ⓘ DISCLAIMER: The information in this document isn't meant to be taken as objectively factual. This topic has been thoroughly researched and recorded by experienced Ponytown players to assist others in having a smoother gameplay experience, but ultimately there is no 'correct' way to play.
THE PONYTOWN REGIMENTS GUIDEBOOK
(For additional questions, concerns, critiques, or revisions please message @superstitional.realism on discord, click for a redirection!)
When you’re playing ponytown, there’s a good chance you will come across a group wearing identical outfits who have the same abbreviations in their names. You’ve most likely stumbled upon a regiment! The regiment community is one of the biggest communities in the game, so having at least some general knowledge on them is important. So please pay close attention while I brief you!
What is a regiment?
Regiments are structured and militaristic roleplay groups that have defined ranks, rules, and coordinated behavior. Regiments host private events where they participate in activities meant to emulate military missions or trainings. Combat is a key feature of regiments and their operations revolve around it. Their members are often held to certain standards and are expected to act professionally while in their ranks
Why are regiments a thing and why do so
many people join them?
The first regiment was the 123rd, created by Akers back in 2019. He had originally made it to be a social experiment but it would grow to be something far more. The 10th was created later that year by Kwang in “opposition” to the 123rd and The Rebels made by Astro would soon follow. These were the original three that set the stage for all the regiments that followed. When the pandemic hit in 2020, the regiment community truly took off. It was a way to connect with others, find structure, and cure their boredom. Regiments have drastically evolved in that period of time, finding new resources and methods of conducting themselves.
Regiments are often misconstrued as uptight, unfriendly, overcritical, exclusionary, and straight up abusive groups who scrutinize and punish their members that they don’t like over every little mistake. However, regiments wouldn’t be so popular if this was true. Regiments are often misunderstood by people outside, and even within, its own community.
The point of a regiment is to provide a fun and safe space to challenge its members. In regiment spaces, you end up developing and improving a lot of skills that will help you in the real world. Regiments teach social skills such as, team-work, self-awareness, and communication. You’ll be encouraged to step out of your comfort zone and when you do, you’ll find that it’s always worth it. You’ll learn that discomfort and difficulty isn’t automatically a bad thing. The more you engage with a regiment, the more you’ll gain confidence in yourself. In a regiment space, you’ll find good company in those who are enlisted with you and you can make lasting relationships with the most unexpected people. Effort, initiative, dedication, and improvement is always rewarded. With every rank you climb, you’ll find a sense of pride in the knowledge that you worked for it all on your own and find fulfillment in the progress you make, both in the regiment and as a person.
You’ll also learn how to be more mindful of others and to take accountability for yourself and your mistakes. Although it sounds scary, it’s an important thing to be able to do. Everyone is going to make mistakes in a regiment setting but regiments actually want you to. When you make a mistake, it might be embarrassing and you might even feel discouraged. But that’s okay! One of the biggest things a regiment will teach you is that one mistake, one miscommunication, one bad decision isn’t the end of the world and you can bounce back from it. The best thing you can do when you make a mistake is earnestly apologize, acknowledge you’ll do better going forward, move on, and follow through with avoiding it. Staff members do not punish, they correct, respectfully and kindly but firmly. They aren’t against you but rather, they’re rooting for you. Staff members want to see their enlisted members improve and they take great pride in watching shy or inexperienced people slowly come into their own.
Regiments can be intimidating at first but if you give it a chance, show up, and let yourself make mistakes, you’ll get the hang of it. Before you know it, you’ll be having the time of your life with a bunch of people who love you to bits that you can share and celebrate all your progress and accomplishments with
What are the different types of regiments?
There are labels that we can group regiments under to better help understand how they operate. However, given the diversity of these groups, it’s better to look at this like a spectrum rather than a definitive list.
Numbered Regiments
Despite the name, numbered regiments are not just regiments with numbers in their names. Numbered regiments are based on pre-existing military groups in the real world. Some numbered regiments are directly based on an actual military, while others are just based on military ideals or a general branch. Their uniforms are often neutral or dark colors and are inspired by military uniforms or vehicles. Numbered regiments are usually considered the most “strict’ out of all the regitypes due to their close adherence to militaristic themes than any others. You’ll often see them use actual military slang, ranks, and concepts. They go hand in hand with themed regiments
Themed Regiments
Themed regiments were originally referred to as "shiny regiments." The term “shiny regiment” was originally used to mock any militaristic group who used colorful uniforms as a focal point for advertising. However, that term has become outdated and those groups are now referred to as themed regiments. Themed regiments are still militaristic in nature but are not themed around the military. They’re often based on aesthetics, specific fandoms, or original concepts. Their uniforms are often brightly colored and decorated to fit the theme of the regiment. While a lot of them still use military terms and ideologies, some will often come up with their own to fit their regiment better. Themed regiments still operate very similarly in the ways that numbered regiments do, with their only differences being structure and theme.
Regispecies
As you could guess from the name, a regispecies is a species group who also doubles as a regiment. Upon joining, members will be asked to create their own species character and submit them along with their uniforms. Most modern-day regispecies tend to be derivative of regiscouts, however. How hard a regispecies will actually lean into its regiment aspect varies from species to species. Sometimes the regiment part of the group is tied in closely with the lore of the species, while other times it’s just purely for functional or aesthetic reasons
Regiscouts
Regiscouts are by far the most broad and complex regitype. From a simple standpoint, regiscouts are just groups who have a mix of regiment and scout aspects. However, there’s no real way to describe a regiscout. While a regiscout can absolutely be a mix of the two groups, a regiscout could just be a scout group that’s not a conventional scout group or a regiment that isn’t a conventional regiment. It could be a group who isn’t militant in nature but that repurposes basic regiment structures. Or a scout group who just likes the terminology and aesthetic of regiments but doesn’t operate like one. Or a regiment whose standards and procedures are really relaxed and laid-back. Some regiscouts function more like regiments and some function more like scouts. Regiscouts as a whole don’t have any solid operating standards as accepted by the overall community. Each one functions uniquely
Scout Groups
Scout groups, while having defined ranks, rules, and coordinated behaviors as regiments do, are far less rigid. These groups are based around scout groups you’d see in the real world. Scout groups don’t have any sort of combat systems and their events are more community-driven. Their activities are made up of various games and tasks, much like those of regiments, but are devoid of the combat features and they do not have a military emphasis on them. Every scout group has their own theme and uniforms to match. Most scouts have a currency that you can earn in order to buy certain perks or special uniforms in their shops. Though they are often grouped together, scouts are generally regarded as their own separate community
While these labels are good overviews of the type of regiments you’ll see, the definitions are not concrete. Some use these labels, some don’t. Some groups fit the description of the label it uses, some don’t. Some groups use other labels entirely. How a regiment is defined is ultimately up to its creators
Important regiment terms for the general player base
- Civi/Civilian - A regiment will refer to anyone not enlisted into their ranks as a “civi” or civilian. Regiments do not interact with people outside of their group during events unless it is for a specific purpose
- Uniform - An outfit worn by the regiment to designate their members. Some may vary based on branch, career, rank, special awards, or custom alterations
- Claim - A specific skin and name you register yourself under within a regiment. Some groups have you state your claim before your uniforms are made while others will register your claim when you submit uniforms
- MWD/K9 - A specialized member in a regiment who roleplays as a Military Working Dog. They have different functions during events than regular members
- Enlisted - The general population of a regiment, usually used to refer to anyone who isn’t staff. This term may also be used to refer to any members who are not MWDs
- Non Commissioned Officer - The members in the lower staff tier of a regiment. Often responsible for hosting events, moderating the group, minor background work, and resolving minor behavioral issues with enlisted members
- Commissioned Officer - The members in the higher staff tier of a regiment. Often responsible for hosting events, moderating the group, important background work, resolving major behavioral and security issues, as well as creating, maintaining, and altering the structure and resources of the group as needed
- Host - A staff member who is in charge of planning and carrying out an event
- Career - An distinctive job offered by a regiment that has specialized abilities and functions during events
- Combat - A fighting system that regiments utilize involving the /roll command on ponytown. Each regiment has their own rules on how combat is conducted
- Formation - A specific pattern that members align themself in to create a shape. Some regiments have their own custom formations
- Lockdown - A temporary place on the map where members of an event will stay for the duration of an event conduct their activities
- Patrol - An event consisting of militaristic activities, tasks, or games as predetermined by the host
- March - An event where members of a group walk around the map in a line or formation. Breaks may be taken for members rest or do an activity
- Recruitment - An event where members of a group go around the map to convince players to join their group
- Catering - A term used to indicate if a regiment is willing to make accommodations for those with touch, crowd, or covering discomforts
- Ally/Alliance - A regiment who is partnered with a certain group is considered an “ally” group. Often used for advertising opportunities and joint events
- Blacklist - A roster that some regiments use to post information about certain dangerous individuals in the community
How do I join a regiment?
Before getting ready to join a regiment, make sure that you have a Discord account and are at least 13 years of age as per Discords’s terms of service.
The best way to get recruited into a regiment is to find a group that’s recruiting at the main safe server docks. Groups who are currently looking for new members will be sending out recruitment messages. These often contain snippets of info about their regiments, what they feature, or what you need to have or do to join. Keep in mind that some regiments have an age minimum and/or an age limit that you need to meet.
Here is a walkthrough of the recruitment process
When you find a group that catches your eye, message one of their members to start a conversation. Make sure that when you’re communicating with a recruiter that you use whispers. Regiments don’t respond to booping or public chats
Especially when you’re first starting out, it’s important to find a group that fits your play style. There are tons and tons of regiments active at any given time and all of them are extremely diverse. Feel free to ask a member to tell you about their regiment or ask them any questions you might have. They’ll be more than happy to assist you and if they’re unable to, they’ll redirect you to another member who can give you the information you need.
If you feel like you want to join, let your recruiter know and they’ll ask you for your discord username. Once you whisper it to them, you’ll have to wait until they send you a friend request. If you don’t receive one immediately, be patient. Some people will friend you right away while others might have to wait until their recruiting session is over.
Nearly every regiment will have you answer a set of questions before you can properly join. Some will allow you to enter the server first and some will only send you the invite link into the server after you’ve answered their questions. Make sure you answer honestly to avoid conflict or consequences later on.
Once you’ve been given an invite into the server or you’ve been verified, most regiments will have a channel that will walk you through how to enlist or a questions channel where you can get assistance from staff members.
Ensure that you read the group’s guidelines thoroughly and look through any information channels that might give you more information about how the group functions. If you decide that the regiment isn’t a good fit, don’t feel pressure to enlist and attend events. There’s no harm in leaving a regiment if it doesn’t feel right for you.
Once you’re in a regiment server, you can also browse through their alliance’s invite links posted in a designated channel. These links will usually include a message giving you some important information about their group. Regiments who host alliances also will often also have a designated representative in their server from each regiment they’re allied with. You can usually message that representative to ask for more information about their group or to ask them any questions you might have