The only think I can say is that I love your idea Kegisak

Have some applejack as top post

edited 11th Mar '12 4:47:23 PM by FallenLegend

Ultimately the thing most wrong with Pinkie is just an inconsistent usage. In her better outings, she fits into the setting and integrates well with the world around her. In the worse ones, she's a clown who distracts from and contrasts sharply with that same world. "Putting Your Hoof Down" was one of the better outings (despite her strange definition of "assertive"), "It's About Time" was worse.

@kegisak:

I hope that either all six ponies are usable at once, or else that they're switchable mid-battle, or else that the resistances and weaknesses are well balanced so that even if you unknowingly pick a bad team you can still win. I've seen RP Gs take this kind of premise and utterly mess it up (Robotrek on the SNES for example, had some enemies that were outright invincible if you didn't balance your stats the absolute right way).

@kegi I still wished you could've found a way to utilize a more pacifistic method of confrontation, rather than outright fighting.

Like either a negotiation system or some way to duel with their minds and beliefs or something

edited 11th Mar '12 4:48:14 PM by gingerninja666

@ keg

I was just about to say something like that. FS is next to useless in a mook fight...absolutely essential in a giant monster fight.

AJ and RD are mook smashers...Rarity is your charmer (get her to buy your stuff).

Yeah, some 'fights' should actually be arguements...like the confrontation with Iron Will.

edited 11th Mar '12 4:49:04 PM by ApplelightLimited

No, even though I like Pinkie as a character, I can see where you're coming from, Ginger. Pinkie is definitely hyped a lot by both the fans and the show, and merchandise does tend to feature her prominently (the most notable I can think of was a brand of toothpaste for toddlers that I saw in a store that was a "My Little Pony" brand and Pinkie was the only character on the box). I had a similar issue when it came to Seiya from Sailor Moon when I was younger, too, that is, my hatred of the character was probably made worse by the fact that she/he is probably the most popular Starlight and the one who got the most episodes and screentime.

edited 11th Mar '12 4:50:13 PM by Rainbow

@Moe: Hm... that's a fair point. Most of the ponies would have some degree of skills in both sections, but would favour one over the other. The one thing to keep in mind is that you would always need a healer.

Early final fantasy games allowed for up to five or six party members at once, but I'm not sure how much I like that. Too many party members and it sort of becomes micromanagement, in a way. Not the most fun thing in the world.

Once I get my hands on Persona 4 I'll see how they did their system. It seems fairly solid, but I'd need to play it to get a good feeling for it.

edited 11th Mar '12 4:51:12 PM by kegisak

AJ does harder hitting attacks, Rainbow Dash is faster (sorta thinking of Auron and Tidus respectively).

Out of curiosity what sort of RPG style is this hypothetical game going for?

Maybe instead of fighting, they could play a Collectible Card Game.

Twilight Sparkle summons Beaver Warrior in attack mode!

Or maybe they could use Beyblades, and the armor shops all sell new tops and parts for them.

@ginger: All is not lost in that degree... I'm using ponies as a shorthand, here. Were I to implement this into an actual game, It would be a kids RPG. I...

LESSON TIME! In the finished version, physical attacks are available, but not the most useful. MENTAL attacks, things like negotiation, are the nuke attacks. Teaching the kids that the easiest way to get what you want is reason. Fuck yeah, lessons through gameplay!

Fight by throwing pies.

Wheeee, just managed to finish the first 5 pages of this fanfic I'm writing. It's a piece of shit, but at least I did it.

I'm off to bed now. If anyone would ever want to read my piece of cra...I mean, fiction, give me a heads-up and I'll put it on google docs.

edited 11th Mar '12 4:51:42 PM by Kayeka

I think another big reason for Pinkie being so used is that the animators can break the rules a lot with her.

I know...RD's moves like Rapid Fire Fistihooves...AJ will rope you and swing you right out of the fight...

EDIT: Only when it needs to be that though!

edited 11th Mar '12 4:53:08 PM by ApplelightLimited

@Moe No, I was thinking more like the battles including representations of their beliefs and weaknesses based on their neurosis or something.

edited 11th Mar '12 4:52:57 PM by gingerninja666

@Mio: the 'game' would be an RPG for kids... more than likely it would be fairly heavily story-based. My major source of inspiration on this front is what I've seen of Persona 4, but less... dark.

So like, how the persona is the representation of a character's force of will and the monsters they fight are more representative of inner demons? (I'm using this analogue so much, oh my god)

edited 11th Mar '12 4:53:48 PM by kegisak

... Which will only breed resentment when kids find out this is wrong. Reason only works on the reasonable, and unfortunately 75% of human beings are anything but.

I had always assumed that the Persona series would actually be a good basis for a Pony RPG, though making it kid friendly would be quite the undertaking.

I sadly have to agree with Moe here. It would be best just to give them a good story then trying to give them a lesson.

edited 11th Mar '12 4:57:17 PM by Mio

hmm.. Persona with ponies? Cool. I also like the fact that you're emphasizing negotiation/social combat above the physical aspects of combat, Keg. Too many games focus on physically conquering the opposition.

Which is why some of the enemies simply won't be vulnerable to direct mental attacks.

The vast majority of people you deal with will be reasonable. It's the big bad people who you can't reason with... but even then, you can still will then into submission with numbers. Talk them to death.

Well, I myself am an ardent pacifist. I always find games that allow you to take a route around violence to be really interesting.

edited 11th Mar '12 4:57:08 PM by kegisak

@kegisak Yeah, but I was thinking of making it a lot more involved and less subtle than that.

Like you know how there's blunt damage and piercing damage in some RPG's? Well stuff like that but related to different mental states.

Like, RD is egotistical, so enemies that use attacks that counteract Egotism would deal more damage to her.

things like that... I'm probably not explaining this well

edited 11th Mar '12 4:58:19 PM by gingerninja666

The last time Pinkie broke the fourth wall was in A Friend in Deed where she pulled out the felt check mark from her Imagine Spot. Though, yes, most people do tend to think cartoon physics = broken fourth wall.

Something that I've noticed is that a lot of people end up becoming dissatisfied with certain episodes when they end up taking the show more seriously than the show takes itself. Now, exactly how seriously the show takes itself varies, but at its core the show is a comedic cartoon and therefore it will try to be funny and not take itself seriously. What makes this show good to me is that I find that it manages to be funny without sacrificing the characters and what they have learned for it. It seems to me that a lot of people take that emphasis on character and extrapolate that anything that doesn't take great strides in character development or drama is immediately inferior.

Edit: And once again I'm late to the party due to taking too much time to put my thoughts into words. I really am bad at this, aren't I?

edited 11th Mar '12 5:02:09 PM by PerpetualLurker

Cloud Cuckoo Lander characters are hard to develop right, in some cases they are endearing characters whose eccentricities make them more whole, in others they are just one dimentional walking non sequiturs. I think Pinkie Pie is sort of the middle ground, she's often little more than comic relief, but they do tend to give her the odd spotlight episode where she is more humanized. The show tends to remember to give focus on a trait or depth for most of the cast every now and then enough times that it keeps them developed.

Similar to Applejack and Twilight Sparkle, whose straight laced attitude can make them seem kind of bland with a consistant rotation of episodes in this role, however after a handful of such episodes they follow it with a big deconstruction where they act extremely flawed and blundering, making them rather well rounded. Same for Rarity's shallowness, Rainbow Dash's obnoxiousness, Fluttershy's shyness, etc. Usually just as you start to think they're getting restricted in role, they make an episode that completely deconstructs it.

edited 11th Mar '12 5:04:34 PM by Psi001

So, some moves:

AJ has Apple Slinger (bucks apples at the enemy a la Dragonshy),

Pinkie has Cake Assault (throws a cake at you).

If any of you has seen the Pixar Movie UP, were you thinking this when you saw a friend in need?