Why is everyone accusing the staff of "pandering?"

[Pony Of The Month 534]

Seriously guys, wtf?! Just because some character who isn't in every episode makes an appearance, doesn't mean the staff is pandering to the fans. They just want to use the character again. If they really were pandering to the fans, Derpy would have shown up in Wonderbolt Academy, or any other episode of the season. If they were pandering, one of the characters would have called Princess Celestia a "troll." The sisterly relationship between Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo is not pandering because it was the staff's idea in the first place. Trixie's return was not pandering because the episode was planned way before the staff even knew Trixie had a fanbase. 

 

To just assume that the staff is pandering to you is a bit conceited. The bronies don't control the show. They never have, and they never will. The writers aren't allowed to read fanfiction, and just because something in the show resembles a popular fanfic, doesn't mean the staff is "referencing" it. It just means that it probably wasn't that original of an idea in the first place.

[Twiliscael 3,960]

Derpy would have shown up in Wonderbolt Academy

Actually, Derpy has literally banned Derpy from ever showing up in the show again because of backlash from some people.

 

 And the staff at DHX and Hasbro are not "pandering" towards us. They'll sneak in a reference or a little joke every once in a while to at least acknowledge us but they are still not making the show directly for us.

[Dr.McDoom! 19]

I'd say the last thing the writers could afford is properly please the bronie fanbase. They've got other problems, like Hasbro taking control of the big picture and degrading the overall quality of the show for profit.

[Cowl 128]

I have to say that magic duel did seem to be pandaring to the bronie fanbase a little bit too obviously. Normally there are only a few refrences, but I figure that since we wanted Trixie back they decided to get most the pandering for the season in that one episode.

[Hawk 100]

@OP  /hug

 

Nothing, and I repeat NOTHING is even remotely pandering in Season 3.  At all.  And I'm sick of people whining and crying like a buch of little babies about it.  It's like Derpy Gate all over again only it's not just the thin skinned whiney bitches that are crying.  Now it's a bunch of people acting like this is the worst season ever (albeit it has had a few issues but it certainly isn't bad, not by a long shot and that is for another topic someday).  FYI, the comic has far more references and what some of you people would call pandering. 

 

My advice is to Bronies who are crying about this is to knock it off, to the rest of us you sound like this:

 

"ERMAGHERD They REFRENCED ANOTHER EPISODE!  ERMAGHERD THEY HAVE RAINBOW DASH AND SCOOTALOO INTERACTING!  THEY ARE PANDERING!! AHAHAHASFHASweoty%^#@5342534IDKWTFBBQMYBFFLUNA!"  

Edited December 16, 2012 by Hawk

[Rarietty 632]

I say, nothing is pandering unless they were to mention us by name (which they only did once, in Equestria Girls) or if someone who writes/storyboards for the show outright says, "This was put in because of the fanbase." 

 

In other words, nothing but Derpy has been pandering. You can't just point fingers at people who work on the show, that would be accusing someone of doing something they didn't do. Trixie was probably going to come back, and the ending of Boast Busters made it obvious. Scootaloo had to have an episode eventually, and the premise of Scootaloo trying to act tough for Rainbow Dash is such an obvious premise, I just knew they'd have to do it eventually. 

 

What I find really idiotic is when people say that a funny joke, character development, continuity or a plot structure (such as Twilight improving in her studies, and following her destiny) is pandering. No, that's just the crew trying to improve and advance the show.  <_<

 

What I find really funny that I recall, back in season 2, people were actually asking for more pandering/hoping for fandom references. When we got Derpy, very few complained. 

Edited December 16, 2012 by Rarietty

[pinkieshyrose 58]

the only pandering i saw that id actully accuse is the fan made doctor whooves wearing a pear coulstume and a bow tie in one bad apple (or atleast i think that the episode is called that) but its not a bad thing... well it sorta is because that means he cant be my brillant tenth doctor oh and alicorn saying alicorn is a fan made word but whats wrong with pandering bronys and pega sisters?  pandering is good somtimes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEBPkZnP6wo

Edited December 16, 2012 by pinkieshyrose

[Pony Of The Month 534]

alicorn saying alicorn is a fan made word

 

Alicorn is not a fanmade word. It means winged unicorn, but is also a word for the substance that unicorn horns are made out of.

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

Oh darn, they're putting things in episodes that they think we will enjoy. I quit. How dare they , of all things, try to please older fans of the show.

But yeah, Trixie's return was planned long ago, Scootalove was foreshadowed heavily in previous seasons, and anything else such as Doctor Whooves in the pear suit is nothing worth whining about.

Edited December 29, 2012 by DashForever

[Moon Rat 4,772]

In all honesty, there are SOME moments in which the fans ideas for the show and their ideas do seemingly collide however, to be honest, I would say it is nothing more than a coincidence

 

A good majority of these episodes have been planned ahead of time so there really isn't any sort of Fandom Control going on at all

[Rarietty 632]

About Doctor Whooves in a pair suit, storyboarders like to slip things like that in when they're bored. They may not have been thinking of us, they may have just been a huge Doctor Who fan who though "oh my gosh this is the perfect opportunity to slip this in. This will be hilarious."

 

Do people call ALL references to other shows in kids cartoons pandering?! No? Well, it shouldn't be any different for a show that just happens to have a massive fanbase. 

Edited December 16, 2012 by Rarietty

[Obsidian_Winter 1,159]

I've seen the threads and gone WTF so many times. People usually WANT pandering to a degree. They want a show to listen to its fan base because that keeps people watching. This is the only show I have ever seen where people bitch about being listened to...I mean really?

[Titan Rising 2,156]

Probably because they take the cartoon too seriously to actually enjoy it.  I don't know if they are and I don't really care, all I know is I have really liked the passed few episodes and this whole season in general seems really good to me

[bunnybuzki 45]

This is funny! I don't really do a lot of pony stuff online as I only just joined this forum, but I have seen more people commenting about the pandering than complaining about pandering itself. It does surprise me that anyone would; it just means that the creators are trying to somewhat be in touch with the older fans, and that should be a good thing. I don't see how it would ever be a bad thing unless the show loses control or doesn't feel like MLP anymore. I guess one bad thing about "pandering" would the extremes in Pinkie's character. If they exaggerate only the parts of her character that gets a lot of jokes made, then she does lose a lot of her caring personality too. 

[Champion RD92 8,658]

Yeah I don't believe that the staff is "pandering" to the fans. I mean they throw in a few things every once in a while but it's nothing that really alters the show in any way.

[Shift 4,272]

Derpy Hooves has been completely BANNED from ever appearing in the show again. But the fandom will keep her alive. I know it. 

 

At least I will...

 

And those people are probably genwunners.

 

Edited December 17, 2012 by Shift

[Silanda 24]

I've seen the threads and gone WTF so many times. People usually WANT pandering to a degree. They want a show to listen to its fan base because that keeps people watching. This is the only show I have ever seen where people bitch about being listened to...I mean really?

 

It's actually pretty common in fandom to find complaints like this in my experience. The Star Trek community had a nasty habit of doing exactly the same thing while the shows were running IIRC: complaints if the shows didn't concentrate on things requested by long term fans but accusations and complaints of fanwanking if they did.

Edited December 17, 2012 by Silanda

[NavelColt 22,879]

Alicorns, Scootalove, excess pinkies, the list goes on of things that 'the fanbase thought of a long time ago', and that Hasbro is 'using them to cater to bronies'. The reality check to this idea is that episodes take a long-ass time to make. It was already said that Magic Duel was originally slated for an earlier season at one point but got pushed to where it is now. Just because the show ends up using similar ideas to what the fandom has had as popular fanon for a while now does not mean the show is copying in order to please bronies. What's far more likely, is that the fandom is (for the most part) full of analytic people who look at what the show has, and brainstorm for where things could possibly go in the future, or what things might happen in the future. These predictions then end up being very close to what actually happens.

 

Scootalove for example has been all but bound to happen when you look at the show's history:

-Three CMC

-One of them has no big sister like the other two do

-The third one does have an idol though, who is similar to the third CMC in personalty and is also a pegasus like them.

 

The fanbase is able to speculate very accurately where the show might go, very often. Which is very different from the show copying off bronies' ideas.

 

Ergo, not 'pandering'. They're just writing logically on what could happen next, and bronies are intelligent enough to often come up with the same results, themselves.

Edited December 17, 2012 by ~Chaotic Discord~

[Emerald Glow 40]

Animation sight gags for the grownups have been around at least since Bugs Bunny was making racist Asian jokes during WWII, probably longer. Derpy and Doctor Whooves are simply the latest in a long noble animation tradition of comedy designed to soar over the kiddies' heads and make the grownups snicker knowingly.

 

As for Scootalove, that's not fan service so much as proceeding to the logical conclusion of the Scootaloo/Dash Arc. Frankly it was pretty obvious where that was headed for the reasons Chaotic Discord stated above.

 

Finally, re: the "pandering" thing... The older I get, the more I suspect that some fans are just NEVER satisfied, regardless of the fandom in question.

[Mister Jack 566]

I think a lot of the people complaining about "pandering" don't really know what the word means.  Why exactly is having episodes about things we wanted to see suddenly a bad thing?  Is this somehow going to put off the actual kids from watching the show?  They don't give a shit, people.  Spongebob is currently in its ninth season and lemme tell ya, it's gotten pretty awful.  It doesn't matter.  It's popular and kids just want to see new episodes.  You could make an MLP episode about Trixie and Sethisto of all things and kids would still watch it.  They're much easier to please.  

 

DHX is developing character and story in new and entertaining ways.  I know that's a matter of opinion, but when I see people say that the show is being ruined by pandering I can't help but wonder how many of them genuinely feel that the stories, characters, and jokes have declined in quality and how many of them just see Trixie reappear and suddenly think the sky is falling.  

[~Master~ Button Mash 2,307]

I don't quite understand the mindset here. We are an active fanbase, a major chunk of the fanbase, that has a lot of good ideas to contribute, but at the same time we want the show to take a completely laissez faire approach to us? I don't get it.

 

Look, whether intended originally at the inception of the show or not, as of now we are a part of the viewing demographic, a BIG part of the viewing demographic. If the producers want to give us a little nod here and there, what's the problem? It's not like it's ruining the show for the children's demographic. References that are made for bronies - like Dr. Hooves, or the Lebowski ponies will either go over their heads and they'll not pick up on it, or they'll find humor in it at the surface, even if they don't understand the deeper meaning. But is anyone turned off? No, it's a win-win.

 

Appreciate the nods to us. Don't bite the hoof that feeds.

 

In fact, I think we should be proud that some of our ideas are finding their way into the show. It's like the brony community is like an extended writing-staff.

Edited December 17, 2012 by Lightning Dust

[Spring Storm 276]

RMAHGERD! Months ago, before we knew the titles of any of the Season 3 pony episodes, I suggested that they make an episode about an Apple family reunion! They must have read my post, and are totally pandering to meeee!!!111!!

 

/endsarcasm/

 

I'm seriously tired of people saying the show is horrible because it's pandering to the bronies. The fact is, we can't tell if most of the stuff that could be pandering is or not.

 

I'll use a specific example of a grey area: is Big Macintosh made up to look like a male Applejack a nod to rule 63, or is it simply  something the creators of the show thought would be interesting/funny/cool/etc? We'll probably never know, but my money's on the latter. And even if it is pandering, how is it bad? It didn't last long and it shows how creative Twilight got with her plan to overthrow Trixie.

 

There are a couple things that we know for sure are pandering: Doctor Hooves, and the pairing of Bon Bon and Lyra. We were given our first real nod to The Doctor in SSCS6000 (funny, I don't remember fans complaining then), and our second nod in One Bad Apple. Those nods had no bearing on the plot whatsoever and didn't in any way decrease the quality of the show. Nor is the show changed in any way by their decision to place Bon Bon and Lyra next to each other in the background.

 

Tl;dr - everypony who says the show panders too much is overreacting, and it doesn't.

[Amelia Monocle 112]

ok so i think we can all agree on one thing here... the show doesn't pander... you know what? i understand now! "the show doesn't pander" finally i get it :3

seriously though, my favourite post in this forum has to be lightning dust saying "don't bite the hoof that feeds" i think that is a very good use of words to show whats going on now

[Wingnut 6,987]

Two recent allegations of “pandering” are more coincidence than anything.

 

1. We have two seemingly sisterless pegasi with a need for speed and a bunch of other common interests. It was always intended to match these two up. The “Come Fly With Me” scene was no doubt envisioned well ahead of time too. But because so much Scootalove fanart and fanfiction predates the broadcast of Sleepless In Ponyville, some viewers jump to the wrong conclusion.

 

2. Then we have Magic Duel. By the time MLP:FiM made its debut, fanart depicting popular cartoon characters as children, seniors, and the opposite gender was already widespread. The crew knew MLP characters would also be shown this way. This might be a shout out to the fandom. But when you stop to think about it, age and gender spells are highly advanced and risky. The molecular structure of an entire living body is being radically altered. Botching one can kill somebody or leave them stuck at the wrong age or sex. Twilight was wise not to attempt this kind of magic for real. If this is a nod to the bronies, it was well done in the context of the plot.

[Coachskau 5]

They're not pandering. FiM is a serial program, meaning content from previous episodes will show up in later episodes. That's how shows like this work. The fact that some of it was a big deal to bronies is not the studio's problem.

 

That being said, the show would definitely have a different flavor if bronies did not exist.