightmare moon is just lost on me. I don't see Luna going back all evil. I mean before she first became nightmare moon it seemed that she didn't have any friends AT ALL. But now she has like Twilight and her sister is more concerned for her (From what I have seen) and she gets a lot more support then what she previously had.

So I think Luna would actually need to lose the friendships of like the Mane six and her sister in order to fall back to Nightmare moon. Also she would have to be put through the worst feelings of loneliness and being hated. Personally, something I would do with my OCs, but to canons and others, It sounds waaaay too cruel heheh. Ironic, harm to my own but not to others.

I agree violence should be allowed but I dont think there should be ripping off of heads and such. Nothing gory, and maybe deaths could fade to black so to speak. Not really mention how they die just say that they did. that might even be stretching the boundaries though.

I don't see the 3 pony tribes splitting apart, if they do, then you'd have to bring back the whole thing with the wendigos and such.

For Sombra, I felt his potential was unrealized as well. I thought he could've been a several episode villain that strikes back like every 5 episodes or so until finally being defeated at the end of a season. On that note, I kind of would like to see Sombra have some role, but he might get whooped again. All it took was love and happiness really to defeat him with the crystal heart. Get that back and shazam, defeated Sombra.

I do have a change of the cult of nightmare moon, why not make it a cult for Sombra? Dark ponies that are hoping if they bring Sombra back, that he will reward them with power and offer them high positions of office in his evil empire. Basically these ponies would be the evil, the downtrodden, the forgotten, the ones who feel wronged in some way. Eh? That could work. Im sorry but I see it more plausible than a group devoted to restoring Nightmare moon.

[Deleted]

I never thoguht much aboutt he royal family. I mean i never cared about their extended relations or whatever. I kind of wonder if Celestia and Luna, being from over a millennia ago, would even have any? Especially if their family was wiped out by Discord or somebody else.

Of course Cadence and Blue Blood are called "Princess" ad "Prince" respectively, so there must be some relations. And I can't see Celestia raising a snob like Blue Blood so he couldn't have been her own ward.

Anyway, it needs some thoguht, but I agree there should be a limit.

As far as Nightmare Moon goes, think about it. She suffered years, maybe decades, of neglect before finally deciding to bring about eternal night, and then she spent 1000 years imprisoned in the Moon watching the world pass by without her. And then she was forcibly reverted to being a filly again -- I can't help but think her defeat was traumatic for her even though she sincerely repented and reconciled with Celestia.

Those aren't just things that will disappear. And as far as Celestia goes, nothing has changed. I'm sure she loved her 1000 years ago. And back then, they were equals -- I'm following the prologue o the first episode, where Luna was depicted as a mature mare. Now, having suffered age regression and memory loss, there's no way she can share the burdens of state with her sister -- she'd be relegated to the sidelines even more than she was then.

(And I say that because, as I said she was an adult in the prologue, now she's at most a teenager. Plus the memory loss is the only way to explain "Luna Eclipsed" where she's so out of touch, as contrasted to Nightmare Moon being perfectly adapted to the modern world when she first arrives.)

And I don't see her being friends with Twilight or the Mane Six. She never interacts of any of them again after "Luna Eclipsed". She doubts Twilight's competence at the start of the Crystal Empire saga.

Now for the Children of the Night, they aren't evil. They simply prefer night -- and more freedom than normal ponies seem willing to allow. And they've suffered persecution from ponies, I imagine, so they were looking forward to Nightmare Moon's return as the advent of a messiah. But thanks to the Mane Six their day night never came, and they're trying to fix that.

Not that there couldn't be faction built on the myth of King Sombra too. There could well be a society dedicated either to freeing him or preparing for his return, with the more traditional aim of domination.

Another thing I was thinking about Sombra is that, during his banishment, he was able to influence the people who lived in the arctic. White wolves and such.

[Deleted]

The plot wouldn't begin with NMM anyway; it would begin with Luna and she would be haunted by returnign memories of her time as NMM. But she *might* not relapse; it would be up to the roleplay to decide that. So instead of calling the plot idea "Return of Nightmare Moon" I should call it "For the Night Eternal".

For the idea of a group working to bring back an ancient evil for their own personal glory or revenge, would y'all rather it be Sombra or an original villain? In my mind I am tying this into the Elements of Disharmony, and also possibly with the deaths of the Two Sisters' parents.

Much as I like Sombra I'm leaning towards an original villain, because I don't think he had the power to make anti-Elements or knock off Tia/Luna's parents. Plus the latter event predates the rise of Discord (whom on reflection I also don't see as killing them, or anypony; he's a bully butnot a killer), and in my headcanon timeline Sombra was rather later than Discord.

Of course the deaths of their parents don't have to be attributed to anybody, but I like the idea of a mated pair of alicorns who ruled in the distant past and were somehow slain, giving Discord the opportunity to rise to power.

Another idea would be that Sombra is knowingly or unknowingly working as the agent of a greater evil. I'm not sure I like this idea either however, since I prefer the idea of Sombra being a self-made villain.

Aaaand as for the violence...

1. "Mild violence is permitted. Explicit descriptions of gore is not allowed."

2. "Graphic is permitted. Explicit description or in-game narration of violence is allowed."

That's from the RPG rating system. Currently our rating is Language - 2 Sex - 0 Violence - 1. As I said I insist that Language be changed to 0; like, seriously, who needs swearing, especially on a MLP forum?

Now for violence I think "1" is a bit too restrictive. But "2" is too much. What I would prefer is the possibility of death, and possibly the implication of really "bad" deaths (believe me, children's fiction can be violent). But I don't want a lot of explicit descriptions of gore. That's kind of disgusting and would be unnecessarily disturbing to younger members.

So I vote we leave it at "1".

[feathers]

Um, Firefox wouldn't be better if we Admin's get to sit down and talk about this (about the Site Rating)

I meant to reply [s]yesterday[/s] last week, but old laptop couldn't take it, and I have a real life issue to attend to. 

We could leave the out coming plots for the forum later. I think we are going off the whole point of discussion. I know Shadow and Werefox spoke about the level and the limits for the forum. Leading us sightly back to the point of discussion. 

Besides, I would just go with the flow of the majority of the pirate ideas and other ideas. We can make a plotting thread focus on them more details later. But please, can we please focus and discussion the more important issues. Like the form, rules and regulation, the upcoming new races (Good Job! Werefox for starting a thread on that. I go for the majority of the vote. Once we narrow down our choices) and pick our main plot, since we are dropping the human-pony ideas.

Why? We need to do this soon, so we can invite more members into the forum and bring back to life. Yes, I know the plotting is important too. But can we just pick one (which will be the main one) and focus on that. The rest can be divided into plots thread to gain future ideas.

So far, I see everyone (including myself, unfortunately) has been contributing plots and ideas (which is good by the way). But misleading the discussion to elsewhere. At this rate, we never ever get AIE off starting soon.

You can call me rude! But I, as a Admind (too) need to put my foot down and remind the important issues. Why? Cos I really...reaaaallly want to get AIE starting. It's getting rather silly to tell people we have a MLP RP site and it's not ready for them yet.

About the Site Rating, can it be similar to TT Guild and not make it site too violence. This is MLP, we talking about here. Not God of Wars!

Thank You.

P.S: Also, please be noted I'll be away for a week. Crazy deadline in real life.

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2014 18:08:08 GMT -5 @flam said:

Pish. : p I think it's because he was cool, the first real evil overlord-type villain (and the first major male pony since Big Mac).

... And Shining Armour. Wut.

I couldn't help being surprised at myself. Anyway.

I suggested that we just use this thread for plotting and split off other discussions to other threads. Since nobody, like, objected I thought that's what we were doing. And I think the profile form, rules and so on would be better discussed amongst the staff anyway? Not that Shadow (...who is the only non-staff...) can't request a rule or something. Anyway the most important thing is determining who's in charge, and I'm still waiting for replies to that in the staff forum.

As for plot, I suggest we go with Sombra. My idea is that several of his followers were turned to shadow with him, but being somewhat less powerful they broke free of the curse sooner; say, one got out 500 years ago, another 200 years okay, perhaps a third 100 years ago. They have since recruited a few other ponies to form the Black Council, working to break Sombra free, reclaim the Crystal Empire, and conquer the world.

If you're wondering how they lived so long, the answer is that in my headcanon Sombra's initial reason for studying dark magic was that he wanted immortality -- and he succeeded in it, and passed it on to his key followers. I have a reasonf or why he was so interested in it, but it's not relevant. I also have a few other ideas -- mostly that Sombra's presence int he north has corrupted some of the peoples up there (non-pony) into worshipping him.If/when he's released they'd form part of his invasion force.

[The Shadow Pony]

Just realized im the only non-staff member . I feel so weak x.x

Anyhow. I think we should focus less on plots and more on actual rules and such because I think like Feathers says, we're getting off topic.

Maybe need to arrange a day/night where everyone or at least most people get together and talk and plan. I want to get AIE back up and running as well.

P.S. we should probably start getting rid of old posts with the humanized ponies unless its been done already.

P.S.S maybe tweak the character application sheet so its already well, ready and people can get ideas on how they want their ponies designed and already make them so they just have to copy & paste once the site gets fired back up.

[Deleted]

I'm sorry everyone, but I've been waiting too long. There's been plenty of time to discuss all of that -- staff positions, rules, profiles form, cleaning up the forums -- and I've made proposals already for some it. Nobody has bothered to get back to me and I don't feel I can proceed on it alone.

With that in mind, I've decided to withdraw from AiE. Maybe I will try to make my own MLP game on another forum. Either way, I wish you all well, and maybe we'll meet again.

[feathers]

Sorry to see you go Fire Fox.

I'm sorry for the late reply. I have been busy with work and such. Can anybody give me an update on what's going on?

[Toast]

the short version? I'm making the site an actual site meaning that I'm removing clutter and giving it a plot to go with normal ponies instead of humans. Zin gave the site to me and I plan on making it a good one.

[feathers]

Awesome work, Toast!

Just me know what you need help with and do what I can. I already posted some suggestion earlier for the story plot. But I suggest we work on the apps first to get people join us and register their oc while the sites gets together.