Heya!! I was got my start into regiments when I was that age too. It’s nice to see more older regimentgoers! DSDF is one of the regiments I was active in for a time, so I would say I am fairly opinionated about it. I was friendly with two staff members who generally had a lot of good to say to me about the group. Athough I ultimately ended up leaving for personal reasons, I enjoyed my time there. Speaking from an enlisted/outsider perspective, it was one of the better regiments I’d seen pop up during the time it ran. It was definitely a numbered regiment, in my eyes anyhow, which are always my favorites. The community was friendly and I observed everyone to be friendly with one another. During my time, I shlyly stuck with my emotional support staff member but I did manage to make an acquaintance in there who I chat to when I see around. I could tell the members who socalized on events were very happy with each other and were right where they wanted to be. While I did feel that I was thrown into the deep end, pun intended, on my first few events, the staff were very helpful and kind about correction. You certainly did present the way that you wanted to, to me at least. I didn’t have too many gripes with your regiment. The biggest one I ever had was the fucking @enlisted pings in the radioline that I couldn’t opt out of or mute when your staff was trying to get attendees. I was the one that bitched about it in the suggestions channel that one time. It would drive me insane when they popped up during classes and work. If I wanted to be pinged for events I would’ve gotten the fucking fucking fucking patrols and marches and recruits role. Drove me absolutely insane. However, that’s just me being nitpicky Overall, DSDF seemed like a solid regiment and I can tell that the members who filled its ranks had a lot of passion and dedication to the community they had built within it. I could tell it was important to a lot of people and I do see it mentioned fondly still from time to time. I was disappointed to see it go. I do not have a good relationship with the concept of OPSEC but I know many regiment staff teams continue to have it as a key foundation in their staff protocols, so I assume that you and your staff were just doing what was best for you and your regiment. Ultimately, what’s important is the safety of your members and staff, regardless of what that looks like. I will keep your offer for assistance in mind but overall, it was just meant to serve as a basic guide for the average player and I don’t see it needing updates anytime soon. If you are thinking of making your own guides, I advise you to do so with your biases set aside, with an objective and open mindset, and having done as much research as you can and thoroughly thinking about the topics you want to address. I know I myself am someone who has a lot of opinions and I can be very cynical and judgemental. However, I always try my best to be open minded, I make it a point to be able to admit when I’m wrong, and I always try to give credit where credit is due, even to the worst people I know and that I despise with a burning passion. Misinformation, lack of common sense, and bias are all huge things that make the community as bad as it is. Just be careful with what you choose to speak on and how you approach certain topics. At the end of the day, I’m just a horse who really loves regiments and I want to see the regiment community improve and flourish. It’s important to me that topics regarding them are given the care and mindfulness that they deserve. If you do end up doing something, I wish you immense amounts of luck and success with it and I’ll be happy to see how it turns out. Thank you for the question and all the love! I assure you, DSDF has all of mine in return

This is absolutely an okay place to ask, don’t worry. I’m happy to help. While these are very good questions, this subject is something that is a bit too complex for me to answer here in one go. However, I have decided to attempt to make a guidebook going into depth on these topics. I can’t guarantee when it’ll be finished or if it will be finished, but I hope that can help a lot of people. I will try to give some small answers and pointers based on the questions you’ve given me, though. - How would one go about starting and managing their own regiment, keeping things organized, and just making it a thing in general? The biggest thing you need when starting and managing a regiment, especially if this is your first time attempting to try a regiment, is a solid staff team full of verifiably reliable people. If you don’t have a competent staff team who are passionate and qualified, your regiment will not do well. I highly recommend privately scouting people that you already know or asking people that you trust if they know anyone who they would recommend to staff for you. Asking around on ponytown should always be a last resort. Keep in mind that these people are taking time out of their lives to help you. Treat them professionally, respectfully, and separate your personal relationships with them when in a regiment setting. Communication is always key. Talk to your staff and figure out what needs to be done based on the vision you have for your regiment. Put the most important things at the top of the list. Utilize a to-do list (even after opening) when planning out your regiment. Figure out who’s going to do what and set hard (but flexible) deadlines for when things need to be completed. Most regiments die off before they ever even open. If everyone isn’t clear on what they’re supposed to be doing and if they aren’t committed to their tasks, nothing will get done. IF YOU ARE GOING TO WAITLIST YOUR REGIMENT, DO NOT DO IT UNLESS YOU HAVE A PLANNED OPENING DATE THAT YOU ARE A MAXIMUM OF A WEEK AWAY FROM. - What makes a Regiment truly a regiment and what makes them successful, in a sense. In literal terms, a regiment is truly a regiment if it’s creators want it to be. However, quoting what I wrote in my regiment guide, “Regiments are structured and militaristic roleplay groups that have defined ranks, rules, and coordinated behavior.” At their core, that’s what regiments are. So if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. As for what makes them successful, it really depends on your definition of successful, as that statement is a little too broad. I’m assuming you’re talking about what makes a regiment popular upon creation, though. It’s a larger topic than I can address here, as a lot of factors go into that. However, there are a couple of notable ones that I can think of. I’ll breifly elaborate on each of them. Theme - Is your regiment’s theme something easy to relate to or is it more niche? How well does it appeal to the general player base? Staff - Do you have enough qualified people serving your regiment? Are they all put in positions that match their skills? Originality - What makes your regiment stand out from everyone else’s? What new opportunities, activities, and functions does your group offer that others don’t? Sociability - Is your group approachable or do you keep to yourselves? How far are you going to make a good impression and connect with groups and players outside of your own circle? Consistency - How frequently are you making your presence known to the community and your own members? How often are you hosting activities in the public eye, regardless of the number of attendees that show? Policies - How many rules and regulations do you have put in place and what are they? Are they clear, detailed, reasonable, and beneficial to your members and operations? Timing - Did you open your regiment during a time period where people have the free time for regiments? How many other groups are you competing with for members and are there any larger groups that might be actively taking up the community’s attention? Luck - You can never guarantee that a regiment will be successful, even if all these aspects are present. However, keeping these things in mind can help you increase your odds - How should you prepare and manage a community of people? The wording of this question throws me off just a little bit but essentially, you should prepare and manage your regiment with the upmost care. By no means should you be running your group like the actual military but you should take it seriously. You and your staff are responsible for providing a pleasant experience for your members and your top priority should always be their safety, well-being, and their needs. As an owner, you are not entirely the superior of your members, nor are you entirely their friend. Your members and staff will be looking up to you, and you (as well as your staff members) should be good role models. A lot of people who join your regiment will be impressionable teenagers or people who have never had an experience with regiments. It is important that you provide them with a safe and enjoyable space to socalize with others, participate in activites, and grow and improve as people. Things that happen in your regiment WILL impact people. I was 14 when I joined regiments and I grew into an adult in those spaces. I have been shaped drastically by the experiences I had in the groups I joined. There are still a lot of things I learned in regiments that I use to this day and I have been shaped as a person because of them. If you play your cards right and have a regiment that grows and thrives. Do not treat your members like numbers. It is your job to ensure every single member that walks through your metaphorical doors are seen for the individuals they are. Take time getting to know and appreciate every wave of recruits that your group gets. If you have to reprimand, punish, or handle difficult conflicts involving your members, you treat them like human beings. They are not just pixels on a screen and you should give them the kindness, understanding, and respect that they deserve. Don’t be stubborn and prideful, don’t let your anger get the best of you, and don’t ever pass judgements on anyone before communicating properly with anyone involved in a situation. Every single regiment that’s ever been opened is remembered by somebody. Eventually, your group will run its course and it will shut down. Make sure that when people are talking about it to others, they can remember it because of the fun they had and the friends they’d made and not remember it because of how badly they were treated in it and how they were hurt by it.

Thank you!!!! I'm so glad it was. I looovveee horses so of COURSE I'd be a horsegiirL fan

Oooh, this is a fun one. Cracks my knuckles. - Opinion on the new forms of regiments? Focusing on the era we're in now, post GS and BIO, of course. In terms of new forms of regiments now, I will admit my perspectives on them have changed from what they used to be. Regiments have come a long way from how they were… what, six years ago? While the concept of themed and numbered regiments have always existed, regiscouts have confused me greatly. While I understand them in theory, they’re just very difficult for me to wrap my head around properly. Every time I’ve had someone try to explain to me what a regiscout is, it was completely different from every other explanation I’d heard. And quite frankly, I don’t like how it feels like they’ve been displacing the concept of regiments and scouts altogether. I really hated the term when I first saw it going around but I’ve been trying to have a more open mind about them. I don’t understand them, but I’d like to. While I’m actually rather fond of regispecies, it seems every regispecies nowadays is animal + concept. Very rarely have I observed a regispecies have a purpose for the regiment part of their regispecies. I’ve also seen a resurgence of delivery groups and I’m aware of a couple of idol groups that have existed. I’m always really stoked about people who take basic regiment concepts and turn them into their own unique things - How do you feel about the way things have evolved: waitlists, the general lifespan of a regiment, and how they're run currently? Overall I think that the community has gotten better in a lot of aspects. However, I feel there are also a lot of things have become mediocre or worsened entirely. It’s much easier to elaborate on with specifics, because there are a lot of topics I could touch on. I can easily address the ones that you’ve given me though. Waitlists are genuinely one of the worst things to have come out of the community. A lot of people don’t realize that they’re doing their regiment a disservice by creating one. It’s better to have your regiment completely polished and complete when you release it so that you don’t have so much pressure on you and your staff to get it done. But having a waitlist also makes your regiment more forgettable. The longer you take to release your regiment, the more that the novelty of it will wear off. People are more interested in groups that can immediately start to interact in and connect with. I can’t tell you the amount of waitlist regiments I joined only to forget about and completely miss that they had opened. It does more harm than good. For regimental lifespans, it’s a little hard to say. A regiment’s lifespan is dependent on a lot of factors and is another topic entirely. For the sake of the question however, assuming that we’re talking about groups who had a successful start and are able to garner a steady stream of members and are fairly active, they last about a couple of months. While regimental lifespans haven’t exactly “evolved” per-se, a lot of modern groups that pick up tend to die out because of inactivity rather than internal issues. Which is a very very good thing As for how regiments are run currently, I still have ton of issues with it. Too many to speak on here. However, I will say that a lot of my issues ultimately trace back to a regiment’s foundation. If you don’t have someone qualified as the owner, which ends up being the case with most groups, the rest of the regiment is going to fail. But as far as I can tell, the groups that are currently active are fine for what they are. They’re running, people are enjoying them, I haven’t heard any news of disaster and downfall so far from anyone yet. That’s really all I could hope for - Do you think it was better back then rather than now to make a regiment? Honestly? I think it’s better to make regiments right now. While I do have a few gripes about how watered down regiments have become, ultimately I think that the state of the regiment community is optimal for regiment creation. Firstly, a lot of older players say that regiments are dying. However, I’m inclined to disagree. Regiments certainly aren’t dying, but they have decreased in activity. There aren’t as many groups that pop up consistently and there aren’t as many players in the community. However, just because there’s been a decrease, it doesn’t mean that regiments are dying. It’s just part of the regiment cycle. But this decrease is actually a good thing. This means that there’s less competition when it comes to recruitment and more of an opportunity to find quality members who are more likely to commit to your regiment. You’ll have an easier time standing out. We’ve learned a lot from every generation of regiments that have popped up, for the better and for the worst. It’s been 7 or 8 years since regiments were invented and have evolved drastically. In this day and age, the community has become a lot more tame and it’s a lot safer than it was. We know a lot more now about what to do and not do in regiments. Even if you’re just starting out with regiment creation, you’ll probably have staff members, friends, or helpers who have existed much longer in the community who will guide you on how to do things based on previous experiences. I’ve separated regiments out into different eras and comparing modern day regiments to much older periods of regiments is very interesting. However, no matter what era I’m comparing the present time to, I can positively state that it’s better to have regiments being made like they are now. - What about a scout? Despite what I’ve said about regiments, I believe it was much better to make a scout group in older days. However, when I say “older days” I don’t mean before the Post GS era. I’m talking about before they were so intertwined with regiments. I will admit that I am not as knowledgeable on scouts as I am regiments, however I was around when scouts and regiments were totally different things. Scout groups had their own standards, their own ideals, and their own structures. Although they were similar to regiments foundationally, there was always a distinction. However, modern day scouts have taken so much from regiments that I feel like they’ve lost a lot of what made them so unique in the first place. I could say a lot about structures, operations, and activities, but the biggest issue I have is that scout groups have lost their neighborly values. Regiments have a sense of community, of course. But that community tends to develop a lot more slowly and passively. Connection tends to come as a byproduct of repeated interaction and participation. But from what I remember, older scout groups prioritized building community and were very hands on with it. Scout groups always felt closely knit in a way that regiments never were. Their members being closely connected and friendly with one another was really important, and a lot of their activities would reflect that. While regiments encouraged friendliness, scouts required it. That isn’t to say that current day scouts aren’t friendly or lack community, but rather to help you understand the emphasis that they put on it. Community was important to older scout groups and that community very much extended outside of just their circle. Scouts used to frequently interact with the people around them. A lot of their tasks revolved around small acts of service to other people and groups. They would go out of their way to greet and chat with other groups, give compliments and gifts to strangers, and they were much more sociable and open to outside interaction. This is what was so special about older scout groups. While regiments focused on the growth of their members and teamwork, scout groups focused on unity and socialization. As far as I’ve seen, modern day scout groups don’t operate with these values anymore. Scout groups keep to themselves, just like regiments do. They don’t participate in the greater community, and most defined scout groups operate like a smaller scale regiment, minus the combat and the discipline. So, I say it was better back then to have made a scout group because, as far as I’ve seen, true scout groups no longer exist. However, I would love to be wrong about this and if anyone ever has any scout history, stories, or memories to give me, I’d absolutely love to hear them

I understand completely. I too tend to be jaded from prior regiment experiences, funnily enough. However, I've never quite been able to shake them, no matter how hard I've tried. It's true that there's been a LOT of straight up horribleness to come out of regiments and people have gotten hurt. However, there are reasons that regiments still continue to exist and grow and thrive. With each controversy that pops up, something is learned that the next generation of regiments will follow. Regiments are ever evolving and despite the difficult past the community has had, there's still a lot of good to get from them. They're an experience quite like no other, and if you find one that's well structured, well-run, active, welcoming, and adjacent to your playstyle and values, it can be one of the best experiences you've ever had

Absolutely! Any regiments or Ponytown groups are free to use my guide, no credit or permission required. Also my favorite regiment would definitely have to be The 800th, just because it was the one I grew up in and put a lot of work into for the time it was operating. Thank you for the question!

Sir yes sir

YESSSSS!!!! MORE REGIGOERS!!! MORE!!!!

Thank you! That was the intended goal and I'm very glad to know it's been doing it's job. Regiments are very important to me and I feel like everyone should at least know the basics of them

Hooray!!! I LOVE seeing other people love regiments! If I had to recommend one regiment out of any other larger ones, it would be the 656th without a doubt. I am very picky when it comes to regiments but the 656th handles itself with tact, care, and a love for its community. It values safety, communication, and overall works to make a comfortable social space where it's members can learn and grow. They have a lot of unique features and they prefer quality over quantity when it comes to its members. I've never seen a group that's able to perfectly walk the line between professionalism and play like they do. Especially if you were a fan of the atmosphere of older regiments, the 656th recreates that space in a much more ethical and secure way. They have a small staff team but all of them are very lively, kind, patient, helpful, and fun people. I've never met such a welcoming community before and they're always really eager to meet new people. 10/10 highly recommend. Thank you for the question!!

Hello! I appreciate the compliment and the question! I worked hard on that guide and I'm very proud of it :> The guide that I wrote is part of a larger PT resource and information project in the works by another Ponytown player. It was written with the aim to give new players or people who have no knowledge/little interest in regiments some basic information about the community. There are a lot of topics regarding regiments that I am well experienced in and opinionated about and I can and have talked about them for hours. While I would LOVE to make a huge document on them, there are just so very many things I could go over and a lot of what I have to say tends to fit better into verbal discussions rather than long paragraphs of writing. I will say that I have considered making a guidebook on how to create a regiment but that's a topic I would need to thoroughly and carefully think through to ensure my advice is applicable to all types of regiments and that I'm not being too biased and subjective. A regiment being made correctly is something that I feel very passionate about and I'd want the guide to be able to thoroughly reflect that. I'm also just someone who isn't very good at coding things and someone who struggles with time and motivation. However, (aside from my atabook) my discord DMs are always open for anyone who has any questions about any specific regiment topics, is looking for advice and guidance, or wants to discuss any situations within the community or in any specific regiments

HELLO!!! I'm glad you also love regiments! It's my first time making a github so that means a lot! Have a good time ponytowning!