>>2324
>I remember earlier on fandom works would often barrow from RPGs and other high fantasy a lot for settings and such.
yeah, in fact I am checking your 2nd link and the fandom was actually pretty obsessed with war topics, armor, setups for any battle and make it seem more mature by going into that route. There are still generals on /mlp/ about it and they would basically compile every RPG element and making it seem special because it has ponies on it

>now this universe has enough rules or implications at the very least that makes it were it has its own logic and we have a pretty good idea when adding our own stuff made from scratch.
indeed. In fact, you can actually imagine a lot of things and epic, if you wanted with all the canon material considered. It has found its own way and the show could actually use it but it´s not the original spirit we are all looking for, or at least, for the first objective. I liked that Tirek vs Twilight battle scene but having too much action would bore me as hell. Jumping into some random adventure to keep the season a bit interesting like What Lies Beneath or even doing those quests mindlessly like Stranger Than Fanfiction or The End in Friend (2ns part) make the show shine at what it does the best.

>From small things like owlbears being brought in to pad out for creatures for minty fresh adventure to the world of MLP being governed by high fantasy rules, such borrowing still happens but it isn't a necessity like it used to.
MLP still has a fantasy setting just that the morals and circumstances are written in the way it feels close to the real life stuff, especially this season. Just that we are all used to seeing it and barely surprises at anyone because it exposes those places and normalizes them over time. We have bugbears and wild creatures that have been imprisoned in the Tartarus and tons of races to play with for any setting in Equestria. The borrowing might be fun for future ideas. Whenever they add bat ponies to the show, I think the franchise will have mostly sucked up the fanservice. Notice how the fandom has discussed more over the show than the early headcanons over the past years. The headcanons point out or reference the show rules instead of creating their own ones. Not to mention that the fan content you have posted was doomed to be a short term project.
>(this game used to be a classic, but it has faded into obscurity.)
Minuette as well has disappeared from the fandom´s eyes. If she hadn´t appeared in Amending Fences, she would be even less mentioned than this timeline.