My Little Pony XXIX: The Spoilers have been DOUBLED!

[Beeskee]

Beeskee yawns cutely and stretches, then looks around to see what is going on. He decides not enough ponies are having Cuteness Overload Seizures so he leaves a little something in the thread...

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From the "Ask Pipsqueak The Pirate" pony blog on Tumblr:

Le Fort

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"Just don't touch it. It messes with living creatures."

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Beeskee blinks and peers at the amulet. "That doesn't sound good. And, uh, aren't you *wearing* it?"

Edit: There was something else I wanted to respond to but I can't find it now. Well, lots of somethings, but there aren't enough hours in the day now. Stupid work and sleep.

[BlasTech]

Why not, let's try to make an RP. Join it if you feel like it! I'm going for a somewhat dark (though not depressingly so) theme, with the threat of an imminent attack against Equestria as the main theme. Will you help stop it, or will you join the insurrection?

[FFRP] Insurrection

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The royal guard tried to get away, but in the shape he was in that was easier said than done. Wounded by claws, fangs, and dragon-fire he attempted to fly away from the deep forest cave. There was the exit! For the first time in days he felt fresh air... and was promptly rammed to the ground. The dark-feathered griffon clearly wanted to end the pegasus there and then, but he was stopped by a commanding voice.

"We want to keep him alive for now, Bloodwing," the unicorn mare said. She was not quite like a normal pony, though, her eyes were like those of a reptile and her teeth were sharp. In color she greatly resembled the green dragons of the deep woodlands. She wore a cape, but there appeared to be something hidden under it, probably wings. "Go fly to your master Iron-Talon and tell him to have his troops prepared. It will not be long before we strike now." She looked at the bleeding pegasus. "Pitiful. I expect Paladin to put up a better fight when I catch him..."

The strawberry-colored filly looked at the scene in horror one last time before running as fast as she could in the other direction. Why did she have to disobey her parents and sneak into the Everfree forest? This wasn't fun at all! Fragaria ran, and ran, and hoped the bad ones hadn't seen her...


"Of course I'm sure we were seen. I can smell it. An earth filly. Scared. Too close to Ponyville to just fly and grab now. We need to do this with subtlety and swiftness. The filly knows. She must not be allowed to live. Bloodfeather, this one is yours."

The griffon grinned with homicdal glee. "Consider it done, miss Dragonscale. The small one will be silenced, and we will have our revenge."


A little filly comes running into Ponyville at night, too terrified to speak. Unbeknownst to her, a murderous griffon stalks the shadows behind her. What will happen to the girl?



Background notes:
Feel free to roleplay little Fragaria and Bloodfeather the griffon yourselves. Fragaria is just a scared filly who has seen too much, and Bloodfeather is a trained killer (who enjoys his work) who will rather die than get captured. If forced to reveal information he will hint towards this being orchestrated by the griffon government, which is untrue (he works for the renegade warlord Iron-Talon).

Dragonscale and her backstory are described in my earlier post here. For more info on Paladin (who I intend to use in this RP storyline, see this post.

Quoted to look at in a bit, Might put Quaver Rest to work in this one.

[Neoseanster]

What's up with the new Luna tennis thing anyway?

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OH SWEET CELESTIA DO NOT LOOK AT THIS ONE FOR TOO LONG.

IT TURNS INTO SOMETHING HORRIBLE IF YOU LEAVE IT OPEN FOR A FEW MINUTES.



Cuddlefort! Also, 私は日本語はわからないが、私はインターネットを持っている。

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"That... no, that doesn't really sound good at all, no." Inkblot frowned more deeply, eyeing Candle Keeper pensively. His gut said that there was something very suspicious about the whole situation; maybe schoofophrenia? But, no, he saw the strange pony vanish by magic earlier that very day, without the apparent aid of a unicorn. Something strange was afoot... but Inkblot had never studied magic.

"Have you ever shown it to a unicorn? Maybe Midnight or one of the others could tell us how it all works... uh." He cuts himself off, glancing at the amulet warily. "Say... we can't hear it... but, can it hear us?"

Yay Google translate!

[PhoeKun]

It's a matter of perspective. We still discuss the show, and it's historical and canonical implications. But we aren't limited thereby. Havin the thread "speed up" is a false impression, when most of the "speed" is a glut of various content.

Still, we're working on labeling everything now. So if you only want to discuss the episode, you'd look for [Episode] or [Spoilers] and only respond to those posts.

It sucks that we lost you, and I am starting to think maybe we went too far? But it's a beast beyond all Ken, and no one poster can change it.

And I couldn't tell anypony here to stop having fun, even if I wanted to. Sometimes it's just better to acknowledge shifting trends and move on

It may be a matter of perspective, but it's hard to deny that as ponythread has grown, it's changed along with the times. There's nothing inherently wrong with this - new blood brings new perspectives, and with them comes a change of pace and of structure. Fighting to preserve the status quo is silly, but the unfortunate side effect of everything that happens is that some members of the original group wind up feeling pushed to the side or alienated. The way the group forms can also sometimes discourage newcomers: again, it's part and parcel of having an established group. This has happened in everything I've ever been a part of, and it will continue to do so for as long as I'm alive and not a hermit.

I'm not here to condemn or lecture, only to observe and occasionally guide. I'm sad to say it, but most days I find myself with almost no interest in sharing my thoughts or opinions here in this thread. We've had some wonderful times, and I've drawn loads of inspiration from many of you and will always cherish that, but there's way too much to do in a day to be any kind of worthwhile contributor anymore. Which is why you don't see me here anymore. I'm not keeping up with the thread. I check it once or twice a day, an act with involves reading the three most recent posts. Mostly I do this to find out if the Playground is up to any new creative projects. By and large, you're not. Well, you are, but it takes the form of self contained RPs, and those are outside the realm of my jurisdiction.

I'm piping up now because your words piqued my interest, and I realized I owed it to you to formally bow out of this place. You'll still be the ones to see any new stories I write, Celestia willing I finish them, but apart from that I do believe we run with different herds. Well... that's not quite true. Shimmer will always be a part of this place, however small she becomes. It's Phoe that is being pulled in too many directions, which means this is farewell without goodbye. I'll be seeing you when I have cool stuff to share.

[Tectonic Robot]

IT'S FREAKIN' PHOE!

OH MY GOD!

YOU'RE A LEGEND!

OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH

Oh. Uh, hello and goodbye, I guess. I hear you're awesome.

[SiuiS]

It may be a matter of perspective, but it's hard to deny that as ponythread has grown, it's changed along with the times. There's nothing inherently wrong with this - new blood brings new perspectives, and with them comes a change of pace and of structure. Fighting to preserve the status quo is silly, but the unfortunate side effect of everything that happens is that some members of the original group wind up feeling pushed to the side or alienated. The way the group forms can also sometimes discourage newcomers: again, it's part and parcel of having an established group. This has happened in everything I've ever been a part of, and it will continue to do so for as long as I'm alive and not a hermit.

I'm not here to condemn or lecture, only to observe and occasionally guide. I'm sad to say it, but most days I find myself with almost no interest in sharing my thoughts or opinions here in this thread. We've had some wonderful times, and I've drawn loads of inspiration from many of you and will always cherish that, but there's way too much to do in a day to be any kind of worthwhile contributor anymore. Which is why you don't see me here anymore. I'm not keeping up with the thread. I check it once or twice a day, an act with involves reading the three most recent posts. Mostly I do this to find out if the Playground is up to any new creative projects. By and large, you're not. Well, you are, but it takes the form of self contained RPs, and those are outside the realm of my jurisdiction.

I'm piping up now because your words piqued my interest, and I realized I owed it to you to formally bow out of this place. You'll still be the ones to see any new stories I write, Celestia willing I finish them, but apart from that I do believe we run with different herds. Well... that's not quite true. Shimmer will always be a part of this place, however small she becomes. It's Phoe that is being pulled in too many directions, which means this is farewell without goodbye. I'll be seeing you when I have cool stuff to share.

I appreciate it Phoe. You and Bobcat were who I specifically had in mind. Like I said, sometimes it's Better to move on. Which is really my way of telling myself not to feel too bad about it.

We're gonna miss you.

[PhoeKun]

OH MY GOD!

YOU'RE A LEGEND!

OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH

Oh. Uh, hello and goodbye, I guess. I hear you're awesome.

You've been lied to. I'm not actually anything or anypony special.

[BlasTech]

PHOEEEEE

*Glompytacklehugs*

Aww, "formally bowing out"?

Well I'm not letting go ... so nyeh!

*Cuddles the living legend of ponythread*

You've been lied to. I'm not actually anything or anypony special.

*Twilightvoice* Now I know that's a lie!

[Tectonic Robot]

You've been lied to. I'm not actually anything or anypony special.

But... you help you run Equestria Daily! The only way you could get cooler is if you were Terry Pratchett's niece and were roommates with Andrew Hussie.

[RdMarquis]

I appreciate it Phoe. You and Bobcat were who I specifically had in mind. Like I said, sometimes it's Better to move on. Which is really my way of telling myself not to feel too bad about it.

We're gonna miss you.

Ditto. Sorry to hear you're leaving. I'll miss you, and I'm glad to have met you. We'll see you next time you visit.

[Tectonic Robot]

Sooooooooooo...

I was thinkin', you know, what would be something that ponythread didn't have that I could add...

And I thought: Battle Themes for the OC's and such! Ha HA!

Er, yeah. I didn't really think this through, but I'm going to go through with it anyway.

So far I've got only one: The Amish Pirate's Pirate Pony dude's theme! (I really need to find out his OC's name...) The sond is called Nautical Nightmare, by the way.

Also, for guys (and gals!) who like homestuck, I found a god-tier Dave pony picture thing.

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[byaku rai]

This day has been so bad that the only thing that can make it better is for it to end. Goodnight, ponythread. Perhaps things will be better in the morning. -_-''

[SiuiS]

You've been lied to. I'm not actually anything or anypony special.

Oh Phoe, everypony is special. You know that

-

*I'm too frazzled to do this right, so I'm removing it before I give too much o the wrong impression.

We new to talk about stuff! And I left the "I'm not speaking in any official capacity" part out of the "what do you ponies think" sentence.

So? Suggestions?

[Rappy]

The people have spoken. I, as the shapeshifting mistress of silly of the Pony threads, have been deemed the Element of Change as opposed to my dark side, the Element of Deception. Yay Change!

Also, to those leaving: We'll miss ya, and don't remember we'll leave the light on. *Hugs*

[RdMarquis]

Hey, Everypony! I come bearing a question from the IRC channel!

If Neil Patrick Harris voiced a pony, what would it be?

Include name, type, personality, cutie mark, role in the episode, and anything else you can think of.

[Kindablue]

The people have spoken. I, as the shapeshifting mistress of silly of the Pony threads, have been deemed the Element of Change as opposed to my dark side, the Element of Deception. Yay Change!

We should all trust your every word, of course.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

*sigh* Wednesdays are fun, but leave me with very little time for internet and pony. This makes me sad.

This makes me less sad:

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[Titanium Fox]

It may be a matter of perspective, but it's hard to deny that as ponythread has grown, it's changed along with the times. There's nothing inherently wrong with this - new blood brings new perspectives, and with them comes a change of pace and of structure. Fighting to preserve the status quo is silly, but the unfortunate side effect of everything that happens is that some members of the original group wind up feeling pushed to the side or alienated. The way the group forms can also sometimes discourage newcomers: again, it's part and parcel of having an established group. This has happened in everything I've ever been a part of, and it will continue to do so for as long as I'm alive and not a hermit.

I'm not here to condemn or lecture, only to observe and occasionally guide. I'm sad to say it, but most days I find myself with almost no interest in sharing my thoughts or opinions here in this thread. We've had some wonderful times, and I've drawn loads of inspiration from many of you and will always cherish that, but there's way too much to do in a day to be any kind of worthwhile contributor anymore. Which is why you don't see me here anymore. I'm not keeping up with the thread. I check it once or twice a day, an act with involves reading the three most recent posts. Mostly I do this to find out if the Playground is up to any new creative projects. By and large, you're not. Well, you are, but it takes the form of self contained RPs, and those are outside the realm of my jurisdiction.

I'm piping up now because your words piqued my interest, and I realized I owed it to you to formally bow out of this place. You'll still be the ones to see any new stories I write, Celestia willing I finish them, but apart from that I do believe we run with different herds. Well... that's not quite true. Shimmer will always be a part of this place, however small she becomes. It's Phoe that is being pulled in too many directions, which means this is farewell without goodbye. I'll be seeing you when I have cool stuff to share.

We're really going to miss you around here Phoe. *Hugs*

Oh Phoe, everypony is special. You know that

-

*deep breath*

ATTENTION EVERYPONY

It's become apparent to many - including the friendly neighborhood mods - that the RP in Ponythread, well... It has a life of it's own.

We're gonna have to move it. So I am in process now of investigating what the situation is in FFRP sections. But this is our tentatively agreed upon ruleset;

• In character responses happen. especially in big posts like mine or Titanium's. Having Pinkie Pie get indignant at a comment about Pinkie Pie? Not RP.

• Back-and-Forth is RP and as soon as Applejack responds to that Pinkie, Pinkie's response has to go to the RP thread.

• the Roleplay Thread will be all-inclusive if possible Wait, is this supposed to be a bulletpoint? I need sleep. It will probably be generic, and have ALL of our stuff in it. So when posting here becomes RP, post your RP response in the future RP thread, and link to it here. This will make Ponythread a Choose Your Own Adventure book; to RP, click here; to continue with Ponythread, don't click.

Do these "rules" make sense to everypony else? Our Moderate friends don't want to step in if they don't have too, but we have been impugning on their hospitality.

If possible, the RP thread can function as an archive. I already have two RPs almost entirely saved, why no more? I have no life anyway

There's more, but I am but a mortal pony, and will exit them in shortly.

*Sighs* You know, the silly, goofy, quick little back and forths are part of what make the magic of this thread for me. Seperating them out almost feels like it's killing what ponythread is; to me at least. Remember I joined during Airshipping. It's what I've always known Ponythread as. We keep the RP in spoilers, so it's never bothered me. I've always gone "Oh look, another Spoiler post" and rolled over it if the RP didn't interest me.

I'd like to change this a little bit. I'd like to propose that if it's obviously a quick little back and forth between two characters, like Pinkie Pie getting indignant, Applejack responding, and then Pinkie Pie finishing it off, that we can leave it here. It's really not getting in the way, and hey, it's fun to respond to meta topics in character.

I'm not going to lie, this might very well end up killing Jade off, so to speak. Not literally, but she essentially is my RP avatar on this thread, and I already spend hours upon hours per day responding to this thread. Doubling it by being this active in two threads; AND managing the IRC channel... Guys, I have a life. I'm employed full time, with a second part time job. I fight to dedicate that much time because I want to be a part of things here, I find it all fun. I want to be part of every conversation that goes through here, or at least see them all if I don't have anything to say.

This week in ponythread has really depressed me. We lost Raz, we lost Scion, we lost Phoe, we lost Tectonic, and RP is being parsed from the thread. Stack that on top of me already being terrified that the IRC is going to kill the thread, and that I'm solely responsible...

Yeah.

I consider this place my little home on the Internet, and from my perspective I'm standing by the sideline and watching it fall to pieces right before my very eyes. To me this thread is the spontaneous roleplaying, is the shipping, is the friendship and off topic discussion. It is the welcoming, can do attitude between a small, close knit group who trusts each other.

If we split it all up into three different locations, I'm terrified that's all going to go away. We'll split up into our little cliques. The IRC clique, the RP clique, and the actual pony discussion clique, and frankly, we'll lose touch with friends. I'm legitimately worried about that.

I'm just gonna go to bed and try to calm myself. It took me three edits to type that before I decided to just let it flow out and not mince words and make it seem like I'm not as concerned as I actually am so I wouldn't be judged (and somehow yes this does run through my mind every once in a while).

Goodnight everypony. I do have one request though. Even if these new rules do get instituted overnight while I'm asleep, would anypony have an objection if EsperDerek and I finished out Rarity's Night here? I mean, it's almost done with...

[Capt. Ido Nos]

*rereads the last page*

...hugs, everypony?

[PhantomFox]

We're really going to miss you around here Phoe. *Hugs*



*Sighs* You know, the silly, goofy, quick little back and forths are part of what make the magic of this thread for me. Seperating them out almost feels like it's killing what ponythread is; to me at least. Remember I joined during Airshipping. It's what I've always known Ponythread as. We keep the RP in spoilers, so it's never bothered me. I've always gone "Oh look, another Spoiler post" and rolled over it if the RP didn't interest me.

I'd like to change this a little bit. I'd like to propose that if it's obviously a quick little back and forth between two characters, like Pinkie Pie getting indignant, Applejack responding, and then Pinkie Pie finishing it off, that we can leave it here. It's really not getting in the way, and hey, it's fun to respond to meta topics in character.

I'm not going to lie, this might very well end up killing Jade off, so to speak. Not literally, but she essentially is my RP avatar on this thread, and I already spend hours upon hours per day responding to this thread. Doubling it by being this active in two threads; AND managing the IRC channel... Guys, I have a life.

This week in ponythread has really depressed me. We lost Raz, we lost Scion, we lost Phoe, we lost Tectonic, and RP is being parsed from the thread. Stack that on top of me already being terrified that the IRC is going to kill the thread, and that I'm solely responsible...

Yeah.

I consider this place my little home on the Internet, and from my perspective I'm standing by the sideline and watching it fall to pieces right before my very eyes.

The problem with there being so much RP in the spoilers, is that it kills any other type of conversation, since discussion topics that might have been taken up get swept away and never seen by 3 pages of RP. It's just grown so much that it's outgrown the thread and needs its own place to stay now.

We don't dislike RP, it's just gotten too big for the thread.

[BlasTech]

*Gives titanium a hug*

[Eakin]

Hey, Everypony! I come bearing a question from the IRC channel!

If Neil Patrick Harris voiced a pony, what would it be?

Um.... awesome?

But clearly that pony would be musically inclined and would rock a good suit.

and own a freeze ray

[Neoseanster]

All right, so, by request, new post to summarize the issue. This came up in the IRC channel, for any wondering.

Some ponies have noticed that Ponythread roleplay has, well, it's grown a lot. To the point that some feel that it drowns out other forms of discussion here, and makes it so that it's difficult to follow the thread, and makes it so that things get lost in the flurry of it all. This, I understand, is a marked change from the way things used to be.

It's been suggested that maybe we could try to move some of the roleplaying posts from the main Ponythread to a new Ponythread Roleplay thread in the Freeform Roleplaying section of the forums. There are both pros and cons to this, and so we agreed that it should be discussed by everypony before any final decisions are made.

What are your thoughts on this? Would such a change foster conversation or detract from it? Would it foster roleplay, or make it more difficult for us to become involved with it? If we did make a new roleplay thread, where would the line be drawn on when posts should be taken over there?

Change is natural, of course; as has been noted, the thread has evolved. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but Ponythread is meant to be welcoming to everyone. If anypony is feeling alienated by the way things are, we should do our best to fix that, and to at least try to find a healthy compromise that lets the roleplay continue unhindered (I'm sure no one would argue that anything that spawned Rarity's Night was all bad) while at the same time not forcing anyone away with it.

Thank you.

[Beeskee]

What everyone else said. (They said it better than I ever could)


With all these awesome ponies leaving, I has a sad.




*offers hugs to everypony*

[Grif]

The problem with there being so much RP in the spoilers, is that it kills any other type of conversation, since discussion topics that might have been taken up get swept away and never seen by 3 pages of RP. It's just grown so much that it's outgrown the thread and needs its own place to stay now.

We don't dislike RP, it's just gotten too big for the thread.

More or less this. It's really depressing to find that you are unable to follow any of the conversation going on and relegated to the sidelines more or less. I mean, some of us are fine like this, but like it or not, some things would have to streamlined for the sake of clarity, and RP would have to be one of them. Despite what some ponies might say, it is not very comfortable jumping into an RP once it got going, simply because it feels rude to interrupt the back-and-forth.

[Eakin]

All right, so, by request, new post to summarize the issue. This came up in the IRC channel, for any wondering.

Some ponies have noticed that Ponythread roleplay has, well, it's grown a lot. To the point that some feel that it drowns out other forms of discussion here, and makes it so that it's difficult to follow the thread, and makes it so that things get lost in the flurry of it all. This, I understand, is a marked change from the way things used to be.

It's been suggested that maybe we could try to move some of the roleplaying posts from the main Ponythread to a new Ponythread Roleplay thread in the Freeform Roleplaying section of the forums. There are both pros and cons to this, and so we agreed that it should be discussed by everypony before any final decisions are made.

What are your thoughts on this? Would such a change foster conversation or detract from it? Would it foster roleplay, or make it more difficult for us to become involved with it? If we did make a new roleplay thread, where would the line be drawn on when posts should be taken over there?

Change is natural, of course; as has been noted, the thread has evolved. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but Ponythread is meant to be welcoming to everyone. If anypony is feeling alienated by the way things are, we should do our best to fix that, and to at least try to find a healthy compromise that lets the roleplay continue unhindered (I'm sure no one would argue that anything that spawned Rarity's Night was all bad) while at the same time not forcing anyone away with it.

Thank you.

I'm not a fan of the RP. At all. But I don't find it intrusive or hard to breeze past since it's been (effectively, in my mind) contained by spoiler boxes. And the posters who are putting up RP are also contributing to the other parts of the thread.

If it comes down to splitting us in half between "RP folk" and "non-RP folk" I'm opposed. I don't want to see cliques pop up and I don't see a lot of easy cross talk between the threads.

Yes, we've lost people. But we've lost them to real life stuff. And we've gained so many in the same period.

I say don't split. And if we do split I'd drop the IRC channel. I don't see why we suddenly need three different places to go for what's been effectively contained in a single thread up to this point

[Raz_Fox]

*turns on some cheerful ambient music*

It's a matter of perspective. We still discuss the show, and it's historical and canonical implications. But we aren't limited thereby. Havin the thread "speed up" is a false impression, when most of the "speed" is a glut of various content.

Still, we're working on labeling everything now. So if you only want to discuss the episode, you'd look for [Episode] or [Spoilers] and only respond to those posts.

It sucks that we lost you, and I am starting to think maybe we went too far? But it's a beast beyond all Ken, and no one poster can change it.

And I couldn't tell anypony here to stop having fun, even if I wanted to. Sometimes it's just better to acknowledge shifting trends and move on

I will say this: I loved Ponythread in all its forms. When there was a bucketload of RP, I loved it, when there was all kinds of speculation that didn't go down into dark corners, I loved it, when we bounced fiction off of each other and inspired each other, I loved it.

But you're right that it's better to acknowledge shifting trends than to stand rigid against the tide, and that's ultimately why I decided to pull away temporarily, if not indefinitely: I loved this place too much, too much to be here and everywhere else I need to be.

We've had some wonderful times, and I've drawn loads of inspiration from many of you and will always cherish that, but there's way too much to do in a day to be any kind of worthwhile contributor anymore.

...

You'll still be the ones to see any new stories I write, Celestia willing I finish them, but apart from that I do believe we run with different herds. Well... that's not quite true. Shimmer will always be a part of this place, however small she becomes. It's Phoe that is being pulled in too many directions, which means this is farewell without goodbye. I'll be seeing you when I have cool stuff to share.

Cross out Shimmer and Phoe with the Pure and Honest Fox Raz and Raz, and you've got my thoughts in a nutshell.

This week in ponythread has really depressed me. We lost Raz, we lost Scion, we lost Phoe, we lost Tectonic, and RP is being parsed from the thread. Stack that on top of me already being terrified that the IRC is going to kill the thread, and that I'm solely responsible...

Yeah.

I consider this place my little home on the Internet, and from my perspective I'm standing by the sideline and watching it fall to pieces right before my very eyes. To me this thread is the spontaneous roleplaying, is the shipping, is the friendship and off topic discussion. It is the welcoming, can do attitude between a small, close knit group who trusts each other.

If we split it all up into three different locations, I'm terrified that's all going to go away. We'll split up into our little cliques. The IRC clique, the RP clique, and the actual pony discussion clique, and frankly, we'll lose touch with friends. I'm legitimately worried about that.

Let me tell you about sand.

Sand is amazing to build with. You can make amazing castles out of sand if you're not afraid to get your hands dirty, castles that you'll remember for ages afterwards - I remember squatting down on a Grecian beach, building a small dam for a prison-structure of sand, crafting a crude building with my hands. Sand's cool, sand's neat, sand's wonderful.

But the tide's always there, lapping up against the beach, and you can't help but wonder, well, when's the tide going to come in? Things change anyway, on the beach, people come and go, the sun comes out and it grows too hot, or it starts to rain and the sand gets all soggy. And some people realize that they'd rather be building a sandcastle than working, and some people realize that they don't like the sandcastle that everyone else is working on.

Things change. That's the way things are. Buildings rise and buildings rust away. A year ago this sandcastle didn't even exist. A year from now, it might be a distant memory. The crucial thing is to take joy in what it is now, and what it was while you were building it, and to not let the bad times overwhelm the memory of the good.

But that isn't helpful, when there's a storm rolling in and the tide's roaring, and you're wondering how to keep your sandcastle safe. So let me just say, Titanium, that you were absolutely fantastic, and I wish that I could give you a hug. Well, I'm too sheepish around anyone who's not actually family to give you a hug, but I'd drape a comforting arm around your shoulder and grin mournfully.

If you didn't listen to the music, listen now.

You guys were absolutely fantastic, and I mean that whether or not I come back in December, whether or not this community stays together or comes unhinged at the seams, whether or not the tide comes rolling in now or later. Because nothing can take those days spent shipping and roleplaying and writing away from us. Because a friend is a friend, Titanium, and don't you know you're all my very best friends?

[PhantomFox]

Just because the two purposes get separated, doesn't mean that there can't still be links between us. Something similar to this happened over at the Allspark, so much that they had a General Discussion thread, an Episode spoilers thread, and a Pic thread all going at once before they were given their own subforum to play with.

Surely you're not suggesting that ponies can only participate in one thread now, right?

[AlterForm]

That's sort of ended, now. With a dedicated, Ponythread IRC channel, all the insanity will go there, and things which require a forum format or posterity will go here. The RP will probably stay, as it's usually just a lark on the side (with some friendly reminding by myself and Alterform, of course).

You and me against the world thread world, SiuiS. I couldn't actually go against the thread, it's such a nice place. ;__;

And I couldn't tell anypony here to stop having fun, even if I wanted to. Sometimes it's just better to acknowledge shifting trends and move on

That said, I wholeheartedly share this sentiment. Shine on, you crazy ponies.

[Forum Explorer]

All right, so, by request, new post to summarize the issue. This came up in the IRC channel, for any wondering.

Some ponies have noticed that Ponythread roleplay has, well, it's grown a lot. To the point that some feel that it drowns out other forms of discussion here, and makes it so that it's difficult to follow the thread, and makes it so that things get lost in the flurry of it all. This, I understand, is a marked change from the way things used to be.

It's been suggested that maybe we could try to move some of the roleplaying posts from the main Ponythread to a new Ponythread Roleplay thread in the Freeform Roleplaying section of the forums. There are both pros and cons to this, and so we agreed that it should be discussed by everypony before any final decisions are made.

What are your thoughts on this? Would such a change foster conversation or detract from it? Would it foster roleplay, or make it more difficult for us to become involved with it? If we did make a new roleplay thread, where would the line be drawn on when posts should be taken over there?

Change is natural, of course; as has been noted, the thread has evolved. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but Ponythread is meant to be welcoming to everyone. If anypony is feeling alienated by the way things are, we should do our best to fix that, and to at least try to find a healthy compromise that lets the roleplay continue unhindered (I'm sure no one would argue that anything that spawned Rarity's Night was all bad) while at the same time not forcing anyone away with it.

Thank you.

I would support having a pony RP thread on this forum. I don't know if it would help or not as I don't really mind the RP. I'm not happy about the IRC because I think it would be too much to keep track of in addition to this thread.

An RP should be moved to the RP thread once you feel the need to put it in spoilers. Till then reply as normal.