I've played the game for a while finally bit the bullet and payed for a subscription so I could actively be involved in the wonderful community. Things went great until I let my sister access her trial account on the same computer as I access my paid account. I am now banned from doing anything on the site for 14 days because I shared a computer with a trial user.

I would like to preface this by saying I have never personally been done wrong by this site, or even gotten into trouble with the Mods, or directly interacted with one. I stay off of the forums and keep to myself to avoid this. This review is based off of what I've seen happen to other players.

Mods have access to infinite valuable items (DVS slots, etc.) as they are the ones that hand them out, and regularly sell them for almost 300USD to players on site forums...

Most regular players have to either buy one of these slots from another player/Mod, or win them in a giveaway. Most normal players have 1-3 DVS's maximum, and a good majority of players don't have any at all.
-The Mods' friends also have a suspiciously high number of these limited items.

Even if they somehow are coming across these honestly, (very unlikely) you feel scared to ask/question anything as I've seen people pushed off of this PAID site for no more than just questioning a Mod's decision. There is so much that is overpowered and suspicious about the mods, and they create an environment where you just cannot criticize them, or even ask/hold accountable.
It is also stated that it is not guaranteed that Mods are paid, yet they are a tight knit group of people who have been playing and modding for many years, usually for most of the site's history. All I'm saying is that it is very unlikely that they are not being compensated, (or given some kind of advantage) and also very unlikely that PI is totally fair, yet people are expected to act as though Mods are angels who donate their time.

On top of all of that, technicalities and hard to understand rules are ban-able and "strike one out of of two" worthy, but usually those rules only become enforced if you insult or offend a Mod in some way.

The only way to stay out of trouble, is to never interact on the forums, really.
If you can get past that, it's a fun game.

I've been on Pony island ever since 2007. There are good things and bad things about this site. The mod team always gives out the best that they can to the people that play. But I feel like there are more people over the age of 18 on the site than there are of children. You have to walk on eggshells around the mod team and you can't say anything that's even remotely bad or anything close to a swear word or you will be silenced. It's just really upsetting that most of the mod team wouldn't even care about what you are going through as a person. I would say the only bad thing about the site is sometimes there are just too many mods that feel like they're too high and mighty but it still doesn't take away from how great of a game this is and how close to my heart it is because of how long I've been playing it. I feel like any child below the age of 12 wouldn't really understand the intricate things that go through with this game.

I have a rather large family, and we all LOVED PonyIsland, but we couldn't afford to pay for one account, so we all created our own trial accounts. They suspended our accounts because "you cannot have more than one trial account per person" WHICH BY THE WAY ISN'T EVEN IN THE "OFFICIAL RULES" PLACE! I tried to explain to them that, no, we did not have more than one per person, but a big family, who can't afford to pay their insanely large amounts of money for even one account. They demanded that we stop logging into all but one of the accounts unless it was to pay for them. Well, how could we choose!? Lin adored her ponies and wasn't going to give them up, but, Margret said the same thing, as well as Sue, and Ari, and Charlie, and well... you get the picture. None of us wanted to give up our precious ponies... but if we logged into more than one account, they would suspend us all over again! The people I talked to were rather rude to us as well, saying that we may as well leave, since we couldn't afford it, and that sort of thing. Trial accounts were already so restricted on what they could do, and the people were so toxic that well... we were actually considering leaving.

Looking at all of the reviewed written before mine, I see both sides.

I've never been banned but I have absolutely have never had a good experience with the MODS or people who run the site. Most reviews do not mention the site's history but it was started by a couple and after a breakup only one of the creators, the one who codes the site, and had not nearly as must emotional investment, remains. This I believe gave MODS the ability to run rampant. The creator that left had a lot more involvement and things seemed much more fair before she left. I have been active for 13 years and have won little to nothing with being an active player for that long. It's not difficult to notice that the MODs friends get the hero's helping of the prizes from events, even if the MODs themselves cannot win the prizes. I have also had my far share of uncalled for emails from the MODs being passive aggressive and rude to me personally even though I rarely participate in the social aspects of the site, I feel have not done anything that would warrant a warning. Although after reading these reviews I'm glad they at least warned me, because it seems that they don't for most. Which is disturbing for a children's focused site.

On the flip side. This is an absolutely wonderful site that has always given me a fun place to go and play with ponies and genetics. The structure is nothing like I've ever seen and there is nothing else like it that I have found. I greatly appreciate that they do not advertise the site and make it a community that is too large to feel at home. I have grown up with this site and I don't see myself ever leaving. Even though I would appreciate a power change, or just honest people in the control of the important things on the site, it's still an amazing place.

At the end of the day. Spend the $14 to try the site out. You spend that every month on Netflix and you might find a 13+ year long relationship with a unique and wonderful site that is far different than pretty much everything you'll come across these days. It's an interesting place that has so much potential. Support the creator, and pressure the bad parts out. It's worth the try. Have fun!

Frankly I feel like the complaints about the mods are folks actively breaking the rules. I've played for ~13 years and have never had a ban. They're very kind + forgiving and frequently run events and donate so much of their time for free.

Love the breeding component and challenges of this game. The art community is incredible and I'm hoping to kick off my own adoptable soon too! Great opportunities to collect, make life long friends, examine fun genetics and join a really uplifting community!

I should have checked more carefully before I bought her a subscription. The game encourages players to starve virtual animals to death for a profit of game gold. Anyway thats what she told me. She also told me the mods thought they ruled the universe and swore at her and called her names. They were bullying my child. They called her acwimp and a sissy. One mod called her a $#*!.

I played this game growing up, it helped me develop into an adult that has a passion for art, genetics and learn from my mistakes - though there are a decent range of problems you'd think given their success wouldn't be pervasive given their pay-to-play business model and over a decade to iron out problems.

Here's a TLDR - Potential security and financial safety hazards, lacks fundamental security features any other website these days would have as a minimum, focus more on whether they like users (for example children) when enforcing rules rather than assessing their claims and thus staff protected those who took financial advantage of minors despite the nature of the game itself, the admins repeatedly ignore serious questions and appear (from my recent experience) to treat those with neurodiversity as expendable customers rather than trying to address what is being brought up.

After 5-8 years of absence after some major issues when I played as a teenager - I thought "Hey, I should check out the game that was an integral part of my life for so many years" - this thought was a mistake and I'll explain why.

So, a few unique aspects of the game are the ability to have multiple accounts as long as you pay for them and that items/in game currency can be sold for real-world currency and as such despite being an online pony game - the audience and playerbase are older than you'd see on other games within the genre. When it comes to your "virtual pets", it's pretty unique and offers some cool challenges and advantages as it's genetic and colour driven giving users the ability to create ambitious projects with genetic combinations, multi-generation selective breeding plans and a creative approach to how the colours of these poinies can create practically infinite combinations - which, to re-iterate are commonly sold for real world money between players.

Now, let's talk about some of the flaws that I encountered on the less-than-a-week return as an adult and some I recall which were re-enforced from my time playing in the past.

Some websites will send you emails to the point you'd be frustrated - Ponyisland is not one of those websites. Despite being a platform that requires ongoing payment - you'll never get an email directly from them whether it be confirmation of you signing up, alerts to major changes to your account (for example someone changing your email or transferring your entire inventory and in-game finances to another account etc). Or receipts of any purchases made with them. Now that's a little worrying as if your account was compromised - how would you know if away from the game and if your email and password were changed - what could you possibly do?

Let's talk about my decision to return to this creative website and where the biggest issue I have really starts - like many users on the site I had many accounts and couldn't remember the login details so I did what most people would do - I searched my email, first my current, then the one I had when I was 10 and a few others but didn't have access to my school/educational email accounts for obvious reasons. I didn't have any hits anywhere, so I tried their general search with a few keywords however, no dice. When you try to reset your password you need to provide the username and email, which normally would be pretty standard but given my situation for example - I'm not sure whether my account(s) would be tied to one email address, or multiple, or what my usernames would be and what combination would work. So what can I do next? Contact support despite the low chance I'd be able to prove I'm the account owner - but you can't contact support without being logged in.

So here's the conflict, do you give up on your nostalgia and the desire to help keep a game afloat by chucking them a few bucks to re-live such an integral part of your life for a little while or buckle down. I should have given up here, but alas I chose another option that in retrospect, caused far more harm than good.

So after exhausting the normal ways you'd access an old account with no avail, I opted to register for a trial account for one purpose: The advanced search.

Signup is easy enough, a short form of the basics with confirmation you agree to the rules and terms of service - no mention of users being unable to delete these accounts and details explaining that if you've got multiple trial accounts or both a trial account and a paid account you may have a week's suspension - that's reasonable as I was intending to delete the account once I'd located my other accounts using the search tool exclusive to logged-in users. So it turns out, you can't delete these accounts and since they don't send confirmation emails I'd point-blank forgotten the username of my trial account as it was made at 1AM after a night of pre-new years celebrations with friends and my sobriety was questionable at best.

I was able to recover my old account and paid for it and 2 other of my old sub-accounts and figured it would be a major waste of staff time and resources to request they locate the account I'd made in a haze (especially the week between Christmas and New year as staff would likely be pre-occupied) simply to ask "hey can you find this account that was used for an hour and has absolutely 0 in-game assets which I don't have any way or desire to access" so, left it be and enjoyed 6 days of playing with genetics and exploring the game that hadn't changed since my youth.

So, I broke a rule and I own and accept that, however, there is absolutely no other option for people in my position to take and that's an integral flaw you'd think a paid service that's been active for over a decade and should easily be resolved when talking to support with evidence of the extended inactivity on my long-dead accounts, the choice to pay for multiple accounts and that the trial account in question was clearly not used in a negative intent given no assets were generated/used and it was abandoned entirely.

6 days later, I'm banned for two weeks for having an unpaid trial account. I opened a ticket asking for more information and requested to know what the username was as I had no details of it emailed to me and couldn't recall it, I explained the situation and my attempts to access my accounts prior to creating a trial account and queried why my ban length was double what is stated in the rules. Now, if it'd been a week, as said in the rules, I'd have tolerated it - I mean it's just a digital pony game. The issue was that these ponies die, and the 2 week time-frame meant that I'd have 17 ponies die and recovering them costs significant in-game premium currency which as I mentioned earlier, has out of game value and that seemed a pretty unpleasant and significant penalty for someone who tried every other possible avenue to recover their old accounts, it was evident the account was not accessed since or used for any of the game mechanics and I'd tried to explain this to and propose resolutions. Costing players significant ingame premium currency, which in this situation would have needed me to spend actual money to obtain because I needed to use a search tool after exhausting methods you'd use on any other website, free or not - that's not a healthy environment for people to engage in at any age.

So, in short, my recollection of their Mod staff's behavior prior to me leaving the site in the past hadn't changed. Honestly, until this point, I'd figured I was misremembering how they treated me in the past and assumed my child-brain made it worse than I thought. Well, I was in fact wrong.

After explaining the situation, proposing a variety of possible resolutions (including deletion of the account, transferring one of my paid memberships to it to avoid infraction etc.) they were repeatedly ignored to the point I wasn't sure if my enquiries were even sending within our support ticket (they were, they just chose to ignore them).

Now, in my situation, I had a particular kind of ban on my accounts permanently which has always raised red flags with how it was handled, however, I had accepted it as something I'd always have to deal with if returning to the site and taught me a lot of life lessons in its own way. I don't want to name names or go into explicit detail as it's old and doesn't bother me much now but at the time, 8-9 years ago as a high schooler working 2-3 jobs to earn money and the other users involved being adults who's minimum wage was around double that of mine - being scammed out of hundreds of dollars by fellow "artists" on the website, publicly shamed for being unable to dedicate as much time to this website as a child with multiple jobs and effectively losing the ability to participate in the community without other users bullying me for this - I ain't gonna lie I got upset and practically begged the staff to help me recover whatever I could at the time and it hurt. At the end of the day, I didn't handle it right as a kid who's community and financial situation was destroyed and I got banned from art permanently on the website with staff members calling me a troll. I bring this up as the artists involved are all now permanently banned themselves, at least one for them for a major reason I was upset - art theft.

I bring this up as I figured I'm already dealing with moderators, I might as well ask if I could get clarification from their side on what determined me to be on that list, clarification of the limitations (as their rules didn't go into it) and if, given the other users being banned for exactly what I'd alleged after I left the site for treating others similarly; would be either a) related to why I was treated with a harsher ban than the rules stipulate or b) if an appeal were ever possible for the art ban given the time since and what transpired following it.

Staff told me my reactions and how I handled myself at the time (as a child) were the reason I was banned and that they aren't going to reverse or handle an appeal for it, and I accepted that. They explicitly said maturity and respect - and I was an upset kid back then so I left it at that and said I accept that decision and outright apologized.

Now, days of going back and fourth later, staff were ignoring my inquiries, telling me how they can have leniency for users in my situation but not me and despite me being clear, factual, respectful, and simply - blunt: I was being called immature and disrespectful - I'm a grown adult with qualifications and awards in customer service - I didn't once make any comment like that towards staff, however, apparently those who are on the autism spectrum wanting to revisit a game that frankly has many attributes that would make it very popular with the crowd - aren't capable or trained to treat people like that with dignity or respect and that's bad for a free game let alone one that costs $14USD for 6 months.

I contacted Paypal with evidence after 8 requests for a refund if they're not willing to discuss this with me, pass on feedback or treat me with any level of dignity/respect and that was initially my last-resort solution.

I didn't come back to a website that facilitated me being scammed by an adult as a child and called me a troll when I begged them to take it seriously - to be treated as if I was acting maliciously or to be punished excessively when there is a major integral flaw in their systems that forced me to break a rule that they've told me they're lenient to other users regarding but had no way around. If they'd stuck to what was in their rules, honestly, I'd have probably accepted the punishment despite everything - but they didn't and the way they treated me proves not only is this website not particularly safe for kids even 8 years later, but it's probably a bad place for those who aren't neurotypical too.

The only reason they have 2/5 not 1/5 is simply because the premise has merit - it's a good idea and really inspired me to study veterinary nursing, game design and pursue my passion for art. Maybe the way the admins treated me as a kid pushed me to be blunter and state the facts when dealing with conflicts it customer service as an adult - since having emotions will only hurt you but that doesn't make their reputation for treating paying users of any age, mental capacity/divergence etc. poorly any more forgivable.

- Update my review was deleted so that was cool :)

I've been on this site for almost 16 years now and have seen A LOT of work go into it throughout the years. While the site has undergone drastic changes throughout the years the admin team (Artists, MODs, Event and POTW) really has done a wonderful job to keep the breeding aspect of the game alive.

There are wonderful breeds and genes to play with, and a stunning array of items to dress your ponies in. The admin team is fair and adheres to the rules, but also allows for some leniency when they can. Rules and FAQ questions are available always through the homepage and bottom of the screen so if you ever have any questions you can read through (I still do from time to time). My favorite times of the year are the Extravaganzas and the Advent. There are always wonderful creative games and prizes. The admin team

I've never had any negative interactions with any of the admin team and was very shocked to see so many disgruntled reviews. I've been an active member and mediocre artist on the site (not for the site) for 16 years, and while some of the rules may seem a little too strict, they insure a safe place for all ages to come and enjoy the site. I'm so glad to be part of this site, and hope to see it continue going for many years to come. It's a fantastic place to hide away when the rest of the world is going crazy.

I get it! There are ALOT of rules, some of them being... more QUESTIONABLE then others, but nothing too insane. I feel those complaining must have had a REALLY bad experience or are out right lying, because i have broken PLENTY of rules, and not once has the punishment been more then not being able to play on an account that wasnt my main account, or just having a notification for 3 days. The mods have been courteous and kind to me, nothing like the tyrants you are describing. Ive been on PI for 4 years now and i have NEVER seen even ONE clique on there. Everyone is MORE than kind! I think you all are forgetting this is a game mostly made for children... anyways! You all should play on PI, as its a great site with a wonderful community of nice people.

I love the artwork and the fact that you can breed ponies, but I must say... If I had known that the Administrators and Moderators were such tyrants, I would never of joined and sank so much money into it in the first place. I am attached to my account now (and money), so I work just to try to keep it up, but I am getting sick of recieving messages, glowing in evil red, telling me how my posts are in the wrong forums. I make a post about breeding in the "Advanced Breeding" forum and it gets moved to "Generator Tips" or whatever because another user brought up color combos. Also, if you suggest ANYTHING for the site that requires effort, you are bashed and scolded and asked "Why would you do that to the poor MODs and ADMIN?!" The ONLY ideas they will even humor are suggestions about new S-Genes and if you are LUCKY, a new breed. Also, I am pregnant and they say that you are not allowed to even tell people that you are pregnant on forums. I guess to sum it all up, do NOT give your opinion. Do NOT tell people about yourself. And for God's sake, please, do NOT say that you are unhappy. Smile and love your Admin and MODs and repeat after me, "We pay for wonderful coding and hard work. We're lucky to be graced with such a site and have no thoughts and opinions of our own."

The moderators of Pony Island are not a fair group. There are many examples of their overboard actions to players without a fair hearing about the situation under review. Just their personal opinions or tangents. It is sad that the administration seems to have left the God Squad as the only option for final review. It puts an otherwise awesome game into a catagory of 'beware buyer'. The god squad itself should be reviewed.

I will give an example of their unbrideled actions. A friend did an art project for one of their events. They used a photograph (not a copywright piece of work such as a photograph of another person or a piece of art or something of that nature). They used a simple picture of an item (an everyday item with everyday items in it). An example that I shall give is a bowl of fruit. Now you would think that if someone took a picture of a bowl of fruit and drew their rendition of that bowl of fruit and specifically made that bowl of fruit into something else such as a car that looked like a bowl of fruit they would 'referencing' and not 'copying'. When the item drawn becomes something else by using or referencing an item it isn't a copy. These moderators don't seem to understand this concept. They put an art ban on my friend.

When my friend contested the ban, brought all of this up with the mod squad they were basiclly told to bad this is our decision. My friend asked when the ban would no longer show on their account and basiclly they were told that it would remain on their account FOREVER. Like say what? This was the very first thing that had ever gone wrong for them and they get a forever mark on their account.

I personally think it is wrong to keep bad marks on accounts that people pay good money for. If there has been no other situation in over a year there should be a review board that can clear those off of accounts that had honest mistakes, have done their best to not get black marks against their account(s).

Not according to the god squad though. They don't care they just love the power trip they are on.

Maybe the administration should consider a term for these god squad moderators. It is a sad statement on an otherwise very nice game with so much going for it.

Actually, after reading some of the reviews on here, I'm torn between sad and amused. Sad that some of you feel this way, and amused that some of you are so bitter about things. I've been on this site for years now, and I've never been banned or anything else. I see no "cliques", and I've had nothing but good experiences with the MODs that most people here seem to have so many issues with. Then again I guess I just know to read everything that says rules? Anyway, best place I've ever spent my money with really kind and considerate people! The site runs smoothly and you can make about any type of pony you desire. Provided you treat everyone with consideration, and use common sense with rules, you should have a good time.

I have been a member on PI for 10+ years, I took a short break and came back to realize that the MODS are awful. They do not care about you or what you have to say. You want to disagree with them? Good luck because they will be rude to you and make your run on the site as difficult as possible. Not to mention that the site shows EXTREME favoritism. I do not think I will be putting anymore money to the site, if you like breeding games like this try flight rising instead, same concept only executed better and with dragons.

Admin of the site are unhelpful and downright rude... For example the ban appeal system is a joke. I've spoken to several people other than myself who have received temporary bans and attempted to appeal them, and admin "Veez" will just say "if the moderator says you were wrong, then you were wrong". Bans are handed out like candy on Halloween and even if you are banned permanently you will not receive a refund for the membership.

Site goes down frequently due to crappy servers (which you are told is are the reason you have to pay $30 a year). The site does not give refunds or extra time on paid accounts to make up for downtime. When the site is not down, it is painfully slow even on fast internet connections. Again, crappy servers that do not support the volume of traffic to the site.

For approximately five minutes every hour the site is not useable due to the "hourly tick" which is completely unnecessary but the other admin "Zarqx" is too lazy to code the site properly. If you add that up, that's approximately 2 hours every day that you are unable to use a site you pay to be on, or 730 hours a year. The way the site is run, you pay for 12 months but 30.4 days of that is "hourly tick" and automatically unusable.

You are not allowed to criticize in the slightest way the moderators or admins of the site. Users on the forums are bullied into silence and are often too scared to point out problems such as hypocrisy or discrimination in the rules and administration of the site because they fear bans and therefore lost money.

The way this site is run is shoddy, inexcusable and shameful, and the funny thing is that the admin Zarqx uses it as an example of his leet coding and web design skills. I think he expects people to hire him to design further crummy sites. Yikes.

The breeding mechanics are fun but don't even bother, mods will $#*! all over you for the most benign thing.

I spent many years on Ponyisland, early on as a growing artist the moderators would try to take advantage of me and my artwork. I was a fast and decent artist that quickly improved but when a player attempted to break a written agreement, the moderators tried to 'convince' me to make exceptions even after I showed them the agreement. I was young, but I wasn't stupid and I don't break under peer pressure or power play. I fought them every step of the way and in the end it resulted in every customer wanting said special treatment. I received numerous short-term bans for standing up for myself and I did everything in my power to remain respectful as I genuinely enjoyed the site. I was prohibited from taking on any more customers because I wouldn't break under the moderator's pressure to ignore agreements and contracts.

In the end the conflicts resulted in an IP ban as I wouldn't give them what they unjustly demanded and am continued to be tracked to this day. Not many on Ponyisland know my side of the story as I tried to make an effort to keep everything to a minimum, however the same couldn't be said for the moderators as they relished in the attention and 'support' of their disgusting behaviour.

The site is also extortionately expensive too as while you can have multiple accounts, you have to pay full yearly/half-yearly subscription for every single one.

Hello Everypony! Today after looking over the extremely biased reviews of this game. I am going to give you all an honest look at Ponyisland.net. A webgame that I am still active on, and do still enjoy, and if it's worth your time and money.

So sit back, relax, and I will tell you more about this game than you ever wanted to know.

I: My personal History with PonyIsland...

So, I think the best way to start this off is to give a short rundown on how I became a member of this website. It's a funny story actually. I had made the first account for a friend, since she did not have internet access, and could only really play at my place. Initially I was one of those guys who thought that ponies were not cool, and was just doing it because I knew she enjoyed them.

The way the game is set up however, made it so that you had to take care of your ponies or they'd die. Of course it had to be me since I was the one who technically owned the account, and with both of us working together to maintain our ponies, while also coming up with characters for them, it didn't take long for my friend to get me hooked to where I made my own account.

To this day, I have not one single regret, but is this game worth the price of admission? Short answer yes. Long answer? Read on and see.

II: Gameplay

Ponyisland at the time of writing this has twenty breeds of ponies, and countless sgenes which are split into four different catagories. Body, Hair, Leg, Face. Some genes are more realistic, and some, the breed specific in particular are downright fantastical, and the breed selection in very inventive with some breeds such as Unicorns and Pegasi being iconic, however there are also some very unique breeds as well. Phoenix Ponies and Merdragons coming to mind, alongside Kitsune Ponies, and Dino Ponies.

The Breed Specific Genes also add a great layer of diversity as well, although not every breed has theirs yet.

What is there though offers quite a few options for those who want to breed some interesting combinations.

The genetics are a fickle thing to work with however, so please bear with me as I try to break them down in simple terms.

During Breeding, the genes and colors are chosen from the parents in a way that will attempt to give the offspring a combination of both parents colors and genes. If the parents are identical, then the offspring with look identical to them. However there is a bit more to this system.

To get the most out of breeding in this game, you have to create a good pony within as few generations as possible. The first generation as in ponies you've generated should have the blueprints you need to create a DVSO from them. (Double Visible Starter Offspring.) Which is generally what most breeders do in this game. There is lots of terminology to learn, but to put it simple, a Starter is a pony that is fresh from the generator, and will like have the genes you want but will not show them, once the offspring is bred they should have the genes present.

Confused yet? Probably, but I'm likely making it sound a lot more complicated than it is. I'll admit that I don't make a habit of breeding very often, especially since it can be hard to know what genes a pony has unless there is a note with them listed. It can be fun to breed random ponies and see what you get from then.

Breeding isn't all this website has going for it although that is probably the number one reason aside from just being a fan of ponies.

There are other things you can do though.

For one, you are going to need to feed and vet your ponies which costs PG (Ponygold)

This is not optional as if a pony dies, you will have to obtain a resurrection scroll, which cost BP, or Bonus Points. You earn PG and BP by contesting and Questing your ponies, which also allows you to level up their stats so that they can do better in the next contest, which can lead to some huge payoff in the end. Just remember to vet your ponies after each contest, as they will get hurt.

In addition to this, you can also customise your interface, as well as how your home island looks which is a pretty cool feature that a lot of websites like this lack. Here you can actually have a visual representation of your stables which makes it easier to get attached to your collection, or herd, or what ever you want to call your ponies.

There are also countless artists, adoptables, and even forums and groups that are filled with additional and often times exclusive content, and most people on the forums are quite friendly. Which leads me to.

III: The Community.

Okay, so this is where I'm going to be stepping on some toes. Please keep in mind that I do not intend to be hurtful with what I'm going to say, as this is just what I've experienced personally.

So to start with the most obvious controversy, I do agree that some of the rules on Ponyisland are a bit stingy. The thing that I've noticed however is that many complaints are coming from a place of fairly biased anger. Why is that? I'll explain. The whole idea behind the paid subscription service is to disincentivise trolls and other toxic influence from taking root in the community, while still leaving the site open to the general public.

This was not always the case however. When Ponyisland was first created, it was meant to be little more than a club, for the admin and her friends to hang out and share there passion. Of course with the Internet being the Internet, what started out as a fun little venture by a few close friends, ended up becoming an actual web business. While it paid off initially, some of the new obligations plus the ever increasing demand for innovation, caused a rift to form in the community.

Now the webside is divided into four camps. Those who still hold loyalty to their friends, and are now bitter at how some things turned out. Those who were part of the old guard but now hate their guts.

The average consumer (Me) who is just enjoying the site for what it is, and the consumer who wants their dollar to mean something.

It's a vicious cycle, and it makes it really hard for the mods, many of which were part of that initial golden era to hold an unbiased attitude. Does that excuse some of the things that have happened. No. Absolutely not. Especially when there are as many bad mods as there are good. In my experience though, especially as sort of a random nobody, I can say that the mods I have interacted with were very fair, and willing to help accomadate my requests. I have also noticed that they are actually far more lenient that the rules would make you think.

As to the location of rules, (In their respective forum) I don't really see an issue with that, in fact that seems to be the most common since way to do it, since you don't need to read the rules on making a post about the new project you made, if you're actually going to be writing fanfiction.

It is really not a big deal, especially since combining all of the rules into a single page would not only be overwhelming, but counter productive since it would mean more forum hopping, in order to check the rules, in a forum, and then have to travel back to said forum in order to post.

IV: In Conclusion

Ponyisland is 23$ per account, per year, however if you make a point to hoard PG, it is possible to never have to pay for a subscription again, as you can sell PG and BP for actual money, and that is just if you don't take commisions.

Really though the game is solid, with some very interesting ponies and countless projects for you to breed, or just lots of pretty ponies to collect.

The community is at odds with itself on where and how the future of the site should be handled, but as long as you're not being a D*** about how you express your opinion, then it really isn't nearly as bad as people are making it out to be.

The mods do have some bias, but that comes from the fact that they are a close circle of friends, and may even feel that this club that Ponyisland used to be for them is being taken over, by people who don't have the same connection that they do, but at the same time have shown a great deal of professionalism.

I actually was a part of the movement that was trying to ressurect the sites RP storyline, and was a bit of a pest for the mods during that time, and yet was never attacked or banned for my thoughts or requests.

The only post that was deleted was a religious conspericy on how Wishing Ponies and Valkyrie Ponies were the PonyIsland versions of Angels and Demons. I don't think I need to elaborate further on why this post was deleted lol.

Overall I probably left out more than I included, but that is because, even though this game has it's shortcomings, I still think that if you are a fan of Ponies in any way, that this site is still more than worth it, to at least try.

I've have been the artiest of Ponyisland, drawing the ponies and pony characters for each page plus the splash page since 2005. I have seen so much change and degrade it's very sad to see. I was the only Artiest for years and one day I told VeeZ that I needed help so I started an artiest group. I rarely seen ZarqX. The only time he shows up is to fix the website or update it. VeeZ would ok any project the Artist group had or pony drawings I did. Suggestions and criticism went well to help improve the artwork for PI.
When the Admins decided to improve the website making it better looking, the art on the splash page was redone by someone else, replacing my art. The pony character for each page were also replace by someone else's art. Over time any items I did was also redone by another artist. When ZarqX and VeeZ split. Things took a nose dive fast. ZarqX, the only admin on the site decided to have leaders to run the website for him. So an Artist leader was chosen and a moderator leader was chosen, giving them free rein in how to run Ponyisland. In 2018 the Artists group leader kicked me out of the group that I started. In 2019 when new breeds were being made I tried to remind them that the breed has to have a pony look to them. The website is called Ponyisland for a reason, the whole theme of the website is in the name. They wouldn't listen no mater how many times I tried to explain it. A mod was getting annoyed with me and called me snarky. After that name calling I decided to leave ponyisland. I saw their ideas for Ponyisland and what their future plan is. The future breeds will not look anything close to a pony.
They were happy to see VeeZ leave and have Zarqx as their only admin. They couldn't wait to get rid of me, now they have complete freedom to do what they want with the website.
I never felt it was right to release so many items during events but they wouldn't have listened to me if I said something. First it was 5 item, then 10, then 20. Even during the Christmas events they release more that 25 items. Sometime it's 2 or 3 in a box. For rare items there truly is no such thing as rare item.
I've seen it with my own eyes, Rules are made by mods and artiest, they run the website, they make all the decisions. If you post your opinions or disagree, they will delete your post or thread. If you run into a problem, don't expect a mod or artiest to help fix your problem.

Play the game at your own risk.

Stumbled across this website and I was shocked by some of the reviews.

As someone who has played on and off since 13 to now 23 years old. I've been on all spectrums of game play.

The mods are not a God squad, there are rules and rules to be followed.

There is no easy way to mistake the for zhe. If a mod uses chatspeak on a pony for a character that's different than the forums. Why is chatspeak not allowed? It's hard to read, especially since there are international players.

Now as an adult the level of conversation I have is very different than when I was 13. Everyone has access to the forums. It's only appropriate that my language is ok for all ages.

A forum is about 25 posts long, so 3 per week is usually plenty. One for your weekly bred babies and 2 for new ponies you generated or something. Then in another forum post items for sale. Not wanting forums flooded is not a reason to write a 1 star review.

And to those saying they want refunds for the money while they were banned. Most likely it was just a forum ban. And seriously? Its $24 a year haha you want a $0.50 refund? Get over it.

The community is great. You can't post things like you're saving up for x item because the users (mods included) will just send them to you and share their items.

I didn't have a lot of PI friends until I did an adoptable role play and now it's even more fun!

Really amazing game
Captivating breeding challenges
Best community in the world

I find this to be a really fun site. I have multiple accounts and love breeding the ponies. I have also gotten really involved in the adoptables section of the site. I also play a lot in the stravas or other things happening on the site. I love the site and despite the issues I see others have had with mods I have had none at all.

I have found the mods to reasonable and willing to discuss issues so long as everyone remains polite and respectful. I only once had a post hidden and when I contacted them to discuss it, they wound up reversing it as it was a simple misunderstanding.

Overall I enjoy this site a great deal and even recommended it to my mother and my sister along with my nieces.

Rules are very restrictive. I have witnessed MOD Abuse and Mod Favoritism, though I haven't experienced it personally. Thankfully, I'm not such a near sighted person that I would say something to the effect that it hasn't happened to me so it can't be happening as some comments and reviews are saying on here. It is a real issue on this site - more prevalent than I've seen on any other site. They have a very... non-empathetic and belittling approach. You may not ask them for help in most situations. Admin has done old users dirty as well, I would know as a user that's been there since 2005 on and off. If you're an artist - DO NOT open up shop here - the rules are infinite, ridiculous, and have run off some God-level artists. Finally quitting for good and not looking back. My advice is if you want to make some pretty ponies, put in $14. But don't invest any type of real money into this site, it could be taken away from you in a blink, or all the stuff you bought could become worthless in a blink of an eye.

I love this site! I love the breeding, the community (yes, even the MODS), and the ponies of course. I was actually searching for a QVSOO guide, but stumbled upon this little gem of reviews instead. Now, normally I don't review many things, but I spend a good amount of my time on PI, and I was a little shocked at these some of these reviews.

Yes, the MODS can be a little strict on where you post what. But that's kind of their job, and no one can say they don't do it XD I have had a few of my replies hidden, but looking back on it, I can see why. Though I didn't cuss or anything inappropriate like that, it sometimes slips my mind that there are 11 and 12 year olds playing this game, and have as much right to be on the forums as I do, and it is important for adult users to remember that some kid is reading their post. I have even had a thread deleted because it was against the rules (medical question about a spider bite XD ) guess what? I wasn't banned. The post was simply deleted with a message as to why. End of story.

I do not think PI is cliquish. The community is smallish, and a lot of these players have been playing for years together, they've been involved in various groups together (POTW, Strava planning, adoptables)-- so yeah, they're friends. Want friends on PI? Go out and make some. A good chunk of the players are shy and very introverted, you don't see them on the forums, but they're there. I have only been on the site for a year and a couple months, and I feel like I fit well. I made my own friends. I don't know the MODS personally, but I can say that from their posts they seem really nice- and I have never seen any one of them abusing/ making fun of a player. Ever. Debates are welcome, disagreements are inevitable- but if you can't debate/disagree without getting personal, this isn't the site for you. However, if you are looking for a fun, friendly community, this is it :P