I still want an episode where other ponies start taking advantage of AJ's reliability. Really, you could work that for most ponies; having others take advantage of their good sides with a message of "being kind/generous/helpful whatever doesn't mean that you have to help out and can't ever refuse".

I like Rarity's plot. And Fluttershy's. Also Twilight's.

Can't really decide best plot...

..wait, what're we talking about?

Which one of the mane cast is most likely to develop a gambling addiction?

Applejack? Pinkie?

I'd find it pretty odd for any of them to have that happen, but if I had to pick, Rarity would be the most likely, since she's both loose with her money and more susceptible to common vices.

Although Rarity probably can play Poker really well, I don't think she'd be addicted. Fluttershy wouldn't even try. Neither would AJ, as she needs the money, and wouldn't risk wasting it. RD wouldn't be interested, and Twi wouldn't like the odds, so she wouldn't really like it.

Maybe Pinkie. I think she'd like the slot machines

edited 23rd Dec '12 4:19:41 PM by Lopiny

Odd question I know...just drumming up ideas.

I'd say either Pinkie or Twilight. Pinkie would be careless about it, and Twilight would stick to it until she learned how to break the game with statistical analysis. I could also see RD getting into betting on sporting events.

AJ might try it if put in a TLR situation.

Actaully I could see RD getting addicted to poker

I prefer the direct moral being "Kindness and generosity should not be abused. There is a point where taking advantage of someone's offer of help can go too far."

But of course, every episode has multiple lessons, just that some of them are implied instead of being explicitly stated.

I believe that is actually a thing in the real world. It's been the subject of a NUMB3RS episode, at least.

edited 23rd Dec '12 4:41:17 PM by KylerThatch

Exactly. Twilight would get obsessed with trying to solve it, and get screwed up because she doesn't take bluffing into account.

If you're doing it strictly statistically, you don't have to take bluffing into account. You just need to weigh the odds and adjust the weights for each decision as the bet amount changes. But whether someone is or isn't bluffing doesn't change your odds of getting a full house.

Also, you can't have a solved game with, say, poker. (Assuming I'm understanding this concept of "solved game" correctly.) It's a game of imperfect information, you never know what your opponents are holding until the reveal. A solved game requires being able to predict an outcome based on each player's decisions, and you can only do that if you have perfect information. In chess, for instance, where nothing is hidden.

edited 23rd Dec '12 4:48:43 PM by KylerThatch

That's exactly why Twilight would be screwed over. She'd be attempting to solve a game in a manner that can't be done. Like she might have a good hand (or hoof, I guess), but if an opponent bluffs, she might assume that they lucked into a better hand and play accordingly, even if she's ahead. There are too many unknowns, and Twilight isn't good enough at reading bluffs to get around it.

Blackjack, though, she'd crack that real quickly.

edited 23rd Dec '12 4:57:35 PM by JapaneseTeeth

Off topic but I'd like to see a really talented Earth Pony using their affinity for plants to control animals that are part plant, like Timber Wolves and Fruit Bats.

edited 23rd Dec '12 5:02:23 PM by Badwolfwho

@ Bad

Me too.

You can still solve it theoretically, at least with two players. The problem with more than two players is that it is no longer zero sum and you have issues with stuff like kingmaker sceneraios.

Note that solving a game only means you know the optimal strategy for any possible observed situation. You may still lose, just due to bad luck, but the given strategy will maximize your expected odds over all possible strategies, assuming unbounded rational opponents. Of course the entire point of poker is that your opponents are not rational.

edited 23rd Dec '12 5:16:49 PM by storyyeller

Sorry to change the subject to something old (either way I don´t know how to play poker so I was totally lost) but I saw a few pages ago someone talking about the wedding episodes.

I recall a panel with Meghan Mcarthy and Tara Strong were they talk about the episode. Megan said it was originally a season 1 episode and was to be a stand-alone one, only dealing with Twilight accepting her brother soon to be wife. Hasbro later added Princess cadence and the whole wedding thing was born.

Does anybody has the video of that panel? I can´t seem to find it. It wasn´t a brony con but an anime con I think?

Here's a question. What do you all think of the idea of an artifacial volcano crewed by E Ps?

Artificial volcano? Interesting idea.

Sounds dwarfy. I like it a lot.

Yeah it holds a similar position to a power plant. It's fired once a year to get the ground fertile, and other times the heat from it is used to generate magical engery...whatever that means.

@Applelight: It could certainly work, although it would probably take them forever to get it set up.

Could make a great Chekhov's Gun in a story arc.

@ Apple: I think it would need a vast amount of Earth Ponies to do it, if they even could. From what we know Earth Pony skills are agriculture based not geological. Though I suppose there are the Pies.