I've noticed over the past two episodes of Season 2, alot of BG ponies are getting voices and names even. Personally I think it's nice to hear other ponies other then the mane cast. What does everypony think of hearing more pony voices in the series other then the mane cast (and occasional side character eg. Spike, Applebloom)?
Well firstly it's a bit of a fanon destroyer. I don't mean to sound spiteful, but I'm okay with this. Helps remind people who actually runs the show. Secondly, I think it's pretty cool. Broadens the character scope, gives the whole show more depth. Following the antics of 6 characters and a handful of friends in a village full of cardboard cutout characters just makes the show seem so flat and boring. Give these background characters voices, and it actually goes a long way and, if only a little, fleshes them out a bit. It populates the world a bit. Besides, some of those voices are brilliant (Bon Bon and Fleur de Lis in particular).
I have to say that I enjoyed the use of background characters in the episode today. There was a good amount to have in an episode. I'm glad to know they're trying to add more characters.
personally, I like that they are giving BG ponies voices and names, also some BG ponies were named by fan made names, which I also like.
The only newly named secondary/background ponies I noticed were those who were introduced in that particular episode like Lickety Split and June Bug. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't hear a single fan name spoken in an episode, but correct me if I'm wrong. As for the voices, I like how more and more background ponies step out of the background. Bon Bon got yet another voice in Lesson Zero. So did Daisy (her fourth voice already) in The Cutie Pox when she and the other Flower Ponies had their scene with Spike. Sparkler got an additional push towards tier 3 with her dialogue with Rainbow Dash (and a nice voice, too) in The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well. Cherry, a pony who had gone unnoticed by the brony community to the degree that nopony recognised her in the balloon on the SDCC poster, had lines in two season 2 episodes so far, Luna Eclipsed and The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well (which saw her in the balloon and also brought back her poster passenger, Snappy Scoop). And my very dear Seafoam got her first line in The Cutie Pox, and although she remained "mute" from then on, look at her scenes in Hearth's Warming Eve. Yes, it's not only the voices. It's also the actions which take background ponies known from season 1 already beyond the status of decoration. The best episode in this regard is Sisterhooves Social. The plot (yeah, I said "plot") required background ponies to play major roles. Carrot Top and Berry Punch had already been tier 3 ponies, they didn't really gain that much more popularity (that is, besides Berry Punch getting a little sister and not spending the episode boozing), and tier 4 ponies Cloud Kicker and Sparkler somewhat begged for more attention from the animators who helped the latter almost (?) all the way up to tier 3 by pairing her with the little unicorn many believed to be Ditzy Doo's daughter. Speaking of Dinky, something else that struck me is the four recurring background fillies. Noi, Piña Colada, Dinky and Alula. I already knew it'll be their season when these four hung around with Pipsqueak and the Crusaders in Luna Eclipsed. And it was actually these particular four who were paired with four older background mares in Sisterhooves Social (Noi with Carrot Top, Piña Colada with Berry Punch, Dinky with Sparkler, Alula with Cloud Kicker). Another particular episode for background ponies was Luna Eclipsed. Except for a few newcomers (such as the devil pony), we saw mostly recurring, non-colour swap background ponies dressed up individually, sometimes even with nods to the bronydom (Colgate as a dentist, anypony?).
its a nice touch to the show now that the bg caracters have voices and official names to them fan art will become more diverse. Therefore, the show's fans would stray away from the 6 most popular( Twighlight, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and (if you want to) Derpy). As they the bg round caracters gain in popularity the will be used more in episodes. With this they will gain even more popularity. Eventually themight become a side caracter.-Shade's theory on how caracters gain in popularity I did a science
