mega thread The state of the Brony fandom (Numbers, Popularly, Future)

[Will Guide 21,360]

10 hours ago, Odyssey said:

 

Yeah, no. You act so confident that the fandom is what it is, that it becomes really unfair to people who enjoy it. The show is ending? That must mean it's dying and all the good people are gone. Nobody wants to watch a show that has ended, amirite? Oh, and the only people who will actually remain? Pedophiles and creeps.

Like, c'mon m8. Everyone has got their own reasons to stay or leave. Why does it matter so much to you?

Well said Odyssey.

The show has given a great run of people of all ages and genders. Just because the show ends, it doesn't mean the the fandom goes poof out of existence.

I didn't watch Avatar the Last Airbender series during its first run and there's still a big fanbase for it when I finally got around to watching the whole DVD series in 2015 10 years after the show.

Same here with ponies.

[Prospekt 11,018]

There are still somewhat small but active fanbases of plenty of old franchises. So I don't expect this fandom to ever fully dissipate. Heck, one thing that drove Lauren Faust to help get G4 off the ground was her nostalgia for G1.

The franchise is almost certainly going to move forward. G4 changed everything. If G5 can retain the core elements of what made G4 great, who's to say people won't stick around? Who's to say some former fans won't return? Who's to say we won't get an influx of folks who never even watched G4, or only saw little bits and pieces?

[Newman1651 35]

3 hours ago, Solar Power said:

I don't post here often, but I always like to drop by every so often, and I'm determined to always be a brony. It bothers me that so many people drift away from the fandom never to be seen again, and I'm determined to be relied upon to never to be one of those people. So If I'm not still active on the forum in five years' time, you all have my permission to hunt me down and drag me back.

these other "fans" only join out of popular interest

1 hour ago, Prospekt said:

There are still somewhat small but active fanbases of plenty of old franchises. So I don't expect this fandom to ever fully dissipate. Heck, one thing that drove Lauren Faust to help get G4 off the ground was her nostalgia for G1.

The franchise is almost certainly going to move forward. G4 changed everything. If G5 can retain the core elements of what made G4 great, who's to say people won't stick around? Who's to say some former fans won't return? Who's to say we won't get an influx of folks who never even watched G4, or only saw little bits and pieces?

the reason why so many would leave is because they joined out of popular interest, their liking is dependent on popular interest

[Will Guide 21,360]

1 hour ago, Newman1651 said:

these other "fans" only join out of popular interest

the reason why so many would leave is because they joined out of popular interest, their liking is dependent on popular interest

So what. That's how individual fans work. Some fans leave, some fans stay.

I'm sorry but the tone in your posts especially the more cynical untrue one about Brony fandom being full of pedophiles make you seems like all fandoms die sooner or later or just devolved back to their old forms for the worst.

Disney, which has been in business for almost a century since 1923, shows fandoms don't necessarily die. The spirit and legacy lives on forever. Or video games that are spiritual successor to older games like Yooka-Laylee is to Banjo-Kazooie show that the fans of a certain type of games will always find something old and new to experience.

In short, the body of fandom may eventually die, but the spirit and legacy of said fandoms never will.

Edited July 8, 2019 by Will Guide

[Steve Piranha 29,424]

Well, since my name has been dropped here, let me clarify a couple of things, and my perspective:

1-I hardly watch shows nowadays, but back in the day, I watched quite a lot. However, I’ve never joined a fandom before ponies, so this is a first time dealing with the end of a show from inside a fandom

2-My perceived pessimism is due to recent decrease in activity with pony related things. Combine it with point one, of course I have an uncertain outlook. Will it increase sharing crazy headcanon to oblivion since there’ll be no more official content coming? I don’t know

3-I joined the fandom to scratch an itch about talking about ponies, I later realized this is mainly a deep and intimate personal experience, making me less expectant about the fandom continuing, because I don’t really need a fandom to keep my love for G4 horses going

 

I don’t really know what I’ll do once any G4 ponies end. I could leave the fandom or not, but I’ll never stop loving ‘em horses 

[cuteycindyhoney 13,307]

4 hours ago, Photon Jet said:

The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

I still adore that show!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4jd0UWGPgY

 

Watch Princess Sally. Her faith in Sonic is so strong, she just tosses him a ring, and then immediately swings out on a rope over a raging flood, without waiting to see if Sonic catches it. She knows that Sonic would NEVER fail beat the robots and be in position to save her!

 

(Made it a link. Why aren't videos embedding any more?)

 

 

Edited July 8, 2019 by cuteycindyhoney

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

Depend on how the final season will wrap up. If it’s forgettable then the whole franchise will fade away really fast. Dont ever underestimate the destination, no matter how good the journey is. Just leave people the last good impression then promised them the new future ahead then i think the fandom will revive again. For me, i still hungry for cute ponies so i will jump into G5 hype train as soon as it announces. Will my interest for ponies live longer than the fandom itself? Time will tell. 

I dont think the fandom will die after G4 ended. They just sleep for a while but if no one wake them up, they will die. It’s up to Hasbro wake up the pony inside them. 

[Newman1651 35]

2 hours ago, Steve Piranha said:

Well, since my name has been dropped here, let me clarify a couple of things, and my perspective:

1-I hardly watch shows nowadays, but back in the day, I watched quite a lot. However, I’ve never joined a fandom before ponies, so this is a first time dealing with the end of a show from inside a fandom

2-My perceived pessimism is due to recent decrease in activity with pony related things. Combine it with point one, of course I have an uncertain outlook. Will it increase sharing crazy headcanon to oblivion since there’ll be no more official content coming? I don’t know

3-I joined the fandom to scratch an itch about talking about ponies, I later realized this is mainly a deep and intimate personal experience, making me less expectant about the fandom continuing, because I don’t really need a fandom to keep my love for G4 horses going

 

I don’t really know what I’ll do once any G4 ponies end. I could leave the fandom or not, but I’ll never stop loving ‘em horses 

its that pessimism that tears me one ether i should leave or stay. cause i don't wanna stay when the fandom is now made up of a handful of creepy pedophiles and furries livng in their basements

3 hours ago, Will Guide said:

So what. That's how individual fans work. Some fans leave, some fans stay.

I'm sorry but the tone in your posts especially the more cynical untrue one about Brony fandom being full of pedophiles make you seems like all fandoms die sooner or later or just devolved back to their old forms for the worst.

Disney, which has been in business for almost a century since 1923, shows fandoms don't necessarily die. The spirit and legacy lives on forever. Or video games that are spiritual successor to older games like Yooka-Laylee is to Banjo-Kazooie show that the fans of a certain type of games will always find something old and new to experience.

In short, the body of fandom may eventually die, but the spirit and legacy of said fandoms never will.

i got such views from my own family too, since they for a long time believed that liking things targeted for a certain gender demographic that isnt your own makes you Gay or lesbian (is you are a girl) for some reason even though it doesnt make any sense. and also from seeing others such as christian weston chandler. if you know who that guy is.

Edited July 8, 2019 by Newman1651

[Will Guide 21,360]

3 minutes ago, Newman1651 said:

 

i got such views from my own family too, since they for a long time believed that liking things targeted for a certain gender demographic that isnt your own makes you Gay or lesbian (is you are a girl) for some reason even though it doesnt make any sense. and also from seeing others such as christian weston chandler. if you know who that guy is.

Okay then.

[Newman1651 35]

Just now, Will Guide said:

Okay then.

that is why i am convinced that it will devolve back to the old 4chan fandom,

[A Small Bear 60]

The fandom will never die. At least not until the last fan dies off. It certainly will be fairly small and sad a few years down the line but I think (and hope) that in 20, maybe even 30 years, there'll still be people reminiscing about that show about colorful cartoon ponies they watched when they were younger. Even gen 1 still has something of a fanbase.

[Will Guide 21,360]

4 minutes ago, Newman1651 said:

that is why i am convinced that it will devolve back to the old 4chan fandom,

Wanna bet? Because that is ridiculous! The show has morals that can be taught to people of all ages and genders. That's one of the real reason this show has quite a following. Well written characters, great interesting setting, many life lessons to be taught. It's not about fantasizing ponies like the old 4chan does.

[Kion 7,407]

I can guarantee you that if wasent the final season of Mlp Mlp forums would be deader than last year. But because it’s the last season everyone’s coming back to the forums.

But yea the fandom has definitely been dying  Mlp is nowhere near as big as it was back in 2013 and 2014. However I wouldn’t say the fandom is fully dead yet there’s quite a few people still around there just not as active as they use to be.

Edited July 8, 2019 by FireworkDash

[Toastypk 923]

On 7/7/2019 at 12:50 AM, Ganondorf8 said:

As long as there are those who are willing to keep things going even long after generation four ends, this fandom will continue to thrive in its own way.

I've begun work on a Final Fantasy 1 NES rom edit to put the main poniy characters in it. It's something that if I complete it, it might not be released until after the show ends. But people will play it regardless!

Edited July 8, 2019 by Toastypk

[Newman1651 35]

20 minutes ago, Will Guide said:

Wanna bet? Because that is ridiculous! The show has morals that can be taught to people of all ages and genders. That's one of the real reason this show has quite a following. Well written characters, great interesting setting, many life lessons to be taught. It's not about fantasizing ponies like the old 4chan does.

might end up becoming like that

18 minutes ago, FireworkDash said:

I can guarantee you that if wasent the final season of Mlp Mlp forums would be deader than last year. But because it’s the last season everyone’s coming back to the forums.

But yea the fandom has definitely been dying  Mlp is nowhere near as big as it was back in 2013 and 2014. However I wouldn’t say the fandom is fully dead yet there’s quite a few people still around there just not as active as they use to be.

either gonna be completely gone or . . . only creepy pedophiles on 4chan remain

19 minutes ago, FireworkDash said:

I can guarantee you that if wasent the final season of Mlp Mlp forums would be deader than last year. But because it’s the last season everyone’s coming back to the forums.

But yea the fandom has definitely been dying  Mlp is nowhere near as big as it was back in 2013 and 2014. However I wouldn’t say the fandom is fully dead yet there’s quite a few people still around there just not as active as they use to be.

though i wonder what will happen to this forum when g5 comes around and what about the other pony related sites

[Will Guide 21,360]

8 minutes ago, Newman1651 said:

might end up becoming like that

either gonna be completely gone or . . . only creepy pedophiles on 4chan remain

though i wonder what will happen to this forum when g5 comes around and what about the other pony related sites

Seriously, where is your proof of creepy pedophiles on 4chan? The Brony fanbase is nothing like that. More like 0.0000000001%

[Emerald Claus 24,868]

You do realize that there are people out there that have just discovered the show? Even if it's this late into it, like Smurfvlogs on YouTube. Just because the show ends doesn't mean it'll never get any new viewers or rewatches.

Your attitude and repetitive language irritates me. Claiming that the "possibility" of the last few bronies being pedophiles is ridiculous. I'm a 19 year old girl who loves this show. 

Are you sure that you're actually a brony? Because to insult your own friends in the fandom is ridiculous. 

A true brony would accept the end but never leave the fandom. A true brony would keep their friends that they've made on here and continue loving this show.

I, for one, will be keeping up on all of my friends on MLPForums because I care for them. Just because a show is over doesn't mean it has to leave.

[Newman1651 35]

Just now, Emerald<3 said:

You do realize that there are people out there that have just discovered the show? Even if it's this late into it, like Smurfvlogs on YouTube. Just because the show ends doesn't mean it'll never get any new viewers or rewatches.

Your attitude and repetitive language irritates me. Claiming that the "possibility" of the last few bronies being pedophiles is ridiculous. I'm a 19 year old girl who loves this show. 

Are you sure that you're actually a brony? Because to insult your own friends in the fandom is ridiculous. 

A true brony would accept the end but never leave the fandom. A true brony would keep their friends that they've made on here and continue loving this show.

I, for one, will be keeping up on all of my friends on MLPForums because I care for them. Just because a show is over doesn't mean it has to leave.

then why would so many leave then?

[Emerald Claus 24,868]

Just now, Newman1651 said:

then why would so many leave then?

Why do you care if they do?

 

[Newman1651 35]

39 minutes ago, Emerald<3 said:

Why do you care if they do?

 

by your logic, they arent true bronies

[Solar Power 302]

Further to what I said earlier...I'm going to make sure that I post in this thread five years from today (8th of July 2024) just to prove to you all that I was serious about not leaving the fandom. I'll quote this very post on that day, so you can all put that date in your diaries because I'll be here! Well, so long as the thread still exists and hasn't been locked.

[Jeric 46,851]

Mega Thread rule now applies. From now on any topics regarding fandom decline and health will either be merged into this topic or locked and the author pointed here. This has historically been one of the most created topics so having a single point of discussion is the better solution

 

[Plonkett 345]

I've been in the fandom since 2014 and since then ponies have been my escape. Lately I've seen many different creators who were part of it move on from it. I honestly can't fathom just leaving the fandom because I don't know what else will top it. To me this fandom is the epitome of creative expression on the internet. Do you think we're all just in a phase and will eventually quit the fandom at some point in the future?

[FullmoonDagger 200]

Well I did try to leave the fandom for a while but I eventually came back to it :') Once you get in you can't get out

[EpicEnergy 23,218]

I think some will leave the fandom, but there will always be those who stay. I don't have a crystal ball, but I doubt the amount of MLP fans and content will reach significantly low numbers in this generation, or at least in the next few years, because of the impact MLP has had on some people and because of the enormous amount of activity in the fandom and in the show that still continues to bring in new people.