Golden Rules of TwitterPonies

Follow these and you'll have a great time.

The Golden Rule of Twitter Ponies: HAVE FUN

If you're having fun, you're in the spirit of MLP:FIM and TwitterPonies. That's going to shine through, making you fun to be around. It'll make you attractive, and people will want to be with you. That'll increase the amount of fun you and they are having: it's a positive spiral of fun, keep it going!

If you're not having the fun you usually have, that will shine through as well--you're out of step with the spirit of MLP:FIM and TwitterPonies. Having a bad day? Been dealing with problems you just can't seem to set aside like you normally do? Don't bring negativity to the feed or Discord or to PMs or DMs (private messages or direct messages) or /msg. Take a break.

If you never seem to have fun, you're doing something wrong, or this is the wrong environment for you right now, leave TwitterPonies. It's not a crime. Different people look for different things out of roleplay, this isn't the roleplay for you. No amount of changing your character or description, no amount of effort or OOC (out of character) conversations are going to help you, not if you're having a bad time. If you're bored all the time, this isn't the place for you. If you've made your character in good faith, followed the guidelines, read all the material here on the Wiki and still can't find your way to fun, please go. Don't stay and be miserable, you'll only harm the positive spiral we're all trying to build.

The Golden Rule of Follows: NEVER TAKE IT PERSONALLY

Someone following you does not validate you or mean they're going to RP with you, don't celebrate. People follow and unfollow for many reasons. See Attracting_Followers.

Someone unfollowing you does not mean you messed up, or that you're a bad player, or anything like that. People follow and unfollow for many reasons. See Attracting Followers

Side Note: "Never Take It Personally" works for darn near everything, here and in the real world too!

The Golden Rule of Character: IF IT'S NOT IN THE SHOW, AVOID IT; IF IT'S RARE IN THE SHOW, AVOID IT

Yes, TwitterPonies is full of characters with bodies and species that are totally not in the MLP:FIM show on the HUB Network. For example, @Drwhooves is an off-dimension, high-tech alien pony with two hearts and the ability to regenerate. Despite this and others (robot ponies, fairy ponies, too many exceptions to list them all), the golden rule still applies. AVOID anything that doesn't appear in the show or is rare (dragons, manticores, diamond dogs, alicorns, mules, etc.) Side Note: complaining "But XXX is a half-dragon, half-pony who can read minds, why can't I!?" is a very, very bad idea. We'll talk about how and when to break this Golden Rule later, but for now, treat it like gold.

The Golden Rule of Power: IF SOMETHING GIVES YOU POWER, AVOID IT

You know what power is when you see it: a gnarly magic item, amazing speed, wicked cool weapons, knowledge of things ancient or secret, high rank in established organizations (such as the Guard or the nobility), high rank in brand new organizations (head of all Ninjaponies), The Stare, unicorn magic beyond your cutiemark, cutiemarks that skirt this by being "powerful cutiemarks," it goes on and on. The questions to ask yourself are, "Will this give me power? Will it give me an advantage, something that makes me unique? Will it force other characters to acknowledge me or, if they're suddenly my 'underlings,' obey my commands?" If the answer is "yes" to any of those, drop it like a hot rock. Side Note: this goes for negative things, too: being a maimed or diseased pony isn't exactly a power in the traditional sense, but it forces people to react to you--same with being an orphan or a pony who cries all the time or one who's so amnesiac or "new to our world" they have to ask questions constantly, like, "What is love?" or "Please teach me to read, I'm illiterate!" Side Note: complaining "But XXX has a pair of magic wingblades, why can't I!?" is a very, very bad idea. We'll talk about how and when to break this Golden Rule later, but for now, treat it like gold.

The Golden Rule of Plot: DON'T BE EPIC

Trying really hard to be epic is a lot like trying really hard to be funny: it almost never works. Trust that epic things will happen, organically, with you and around you. Be patient, let it come to you. Avoid messing with the world's mythology (leave that to the show and rare exceptions). Avoid creating revelatory back-history for the government, the world, ponies already entrenched in power (Princesses, etc.), or yourself. Avoid "finding out the truth!" and trying to "unravel" the "dangerous secrets THEY don't want you to know." Avoid adventures whose outcome could mean the destruction of the Crown, of all life on the planet, of the Universe, of Ponyville. Avoid adventures that make life and limb the stakes ("Help, I'm lost in Everfree and am surrounded by hydras I'm going to DIE!"). Take it down as many notches as you can.

So what kind of plots should you be doing? Anything you want that isn't "epic" in feel or scope. Embrace the joy the low-stakes adventure. Care about "getting your overdue library book to the Treebrary before they close" as much as you would care about "stopping Discord and saving all of Equestria." Not all the time, of course, but find the epic feel in small things, and you'll be much happier. Side Note: complaining "But XXX just did something totally epic, why can't I!?" is a very, very bad idea. We'll talk about how and when to break this Golden Rule later, but for now, treat it like gold.

The Golden Rule of Shipping: KEEP IT LIGHT AND KEEP IT SUBTLE

There's nothing wrong with shipping. It's clear from a recent episode of MLP:FIM that the romantic magical silliness of the Cutiemark Crusaders at the very least let Cheerilee and Big Mac find some light affection for each other, and who knows, it could blossom into a little romance. We've seen Grumpy Doodle Donkey come close to an epic love arc, but even that was played light and relatively low-stakes. We haven't seen any torrid love affairs. No ponies have wasted away to skeletons over unrequited love. There have been no giant pledges of eternal troth or vast propositions of marriage. There haven't even been any weddings (though one is coming, and a royal one at that--see exceptions). So ship with low-stakes good nature, a tiny kiss, and perhaps just a hint of innuendo to amuse and delight the players who know what you're talking about. Even though we've had births (the Cake Twins), even that should be extremely rare.

The Golden Rule of OOC: KEEP IT TO A BARE MINIMUM

OOC ("out of character") poses are bad news. They disrupt the flow of the TwitterPonies feed, they knock players out of their immersion in their characters and the world, and they almost never contribute anything. Avoid as much as you can. TwitterPonies has a convention of double parenthesis "(( OOC text here ))" for those times you absolutely need to talk to the players behind the characters. Use it when you're going AFK ("away from keyboard") in the middle of a scene, but NOT every time you go AFK! If you go "((AFK))" more than three times in any 24 hours, you're probably misusing it. Other appropriate uses include, "((Follow me so I can DM you))" or "((Meet me in Discord))" or other ways of telling someone you need to continue the conversation but have no way to reach them through normal channels.

Need to say more? Go to Discord and talk to them. DM them, take it out of the feed. We set it up for just this reason. If you're both following one another, you can DM ("Direct Message") them. If you keep asking someone to follow you so you can DM them, but they won't do it, take the hint: they don't want to talk to you! Move on, return to being a happy pony. Side Note: Sometimes we have "OOC Nights," which are obviously exceptions.

The Golden Rule of Exceptions: DON'T BREAK A GOLDEN RULE WITHOUT CONSENSUS

The Golden Rules above and our Guidelines aren't really rules at all. All of them can and have been broken, wildly. Except in very rare cases, these happen because most folks have had a chance to hear about it ahead of time and agree. Do you want to be an Alicorn? Really? That badly? Okay, who are we to deny you your dreams? Write @mlp_Mod, come to the Discord, talk to Twilight Sparkle and anyone who might be strongly affected (the Princesses come to mind, in this example). It's no guarantee everyone will buy in, but it's certainly the right way to approach it.

Another way to break guidelines and golden rules is to have built up a lot of trust. Spend six months to a year being an exemplary pony, one who amuses and entertains and delights people, one who supports others' roleplay ideas, who contributes and even helps with the chores (such as maintaining and expanding this Wiki), and you might suddenly find yourself trusted enough to break rule. Or you might be offered a Mane 6 role, or some other crucial show role, if it's available and a good fit. There's no system here, and it's not about seniority or "who you know," it's about trust and fun. You remember to have fun, right? It's the golden rule. :)

The Formula for Success

The basic formula for success in TwitterPonies: The closer you adhere to the spirit and letter and play your character accounts within the letter and spirit of the following guidelines, the more likely you are to get Followers, avoid Blockers, be Included in conversations and adventures and have fun.

The converse is true also: the further you stray from the formula, the fewer followers you'll get, the less involved you'll be in conversations or adventures, and you might get blocked.

Golden Rules of TwitterPonies

The Formula for Success

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