PonyTown and its communities

Are you guys aware PonyTown is still a thing and it’s activities? Also Event Pony Town

I’m sure like 60% of you are aware PT is still a thing but my question is how active and how in-dept the community is, I dunno if some of the things I’ll mention is gonna be marked nsfw so I’ll make it in spoilers or I’ll remove it if it’s fine

Cults:
Did you guys know that cults are apparently a thing in there? Like many different factions, groups, clans and cults even, which is crazy and bizarre on its own but the fact that a cult like following can develop on there is amazingly interesting, of course there are different levels or seriousness to it, some groups are pretty tame compared to the rest but its just bonkers!

18+ Servers:
Another thing too are the strip clubs in 18+, like its crazy too, sometimes you’ll see funny characters, some are really interesting and some are just downright creepy. Of course most people in those private islands/parties are role-players but some are just there to hang out and see what the other ponies are up to.

Factions/guilds:
The counter-part to cults, these groups are neat, they’re like a small pony-group that typically travel together and sometimes have recruiters or even scouts. Sometimes RP is involved, sometimes not.

Event Server:
The events server is fun too, for meeting staff and also just hanging out with music, seeing events like Ponies At Dawn album release or just other PonyCon events, some of them can get pretty big and the activities as well.

I’m sure there’s a TON of lore that I also want to find out about and try to document everything, for archival purposes.
I wanna do is to attempt to locate all interesting clans, cults and groups of people and categorize them, document them and create a sort of a whiteboard-like structure and grade them based on whatever or sorta give them levels.

This isn’t an advertisement for PT or anything, just interesting and wanted to see if anyone else here knew about it or the levels of how in-depth it can go. Apologies if this breaks the rules, I don’t look at forums a lot (did read the rules tho) and typically just browse pony artworks :P

I joined PonyTown in 2018 and left some time later. Some time around 2020, specifically when the pandemic started, I’ve returned and am still active. It’s still a thing, but almost everything changed between the time I joined in and the time I returned and am currently dwelling. The vibe in this game’s playerbase feels like there is a caste system. Please keep in mind that the majority of this information is based on my experience in English 18+ server, but it may apply to English safe server if applicable. I haven’t had any experience in non-English servers at all.

The first part is how players make their avatars. As you can see by simply idling in every crowded area in the game (Such as the spawn site, docks, around the bakery, and around the market), there are lots of variety in how players make their avatars.
Most PonyTown content creators have designated how much effort they put into their avatar designs, but I cut it short into two different design philosophies. Starting from avatars with few uses of color palettes and varieties, which I called simple avatar design, to more use of them, which are called complex avatar design.
This design philosophy has, unconsciously, created a caste system in the game. Those who follow complex design avatars are, as far as I observe, considered celebrities. It is easier for them to gain trust from others who follow this rule. At some point, some of these followers could belittle those who follow a simple design philosophy. I still remember two cases: one is that two players with complex-designed avatars blocked me just because I used a simple-designed avatar while I was talking to my friend behind the bakery, and another is that someone with their complex-designed avatar covered my avatar while I went AFK and sat close to them on the dock area.

The second part is the fandom presence. The playerbase in PonyTown are now serving all kinds of mainstream fandoms, allowing them to talk with one each other in real time. Each of them are located in a specific area of the public map. They also managed to ponify their favorite characters as well. They even demanded human body form to be implemented in PonyTown back in the day (and I’m sure they’re still insist to keep this demand).
How they-those who aren’t into MLP-got into PonyTown mostly came from those who shared their non-MLP PonyTown compilations on various platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, fandom sites, Youtube, and/or were invited by their friends. So, expect nearly half of total playerbase don’t know MLP and/or the Brony fandom.

The third part is about social interaction. Talking to other players is more likely to get awkward when you don’t know common interests that don’t touch on their personal info or activities other than talking about fandom stuff, games, roleplay, and the arts. The majority of players in this game already have friends and are unlikely to make new ones. Most players also tend to use unique slangs based on current internet memes and trends. Same as in real life anyway.

The fourth part is roleplay compatibility. PonyTown has a very short text limit, which, as far as I count, can accommodate approximately 12 words and/or 100 characters. This prompts roleplayers with a tendency to write long, detailed texts to only use PonyTown as a roleplay advertising service rather than a medium for roleplaying.
While text limit is an issue for long-text roleplaying, each player has their own interest to take in roleplay. Taken from the second part, if you want to roleplay inside MLP-focused roleplay, you’re limited to roleplay in the designated area for the MLP fandom, which is located at the east of the market. If you insist to roleplay in other parts of the map, you better invest in patience. Same if you have interest to roleplay with fellow MLP OCs, as they are rare to be found.

And the last part is the game facility. PonyTown has very few instruments to keep the playerbase to stay in the game unless for players who want to acquire the longest active time record, seasonal collectible events such as Easter Egg, Halloween, and Christmas, casual roleplay session, and participating in avatar and/or island design competitions.

I haven’t joined any cults and factions/guilds, so I have no experience from these.

In conclusion, PonyTown does have opportunities as a site worth finding friends or roleplay partners, as long as you feel you are ready to fit in. Same as in real life, but easier, as showing off an avatar should give you and other players some clues of interests.
If you want more information about the game playerbase, Pony Town wikia does exist.

ponytown is pretty boring gameplay wise but it has great customization if you know how to use it well. its fun to experiment and helps a lot with the oc creation process. been playing it for a couple years now. looking forward to more in depth gameplay elements in the future, i think it has potential. right now its essentially just a walking simulator with a chatroom :p. being able to create your own island is pretty cool tho

@ratsymposium
Basically a chatroom with legs yeah lol, its pretty crazy but I think calling it a game in the first place is far fetched yeah, people often call it a glorified chatroom lol

PT and it’s event server are ok, but it just feels too crowded and overwhelming with features. I prefer Ashes Town which is the Fallout Equestria based custom PT server. Less options (PT restricts what custom servers can do now thanks to Dergun Town) but less crowded. Plus you can actually kill NPC ghouls using melee weapons now.