I have to say, I am astonished that anyone would be opposed to this proposal - let alone so many people! The thread on reddit received a generally negative response, the thread you started on the Aliens forum has not gained much traction, and even here where most people have eagerly signed their support, several posters have still spoken out against the motion. I just can't understand it!
Like many players, I had never heard of the Galactic Mapping Project, but I have often seen that map of the Milky Way with their place-names written all over it, and I always loved it... it gave the Galactic Map flavour, and it brought home to me that there were passionate players out there who were taking it upon themselves to fill in the blanks that Frontier had left. Even without knowing who you guys were, I admired you, and I was grateful for the contribution you were making.
And now, after so many years of place-holder mechanics, Exploration is finally getting the update it deserves - so of course we should add the names that the community have come up with to the Galaxy Map, this is a golden opportunity to incorporate that delicious flavour into the game! Why would anyone object to that?!
People have said that numbers are 'simpler to use', so we should just stick with those... but numbers are also dry and boring, and they feel so arbitrary, which means that they are not really any simpler at all! Where is region 26, for example? Is it in the North, South, East or West? Because they spiral out from the centre, you have no way of knowing... and because numbers are so dry and forgettable, you are less likely to remember where a particular region is, because it will not make much of an impression on you (whereas 'The Abyssal Plain' might spark your imagination, and help you to remember its location...)
Others have mentioned that there is no language barrier associated with numbers - but so what?! Half of the names that the community have dreamed up are in Latin, the international language of science, so they should require no translation... and the rest of the names are no worse than the names of starports, etc. What did they call Trevithick Dock in the German version of the game? (Spoiler alert: they called it 'Trevithick Dock').
There was even someone on reddit who objected on the grounds that the GMP's names sounded 'terrible'! What?! Okay, maybe 'The Solitude Void' sounds a bit naff, but it's not bad... and most of the names sound perfectly reasonable, especially since some actually use real-world scientific terminology. Besides, you could literally call somewhere 'The Lost City of Xaa' and it would sound better than 'Region 40'...
And as if that was not enough, there is also the fact that the community members lobbying for this change are being so polite about it... they are not raging and demanding that Frontier give them what they want, they are merely requesting, and hoping. They are even suggesting a compromise, wherein the names exist alongside the numbers, as an optional layer that people can switch off if they don't like it... such pragmatism! Part of me is outraged on their behalf, that after all these years they now have to adopt such a conciliatory attitude - part of me thinks that they should be able to stride into David Braben's office and insist that their names be officially adopted, by virtue of the fact that they have been patient long enough! But of course, none of them would ever dream of doing such a thing... because they're just really, really nice people.
How could anyone object to these guys getting the official recognition that they deserve?!
Needless to say, I sincerely hope Frontier do use most of the community names to populate the locations on the Galaxy Map - and even though Will Flanagan already said that they will not be able to move any of the region borders, I actually hope that they think better of that, since in a couple of places it looks like a tiny adjustment would make a world of difference. And no matter what happens, I want to voice my support and thanks to the Galactic Mapping Project, for having given this procedurally generated galaxy a warmer, more human touch... I love it, it inspires me, and it will continue to do so, no matter what Frontier decide.
![[VR] Bac Ho](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/74/74720.jpg?1553527113){kind=avatar}
