Applejack’s Ten Tips for Twitterponies

Hay there, everypony! It’s just me, Applejack. We’ve had a lot o’ new ponies come to Ponyville lately, and we surely do love makin’ new friends, so welcome aboard, one an’ all! We’re mighty honored that you wanna be part of our silly little corner of th’ innernet.

We’ve all worked mighty hard to make the Twitterponies somethin’ special, that honors a certain show we all love, but is also fun an’ entertainin’ in its own right. We’re kinda proud of that, and we want t’ maintain it! So, even though it’s difficult sometimes, we have t’be a mite selective in who out there we respond to, who we follow, and who we interact with. To keep the Twitterponies true to that vision that made us successful in the first place, it’s what we’ve gotta do!

If yer readin’ this, I’m gonna assume it’s because you like us and want t’ play with us -- an’ that you want us to play with you! An’ that’s great! But RP don’t come naturally to everypony, so you might be tryin’ yer darnedest and still not gettin’ anypony to even give you the time of day!

Well don’t fret, sugarcube, I’m here t’ help ya. These tips ain’t the end-all be-all of good RP by any stretch, but they are meant to give you a runnin’ start. They’re designed to make your twitterpony character the kind that folks want to play with!

Tip #1: Understand and Respect What the Twitterponies Are About

This is the single most important thing you can do, so I’m puttin’ it first. The whole point of the Twitterponies is to create an environment that feels like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic that you can jump into and be part of the story yerself. That means, among other things, that your own behavior has got t’ fit as well! There are things that can happen in MLP:FIM and things that cain’t. Adorable, rainbow-colored ponies havin’ adventures: can. Murder, rape, debauchery, ponies dyin’ horribly in fires? Cain’t.

When you create a character, when you have that character do something, ask yourself, “Can I imagine this actually appearing in the show? I mean, REALLY?” If the answer is no, then you’re prolly better off not doing it.

Now, I gotta admit, sometimes even we go places the show cain’t. I wouldn’t be Honesty if I didn’t acknowledge that. But it’s something we try t’ avoid, and when it does happen we’re verrry careful with it. It ain’t our standard operatin’ procedure!

Tip #2: Follow the Guidelines!

There are a lot of good tips in the guidelines ( http://twitterponies.wikia.com/wiki/Guidelines ). There’s also a great page by Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie about all this stuff ( http://twitterponies.tumblr.com/post/6443972563/on-starting-out-pinkie-fluttershy-contribute ). Read ‘em, love ‘em, take ‘em t’heart!

Tip #3: Has It Been Done? Then Y’all Might Wanna Try Somethin’ Else!

Okay, the followin’ ideas have been done t’ death:

Crazy pony
Musician pony
Racer Who Challenges Everypony pony
Thinly-Disguised Crossover pony
Not-At-All-Disguised Crossover pony
Emo Backstory pony
Badflank Warrior pony
Afraid of Everybody and Everything pony
Looking For Redemption pony
The Greatest “X” in Equestria pony

So, yeah, that character idea y’ had about a unicorn who talks to snakes, is a more powerful wizard than Twilight Sparkle, and who came to Ponyville to rebuild his life after destroying the horrible orphanage where he grew up, named Coltemort? Ya might want to re-think it a little.

It ain’t that some of these ideas don’t still have life in ‘em, but it’s really tough to do something new with ‘em (and there are already plenty of these characters out there).

Tip #4: DON’T Try to Out-Pony Other Ponies!

Now, this is one o’ my particular sore spots. The show characters are the high-water marks for their specialties, and if you get all up in our faces tryin’ to outdo us, we’re just gonna get annoyed or angry at you. (Remember “Boast Busters”?) So just to make it clear:

Don’t claim to be more magical than Twilight Sparkle.
Don’t claim to be more beautiful than Rarity.
Don’t claim to be a better flyer than Rainbow Dash.
Don’t claim to be better with animals than Fluttershy.
Don’t claim to be sillier than Pinkie Pie.
Don’t claim to be a better athlete than me. Unless you’re Rainbow Dash, in which case I’ll totally beat you next time!

Or, if you DO make a claim like that, have it turn out to be that your character is wrong and learns that pretty quick. (You can ask for rematches later, but don’t be a pest about it!)

Similarly, don’t steal other OC ponies’ thunder either. If somepony has established themselves in the RP as to go-to pony for ice sculpture, don’t turn about and create an ice-sculpture pony too! Respect their character as you would want ‘em to respect yours.

Tip #5: Backstory is Good; Being Interestin’ Here and Now is Better

It’s good to have some background info for your pony. Knowin’ where they’re from, what they like, how they got their cutiemark and what it means (or what their cutiemark is likely to BE, if they haven’t found it yet), these things are all important and you should know them for your pony!

But … um … chances are we don’t want to hear about ‘em. At least, not all at once!

I mean, think about it, what would it be like if I opened ev’ry conversation with “Howdy, I’m Applejack! I was raised on Sweet Apple Acres, but I went to Manehattan for a little while when I was younger, but got homesick there and so came back to Ponyville. I wear a hat! Once my brother was injured, so I had to take care of the whole season’s harvest all by myself and I got super-tired and started actin’ crazy! Did I mention I can lasso things? I love apples!”

Well, okay, maybe if yer playin’ Pinkie Pie, that might work. But for most characters, don’t do it!

My point is, it’s a good thing to have a lot of interesting details about your character. But think of them as little presents that you give to other players one at a time. Ya don’t want to give ‘em all out too early, or you’ll run out!

Tip #6: Unless Y'All Need to Play a Colt, I Suggest Playin' a Filly

This is just mah personal opinion, so take it fer what it’s worth. But MLP:FIM is a girly show for girls that is girly. Ponyville has a really skewed population, of something like 10 fillies per colt. So unless you have a particularly compellin’ reason why your character should be a colt, make her a filly. There are a lot more OC colts than there should be runnin’ around.

Now, some characters only work as colts, and some players might just prefer to play a colt for whatever reason, and that's fine. You go right ahead and do what works. But at least consider tryin' out a filly first before ya just make a colt by default.

Tip #7: Leave Your … Quirks … At Home

So, there’s this pony, who for whatever reason, likes being tied up. I mean, y’know, REALLY likes being tied up. So this pony made a character who wanted to challenge me to a lasso-throwin’ contest … with the intention that zany hijinks would ensue and we’d both end up tied up. Because, y’know, this pony really likes being tied up.

Well, I caught on to what was happenin’ pretty quick and got outa there. That just ain’t appropriate public behavior a-tall (and make no mistake, Twitter is being “in public”!), and ESPECIALLY ain’t appropriate behavior for MLP:FIM. So I blocked that character from my feed.

What did the player do? Create another OC pony and try again. ¬.¬ Same result.

By the time this player was on their third OC pony, I could spot ‘em comin’ a mile away and just didn’t even say hello. And I won’t ever say hello to that player again. Furthermore, I’ll be warning other players away from them if the topic comes up.

Don’t be that player.

Tip #8: Don’t Assume You Know Me!

I have a little secret to share with y’all … I’m not the original Applejack. In fact, I’m not even the second Applejack. And I might be Pinkie Pie tomorrow. The Twitterponies players come and go, and we tend to pass characters around on an as-needed basis. So the Applejack you talked to six months ago? ‘tweren’t me. If you talk about stuff “we” did then, I won’t know what yer talkin’ about. Your best bet: stay focused on the here and now.

Tip #9: Bring the RP, Don’t Ask the RP to Come to You!

“I’m in the park, anypony wanna RP?” ain’t the best way to start somethin’ rollin’. A better way is to just start doin’ somethin’ interestin’! Is yer pony a juggler? Start jugglin’ in the town square. Is yer pony the town crier? Start makin’ funny news announcements! Just remember to @-mention ponies to get their attention, and pretty soon they’ll start responding. Most players are looking for things to get involved with just like you are, so give them somethin’ to jump on!

Similarly, if you see somethin’ that looks like fun happenin’, step on up and join in. Everypony at a party in the cafe? Go on in to the cafe and join in the fun! The Wonderbolts are in town puttin’ on a show? Get yerself a ticket! Just be careful yer not stickin’ your nose in on a private scene. (When in doubt, send a DM or OOC @-mention to the players involved asking if they mind if y’all join in.)

Tip #10: Don’t Invade Ponyville!

If y’all want in on a big, epic event, contact one o’ the “core players” (mane six, a princess, etc.) and talk to them about your idea. We like to shake things up from time t’ time!

But, y’all, please don’t start tryin’ t’ hand out the Elements of Harmony necklaces and sayin’ the Treebrary just got bombed. ‘cos if you ain’t worked it out with us beforehand, we’re jus’ gonna ignore you. Seriously.

Bonus Tip #11: Ask For Help! Ask For Critique!

We all want a better RP! Feel free to ask us how you’re doin’ or what you could be doin’ better, or anything else you might have questions about! If you’re havin’ trouble findin’ a good character, or would like to organize a scene, let us know!

Thanks for Readin’, Y’All!

I surely do hope this helps you get into the Twitterponies RP and have a good time. See ya on the innernet, everypony!

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.