Hopefully it will be like Hyrule Historia (minus the cop out of a timeline) that explains every little detail on the timeline and world of the G4 mythos.

Then again, that would severely limit fanfic potential, though that could either be good or bad.

@Mio Wary of what?

Past generations may help predict the difference between seaponies and mermares—G1 had both Sea Ponies and Fancy Mermaid Ponies, while G3.5 stuck to Mermaid Ponies because little girls who Hasbro tested products on did not understand what sea ponies were.

I'm guessing the potential Continuity Snarl and possibly ruining of fanfic potential.

edited 20th Nov '12 2:45:57 PM by WaxingName

@Whatshisgame: I'm guessing that the mermares are an actual pony race, though isolated from the other three races due to living only underwater, and the seaponies aren't real ponies, just ponylike fish (like the Zoras in Zelda).

edited 20th Nov '12 2:47:58 PM by WaxingName

@Waxing Name

We already have a Franchise page for My Little Pony already (I actually think it needs some touching up and a rewrite of the summary. There's some repetition here & there and I'd like it to look its best for the 30 year anniversary), and the "Main" page for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic already goes to a small index (only listing the cartoon and the comic book series for now). I don't think making a separate franchise page for G4 is necessary (at least not now).

However, making an Expanded Universe characters page (like what Star Wars has) down the line might not be a bad idea, now that we have comics and books coming. We currently have a "Canon Foreigners" page, which I think is misleading because right now only characters from the IDW comics and these new children's books will actually count as a Canon Foreigner. Parody characters that appear on t-shirts are not Canon Foreigners, yet half the page is about t-shirts.

In fact I may just replace the page once the IDW comic series gets well underway and starts introduce actual new characters beyond funny little references on the cover.

ADDITION: Didn't see Waxing second post! I forget if the folders were breaking, but we did get a warning from a mod in regards to the Background Ponies page.

edited 20th Nov '12 2:54:12 PM by Calnos

I'm fully excited for any books - there definitely need to be more of them. I really couldn't give two cents about any continuity snarls.

@Lurker: I see it possibly being a big source of controversy as to its canonicity. If it reveals big things about the characters or Equestria plenty of people are not going to be happy regardless of the result. Then again it probably isn't going to be as detailed as some are expecting. At least I don't think so.

@Calnos: The characters from magazine comics & stories, the characters from Web Games, and the characters from The Hub's alternate stories of how Rainbow Dash got her cutie mark also count as Canon Foreigners (since they appear in works, however small those works are), but I agree that the rest of the characters from web pages, the 2012 Design a My Little Pony Finalists, and the licensed merchandise characters don't count (is there even a trope for what they are?); splitting off a separate page for those ones probably would be a good idea.

edited 20th Nov '12 3:14:28 PM by Whatshisgame

@Mio: It certainly won't be healthy for the franchise if it falls to Continuity Lockout and Archive Binge, especially since the target demographic will lose interest.

@Mio: People can just dismiss any ideas they don't like. They do it with canon all the time, mostly with info regarding the background ponies.

edited 20th Nov '12 3:14:03 PM by Bluespade

@Mio With regards to details, they've rated the guide book for ages 12 & up, higher than any other MLP merchandise to my knowledge. It almost certainly seems to be for the older fans. With regards to canon, people can suck it up and deal with it, honestly. It's canon unless contradicted by the show, but it's also ignorable without damaging any continuity within the show. Everybody wins.

Hell no. Copy-me would be even more screwed up than I already am, and there's enough of screwed-up-me in the world to begin with.

@Waxing Name: Frankly I doubt the primary demographic will be effected. If they are smart, all of these books and comics will be mostly seperate supplemental material and the show itself can be viewed without it. It'll mostly be a problem for the more hardcore Periphery Demographic fans who will try to work out what fits and doesn't fit into canon and why.

@Calnos: Well, we do have Transformers Generation 1 as a separate page from the main Transformers page. That's where I got the idea. So what's wrong with getting a head start with the G4-verse as a whole? Also, I could even repurpose the Main page redirect for MLP as the G4 franchise page since all I would do is add a description of the growth of the generation and some info on the Expanded Universe material around the two measly works that are there now.

@Mio: I agree. It will actually be a problem if they make the show reference the Expanded Universe material, which almost never happens in most franchises anyway.

@Waxing Offhand references wouldn't be a problem. It's when the plot makes no sense without said materials that you get a problem.

Let's not speak of Metroid: Other M in that regard...

Pannic's reading the Star Swirl story now?

I'd study it For Science!! Matter duplication is always interesting.

Also, how is Hyrule Historia a copout?

The Downfall Timeline. If you want more info, you can discuss it on the Zelda thread, since it would be off-topic here.

edited 20th Nov '12 3:39:40 PM by WaxingName

@What

Honestly I'd just get rid of the t-shirt characters period. I feel parody t-shirts (even officially licensed) are not relevant to a tv show, even a Merchandise-Driven show like My Little Pony. Its simply something we don't do for other shows and there's no reason to treat ponies any differently. Just my opinion.

@Waxing

I always like bringing up Transformers as a standard on how we should approach My Little Pony pages since its essentially MLP's "big brother" (fun fact, MLP is older than the Transformers brand by a couple of years!). That said, G1 Transformers has A LOT of history and many different adaptions. G4 My Little Pony is still relatively young. Having all the adaptations listed on the main My Little Pony page works fine for now (again, I'm thinking of giving that page a do-over for the 30th anniversary). A Mylittle Pony Generation Four page doesn't feel necessary.

On the other hand, I can't stop someone from making a page (I am but a Wiki Curator), just offer my advise and opinion.

T Shirt characters can coutn as ascended memes though, right?

Going Up the Tower.

Better Than Expected.

Character Flaw.

Crystal Slaves.

edited 20th Nov '12 3:43:51 PM by Sydxelia

@Calnos: But at least we can get a head start on MLP G4 while it's young. But if not, I guess I can keep it as a draft on my computer and launch it as soon as all the EU material gets out and fleshes everything out.