Iceman - Friendship is Optimal

James looked skeptically at his friend David as he sat down at computer #12.

David had won the Hasbro raffle for one of fifteen all-expenses-paid trips for two to Pawtucket, Rhode Island to play the first alpha build of the official My Little Pony MMO: Equestria Online. Hasbro had claimed that a game that revolved so heavily around friendship needed actual friends to test properly.

Look, Im glad you invited me, James said as he picked up his head set. And its cool that I get to try something before anyone else. But Im still not sure I really want to play a game thats so...so...pink and purple.

David scoffed. I know you. What was that Korean MMO with the little girls that you were so into? Youll be running dungeons over and over again, just like you always do with every MMO that comes out. But me? David gave the widest smile possible. Im here for the ponies. We both get what we want!

But thats the thing. Theres no way this can be good. This is a licensed game which has only had a single year of development, James said, shaking his head. This has to be shovelware. You cant do good game or interaction design in such a short time, not to mention art and sound assets.

How about we make a bet? asked David. If the game impresses you, even just a little bit, Ill spend up to $50 buying you a copy of it, but in turn youll have to play it for at least three months.

That isnt actually a bet, David, said James. That deal mostly benefits me. What do you get out of it, anyway?

I get to play the same video game with my best friend, David said. By the time I rolled a character in World of Warcraft, you had already moved on to Aion. Itd be nice to level ponies together.

James looked at his friend for several moments and turned away. He quietly said, Deal. It was a few moments before he focused on his computer. His screen had some sort of questionnaire to fill out. Whats your favorite color? Whats your favorite food? Whats your favorite thing in the world? James wondered why they were asking all these annoying questions. His favorite food was pepper-jack cheese, but there was no way that could be relevant in Equestria. He took a peek to his right at Davids monitor. He didnt have a personality test and already had a pony on screen.

Eighteen questions later, the screen faded to black. He was shown the banners for Earth, Pegasus, and Unicorn ponies, and told to choose one. When he had played World of Warcraft, he was one of his guilds tanks and also one of the alchemists who made potions for their raids. He knew he liked running around zones looking for herbs. The description of Earth ponies mentioned that they were the toughest class and that they were good with plants.

David said that every piece of marketing material had stressed that Equestria Online was not a traditional MMO. There would be little, if any, combat. James didnt believe that for a moment. He clicked on the Earth pony banner. He was going to be a tank. Whatever the marketers said, if David somehow convinced him to play this pink monstrosity for real, he knew he was going to spend months of his life playing the endgame content over and over and over again until he got his Epic Saddle of Protection.

The next scene faded in on his monitor. A gray earth pony with navy blue hair lay on a bed of straw. The pony turned his head and looked straight at him through the monitor...and the pony felt familiar.

James heard Davids surprised voice over his headset say, Look at this! A blue unicorn walked on scene. Its me! As a pony! said the excited unicorn in Davids voice, with perfect lip-synching. James turned away from his screen and looked at his friend. David grinned and said, No, look at the screen. The unicorn started making funny faces.

And then James noticed that his pony had an astonished expression on his face. He raised a hand to scratch his head, and his pony raised his hoof. For the first time, James noticed that the flat panel monitor had an embedded webcam. He started making faces at the camera and his pony on screen mimicked his expression. He heard his friend laugh over his headphones.

James realized why his pony felt familiar. He had said his favorite color was navy blue. The manestyle was similar to his hairstyle, perhaps a little longer. He realized that was supposed to be his face, modified extensively.

Okay, thats kind of cool, I guess, he said, but I dont see how youre going to build a game around it.

Howdy, said a voice. The camera zoomed out from focusing on James and Davids ponies to reveal a red earth pony mare, who gave a small bow. My names Honeycrisp. So, I beg your pardon, but are yall those new ponies weve been hearin all about?

Uh, James mubbled.

Why yes we are! said Davids blue unicorn. We just came to Equestria! What do we do now?

Honeycrisp gave a hearty laugh, and she trotted up to James pony. Its alright. I wont hurt ya. So I reckon you dont have a ponyname yet?

Wait, you can understand us? James asked incredulously.

I sure can, sugarcube, she said with a snort.

Your name is...Honeycrisp? James repeated.

Sure is! I take care of the farm. Whelp, the two of ya better get started. You gotta get along to Canterlot. Dont worry, Princess Celestia will give yall pretty ponynames. Cant be walkin round these parts callin yourself James and David now, can ya?

Wait, how did you know my name? James asked, and pulled the right headphone cup off his ear so he could listen to the room.

Of course they know our names, laughed David. We filled out those forms at the front desk to get our accounts. James heard Davids voice over his left headphone, and his uncovered right ear.

Honeycrisp gave a hearty laugh. Oh, youll find that Princess Celestia knows all bout yall new pony folk whove been comin to these parts. I was givin a list of names and got lucky.

And as he was listening to Honeycrisp with his left ear, all James could hear with his right were a few people in the room reacting incredulously. Wait, you can understand me? he heard a female voice ask. What James didnt hear was anyone talking in a southern drawl. He put the headphone cup back over his right ear.

So how do we get to this...Canterlot place? James asked.

Go right out this door and through the forest. There aint any monsters round these parts. Just follow the path and youll be on the main road to Canterlot, replied Honeycrisp.

Thank you, said James, and his pony gave a little bow. James blinked. He hadnt told his pony to bow. He didnt even know what key hed press to make his pony bow.

Whatever. James moved his gray earth pony out the open barn door and into the night, with David following slightly behind. The art style of the game looked like the few clips of the show that David had shown him, except with much more detail. As the two ponies approached the edge of the forest, he noticed that the plants werent copy/pasted. Each tree had a unique branch structure. There was something almost natural about the placement of rocks and rotten logs. The path itself was well worn, but it was not perfectly straight and had irregular growth of plants on it. He didnt want to even imagine how much time had been spent crafting this forest.

James light gray pony turned to his unicorn friend. Man, Ill give you one thing: the production values are through the roof. Still, this looks like its turning into a standard RPG. Quest giving NPC tells us to go from point A to B.

Except we had to actually talk to the quest giving NPC, said the little blue unicorn next to him. In a normal MMO, wed have clicked on the pony with the exclamation point above its head, and then clicked on the accept button. But here, the game mechanic seems to be talking. All the face mapping makes sense if this game is about conversation.