Continuity merge-

[Divinity Dust]

My response to this is pretty much that we are diverging from the canon a bit, making something that happens and then gets resolved in a day or two in showtime into a quick little RP event is a bit too much of a one off for me. I like that we're able to stretch our legs and get the OCs involved, sure, it's not sticking to the show's story 110% but it's all for fun and I see it as a way to swap things up a little and get all our favorite ponies involved.

Hey, I'm willing to admit that this is exactly my problem. I'm a hard-core canon follower, and for that reason I usually avoid ongoing canon. The fact that I got into MLP to begin with was unusual for this reason.

So no, I don't like the Discord event because we don't know how (and when) it will end, and that strays too far from canon for me. It doesn't mean other people can't enjoy it. And it doesn't mean that I don't think Discord causing trouble in game isn't hilarious (Although I still maintain it's getting tiresome, especially as some people's interpretation of Discord don't quite match the one I have). It just means that in my honest opinion I would have waited to merge the continuity, and as this thread is asking for opinions I figured I'd give it.

[AppleTart]

My response to this is pretty much that we are diverging from the canon a bit, making something that happens and then gets resolved in a day or two in showtime into a quick little RP event is a bit too much of a one off for me. I like that we're able to stretch our legs and get the OCs involved, sure, it's not sticking to the show's story 110% but it's all for fun and I see it as a way to swap things up a little and get all our favorite ponies involved.

Hey, I'm willing to admit that this is exactly my problem. I'm a hard-core canon follower, and for that reason I usually avoid ongoing canon. The fact that I got into MLP to begin with was unusual for this reason.

So no, I don't like the Discord event because we don't know how (and when) it will end, and that strays too far from canon for me. It doesn't mean other people can't enjoy it. And it doesn't mean that I don't think Discord causing trouble in game isn't hilarious (Although I still maintain it's getting tiresome, especially as some people's interpretation of Discord don't quite match the one I have). It just means that in my honest opinion I would have waited to merge the continuity, and as this thread is asking for opinions I figured I'd give it.

This thread IS for opinions after all, and it's great to get them, and at the risk of sounding like that person from tech support you talk to after your computer explodes, your opinions really do matter to us and will only help in the future!
Forgive me if I sounded the least bit defensive or testy, it wasn't my intention ^^;

[Mayday]

We pretty much expected that. In general, there are two choice.

1) We jump into it now while we don't know how it end.
2) We wait till it is over, then work it out.

So far, we pretty much only do number 2 on this site and rarely does any number 1, if at all. The way I see it, is that once it is done, there are no room left for imagination. You know how it is going to end already. While on the other hoof, you get to try and play it out. And either way, we knows ep2 will fix everything and make everything alight again anyhow.

There are probably no way to really satisfies either style at the same time, but this window of opportunity is probably once a season, if not less. For another word, it is now or never.

If we can't even be bold for this, we probably can't be bold anywhere else.

[AppleTart]

So!
I'd say that went pretty well, sorta erked about having played Applejack wrong all week but hey, we'll all live :P.
Now, time for some wrap up opinions.

What did we do right?
What did we do wrong?
What can we do next time?

[Greasehoof]

So!
What did we do right?

Most things that where Discord related where fine. So pretty much everything that has been done was alright.
Applejack and especially Fluttershy played the chars very well.

What did we do wrong?

For my liking it didn't get the dimension it should have. (That's probably only my opinion) There should have been much more chaos and disruption of normal town life. Also Discord should have been IC more often, probably with changing players so he is bringing mischief in a defined room. Players that want avoid it can go to another room. Players that want chaos can have it.

What can we do next time?

If it is a big event it should be treated as such. A constant looming and reminder of impending danger would help to set the mood.

But you know, whatever you do is fine.

[Armads]

I will admit, my patience ran out around day four or so, but not because of Discord doing his thing. For what Variety was doing, it worked. My issue was in the players who were playing discordant characters. Now to be fair this isn't against them as players, only in how they handles the whole discord aspect.

From what I could tell, being discordant meant that they would take what allowed them to function normally in pony society and replace it with an opposite trait that would force them to be outcast. You can see this in the canon where you have AJ, whose main trait is her honesty, becomes a liar which would force her in the long run to lose everything she in her life is worked for. If somepony lies to you during a business deal, you don't deal with them again if that makes sense.

For the sake of another example, I'll look at Fluttershy, who normally gets along because she is kind to all ponies, regardless of how they treat her. While she was cruel, it would be impossible for any ponies to be around her for any extended period of time because of this.

That out of the way, the reason I was annoyed becomes obvious. These ponies are chaotic. They focus on traits that would divide them and keep them from working together. They are NOT EVIL.

That is the problem with this event. Almost all of the discordant OC's that I saw were either wandering around proclaiming how evil they now were, or taking actions that even as their discordant selves, made little to no sense. Being discordant doesn't mean going from Lawful good to Chaotic Evil. It means going from a "Good" alignment to a more neutral and self-centered one. A discordant pony is not going to be focusing on doing evil things, and that is where this event fell apart for me.

I was looking at this and it felt more like a quick version of the Elements of Discord story arc, only with ponies running around doing things that didn't make any sense. Partially I feel this is because there wasn't a good enough definition or planning period involved with the story event, based on time constraints.

Honestly, this would not have been a bad idea if this was going to be a few month long event in which the mods figured everything out ahead of time and went from their. As the saying goes "haste makes waste." It just felt like a wasted opportunity that got old very fast due to players acting more evil than discorded. Although to be fair there were a few Discordant characters. But all of them but one was a canon character.

Well, that's really all I have to say on this event.

[Armads]

Oh how wrong I was, forgetting to refresh while others were making posts. So I'll try to keep this short and sweet, but I often ramble as you all know.

What did we do right?
Discord and the Canon ponies did an amazing job. I loved how well they preformed, and I think they were the real highlight of the event.

What did we do wrong?
Quite a bit as I already mentioned, but I think OC discordant ponies should have been a big NO. Most missed the point entirely, and basically sucked any enjoyment out of the event that I could have had.

What can we do next time?
Not rush into it. Mayday, you say that you can't be bold, but there is no reason you can't take liberties with things after they've occurred. We brought back NMM as a character even though she'd been destroyed, which is already a huge break in canon. There isn't any reason we couldn't just find a reason for Discord to return as well after things were planned better. I would also only have let OC discordant characters after the mods hand picked them, and then sat down and figured it out. Lastly, there was too much "ponies are now evil" and not enough "chaos is now the natural state of Equestria."

[Obsidian]

Oh how wrong I was, forgetting to refresh while others were making posts. So I'll try to keep this short and sweet, but I often ramble as you all know.

What did we do right?
Discord and the Canon ponies did an amazing job. I loved how well they preformed, and I think they were the real highlight of the event.

What did we do wrong?
Quite a bit as I already mentioned, but I think OC discordant ponies should have been a big NO. Most missed the point entirely, and basically sucked any enjoyment out of the event that I could have had.

What can we do next time?
Not rush into it. Mayday, you say that you can't be bold, but there is no reason you can't take liberties with things after they've occurred. We brought back NMM as a character even though she'd been destroyed, which is already a huge break in canon. There isn't any reason we couldn't just find a reason for Discord to return as well after things were planned better. I would also only have let OC discordant characters after the mods hand picked them, and then sat down and figured it out. Lastly, there was too much "ponies are now evil" and not enough "chaos is now the natural state of Equestria."

I really can't say anything but:

I second all of this.

[LennonFan]

I'm getting the impression that some were opposed to the discordant OCs idea. I know I probably didn't grasp the concept as well as I could have, and for that, if the way I played discordant Orion bothered you, I apologize profusely.

[Sandy_Rivers]

I hope Hipster Derpy didn't get on anypony's nerves. She wasn't really evil as much as she was just mean and condescending. But I genuinely hope I didn't run her poorly.

[Obsidian]

I hope Hipster Derpy didn't get on anypony's nerves. She wasn't really evil as much as she was just mean and condescending. But I genuinely hope I didn't run her poorly.

I liked it. The point was to be opposite, not necessarily evil.

[Diamond Charm]

Yup! I enjoyed the way she was run, as well! I just wish I had have been able to be online more during that whole arc!