START HERE: An Introduction to My Little Phony!

[Ph0ny]

Long, long ago in 2010, on an ancient forum called GaiaOnline...

With market interest in their primary petshop business waning, Jun took a portion of their HyTech savings to reinvest in a quiet new startup.
Blinded by the cuteness of the new My Little Pony cartoon, he decided that live versions of prancing plastic ponies were the way to go with his new project.
The costs of being a franchisee were much too high, but Jun and Maxx aren't Azn for nothing - no, they knew all about 'the other plastic ponies made in China'…
so after a few transactions, a shady factory was erected in a corner of a modestly vast plateau on the grassy outskirts of Barton near the HyTech building.
The plot had been bought for this very purpose…and the theme park that would be built around it - Phonyland!

Where little Phonies may frolic all day - and prospective owners may shop for Phonies all day, heheheheh…

...but then, everything changed when 2020 attacked, and...

With fortunes dwindling and Gaia slowing to a crawl by the day, Maxx and Jun were reluctantly contemplating shutting down the Phony business...
when they were visited by the ghosts of Phonies melted and the Horses of Phony Past, Present and Yet to Come!
Shown the bleak future if they were to continue down this path, the message was clear: Phonyland can't end this way!

Phonyland must be built anew in its own little patch of cyberspace, and work began at once.
But due to COVID-related delays, it could not be completed by Christmas, and so construction goes on around you as you enter...

...but we'll get there!





WELCOME TO PHONYLAND! 8D

[spoiler]. WELCOME! .
. Map&Updates . Phony Types Showroom . Phony Life Stages .
. Sales&Terms . Phony Directory . Product Album .
. Boutique . Petshop . Breeding . Customs .
Phony Staff + Owners . Affiliates .
. EVENT @ Pg 2! 8D .

[ Latest Drop-Offs & Announcements! ][/spoiler]

. BE A PHONYLAND FRIEND! .
Upon joining our forum, you will instantly become a Phonyland Friend!
The benefits are endless! You can - you can…you…uh…we'll get back to you on that one.



But as a Membership Card-carrying member, you'll receive an email announcement every time an event starts up in Phonyland!
(Unless you opt out - or your email thinks we're spam - in which case we will sigh and stare at you from a distance when a new event begins.)
With your Phonyland Super Membership, you'll never be out of the loop again! 8D

Phonyland also has a Discord server that will also keep you in the loop,
so do join us there, especially if your email hates us!

[Ph0ny]

. House Rules .
❥ Please be considerate to all our Phonyland friends and crew - let's be nice!
❥ All art and ideas [that are not ripped off the other plastic ponies *cough*] are ©My Little Phony - please do not use elsewhere without permission
❥ Please keep things believable - do not engage in Godmoding
❥ Guilt-tripping, pity-partying, and attacking other posters are STRICTLY prohibited
❥ Please read and abide by all rules and terms! Feel free to ask questions in thread!
❥ Please do feel free to discuss and plot and RP and have fun! Thank you!

. RP & Chat Rules Guidelines .
❥ This forum is supposed to represent the storespace that is Phonyland, and therefore physically located within an unspecified plot of land in cyberspace.
Thus, RP is open here - you do not need a Phony to RP with Phonies, you may RP just about anything, including yourself, a character looking to own a Phony, a rock, or a pet from another shop, provided they are characters that could conceivably visit/be found within this space.
The only exceptions are MLP-based characters, including Phony quests, that are NOT existing Phonies - as it's been proven to cause confusion!
❥ Remember that we're NOT Equestria! We're a theme park called Phonyland located in cyberspace, that produces Phonies through factory-based toy-production and nanites! Phonyland has no magic: all special abilities are run on pseudoscience, including unicorn 'magic', and are therefore extremely limited, and must be vetted with Phonyland admin first!
❥ The most important rule to remember with RPing is NO GOD-MODING! You must never control the actions of another person's character without permission! Be conscious of your fellow RPers and your Phony's status as a fallible pet: you cannot assume what another Phony will do, nor what they are thinking!  Speculation is fine, but never assert that a Phony that doesn't belong to you will do what you think they will do!
❥ Whatever is being RP'd, whether Phony or otherwise, please respect the decision of the person you are attempting to RP with. If the person is not comfortable with RPing with you, please let the matter drop! There will always be someone else to RP with sometime. c:
❥ Please keep in mind that this forum is a PG-13 board! There's a lot of wink-wink-nudge-nudge going on in Phony, but any material that is actually NSFW should never be discussed in detail, posted in the thread, nor linked to. Please be considerate! Do think twice about discussions that could be disturbing to others, and remember that there might be children reading this thread! (Well, probably not, but there might be!)

Thank you so much for your understanding! 8D

[Ph0ny]

. HOW TO GET PHONY .

:: Events
So now you're ready for your very own Little Phony! Events usually revolve around seasons and/or major celebrations: spring (Easter-adjacent), summer, autumn (Halloween) and winter (Christmas, which is Phony's anniversary event), with the occasional other smaller affairs. All events will be announced in-forum, on our Discord and via the Phonyland Friends forum emailer (that can be opted out of).

For each major event, at least 1 Phony will be released for free or Phony forum currency (e.g. free/Phony Bux raffle, contest), and at least 1 Phony will be released for RL$ (e.g. auction or flatsale). The rest of the event may include Permababbies, pets and/or Phonywear. Small events may feature Permababbies only. In general, there is usually at least one Custom Contest every year.

Whichever system is utilised, at the end of the event the winner(s) will be announced and quoted in the thread, and will have a period of 24 hours to give a suitable Phony name. If there is no response for over 48 hours (including to a PM from admin), the runner-up through the system will be declared the new winner (rinse and repeat). The grace periods for contact as stated are flexible - if we are warned ahead of time about potential delays, we will extend the deadline as necessary.

While there is no limit to the total number of Phonies any one person can own, it is generally mandated that no one person may acquire more than one non-RL$ Phony from the same event unless specified. If you end up winning two Phonies from the same event, you may choose one to keep and either forfeit the other, or gift it to another with interest in our products. There are no restrictions that will carry on to future events - Phonies love herds.

Phony Points may also be granted to runner-ups of certain contests and given out at mini events, and can be redeemed for a permababby Phony, pets, or Phonywear: Redeemables and point records can be viewed here.


:: Newbie Phakies
[ coming soon! ]


:: Customs
While Phonyland's predrawn Phonies are meant to be the star of the show, Phony Quests and Customs have inevitably become a Really Big Deal to much of our beloved community, presumably because building your own Little Phony is really, really fun. Every year, there is usually one free Custom Contest, and the possibility of the occasional semi/quasi-custom mini-event in other events.

Phony Points may also be redeemed for custom normative Permabbabies of Regular, Flutter, and Mer strains. Otherwise, there is also the possibility of going through RLCustoms/Offers.

If you're interested in building our own Little Phony, please proceed to Build-A-Phony for all the details.


:: I can has Babby?
You can has (at least, if you has Old Enoughs)! Breeding and Permababby guidelines are here

Breedings may be potentially obtained during specific events [e.g. event breeding raffles] and/or event ceremonies for Phonies who are deeply committed to each other [visit City Hall for our regular Wedding packages], as well as RLCustoms/Offers if you really want them.



. OWNERSHIP TERMS AND CONDITIONS .

Roleplay: RP in My Little Phony is strictly optional, but very much encouraged! Phony owners may set up a Stable thread to use as an RP journal, and we have many regulars who are champing at the bit to RP with you! Seriously. Don't be shy! Just ask in the thread or our Discord server, and if it so happens that you are missed, don't be afraid to ask again! Just remember to be conscious of your fellow RPers and your Phony's status as a fallible pet - be considerate and flexible, and have fun! 8D

Checking In: While RP isn't necessary, we still require an owner to check in upon receipt of your Phony, and regularly if/while your Phony is still growing! Just acknowledge receipt of each Phony stage, including both first AND final drop-off, most commonly as a post in the thread after growth, and we'll call it a day. We will always quote you with each stage and give warning, but if we don't receive any indication that the growth has been noted, we reserve the right to rehome your Phony, especially if the original certdrop was never acknowledged. It's very unlikely, but let's try not to get there!

Payment and Return Policies: As payment is now only applicable to Auctions and RLs, all payment must be made in full before taking ownership of the Phony. There will be no refunds, so please understand this responsibility before committing. You are allowed to resell new Phon(ies) bought from December 2020 onwards, for no more than you paid for it, proven with your transaction record. My Little Phony needs to be informed of all Phony movements, and the new owner must register/be registered on the MLPh forums in order for us to record and change ownership. Falsified transactions are a bannable offense.

For non-RL$ Phonies or Phonies pre-December 2020, if the owner wishes to cease ownership of the Phony for any reason, please contact us and we will make rehoming arrangements as appropriate.

Gifting and Co-owning: Unless otherwise stated in the Event (e.g. for character concept contests), Phony winners may gift their newly won Phony to another person, provided that the person is registered on the Phony forums, is actually interested in our products and is willing to assume all the required responsibilities of a Phony owner. Co-owning is allowed, but all potential disputes must be settled by the owners themselves, and there is no guarantee all owner names may fit onto the cert in excessive cases!

Crediting: While the owner owns the character of the pet and may display the images and certs at will for personal use, the art and character design itself are still property of and copyrighted to My Little Phony and its artist(s), and must be credited as such. The owner is not licensed to use the Phony's design or official art for promotional or commercial purposes. My Little Phony and its artist(s) reserves the right to display or use the artwork and pursue other avenues with the design. Uncerted images are accompanied by a background logo for our image protection - owners may request unmarked versions for the cert threads and for personal use, but please do not distribute at large. Thank you for your understanding!

[Ph0ny]

. PROBLEM GUESTS .
My Little Phony generally operates on a loose three-strike policy (though we reserve the right to ban outright if appropriate), and tends to give offenders the benefit of the doubt, often letting things slide with a notification or discussion, as we understand that sometimes people might not fully understand their actions and their consequences, or the effect they might have on others.

An official warning is a very serious matter and a repeat chance that is not always warranted. Two official warnings is a final chance, will result in probation, and those on probation will be banned if we come into knowledge of further infractions at any point of time.

We would also like to remind everyone that My Little Phony is a shop that places our users foremost. Please do not ever attack, harrass, or in any way target another user. On the flip side, if you have been made uncomfortable by another user in any way, please do not hesitate to contact admin. We just want to do our best by all of you and make Phonyland the happiest place it can be.

Thank you so much for your continued patronage of My Little Phony. We really appreciate all of you!

:: On Probation
A user on probation is not eligible for official Phonyland weddings, and may be excluded from user-run contests and events if the contest-holders are not comfortable with the user participating.

[ In light of the new site, previous users on probation are now cleared. But if there are any further problems with these users, we reserve the right to ban outright. Thank you! ]