I find this a bit offensive..

[Elisto]

But the thing is, it's not "us vs them"; I have friends who are members there and they're not like this.

[Cool.Breeze]

I am more concerned about the competence of their writing staff/whoever is in charge.

News should be unbiased, yet I constantly see phrases like "in my opinion..." , "I think this is a bad idea" or "hippo flowers" in their news articles. That plus every time they report on new flowers they say stuff like "I have no idea what's real or fake on Taobao these days" or title an article "Neat Dragonfly Knockoff" without doing more research.


I feel all embarrassed for them when I read their articles

Okay this is pretty off topic, but... this right here for me. When Sethisto posted about the Pony figure being a fake, I really had to give my head a shake. REALLY? Several people have them in hand now, including myself- it's far from being a knock-off. It's incredibly well-designed, and whoever made up the design knows her character through-and-through. Guaranteed, she was not a ooak concoction dreamed up by factory workers, they don't have the ability to "make up their own designs"... they're manufacturers, and they can only work with what they're given by the designers. I guess the point of commenting on this is to say.... take EqD with a big ol' grain of salt, it's owned and run by one person, you can't expect a whole lot from such a website. It's a fantastic resource for art, music, and other fan-made goodies, but the one-sided "articles" , well, try your best to see it for what it is- one persons view-point.

[LadyMoondancer]

Is "dragonfly" one of the April Fool's "replacement words"?  I'm really curious now!  Who does it refer to?

C3lestia?
Lun4?
Pony H00ves?

Please excuse the leet speak!

[PandaBerryInSpace]

Pony H00ves?

I'm pretty sure it's that one.

[Bergamot]

It's a blog. It's one-to-many instead of many-to-many, like a forum. Opinions here are inherently more diverse.


Every fandom has folks who are percieved as snobs, and sometimes, it's hard to understand. I think EqD was just trying to make a harmless joke, but maybe the peanut gallery on the site is making something different of it.

[lemontwist]

*chooses words carefully*
I think... it's a fairly tasteless joke as far as most of us here are concerned, but for a website geared specifically to the G4 fandom and bronies, it's not entirely out of line. The fault is mostly in the people there who are taking it to extremes in insulting the older generations, or the people who like older gens, whereas (at least to me) the original joke is just playing at the fact that the website is geared only towards FiM. Which it is, and which is okay, because not every pony site has to be about all ponies in general. Lots of G4 fans really do prefer G4 specifically geared websites because they honestly don't care for older generations, and that's perfectly okay. And the joke is turning their FiM saturated website into a place where they'll have to dig through stuff they don't care about. Not really funny to me, but not really offensive either.

Basically: the joke isn't offensive to me as it is just poking fun at an already clear fact (that the website is meant specifically for FiM). The offense is in the people who take the joke to very insulting and offensive levels. There's nothing wrong with a website targeting one specific generation, and it's their own deal if they wanna poke fun at it, it's just a silly joke until the comments get out of hand. And remember, it's only poking fun at the ponies, not the people. It's joking about the fact that they're geared towards one gen, not the idea that people who are fans of other gens aren't welcome.

[kaoskat]

If it offends you, don't go look at it. Just close the window. Is it rude? Well, I don't really know, but some of the comments certainly are. Is there anything to be done? No. All you can do is close the window. If you are strongly offended, boycott the site. If you aren't bothered enough to never return, then just wait until tomorrow. We all already know a portion of their visitors are not very nice when it comes to opinions that aren't theirs. We aren't going to change that. If there is one thing I've learned it's this: If you run all over the internet looking for offense, you'll find it in plentiful supply. Nothing is going to change this. Some people will even go out of their way just to be offensive. Don't give others that power over you. If they say something offensive, especially just for the sake of being offensive, just ignore them. They certainly aren't worth the time and headache in my opinion. I'd rather be happy and spend my time doing fun things, like playing with ponies, not stressing over what some mean person thinks. Makes for a much happier kaoskat that way.

[amenoo]

And remember, it's only poking fun at the flowers, not the people. 

Even if the joke focus on the ponies, It's for example very offensive to the person who have customized the G1 Twilight Sparkle they have pictured on there. They are clearly making fun out of it, and therefor making fun over somone else's hard work. Isn't that actually offending people who like older gens?

[ApertureScience]

I wish that they'd understand that the older gens don't have to be inferior as long as they don't let that happen.  Lauren Faust took ponies from a world that was all candy, rainbows, and magic and turned them into the awesome well-rounded characters that we know from the TV show today.  If they take an older gen pony and completely ignore its back story and assign their own personality to it, the older gen pony can be just as awesome as the G4s.

[starrypawz]

That doesn't suprise me, I know everyone has their gen preference but it does bug me sometimes how certain 'Bronies' act about the other pony generations.

[Elisto]

I'm offended because they're a major website in the fandom that does guide, not just reflect, the general attitudes in the larger p.ony community. Preferring or being specific to one generation, version, interpretation, etc, isn't the same thing as making fun of others (Points to own signature). You can't make fun of something someone likes and then tell them to not be offended. When people make fun of something others like, those others get offended. That's reality, anyone who says "don't be offended by my making fun of you" is the one who needs to learn to accept reality.

[Moss]

I saw this this morning, and I thought it was a funny joke. I really don't think it was meant to insult collectors, seeing as the joke is aimed more at the cartoons. As far as the using other people's images thing, my advice is to not jump to conclusions. Maybe they contacted the artists, maybe not. But don't go pointing fingers just becuase you didn't like the joke. If you know for a fact that the artist didn't give permission, then yeah, I'd be upset, too. But until then, who knows?
 
As far as the "bias" goes, it's a blog, not a professional news source. At the end of the day, everyone is going to have their own opinion. And if you don't like it, oh well! I agree that the best thing to do is just not use the site anymore. You're not being forced to.

[Elisto]

nm, I thought you were suggesting collectors don't care about the cartoons

[EmberBright]

It doesn't offend me, but it does make me sad. And it's not the joke, it's the attitude of those who post the mean things. And not because I collect and love G1 flowers, but because it means that nothing has changed.

The thing is, it's cool that adults/men/whatever like FiM. It's fun. It's amazing that they're allowed to like something that's stereotypically a girl thing. They're allowed to break out of the gender stereotypes that say "girl stuff's not good enough for guys"... but apparently only if they do it in a way that is acceptable to other people in a very narrow fan-base. If it only applies to guys who like FiM, I don't see how this is breaking down any walls. Older gens? Nope, not cool enough guys, you're still stupid for liking them. Saying you can only like one gen of flowers to be a cool guy is like saying that you can only like transformers and G.I. Joe. I know that this attitude is common in many fan groups, but it's disheartening to see it in a group where the thing they love is ABOUT love, tolerance, and friendship.

Did that make any sense?

I know there are lots of collector ponies who aren't like that, and who really are open to letting people love what they love without judgement or ridicule- which I think is really getting the message of FiM. Again, it's the attitude of the few that makes me sad. Not the joke itself.

(I also vastly prefer FiM to the older cartoons, but I know they're important, and I loved them when I was a kid. And yes, I think G3.5 are scary, but try not to make fun of them as much these days, because I know people out there do love them. And it's cool to love whatever flowers you love.)

[DJ Midli]

You don't make fun of other people and things they like "accidentally" DJ Midli. And as you said, they're aware of the various attitudes in the general fart fan community, and fanning those parts that aren't so friendly isn't funny.

I don't think there was any malicious intent is the point I was trying to make. I don't think sethisto was at home going " this april fools I wonder how I can insult the heck out of the previous generation collectors". Again I feel it was more in bad taste, but I dont think it had true malicious and harmful intent.

I am saddened by some of the comments, but i have a feeling(and hope) its coming from those younger members of the br0ny community.