Separate names with a comma.
So, I saw something this morning that irked me enough to make me want to comment about it. I saw someone offering art commissions, but only to people who were Patreon supporters of a certain level. Wow. You have become a horrible corporate scumbag. You have just done the same thing that professional sports teams do that everyone hates. You have made your own "Personal Seat Licenses" for your art. What some sports teams do (PSL): You have to pay for the right to buy season tickets (buying the PSL). You can then pay more money for those tickets. You have to pay them for the right to pay them more. What some artists have done (via Patreon): You have to pay for the right to buy a commission (paying them money via Patreon). You can them pay more money to have them do your commission. You have to pay them for the right to pay them more. This is disgusting capitalism at some of its worst. Congratulations, you have become the very thing so many of you claim to hate. Anyways, Patreon is just panhandling on the internet. It is to panhandling what clicktivism is to activism. Lots of people have trouble with bills, rent, and medical issues. Not all of them beg for money on the internet. There are many people I see doing so online. It's their right to do it, but how defensive and smug they get about it is appalling. Go ahead and beg if you must, but be honest about it and have some humility. Rarely do you see a person panhandling on the street also being smug about what they are doing...
Okay, I've seen a lot of posts around the internet that question why people stop following or being interested in music or games or whatever when they stop involving ponies. Everything below is purely my opinion. You can't force people to like things. This is the main issue I have with belittling people for leaving something when the part of it they like is removed. For example – I like ponies. I do not like fighting games. Fighting is Magic originally intrigued me when it involved the My Little Pony characters I love so much, even though the game was in a genre that I do not care for. Eventually, and unfortunately, they were forced to remove the ponies from the game. This also removed the thing that made me interested in it. So, now it's a fighting game without ponies. It no longer interests me since the thing I liked about it is no longer involved. Why should I get scorned for no longer liking something that doesn't contain anything I like? The same goes for music too. I have given different artists and genres that I normally don't enjoy a chance because they involved ponies in their music. Should it be such a surprise that when you remove the part that I enjoy (MLP) that I go back to not liking a music genre that I didn't like to begin with? I am not obligated to continue following someone or something when they change and do not produce something that interests me. Everyone is free to change and I have no issue with that. I would never demand they go back or do something they don't want to do; I do not condone those people. I believe both sides should accept the other's change and just move on. You should not be surprised or angry when a change you make to yourself is not followed by everyone around you. C'est la vie.
And I thought I'd share! I like em! :3 Thank you!!!
I'd like to think I've changed for the better recently. I stopped and took a step back to get a bigger picture of what was going on around me. I'm glad I did. I think I'm in a better place now and have already started to make amends to people that deserved better. I joined staff to help the site however I can. I am not on a crusade of any sort to try to “make everything better”. I will do what I should have been doing all along – enjoying the site and the users. I want to involve myself and have fun. I can help make this a place where everyone can come to have fun and enjoy things. I look at things with a much more relaxed attitude than I have in the past. Stuff is going to happen, some good, some bad. Some things I can help make better, and some things will be beyond anyone's capabilities. I can accept this and will not worry. I'll do my best to be an example and involve myself in things around the site while staying positive. I'm going to practice what I preach about choosing my battles. There are some things that are not worth fighting over. The gains you make are not worth the stress and issues you can cause to yourself and others. There are some things that are worth defending – and I think this site and what we make of it is one. The little things don't matter in the long run. Nitpicking details will not get us anywhere. We need to all just use the site, the forums, the chat, the radio and ENJOY it. HAVE FUN. That's why we are here. I've met some fantastic people here that I hope will remain friends with me until the end of my days. Instead of worrying about the small things that might be wrong or how some insignificant thing may have slighted us, focus on all the good that comes from the site and the people using it. I look at the cartoon show that brought us all together and I still smile while watching it. There were two episodes of season 1 on TV this morning. I remember the first one, “Bridle Gossip” being the one that got me to watch the show in the first place. I still smiled and laughed as I watched the show that brought me here in the first place. I don't follow all the “commandments” of the community. I look at myself as just an adult fan of My Little Pony more than as what the world at large sees as a “Brony”. I don't feed the need to fit into that way of looking at everything. I want to watch the show, enjoy it, and do the same with the Everypony Network we have made here. I look back and I liked season 3 more that I thought I did at first. I liked watching Equestria Girls and being able to take my niece with me to watch it in the theater. I am really looking forward to season 4 after the clips that were shown at SDCC. So, in conclusion just try to do what I did. Step back. Look around. Think about why you are here and how ALL of us can make this place “better” and more fun for everyone that visits. Engage yourself and have fun. It's not hard if you just let yourself. That is the one great thing that did come about from the community is that from all the good I've seen, no one is judged. We like a show that historically has been for little girls. There is too much good that comes from all of this to focus on the negative. I still plan on having fun here. And I will.
I didn't want to derail the thread (especially not a front page stickied one) so, I figured I'd come here. I'm not saying anything, I'm just saying... The link if you didn't catch it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronyism Everyone on staff is appointed. So of COURSE there will be bias. I like the staff members that were chosen, don't get me wrong. I'm just hoping you are picking the right people for the job, not just surrounding yourselves with your friends. A snippet from the article: In this case government = the staff and the public = the members Just saw those posts up at the top, then the mini drama a bit later on and it made me go "Hmmmm..." Okay, my two cents are done, carry on.
I went out shopping today. I was VERY successful. So much Pony. Toys-R-Us: I got the MLP Ornaments Target: The 5” plushies just went out. I got three Pinkie Pie, two Twilight Sparkle, and two Rainbow Dash. (Some of these are going to be gifts.) I also got the Spa Pony set. Hot Topic: Rainbow Dash lounge pants!!! 5 packs of MLP Trading Cards and both new vinyl models. They just got them today, both Rainbow Dash and Derpy Hooves! I’m like giddy with happiness with how much great stuff I found. ^_^
I took a step back and looked at the big picture today. I thought about why I visit this board and what I want from it. I am sorry. I want to apologize to anyone I have offended or made uncomfortable. This was never my intent. I was frustrated and my methods of expressing this was not in the most constructive manner. I do not hate anyone here. But, I do not condone everything here either. I will not let that affect me anymore and will be constructive on the site. I am going to go back to how I was before. I am going to stay out of arguments. I am on this site to have fun with all of you. I will do things I enjoy and hopefully make things better for others by doing this. I will not take sides in conflicts. With my new perspective I have gone back to something I always say, but should have been doing myself: “Simple solutions first.” I have come to solutions for myself on several things that I was unhappy about. They are no longer issues for me. I hope amicable resolutions to everything here are achieved. I will enjoy the board and the comradeship with everyone here. I truly hope I have not irrevocably injured relationships I have with people on the site, staff and user alike. If things are going to get better, I want to be a part of the solution. If you feel that I need your forgiveness for my attitude lately, I ask for it. Please let us all be together on this. I extend my hand in friendship to everyone, whether I've wronged you or not. Let us begin again and in unity create this to be the fantastic site we all know it has been before and can be again. I thank you for reading this and I thank you for putting up with me and I thank you for accepting me back into what will once again be an enjoyable family here. - Dragonbait
I just wanted to jot down some things and plans (hopefully so I remember to do them). I ended up figuring out my pc kept overheating because the cpu fan was dying; I guess the warning message from bios wasn’t kidding about the fan speed. Hooray for having a CompUSA/Tigerdirect right near me. Got a new heatsink/CPU fan combo for $20; after installing it, my pc is back to running fine and at normal temperatures! Huzzah! My White Princess Celestia came in and my fan favorite pack with Nightmare Moon has shipped. So After they all come in, (and I fix their hair) I’ll be putting up some updated pics of the collection! I’m going to see today about going around and doing a run for some MLP toys / collectible cards around town, hit up some Toys R Us, Target, and Wal-Marts. Why do they all have to have their own exclusive things? Gah! I just hope it doesn’t rain as much as it did yesterday… Oh, and you may have noticed, I'm back. I've talked with those that I needed to and I'm remaining hopefully optimistic about the future of the site. I got in on the beta testing and am pleased at the openness and speed at which suggested changes to the theme have been considered and implemented.
I came back to take a look around. What is the first thing I see? This. In there I see quoted: • Adult/Mature/Explicit content such as nude/sexual/gore content is STRICTLY forbidden across the Everypony network. From the rules page: Here. Then the next thread I go to is: The 18+ song thread. Ok, let’s go listen to the radio… Oh my. I guess the radio is not a part of the Everypony network. Or are songs about performing oral sex acts on other musicians not Adult/Mature/Explicit anymore (Saturday Morning 2, I think it was)? Let alone the other songs mentioned in the thread. Alright then, let’s continue our journey back into the forums. Hey, look a new theme – oh and there’s a discussion thread for it. In complaints? Huh. Okay, let’s take a look. Theme discussion thread and wow, the staff is responding rather harshly aren’t they? Hold on, I remember seeing something about staff rules and how they are supposed to treat the users. Here it is! I guess they missed rule 1: Be Respectful and professional when dealing with matters. We are the staff. It doesn't reflect well on the site if we insult and disrespect users. Hooray for customer service! C’est la vie I suppose… Wait, what’s this? A stickied thread from our dear departed Derpy Hooves? And this was in January. Let’s keep reading. Oh, this is delicious. Not remembering what we said 7 months ago? Onto the staff list we go, all TWENTY FIVE of them (I counted) for a site this size? Hold on, 25. And it takes how long to get anything done? Didn’t I read something about commitment in one of the application threads? Eeyup, I sure did: Funny how the staff that made sense all left. Actually, that’s not funny at all; it makes me sad. Before anyone gets on me about how I didn’t apply to be staff, I knew I wouldn’t have the time to devote to the site so I decided not to apply. It seems as though my perception of how important that is was misguided. Even if the ‘active users’ count on the forum is true (which I doubt), that’s approximately one staff member for every 25 ‘active’ users. So, now that I’ve gone through actual threads and quotes and rules I can get down to my opinions. 1. We have too many staff members and I believe they are treated as above the law. In the No Clop thread, users have been threatened with a permanent ban for a first offence; A mod breaks the rule are gets a three day ban AND keeps his mod status. I won’t respect decisions coming from a mod like that. Or is the rule I have quoted above is not clear cut enough? Is the Everypony network much smaller than I thought, confined to the whims of the staff? Another rule: • Ignorance is not an excuse, it's each every users' responsibility to read to and agree with the rules in order continue using and enjoying that provided by Everypony.com. That does include staff, right? Shouldn’t they be held to an even higher standard than the common user? 2. Are there set goals and projects for the staff? In the spirit of transparency, can we see what the plans are for the future? How about a schedule for the Radio DJs? Hold staff accountable and responsible for their actions or lack thereof. You have 25 staff members, all of whom were taken on with dedication, passion, and commitment as prerequisites. List the projects, the goals, the completion status percentage, and the deadlines of the site. Let us know who is working toward each project goal. You want to make the site better; I want the site to become better than it currently is. 3. After reading through the threads I linked above, the staff (I am not naming anyone in this, it may not apply to all of them, but they are ‘The Staff’) is acting with arrogance and my perception sees them as having an elitist culture. You have your ‘Members Only’ jacket. Congratulations. The users see you strut around with them on and they want one for themselves or they fear you. I’d prefer not to go into detail here; I am not posting this to attack any individuals. This is merely my humble opinion on the state of the site to the Bourgeois members from one of the Proletariat.
I'll keep this first one kinda short. I was walking around despite the gloomy weather this weekend. I live close to downtown, so I figured I'd go give the shops and park there a visit. It was uneventful for the most part, everything was pretty much the same and the dreary weather was not doing anything to help the local businesses. I stopped into a small deli for a sandwich for lunch; they had really good pumpernickel bread. Anyways, I lingered about walking aimlessly. I got a bit too far away from home so, I whistled for a cab and when it came near the license plate said "FRESH" and it had a dice in the mirror. If anything I could say that this cab was rare, but I thought nah, forget it. Yo homes to Bel-air! I pulled up to the house about seven or eight and I yelled to the cabby "Yo, homes smell you later!" Looked at my kingdom, I was finally there to sit on my throne as the prince of Bel-air.
