en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/4651032 Comments by gofindnova http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/05/discussion-what-do-you-want-to-see.html#IDComment830841017 More princess backstory Griffin society and more interspecies interaction The larger cosmology of the world: What is Tartarus? Do other races have abilities comparable to raising the sun? What are stars? Are there gods or an afterlife? How much is taught at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns? RD and Fluttershy’s history in Cloudsdale A story where Twilight must push herself to the limit using every spell she’s learned Stories about ponies with weird cutie marks Thu, 15 May 2014 19:22:46 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/05/discussion-what-do-you-want-to-see.html#IDComment830841017 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/05/twilights-kingdom-parts-i-and-ii.html#IDComment829126163 ‘Story driven’ and ‘character driven’ are a spectrum, and good stories should have both. “Power Ponies” and “Trade Ya” are more story-driven episodes, while “Simple Ways” and “Somepony to Watch Over Me” are more character-driven, but their merits depend on their strengths as a whole. Story-driven plots can take time out for character moments too, it’s just that those moments probably won’t inform how upcoming events play out. FiM’s style has been to focus on the personal relationship issues of the Mane 6 so it’s usually more character-driven, and I agree that’s one of its strengths. Even for an action-focused story, I’d prefer one that arises because of a character’s idiosyncrasies (e.g. Fluttershy unleashes monsters because she pities them vs. Fluttershy fights monsters because monsters). But I do think there’s a lot more room for stories that occur because of an external problem not originating from the Mane 6. The show's perspective is very insular. Side characters like the princesses only interact as much as necessary for the episode of the week, and then they’re dropped. Secondary characters in Adventure Time (Tree Trunks, Billy, Prismo, etc.) feel far more fleshed out than most MLP secondary characters (princesses, celebrities, non-CMC foals, etc.), because they have problems outside the main cast, they interact outside the main cast, and they recur repeatedly and have little character moments even when it’s not necessary. Plots focused on new ponies and places might not necessarily make MLP more story driven, but it'll be hard to keep creating conflicts isolated to the Mane 6 if they've supposedly learned so much about friendship. Mon, 12 May 2014 00:31:52 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/05/twilights-kingdom-parts-i-and-ii.html#IDComment829126163 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/05/twilights-kingdom-parts-i-and-ii.html#IDComment829027898 Yo Twilight, I'm really happy for you, and I'mma let you finish but… you didn’t get a kingdom. Twilight got a new house and a role that she could/should have easily been doing before. Also, the princess combination plan didn’t make much sense. Well, I don’t want to be too much of a party pooper. The episode was lots of fun and Tirek was a cool villain. Can anyone who watched the previous generations comment on how Scorpan’s backstory was changed? A google search suggests he wasn’t Tirek’s brother, but did he befriend ponies? Sun, 11 May 2014 19:17:18 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/05/twilights-kingdom-parts-i-and-ii.html#IDComment829027898 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/poll-results-luna-offers-to-take-you-on.html?m=1#IDComment820812776 Huh, I never thought about it like that. But even if Mars has simple life, I doubt you'd find it, unless you're a trained biologist with a microscope and knows what to look for. Luna comes from medieval times too, so I doubt she'd help much either. Tue, 22 Apr 2014 22:31:58 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/poll-results-luna-offers-to-take-you-on.html?m=1#IDComment820812776 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/poll-results-luna-offers-to-take-you-on.html?m=1#IDComment820776718 A planet’s habitability doesn’t matter much if Luna’s providing life support. I feel like people chose Mars because they hear about it a lot, but it looks like just a really big desert. I’d be more excited to experience storms on Venus or Jupiter, which we know less about. When you get farther out, those big planets are all gassy too, which would make for a super funky descent to the center (or… I guess it might just get dark and foggy so you’d have to stay outside). I basically agree about Twilight. I was looking forward to where the writers would take it this season. Would she now have to take requests from random citizens, not just Celestia? Would she work with Mayor Mare? Would she meet other nobles, princesses, or diplomats? Would she explore the pegasus world? The answer is no, she’ll renovate a castle and stay in the library. It seems like the writers didn’t have any story ideas for what Twilight would do as a princess, so they just made it an Important Plot Point that characters comment on but has no actual consequences besides making for a dramatic season opener/finale. Tue, 22 Apr 2014 20:24:55 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/poll-results-luna-offers-to-take-you-on.html?m=1#IDComment820776718 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/the-japanese-reaction-to-our-reaction.html?m=1#IDComment819197754 Well, “cartoon” technically describes a medium, but colloquially, “anime” in English describes style and origin, so the meaning is changed in translation. Anime is usually recognizably different from all other cartoons, so it’s a useful category to have. What baffles me is why MLP would be considered anime. It borrows some elements like bigger eyes and magical transformations, but the overall style is more North American than Japanese, and it wasn’t made in Japan. If the argument is that it’s anime because it deals with “complex issues of racial harmony,” then some people need to watch more “cartoons.” Otherwise I guess Maus and Persepolis aren’t “comic books,” they’re “manga.” Fri, 18 Apr 2014 20:58:31 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/the-japanese-reaction-to-our-reaction.html?m=1#IDComment819197754 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/testing-testing-1-2-3-episode-followup.html#IDComment814744010 Yeah, there are definitely people who can remember tons of details out of the corner of their eye, without paying much attention. The problem is it’s a lot more unlikely that someone would actually learn better by juggling tasks that way, over deliberately trying to memorize things. The episode’s scenario sort of works if you interpret it as "RD pays more conscious attention when she flies," not "RD learns unconsciously when she flies." That might be what you were getting at with games too. People often learn better when information is presented in a different way or for a different purpose. RD remembers better if her brain classifies info under "flying hazards." Mon, 7 Apr 2014 00:07:10 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/testing-testing-1-2-3-episode-followup.html#IDComment814744010 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/testing-testing-1-2-3-episode-followup.html#IDComment814687787 What do you mean by “subconscious” though? Learning is built into games. By consciously mastering a game, you master knowledge applicable to another subject, but the gameplay is a conscious process. You can pick up unconscious patterns, but historical events aren’t as likely. For example, you can learn probability or money management by playing Monopoly. That’s arguably partly unconscious, though I’m not sure of the strict psychological definition. But what RD’s doing is more like playing Monopoly and then being quizzed on what colors each property was, when she wasn’t paying attention. She could name a few, but any normal person would do better by being given a Monopoly board and asked to memorize the colors (or better yet, playing a game about memorizing the property colors). Sun, 6 Apr 2014 20:43:47 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/testing-testing-1-2-3-episode-followup.html#IDComment814687787 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/testing-testing-1-2-3-episode-followup.html#IDComment814671568 About the learning, we’d have to establish why RD is able to learn better the way she does. If it’s subliminal, then it’s very odd that it’d be better than conscious focusing. Subliminal learning “works,” but in a very limited way. It primes your mind to make associations, so for instance, if you subconsciously saw “cheerful” written everywhere, you’d be more likely to be cheerful, or to say/write “cheerful” next time you use a synonym of “happy.” But to be able to consciously recite information in a coherent stream is very unlikely. I guess it’s theoretically possible. More likely, RD learns better because she’s more aroused (in the psychological sense) when she’s flying. She’s in the habit of paying more attention and committing more to memory when flying. There’s more sense of learning for a purpose (e.g. this info could be useful if a storm appears) and the exercise gets the blood flowing to the brain. You could emulate the learning method by studying while jogging, or doing something exciting (skydiving?). Maybe some people also learn better when multitasking? Theoretically, I don’t see why not, though it's unintuitive that they'd learn better than by primarily focusing on one task. I haven’t heard of any cases. You can certainly learn this way, but it's doubtful you'd learn better. Unconscious learning is usually for physical activity or picking up hidden patterns, and isn’t as easily verbalized, so I’d guess it’s #2/#3. On the other hand, since RD wasn’t aware of how she’d learned at first, the writers may have had #1 in mind. Personally, I thought RD suddenly being able to recall by flying was unrealistic, and the real problem was she didn’t have the mindset of wanting to learn. The vast majority of people can learn a little by just hitting the books, without flashcards or costumes. The general outline of the episode's lesson was cool though. On another note, the editing and cinematography was great. Disclaimer: Not a psychologist, take with a grain of salt. Sun, 6 Apr 2014 19:46:59 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/04/testing-testing-1-2-3-episode-followup.html#IDComment814671568 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812827959 I don’t see what the problem is. If one single person was able to produce light bulbs to service a community, he could put candle makers out of work. Flim and Flam are offering a new technology (light bulbs) that outclasses the old (candles). It’s not a perfect analogy, but I don’t see what the pony races have to do with it. edit: Maybe what's confusing is what F&F's technology does. Their invention doesn't grow apples better, it makes apples into cider better. They're not replacing earth ponies' abilities because anypony can press cider. Hearth’s Warming Eve is a traditional tale so it may not be literal, and unicorns have been shown to control the weather. (Also, if you want to nitpick, the "as now" only necessarily applies to the "Pegasi" clause, not the "Earth ponies.") I can certainly grant it’s possible that only earth ponies can grow crops, but it seems absurd because planting a seed is a pretty non-magical activity that anyone, even animals, can do in our world. It’s technically possible that Everfree is the only place where plants grow by themselves, but it stretches belief. It seems more likely to me that earth ponies can grow crops with much higher success, and the harsh conditions at Hearth’s Warming killed everypony else’s crops. More importantly, F&F’s plan at no point depended on them growing apples. They only needed a partner to run an apple farm. Tue, 1 Apr 2014 23:33:31 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812827959 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812793163 If only a third of the population could make light bulbs, they would still put candle-makers out of business; I don’t see the problem. Earth ponies might be naturally better at growing apples, but I don’t see why unicorns can’t run a farm. That’s racist. And again, the brothers were running the business side, not the apple growing. F&F did offer the 75/25 deal in their first encounter. Why would they make such a lopsided offer without first showing off their machine? If their plan fell apart because AJ wouldn’t let them use her apples for a first demonstration, then the plan’s pretty flimsy and doesn’t make sense, because considering how effective the Squeezy is, they should’ve been able to find another apple source easily. It's pretty uncertain whether AJ would've let them use SAA apples if they'd won the contest either, so they should've been counting on another supplier. F&F’s model was predatory and abusive, but it could work. If they did in fact plan to go from town to town bankrupting every orchard, then, okay, that’s unsustainable, but they instead could’ve just paired up with a miserable farmer willing to survive on minimal wages. In light of "Leap of Faith," they would probably do the former, but before, I would've said the latter. Tue, 1 Apr 2014 21:33:45 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812793163 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812731249 Well, by “good” I meant good according to the amoral tenets of capitalism, so an Intro to Econ 101 stereotype, not a Wall Street fat cat stereotype. If investing in a community and building up trust benefits the capitalist more, he’ll do it, but if he can profit more in the long term by exploiting the hell out of people, he’ll do that. Of course, that’s a whole other argument, and it’s often unclear what’s in someone’s “self-interest,” so let’s not get into that. I would say it’s actually more sensible business-wise to cut a fair deal with the Apples, but if they just wanted to make a quick buck and move on in a few years, they wouldn’t have to. edit: To clarify, I was saying F&F share many traits with good capitalists. But they play too dirty to be model ones. I don’t think Flim and Flam practice good business, but they weren’t outright conmen either. It’s like in a high-stakes sports match, you can harass someone who’s known to have a short temper, goading them into a fight and kicking them out of the game. That’s dirty and you could call it cheating, but it’s not on the same level as lying or replacing the ball. Certainly, the mindset of someone who does the former would more likely do the latter, but that’s a line they have to cross. I don’t think the brothers knew lowering quality control would make the cider taste so bad, unless they really believe Ponyvillians are so ignorant they can’t pick out dirt in cider. As it is, they could still go to the next town over and sell any leftover good cider they had. Tue, 1 Apr 2014 18:01:38 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812731249 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812540162 Okay, looking back at the script for the episode, that was kind of crooked. They were plainly manipulating the situation to hold the contest under those stakes, so I’m wrong there, they’re more evil than I remembered. But I think it’s still an important distinction that it was more psychological manipulation than actual deception. They only gave suggestions, and at no point did they lie to anypony about anything. The Apples dug their own grave, and AJ could’ve put her hoof down to stop it at any point if she wanted. Flim and Flam didn’t want an ‘honest’ business, they wanted a business that made as much profit at as little cost as possible. Just like any good capitalist. Their machine was apparently so ungodly efficient that they could demand outrageous deals. If Filthy Rich could do that, he would. (Okay, maybe not Filthy Rich, but a stereotypical capitalist would.) Their reputation was shot once the cider had rocks in it, so I don’t blame them much for immediately giving up on the Ponyville market. But yeah, if their attitudes did a complete 180 and they apologized deeply, I bet the townsfolk would’ve accepted them – because they never actually conned anyone. Flim and Flam being outright conmen is one reasonable progression from their characters. It’s just a blunt, too easy choice for my taste. There’s a lot more going on in that episode. Tue, 1 Apr 2014 08:14:34 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812540162 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812491846 There are plenty of people who spend years studying engineering, science, economics, etc. who are also ruthless businessmen. Running the Apples out of business is unethical, but I wouldn’t call it extremely unethical. It happens every day. If the brothers didn’t say it out loud, in fact even if they had been nice people, they still would’ve done it by letting the market play out. If you invent the light bulb, you’ll put candle makers out of work, and so on. Larson probably wanted the brothers to be clearer villains, but just because the author wants something, doesn’t mean he’s right. Anyway, even if they were clear villains, it’s their brand of villainy that made them interesting to me. The Flim and Flam of “Super Squeezy…” would kill you with loopholes, but they still stuck to a contract. Tue, 1 Apr 2014 04:55:55 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812491846 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812457771 Well, now, of course, I wouldn't be, since they sell fake tonic and are willing to let grannies splatter on the pavement. But before, it could've gone either way. They could've poured their life savings into it. You guys keep saying they're conmen, but what part of "Super Speedy..." was a con? They hyped up their product, but it was a good product that delivered as advertised. They forced out the competition, but that was ruthless and dickish, not dishonest. Tue, 1 Apr 2014 02:33:38 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812457771 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/discussion-choose-one-pony-for-series.html#IDComment812424363 Lyra: Hey, did you hear the news today? They’re sending Celestia and Trixie through Starswirl’s portal to another world! That ought to make an impression on the natives. Celestia and Trixie are two very different ponies, of course. One’s a flawless demigoddess worshiped by ponies across Equestria… and the other’s Princess Celestia! *ba-dum-tss* Bonbon: That’s cold, Lyra. Tue, 1 Apr 2014 00:36:05 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/discussion-choose-one-pony-for-series.html#IDComment812424363 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812365455 Flim and Flam weren’t decent salt-of-the-earth folk, but they may well have been hard workers. Traveling salespeople have to work their butts off to make the sale. Putting on a flashy show and engineering cider presses may not be traditional hard work, but it’s still work. Apple Bloom says at the end of the episode that they now have enough cider because of the competition. She doesn’t say it’s because the Mane 6 will be helping out from now on, and we never see that happening again. For the sake of argument, let’s say the Mane 6 will work the farm now. That doesn’t change the fact that the Squeezy was originally more efficient and the Apples weren’t meeting demand, no crookedness involved. And as I said, offering to sell crap cider may be insulting, but it wasn’t dishonest and they were salvaging a bad situation. Flim and Flam didn’t intend to run an apple farm. That wasn’t their expertise, so they sought an (unfair) partnership with Sweet Apple Acres. After they were turned down, they said they’d find another orchard to get apples from. They only handle the Squeezy side of the business. And who knows, maybe they could run a farm. Just because someone’s sleazy doesn’t mean they’re incompetent – their profits are on the line. Wagering exclusive selling rights to Ponyville could be considered crooked, but it was a dumb wager to accept. The terms are out there for everyone to see so it doesn’t cross the line into cheating, as much as, say, selling fake tonic. Granny Smith accepts the wager out of pride and ignorance. Saying a character is bad because he’s the “bad guy of the episode” is just forfeiting your moral judgment to the writers. “Fair and square” certainly aren’t the first words I’d use to describe Flim and Flam, but if you think there was zero ambiguity, your morals are too black and white. Mon, 31 Mar 2014 20:49:01 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812365455 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812101668 I have to disagree. The Cider Squeezy was a good deal for everypony involved, except the Apples. Now RD will never get enough cider. The brothers’ crap cider only came about because they had to cut corners to win (and come on, AJ bent the rules too). They didn’t want to make it crap, in fact their business plan hinged on their normal cider being good. The offer of “two bits for a barrel” was a clear acknowledgment that they knew the customers knew the cider was crap. I mean, “two bits for a barrel”? That’s desperate, but it's honest. Some people pay for crap. They were seeing if there was a market for a very inferior product, not trying to sell ponies piss and call it “cider.” Flim and Flam's problem was that they were dirty capitalists, not dirty liars (a fine distinction indeed XD). That’s what I liked about the “Super Speedy…” episode, it was ambiguous and I thought Flim and Flam were actually more in the right. Mon, 31 Mar 2014 04:24:08 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/leap-of-faith-episode-followup.html#IDComment812101668 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/for-whom-sweetie-belle-toils-episode_23.html#IDComment809318796 Oh, that’s true. But even if Luna occasionally drops in on everypony’s dreams, it could be that she doesn’t intentionally eavesdrop unless she notices things are bad. The point is she’s in an extremely easy position to abuse her power – is there a “Department of Dreams” providing oversight, or is she the only pony holding herself back from snooping? We accept this easily as a story, because that’s what magical spirits do, but if Obama (or the Pope?) visited my dreams and offered me visions of the future cooked up out of nowhere, I’d think it was pretty messed up. I’m wondering this, not to say Luna’s a bad person, in fact I think she’s good and the ponies can trust her, but to wonder what it’d be like to live in a society where your god-ruler has access to your deepest dreams. Where do you have to be, to get to the point where you think that’s normal and okay, and what does that knowledge do to the way you think? Humans have had myths about gods who visit dreams or peep from the heavens, and they were okay with that. If those gods were flesh and lived among us, would we have changed our minds? Mon, 24 Mar 2014 03:09:14 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/for-whom-sweetie-belle-toils-episode_23.html#IDComment809318796 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/for-whom-sweetie-belle-toils-episode_23.html#IDComment809230986 Well, yes, that’s what I’m saying, but those are two separate possibilities. It could have been a vision granting a vague, general outline of the future, which is still the ability to predict the future, i.e. option #2. That would still suggest that Luna has the ability to alter the future, because she can see it. Or it could be a convincing scenario fabricated from Luna’s knowledge and imagination, i.e. option #1. Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:47:35 +0000 http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/for-whom-sweetie-belle-toils-episode_23.html#IDComment809230986