Has shipping hurt the quality of the brand?

[ManaMinori 4,143]

In the recent "Spring Breakdown" short, we have a whole stupid subplot about a very thinly veiled reference to Rarijack ships- and the entire subplot is pointless. Doesn't add anything to the story other than to set up a stupid, overly-long running joke (like most other jokes that were in this special). This entire subplot could be taken out, and nothing significant would've been lost from the story. So has shipping lessened the quality of this series? (not just with Rarity, but other implied 'ships'- Bonra, SunLight, ect)

[Misty Shadow 7,059]

Sounds like alt-righters at work. Only they are stupid enough to do something like imply that Rarity is straight and crush the hopes of LGBT shippers. 

[RDDash 18,845]

I agree mainly because the story feels a bit rushed, and the romance subplot shouldn't even be there.

[Will Guide 21,325]

I hear Ragamuffin looks like a male Applejack. And there's nothing wrong with ship tease if we can get a little entertainment out of it. And reaction to entertainment IS subjective. So to simply answer the topic question: No, shipping doesn't necessarily hurt the brand quality

[Ayvid_Reader 77]

Maybe I'm blind, but other than Raggamuffin kinda looking like AJ I don't see anything that implies Rarijack. I kinda took it as more of a joke on Titanic than anything.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Ayvid_Reader

[Thrond 3,257]

I didn't like that subplot either but I think it was just a joke about Rarity being Rarity. The RariJack/SciTwi stuff was more stuff the animators snuck in. 

[Steve Piranha 28,742]

10 hours ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

In the recent "Spring Breakdown" short, we have a whole stupid subplot about a very thinly veiled reference to Rarijack ships- and the entire subplot is pointless. Doesn't add anything to the story other than to set up a stupid, overly-long running joke (like most other jokes that were in this special). This entire subplot could be taken out, and nothing significant would've been lost from the story. So has shipping lessened the quality of this series? (not just with Rarity, but other implied 'ships'- Bonra, SunLight, ect)

I don’t think as much, as, other than Rollercoaster of Friendship, they never got the main spotlight. Not even the Flash “He Took Our Waifu” Sentry . 

I did read Star vs the Forces of Evil kinda got ruined during it’s third season when the shipping became the main focus tho . I ain’t seeing such thing in EG 

Edited April 2, 2019 by Steve Piranha

[DonMaguz 1,023]

Rarity's quick romance subplot was unnecessary, yes... but it was something they did to keep Rarity busy, just like Pinkie Pie with her cake subplot.

Now, why did they do it? Probably because Dash's main plot didn't have much going on.

AJ was conveniently set aside so Ashleigh could focus on Rainbow's lines, but the 7 girls are needed and they can't use the same gag for Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity, so what do they do? They give them meaningless subplots to keep them busy.

Fluttershy's an easy one, add some animals and you're done. With Pinkie you can have the party plot or the sweets plot, or a prank plot if Dash wasn't a protagonist on this special. Somebody must have thought "they're on a vacation, highschool girls have romances on vacations", who would be better for that? Yep, Rarity is the one.

Lackluster and meaningless, but effective to keep Rarity busy.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,282]

11 minutes ago, DonMaguz said:

"they're on a vacation, highschool girls have romances on vacations"

 

[ToastedScone 378]

Pointless shipping pandering will ruin any media, to be honest. I feel like unless they're prepared to go all the way with it, they shouldn't bother teasing; that'll only foster irritation with the fans, especially if the characters don't officially get together (which, of course, Rarity and Applejack didn't). Sorry for the rant, haha

[Octavia Heartstrings 28,397]

Forced shipping will always hurt a show's quality, as it's always either fan pandering, virtue signaling, or both.

[Splashee 28,537]

Anything fan based are supposedly hurting a brand. That's why companies don't allow fans to use their brands.

 

Shipping is something I learned from the Bronies. I find it odd, and somewhat pointless. It feels Rule 34 related as well. I really think it is hurting the brand.

 

But what else is hurting the brand of MLP? Twilight's wings. Equestria Girls. These things are Hasbro's own mistakes. They are the one settings the rules, giving us the quality they think MLP should be. They also brought shipping into the last episode of MLP, so maybe that is the quality of the brand.

[Pentium100 2,056]

I do not like shipping, well, I don't really like romance subplots in general, but as long as the subplot can be easily ignored, I don't care.

[TotallyNotNyx 15,563]

On 2/21/2020 at 9:26 PM, Splashee said:

Anything fan based are supposedly hurting a brand. That's why companies don't allow fans to use their brands.

 

Shipping is something I learned from the Bronies. I find it odd, and somewhat pointless. It feels Rule 34 related as well. I really think it is hurting the brand.

 

But what else is hurting the brand of MLP? Twilight's wings. Equestria Girls. These things are Hasbro's own mistakes. They are the one settings the rules, giving us the quality they think MLP should be. They also brought shipping into the last episode of MLP, so maybe that is the quality of the brand.

Yeah but the shipping in The Last Problem are actually quite ambiguous. They didn't really confirm any relationships, apart from the obvious Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich. They kinda just left it up to viewer. If you wanted Fluttercord or Appledash to be canon, then sure it can be canon for u. Equally people who don't want that as canon, can just view those as close friendships. No relationships are officially states apart from (Pinkie and Cheese).

[Steve Piranha 28,742]

On 3/14/2020 at 12:04 PM, Spacetime Vortex said:

Yeah but the shipping in The Last Problem are actually quite ambiguous. They didn't really confirm any relationships, apart from the obvious Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich. They kinda just left it up to viewer. If you wanted Fluttercord or Appledash to be canon, then sure it can be canon for u. Equally people who don't want that as canon, can just view those as close friendships. No relationships are officially states apart from (Pinkie and Cheese).

Yeah, my Pinkus and Flashy ship is ded 

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

Surprised I never replied to this thread.

To answer the question, no, I don't think shipping has hurt the overall quality. Given the nature of Equestria Girls (Friendship is Magic as well) and who it was made for, the implied shipping was only ever brought up with the brony fandom and even then, they had mixed feelings about it. For the intended audience, it all just flew over their heads and they took it in stride without actually thinking too deeply on it.

[vampireponyprince 184]

random shipping tends to ruin everything its a little odd and makes things less interesting  to me atleast

[Lucky Bolt 34,914]

The only reason why people throw hissy fits about ships is because they don't like the idea of their "waifu" or "husbando" being with someone else other than them. Come on, admit it guys. Lol. 

Me, personally, I do not think ships have "ruined" the brand of anything in the slightest. 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Lucky Bolt

[ShadOBabe 18,984]

3 minutes ago, Lucky Bolt said:

Come on, admit it guys. Lol. 

Ahuizotl’s my husbando, and I ship him with Daring Do. 

 

Edited March 22, 2020 by ShadOBabe

[Sparklefan1234 161,595]

1 hour ago, Lucky Bolt said:

The only reason why people throw hissy fits about ships is because they don't like the idea of their "waifu" or "husbando" being with someone else other than them. Come on, admit it guys.

 

Flash Sentry has the personality of a tree stump, or was that Timber Spruce? /

On-topic, I don't think shipping has ruined My Little Pony, in fact I think its helped bring the fandom closer together from a creativity standpoint.

Edited March 23, 2020 by Sparklefan1234

[Sepul-Coloratura 756]

I think it hurts when the show becomes self aware of it and try to exploit it.

[Splashee 28,537]

On 3/23/2020 at 12:34 AM, Lucky Bolt said:

The only reason why people throw hissy fits about ships is because they don't like the idea of their "waifu" or "husbando" being with someone else other than them. Come on, admit it guys. Lol. 

Me, personally, I do not think ships have "ruined" the brand of anything in the slightest. 

I admit it, but still, shipping is stupid because it has no place in a pony world........... Oh this is high school, I forgot. What did you call matchmaking in high school?

Spoiler

OMG matchmaking is one whole word. The more you know!

 

[TotallyNotNyx 15,563]

On 3/23/2020 at 12:29 AM, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

Flash Sentry has the personality of a tree stump, or was that Timber Spruce? /

On-topic, I don't think shipping has ruined My Little Pony, in fact I think its helped bring the fandom closer together from a creativity standpoint.

Heh I personally have nothing against Timber Spruce. But Flash Sentry honestly annoys me so much. There was no real point in him being in any of the movies. He was just a thing for Twilight to bump into multiple times (which in itself was done so many times that it just started to feel stupid) , other than that there was no point in him being part of the movie. Even their "relationship" felt weird cause Twilight never expressed much interest in anypony in FIM, so why is it that she likes the first person that she bumps into when she is a human?  

Edited April 11, 2020 by Princess of Hearts ❤️❤️

[CypherHoof 26,479]

28 minutes ago, Princess of Hearts ❤️❤️ said:

Heh I personally have nothing against Timber Spruce.

I don't think we get to know him well enough really. While he comes across in the movie as insincere and flirty, he obviously genuinely cares about his sister, and works hard for his family business.  Sadly though, the show has to focus on the mane characters, so he is destined to be forever a background pony...

 

28 minutes ago, Princess of Hearts ❤️❤️ said:

But Flash Sentry honestly annoys me so much. There was no real point in him being in any of the movies.

Yeah. I don't hate him, but that's because there isn't enough there to hate - while he does help out Twi when she is accused of vandalism, he is otherwise a cardboard cutout of a character. One apparently with a "thing" for ex-ponies too....

 

35 minutes ago, Princess of Hearts ❤️❤️ said:

He was just a thing for Twilight to bump into multiple times (which in itself was done so many times that it just started to feel stupid) , other than that there was no point in him being part of the movie. Even their "relationship" felt weird cause Twilight never expressed much interest in anypony in FIM, so why is it that she likes the first person that she bumps into when she is a human?  

I can get that. Hormones, maybe? Did make for a funny scene when he bumped into SciTwi for the first time though

Its my headcanon that EqG derpy has a thing for him though. Notice she is always there to console him when he gets shot down yet again?

[Rarity Gemstones 189]

If shipping spoiled the merriment and enjoyment of this series, then it would have never surpassed season one.

This sounds like a pointless grievance.