My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

[njiska]

8 minute preview of the new season. Basically the first part of The Crystal Empire, Part 1. Looks like a strong opening and Megan is doing the writing, so this should be a good one. Can't wait for the hour long premiere on Nov. 10th. Sucks that the season is only 13 episodes long. I hate how entertainment for younger audiences is produced.

http://www.derpyhoovesnews.com/brand-ne ... more-12362

[drunkninja24]

Yeah, I saw that. Still not a fan of the new villain's design (really screams "bad deviantart OC" to me), but it looks like it should be a good premiere.

[njiska]

Yeah, I thought that was a bit weak as well, but I'll reserve judgement for when the show actually premières. I'm just super intrigued by the story.

[Strider77]

Can we lock this?

just sayin'

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

Anyone tracked down one of these vinyls yet?

[njiska]

Anyone tracked down one of these vinyls yet?

Not for a lack of trying, but they sold fast. Especially Derpy.

[drunkninja24]

Yeah, I wanted to pick up the Derpy myself, but it seems (so far anyway) that they did them on a limited run. Definitely gonna try to get the Dr. Hooves as soon as it shows up though, maybe splurge on a Derpy on eBay to complete the set

[Specineff]

Yeah, I saw that. Still not a fan of the new villain's design (really screams "bad deviantart OC" to me), but it looks like it should be a good premiere.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but the villain's design reminded me heavily of Go Nagai's characters. Must be the sideburns. It would be cool if the designers actually had been inspired by an anime or manga from that time.

Dr. Hooves... My friend Robert would totally murder someone for one of those. May even snag one myself.

Can we lock this?

just sayin'

Neigh.

(Sorry, someone had to.)

[drunkninja24]

So I gave that MLP iOS game a shot....it's a passable time-waster, but nothing more really. Sadly it really pushes you to buy gems (which cost real money of course) in order to build anything in the game in a reasonable time frame. The mini-games are pretty basic too. I really would've preferred to pay $5-$10 to get a complete game rather than this "pay to play at a reasonable pace" model.

[njiska]

I've been playing it a little today. It's basically SimCity Ponyville done as a run-of-the-mill casual game. I think it's good for a time waster when you need to waste 5-10 minutes, but not much else. I am pleased they appear to have the full voice cast and they have some nice little instrumental renditions of Smile Smile Smile, Find a Pet and a few others. Just a shame this was made as a facebook-style game and not a real game. Oh well, just have to wait for Fighting is Magic or one of the numerous RPGs underway. Shame Ponykart has kind of died down.

[evil_ash_xero]

Can we lock this?

just sayin'

I wish.

[njiska]

Can we lock this?

just sayin'

I wish.

Yeah, because it's such a huge fucking ordeal for everyone else on the forum for a few members to have a thread that gets updated only every few weeks.

[MJR]

I guess all those complaints were because there are many old-timers who are shocked to see this in their sandbox.

I was one of the first posters at shmups.com, and while emerging of bronies here was totally unexpected, I guess we just have to deal with different people liking different things. Tolerance and peace and stuff, bro.

I can actually totally sympathize with the motives of bronies, meaning that they want something positive and colorful for a change. This was exactly the same reason I originally did my graphic novels for children, but I tried to make it so that it would be readable also to grumpy old men such as me. What I could not have imagined that show so overly sugared such as this would be popular. It just goes way, way, way over my head.

I do wonder though what bronies would think of my Far End Chronicles. Would they like it, or would it be too dark for them? We'll see if I ever have time to translate it and put it to comixology.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

It'll be a sure sign of the end times when shmupsforum members are sending each other farmville requests. That being said - Lyra isn't going to buy herself, guys!

[njiska]

I can actually totally sympathize with the motives of bronies, meaning that they want something positive and colorful for a change. This was exactly the same reason I originally did my graphic novels for children, but I tried to make it so that it would be readable also to grumpy old men such as me. What I could not have imagined that show so overly sugared such as this would be popular. It just goes way, way, way over my head.

I do wonder though what bronies would think of my Far End Chronicles. Would they like it, or would it be too dark for them? We'll see if I ever have time to translate it and put it to comixology.

I think you'll find most bronies, though not necessarily the most vocal ones, are just regular people with regular tastes. Whether or not something it too dark for them would be no different than whether or not it's too dark for the general share of society. Personally I'm fine with dark things.

Looking at your work, I do quite admire some of the artwork, particularly the cover of Lopunperä 2. Very nice duality going on.

[MJR]

I think you'll find most bronies, though not necessarily the most vocal ones, are just regular people with regular tastes. Whether or not something it too dark for them would be no different than whether or not it's too dark for the general share of society. Personally I'm fine with dark things.

Looking at your work, I do quite admire some of the artwork, particularly the cover of Lopunperä 2. Very nice duality going on.

ok thanks! I will let everyone know when I am finally able to put it out on comixology

[trap15]

[njiska]

Ironically the same stereotype that used to apply to people with your hobbies, Trap. But Bronies are mostly just normal people. Like this.

[trap15]

Ironically the same stereotype that used to apply to people with your hobbies, Trap.

It doesn't apply to mine anymore?

[shmuppyLove]

I'm just going to leave this here.

http://cubonator.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d5jufg0

[Stormwatch]

So... everypony seen the new episode, I presume?

It had some cool moments, but it also felt rushed, leaving too many questions unanswered. I mean, WHAT are those crystal ponies anyway?

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

^the new toys.

[Specineff]

Weak villain, weak plot. Return of Harmony was better. (Discord DeLancie FTW).

Oh welp. Back to working on AOTL.

[njiska]

So... everypony seen the new episode, I presume?

In the words of HotDiggityDemon, "Ugk, god, they actually wrote everypony".

Anyways, yeah I watched the live stream this morning and the 1080p rip twice throughout the day to fully take it in. I'm really glad to have pony back, but I won't lie, this was kind of an average episode with a lot of simple problems. The biggest being King Sombra. Why introduce and hype a villain that has less than 3 minutes of screen time in two episodes and no substantial dialog? I think it would have worked better if the Crystal Empire had just been overrun by some unknown, ever-present evil force. That's basically what they used him for anyways.

The plot itself was alright and aside from not properly using Sombra, I don't think it was overly rushed. The crystal ponies were a neat new species, but I don't think they required any more of an explanation than, "here's another race that lives in this magic land". There were a lot of little things that were cool like Pinkie Spy's Fluttershy disguise, Rainbow being a dick and Rarity geeking out, but nothing overly big like Return of Harmony. Though that episode does not hold up nearly as well on repeat viewings. The more interesting aspects of the episodes, I felt, were what they setup. Specifically what's going to happen to Twilight.

It's pretty clear that Celestia has something special planned for her. The lesson she learned wasn't a typical one about friendship, but more about good leadership. With the mysterious comments between her and Luna about Twilight being ready and the book Luna was holding at the end of the episode, I think there's something big planned for the finale. The commercial talking about one pony learning her destiny kind of solidified this. Personally I think she's being groomed to receive a high office within the government. It's entirely possible she may even be being prepared to succeed the crown. There's also the official vector Alicorn Twilight that's been showing up lately that may be related to this. All speculation of course, but that's the fun part.

Also three cheers for multi-hoof drifting and Metal Storm powers!

[drunkninja24]

I really enjoyed the new eps myself, bu I do agree that they really could've done more with Sombra. But for what it was, I thought they were good.

[njiska]

Did anyone else appreciate all the little quirks they added to make the crystal ponies just slightly different? The graded manes were definitely most noticeable, but even the highlights on the characters eyes were different, being hexagonal rather than oval.

[njiska]

Side note: I have to give huge credit to the crews behind Doctor Whooves Adventures and Doctor Whooves & Assistant. The crossover radioplay they have going at the moment is really fun and quite well produced.

[The Coop]

I agree about Sombra. It wasn't a character at all, and made even Nightmare Moon look a lot more developed. As for the episode pair themselves, there were some funny and interesting parts, but on the whole, it felt pretty average. Granted, for this show, "average" is still watchable and reasonably enjoyable, but it was no "The Return of Harmony," "Luna Eclipsed" or "A Canterlot Wedding." Better than the Season 1 opener, but not as good as the one for Season 2.

By the way, if the air dates for the new episodes are right, Season 3 will be finished before the end of January.

[njiska]

[drunkninja24]

Side note: I have to give huge credit to the crews behind Doctor Whooves Adventures and Doctor Whooves & Assistant. The crossover radioplay they have going at the moment is really fun and quite well produced.

I need to check more of these out. I love Doctor Who (and consequently, the whole Doctor Whooves thing), but always find myself doing other things when I have time to do so. I did like the ones I listened to though.