Guidelines

Twitterponies has grown significantly since the roleplay began. As of February, 2018, our seven-year anniversary, we have almost 7200 character accounts. We've tried to make it known what's cool and what's not, but once we reached a certain size it became impossible. Several of us have put together the guidelines for what we think will result in a more fun time and more stable 'universe' for all of us.

Note that these are guidelines, not rules. You can follow them if you’d like, but nobody is going to police your choices. However, it’s recommended for the simple reason of being able to create a roleplay environment suitable to the universe. They’re not intended to be arbitrary or powergame-y; they’re here to help keep things fun and as similar to the show as possible while still allowing for artistic expression. Bending them is fine - after all, they're guidelines, not rules. Please keep in mind that many players do follow the guidelines and may not want to interact with those who do not.

We also recommend reading this guide on making OC ponies.

Basic Guidelines

Guideline Zero: Relax, have fun, and be a happy pony! If you're getting worked up about this RP, then you really need to take a step back and calm down.

Keep RP at a rating of G: PG is okay, but remember that the universe is based around colorful equines. To maintain the feel of the show, try to keep the rating in between. This includes not swearing. If you must be profane, be creative about it.
Keep romance romantic: Snuggling, hugs, the odd kiss, spending the night talking, and so on, is okay. If you’re going to ship, try to do it naturally, and don’t force a ship on others without their consent.
Real alcohol and drug abuse is not allowed, but the pony equivalent is workable in certain situations: Remember, kids show, lighthearted. The pony equivalent of alcohol is the salt lick, and with characters like Berry Punch it can be implied. Don’t overdo it!
Follow and interact with who you like: Nobody is required to interact with anyone, not even the manes. People have different levels of interest, writing styles, and standards. Just because someone follows you doesn’t mean you’re required to follow back or even play with that person, should you choose.

Violence

There’s no easy way to say this, but violence is okay. It’s in the show, it’s in cartoons, it’s prevalent in almost every aspect. However, it’s a bit more complicated.

Cartoon violence is something that’s generally far-fetched or toned down. A key example would be the old Looney Toons cartoons involving Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner. In each episode, there’s generally a plot involving anvils being dropped, various objects exploding, and the occasional falling from absurd heights. The commonality? A vast majority of these stunts result in silly injuries, such as goose eggs or being flattened. These have appeared or been implied in many episodes across the series and are fair game in the roleplay. Although they are acceptable, it’s not recommended to do them constantly under normal circumstances. Instead, try acts such as throwing pies, rocks, fight clouds, etc. In the case of unicorns or pegasi, an occasional lightning bolt or stun spell would also do the trick.

Violence that is PG13+ is frowned upon and shouldn’t be included in your roleplays here.

Character Guidelines

Attempt to be unique with your character identity': It’s perfectly fine for your character to share a job or talent with another player’s character. However, it is not okay for you to steal that character’s identity, which is more than just their job or talent. It’s also how they talk, how they walk, their mannerisms, what makes them them. Be similar, not alike.
Alicorn OCs: Playing an alicorn is highly advised against, but you are free to play as you’d like. Be aware you may not be acknowledged or played with often. Players have done well with this, though it’s extremely difficult.
Use common sense: If it seems like a bad idea, think about it. Does it make sense for your character to do such a thing? Would it force a character to act or interact with you? Is your idea flexible? If not, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t turn out like you hoped. Go with the flow of the RP and be creative.
Keep Meta-Tweets to a minimum: Meta tweeting is when a player goes *can never throw mud at x, don’t question it*, *x best watch themselves*, or *is a bat, finds said actions terrible* as a way to contribute to a scene. This sort of tweet is fine every now and again, but saturating your roleplay with “commentary” both breaks immersion and makes your character less interesting overall. After all, we’re roleplaying characters, not commentators. There are exceptions to this, such as Newspony offering meta commentary as if it were breaking news within the realm.

Settings Guidelines

Tweetbirds: Ponies in Equestria communicate over long distances by way of little blue birds called ‘Tweet Birds’. These bizarre birds are highly trained messengers that allow their owners to have long-distance contact with ponies they’ve met or heard of.
Technology: The technology in Equestria seems to be a mix of magitech, medieval, and modern flavors. It’s not set in stone, but try to keep any sort of technology headcanons to those sorts of themes.

The Formula for Success?

Truth be told, there’s no definitive formula for being successful. Depending on what you want, there are multiple routes you can take. If you’re after good roleplay, write your heart out, join up with others, and contribute to the universe. Are you more social? Get to know members of the roleplay community and make friends. If you’re nice, you’re bound to meet some great people and have some fun.

Guidelines

Contents

Basic Guidelines

Violence

Character Guidelines

Settings Guidelines

The Formula for Success?

Read More

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