An Aside About PonyTown & Fandoms

 ... And What I Find Amusing About It

A cross Between MLP's Discord and the Animated Beetlejuice laughs.

        

     I remember when "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" was at the height of its popularity, back in 2010 through 2018. Specifically, I remember 2012, when an article on Equestria Daily announced an upcoming MMO style MLP fan game where you would play as a customizable pony and 'build a town with other players'. Or, so I thought I remembered. I've done some digging around for the post, only to find out that it's likely it never existed, that I had just confused this post and this post into one article for one online game. Truth be told, at the time I thought this 'article' was posted on EQD, it was actually read aloud to me by someone I knew at the time who was also a huge fan of MLP. I just remember us discussing how much fun we could and would have together on a game where you could fully customize a pony, hang out together and build a town. I remember the excitement that the both of us felt about the prospect. 

 

    Fast forward to 2016, the game that we thought we were both looking forward to was finally announced as being open for playing. Immediately, PonyTown became quite popular and now, nearly a decade later, is still going quite strong. In fact, the fairly recent v0.118.11 update added a whole new server to the game so more people can play and the current roadmap promises even more updates as this year unfolds. But the core idea of the game remains- PonyTown is a game about customizable ponies hanging out and building a town together, all inspired by "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". So, at the heart, this is one game made from one single fandom, originally intended for said fandom. With that said, the game's community has, over time, transcended the original, intended fanbase. 

 

Fans of "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" sitting together on PonyTown.

 

People from many different fandoms sitting all around the docks on PonyTown.

     The game now regularly features more players from a multitude of fandoms unrelated to "My Little Pony". So much so, that I have personally met people on there who genuinely did not even know what "My Little Pony" even was or is. It's a little ironic to me that a game specifically designed for one fandom, due to its extensive customization features, evolved into an online game that attracts more people of other fandoms than it does players from the fanbase that it was made for or inspired by. Ironic in a good way, though. Because in my opinion, you cannot really have an MLP:FiM based world that does not have both 'regular pony denizens' and 'cameos'. Not when the show itself was pulling that all the time.

 

Give him all your Rupees.

 

In West Fillydelphia born and raised...

        My guess is that fans of MLP who played have, over time, told their friends who maybe were not fans themselves of MLP, about the seemingly limitless customization options, as well as about the fun they had had while making friends in game and also that many of my fellow MLP fans, myself included, branched out into other fandoms either before or during playing this game, leading to a game that despite being a bit less MLP-centered, is somehow still more MLP than it ever would have been otherwise. I find that notion both intriguing and pretty funny all at once.