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 :)

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.