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AestheticB


[center]I have no idea what I'm doing.[/center]

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May
1st
2012

Titles Are Important · 10:56pm May 1st, 2012

I stepped out.

I did not step down.

...I think that’s enough drama for one blog post.

So yes, I’m back. Expect weekly updates from me until The Immortal Game is finished. At some point I’ll also release Rarity’s Theorem, though at this point it’s worth holding it back just to annoy CiG.

Schadenfreude. It’s my favorite word, and anyone who plays League of Legends with me can tell you why.

The meat of this post’s purpose is to let you all know that Ponies Make War is going to be retitled to The Immortal Game. I’ve checked with the appropriate authorities, and yes, I can do this. If you use the Equestria Daily story updates, you’ll need to look for the new title. If you use FimFic, I can only assume that the new title will be popping into your favorites button.

Why do it? Why change the title of the story this far in?

There’s a stigma associated with war fics in this fandom, plain and simple. Is my story a warfic? There’s a war, certainly. It’s stuffed to bursting with action scenes. One could hypothetically argue that Ponies Make War is a much more fitting title than The Immortal Game. Unfortunately for this hypothetical person, I’m the boss and can do whatever I want.

That felt good. I almost never get to play the author card.

In my defense, the old title was Ponies Make War. I don’t think I’ve met someone who hasn’t hated that title yet. And when the update complete post goes up on Equestria Daily, I think the new title will get it a lot more readers and a lot less star bombs. While I may no longer be a slave to those things (Thanks, Sparkle’s Law) this story is my baby. I want people to like it. Not throw eggs at it and call it cancer.

Also, how should I be organizing my FimFic account with the new customizable layout? Would you all rather I keep the separate box for extra content, or should I put it all in a blog post? I’m working on getting five favorite fanfictions to display in my little favorites showcase, but I don’t really read all that much, and when I do I have very harsh standards.

I’ll see you all sometime over the week. Until then, may you find yourself to be big in Japan.

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Comments ( 38 )

"Expect weekly updates from me until The Immortal Game is finished."
'wth is this' :applejackconfused:

"The meat of this post’s purpose is to let you all know that Ponies Make War is going to be retitled to The Immortal Game."
ahhhhh!...you could have put that first you know :ajbemused:

and now back to the first quote:
:pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy:(<- im happy if you didnt get that!:pinkiegasp:)

Eh, I never hated the title. It was fitting.

It updated! Capital! Now I must read and Glitch Mob. Thank you kind sir for returning my Tuesday ritual to me.

I liked the title :l
It reminds me of 'To Serve Man' :3

Personally, I find the name Ponies Make War much favorable than.. "The Immortal Game". However I don't have a bone to pick with it. I agree with you when it comes to this fandom's irrational fear of the GrimDark tag.

And by Celestia, it's 4.30am and I'm supposed to wake up in half an hour and you update Poniew Mak- I mean.. The Immortal Game! Not that I blame you but.. THIS IS NOT FAIR!

94637
But the question is, do you hate the new title?

Wanderer D
Moderator

The old title was fine, but then, I'm not prejudiced against stories just by that... :derpytongue2: But I like the new title :pinkiehappy: I think it fits the story, although, I think I had told you this already? :twilightblush:

Anyway, about the star bombings... I hate it when people do that to good stories. :facehoof: Morons. All of them who did it.

"The Immortal Game" is actually quite fitting. The quintessence of this story is a game of power between immortal beings, right? Good.
Though "Ponies Make War" was a fitting title, too. There are ponies, there is war and those ponies are making war. Simple enough.

94649

I'm not Vimbert but I found Ponies Make War quite a bit more fitting, only because the story is- well, mostly about war. :twilightblush:

I'm also not going to whine about such a small thing as a title, though, so thanks for updating for us. :twilightsmile:

"Ponies Make War" was a great title for the major first part of the story, but not "The Immortal Game." The same could be said in reverse, once the Titan stopped Twilight from killing the General the story kicked off with a new feel. "The Immortal Game" fits this part and after extremely well, where as "Ponies Make War" would not be so fitting. Essentially the story can be divided into two books "Ponies Make War, The Immortal Game), only here the books act more like a timeline since there is no separation between Part 1 and Part 2. So I personally like the concept of both titles working as one since they lead into each other (like eras on a timeline)

Anyhow thats just my opinon.

I like the title change. Ponies Make War was very fitting and it had a nice ring, but it did make it difficult to recommend to people sometimes. Heck, it took me quite a while to give it a shot since war fics usually aren't my cup of tea (and especially not pony war fics). In that respect, I think The Immortal Game will do exactly what you want it to.

Old title, new title, I like both.

I have very low standards, I didn't just fill one box of 5 favorites, I have a good dozen or more boxes of favorites! (Disclaimer, I don't actually think I have low standards, I just read a lot and have average standards.)

i have a question; you said that you would make weekly updates on 'the immortal game' until it was finished, my question is as follows: how many more chapters do you have planned? i have a vague memory of you saying that there were only 2 or 3 more chapters; although its very possible that i remember things incorrectly. the reason for the question is that i get the feeling, from what you wrote in the blog above, that there is more than 3 chapters to go.

One of the reasons I started reading Ponies Make War was that you had the audacity, the GALL, to actually call it War. Most people don't have that.

I still probably would have read it as The Immortal Game as well though. :pinkiehappy:

94876
At the moment, two or three is correct, plus I think a short epilogue(even though I typically hate epilogues.) We'll see how much setup and space I need to properly pace the climax.

94649
I, personally, liked the old title. The new title isn't bad, but seems a bit cliched.
Oh well. In the end it's the same story.

So PmW = TIG? Alrighty then. I never disliked the original title, it had a descriptive simplicity to it. But the new one isn't bad, certainly has more of a epic catch to it's name, may very well garner more interest. Though I can't help but be reminded of Game of Thrones... Damn that series.

Also, I find it ironic that war fics have a stigma in the fandom, yet the most popular MLP fan fiction is Fallout Equestria...

Glad to see you're updating again.

It's a bit depressing to hear that PMW was getting star bombs off the title alone, but not surprising. Sometimes I forget that the fandom generally doesn't share my opinion that fics on the darker side of the spectrum are much more interesting than their counterparts. Hopefully the changes will get more people trying the story.

Personally, I'm more or less neutral to the title change, but I do think a description change would be a good idea. It's been a while since I first read the EQD post, but I seem to remember that the description made me think of a very different story from what I actually got.

94983
Don't let me mislead you: while I'm sure there were some star-bombs, there are some star-bombs for every fic. I earned my initial poor rating by virtue of poor writing. And the description will also be getting an update, I think.

I thought the original title was good, especially with the reveal of a certain book. The Immortal Game fits well, too. The title's just the eye-catcher, though now with the change I might be able to trick my friend into reading it...

Also, welcome back!

As Shakespeare wrote into Romeo and Juliet, "What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet..."

Although titles are important, so long as you keep doing what you do, and so long as I know what title to look for this under, I will enjoy it just as much. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. :heart:

I admit I'm one of those shallow people who saw the original title and said "What a generic name! There's no way I'll ever read this!" New title is an improvement, in my humble opinion.

That said, very glad to see you back. :twilightsmile:

94649
I like both titles, one for its bluntness and the other for the more epic feel. The only thing that saddens me about the change is that you'll lose the great title drop at the end of chapter 9, which is one of the best title drops I've had the pleasure of experiencing... unless you also go back and edit the name of Astor's book. That would be beautiful :twilightsmile:

Ponies Make War was a terrible title. There, I said it.

Also, finish Rarity's Theorem!

I just wrote out two paragraphs explaining both titles and their relevances to the plot. Then I remembered that I'm writing in response to the author who would obviously already know all this. So let me just lobotomize my response for the purpose of length.

I LIKE IT.

There. Much shorter.

When I found this, I did find the title a little blunt, and though The Immortal Game is more elegant, it looses what the story is about.

94987
Though you may have thought you have poor writing, I was pleasantly surprised by your verbiage (and yes, I know I am using the word partially out of context). Compared to many other stories I had the [mis]fortune of reading, the vocabulary found in your writings piqued my interest and kept me coming back despite the horrors you inflicted on two of my favorite characters (these dunder heads -> :twilightsmile::rainbowhuh:).

I liked the old title. But this title is just better :twilightsmile:

I definitely didn't make a Fluttershy squee when I saw that Ponies Make War had updated. I don't know what you're talking about.

I've never actually posted this before, so I'm gonna say it here. You are one of the greatest writers I have ever had the fortune to find. I speak not of fanfiction, but of all the stories I have ever read, watched, or played through. If I had to choose the five greatest stories I have ever encountered (don't ask me to narrow it down further, I don't think I could), the list would be Lord of The Rings, Shadows of the Apt, Inception, the Rai Kirah trilogy, and yes, you guessed it, Ponies Make War (or The Immortal Game if you want to call it that). Out of all of them though, your story was the one that inspired me to write a novel that I had brewing at the back of my mind for months before I read Ponies Make War. If I ever do get it published like I want to (or finished for that matter), you will be the one I dedicate the book to. :twilightsmile:

That aside, I understand why you changed the title, and I completely agree that it was the right choice; but the story will always be Ponies Make War to me. Like TechnoBrony, the fact that you actually put war in the title was what initially caught my eye and got me reading. As for the description, I'm sick of having to explain to my friends I introduce to the story that the description isn't really all that accurate, and no, Twilight did not actually willingly side against her friends. I look forward to more (Fluttershy squee) chapters.

94987 both titles fit. I think the name you chose to replace it with is the best possible one to replace the current with.

And honestly, if I didn't love grim dark so much I would have never clicked on the link to this fic (scary thought right?)

But yea, I know some asses that dislike just for sad or grim dark tags... It sickens me. As a huge fan of this and the FoE multiverse, grim/sad is my crack.

I actually loved the title "Ponies Make War," especially since it tied in so well with Astor's book and seemed to be a title drawn from the very depths of the story's themes. My guess is that the reason you never found anybody who didn't hate it was because only those in opposition to the title would speak out about it.

But the new title is good, too, though it focuses far more on the alicorn side of things than the ponies... and I don't know how that sits with me.

I will say that as a fan of you AND your work, I will support your decision to change the title. Though it does feel like you're compromising on your vision just to avoid further star bombing.

Now, more chapters you say? Hell YES. The story itself is infinitely more important than the title. Win!

EDIT:

WAIT!

Suggestion!

Why not just add "Ponies Make War" as a secondary title? It doesn't have to show up on EQD except in docs, and it doesn't have to show up here on FIMfiction except maybe in the first chapter.

So, this: "The Immortal Game: Ponies Make War"

I'll admit, I did pass this over a few times because of the original title. Once I got over that, however, I found one of best fanfics I've ever had the pleasure of reading. That said, The Immortal Game does have a certain ring to it.

Excuse me, but I couldn't care less about some minor name change when I saw weekly updates.

HOLY SHI-

define weekly updates. are we talkin 19k words like the latest chapter?

I'll admit, the title "The Immortal Game" made me question "Game? What game? What's this story about?" I had never picked up interest in the story with the title "Ponies Make War", large for a resistance to dark FiM themes at the time, but that title just strikes me as "That doesn't sound very fun at all!"

The retitle was a good decision. Despite the graphic amounts of awesome action scenes, the heart of the story is better captured with the new (now really old) title.

I'm surprised this story didn't get as much flair and exposure (at least I've never heard of it) as say Fallout:Eq or Past Sins. I don't think this is ever being printed as a physical book, is it? If it is, it should, contain somewhere, the original name, as a tribute, if nothing else to its first title.

Because titles are important.

i just hád to do this.

Dont judge me!

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