Now that the Beta is over and the release date for 3.3 has been announced, is it too late to discuss the names of the new Galactic Regions? Because there are some issues that I and a few other people have noticed... and I was hoping that the devs might still have time to fix them, before the 11th!
This is what the Galactic Regions looked like when they were first announced (with thanks to CMDR Qohen Leth); Frontier just gave them numbers, while the names that you can see in the background are what the exploration community have come up with themselves, over the years. Several explorers suggested to Frontier that they could potentially use those names instead of numbers... whereupon Frontier did indeed give names to the regions, but they only used a handful familiar to the exploration community, and they made the rest up themselves.
Of course, it's Frontier's game and they can do what they like - but some of the names that they have chosen are astronomically wrong, which flies in the face of Elite's commitment to scientific accuracy!
For example, Region 28 (on the far West in the diagram above) is now called Aquila's Halo... it sounds nice, and it's such a remote region that it never had an established name within the exploration community, so Aquila's Halo is as good as any other. There's just one problem - it does not line up with the constellation of Aquila!
As far as I can tell, when seen from Earth, Aquila is further to the Galactic North - corresponding to Region 42! So, if Frontier are determined to use the name Aquila's Halo, they should give that name to Region 42... and call Region 28 something else!
And as for Region 42 itself, it is currently called The Void... which makes sense, since it IS on the edge of the galaxy, after all. But Region 40, on the far North of the Galaxy, has been called The Solitude Void for years by the exploration community... so, if Frontier want to call somewhere The Void, why not give that name to Region 40, instead?!
And what about Region 40, which is currently called The Abyss? Well, as seen here, some of the explorers who suggested using names in the first place have timidly requested that Frontier change the name of Region 25, just to the West of Region 40, to The Abyssal Plain, because it has been called that for years now, apparently. As far as I know, Frontier have not responded, perhaps because it would not make sense to have one Region called The Abyss, and the neighbouring region called The Abyssal Plain. But if Region 40 was re-named The Void as I suggested above, then Region 28 could indeed be re-named The Abyssal Plain, no problem!
Getting back to the scientific inaccuracies, Region 11 (in the East, near the middle) is now called Trojan Belt... but why? In astronomical terms, the word Trojan is usually used to refer to Trojan Asteroids, occupying one of the stable Lagrange Points in the same orbit as a larger body, either 60 degrees ahead of it, or 60 degrees behind. But in relation to the Galactic Centre, Trojan Belt is not 60 degrees away from the human-occupied Bubble... so why give that particular name to that particular region?
Especially since there is another Region, which IS 60 degrees away from Sol... Region 38, in the South-East, currently known as Lyra's Song. It's not quite perfect - it's slightly further from the Galactic Centre than the Bubble is - but at least it is at the right angle... AND it's next to Region 36, now known as Achilles' Altar! (Achilles was killed in the Trojan wars...)
Speaking of Lyra's Song, there is another reason to change its name - it's nowhere near the constellation of Lyra! Seriously, if you were standing on Earth, the constellation of Lyra would be on one Horizon, and Lyra's Song would be on the exact opposite horizon, they could hardly be further apart!
So, where should Lyra's Song be? Well, there are two regions that line up with the constellation of Lyra... the first of them is Region 32, in the South-West, now known as Vulcan Gate. And the second? Region 28... the one that used to be called Aquila's Halo, before I suggested it be moved further North!
Now, it might be that Frontier would not want to put Lyra's Song and Aquila's Halo right next to each other, as they are very similar names... but having said that, out of 42 Regions, no fewer than NINE of them are called 'Somebody's Something' - that's more than 20% of the Galaxy! (And that doesn't include Vulcan Gate and Trojan Belt, which are also very similar...) Of course, if Lyra's Song REPLACED Vulcan Gate, that would help a little... but I think there are still too many regions with similar sounding names...
What about Hawking's Gap? That's one of the names already established by the exploration community, so I assume they are very gratified to see it immortalised in-game. But, as detailed here, Hawking's Gap was the name the explorers gave to the GAP between two of the galaxy's spiral arms... whereas now, it is the name of a region which encompasses one of those arms! It's like making a map of Europe, and calling France The English Channel. Amusing though that would be, it's just not accurate...
Honestly, if it was up to me, I would move (or outright replace!) about half of the names on the map - but I get the impression that the explorers are reluctant to rock the boat, and don't want to ask too much of Frontier, for fear of sounding entitled and whiny. However, as it stands, some of the region names are objectively wrong - and unless something is done between now and next Tuesday, they will be wrong when the update goes live, and then it will be too late! (And what are Beta's for, if not feedback like this?)
Does anyone else have a problem with the current state of the Galactic Regions...?
This is what the Galactic Regions looked like when they were first announced (with thanks to CMDR Qohen Leth); Frontier just gave them numbers, while the names that you can see in the background are what the exploration community have come up with themselves, over the years. Several explorers suggested to Frontier that they could potentially use those names instead of numbers... whereupon Frontier did indeed give names to the regions, but they only used a handful familiar to the exploration community, and they made the rest up themselves.
Of course, it's Frontier's game and they can do what they like - but some of the names that they have chosen are astronomically wrong, which flies in the face of Elite's commitment to scientific accuracy!
For example, Region 28 (on the far West in the diagram above) is now called Aquila's Halo... it sounds nice, and it's such a remote region that it never had an established name within the exploration community, so Aquila's Halo is as good as any other. There's just one problem - it does not line up with the constellation of Aquila!
As far as I can tell, when seen from Earth, Aquila is further to the Galactic North - corresponding to Region 42! So, if Frontier are determined to use the name Aquila's Halo, they should give that name to Region 42... and call Region 28 something else!
And as for Region 42 itself, it is currently called The Void... which makes sense, since it IS on the edge of the galaxy, after all. But Region 40, on the far North of the Galaxy, has been called The Solitude Void for years by the exploration community... so, if Frontier want to call somewhere The Void, why not give that name to Region 40, instead?!
And what about Region 40, which is currently called The Abyss? Well, as seen here, some of the explorers who suggested using names in the first place have timidly requested that Frontier change the name of Region 25, just to the West of Region 40, to The Abyssal Plain, because it has been called that for years now, apparently. As far as I know, Frontier have not responded, perhaps because it would not make sense to have one Region called The Abyss, and the neighbouring region called The Abyssal Plain. But if Region 40 was re-named The Void as I suggested above, then Region 28 could indeed be re-named The Abyssal Plain, no problem!
Getting back to the scientific inaccuracies, Region 11 (in the East, near the middle) is now called Trojan Belt... but why? In astronomical terms, the word Trojan is usually used to refer to Trojan Asteroids, occupying one of the stable Lagrange Points in the same orbit as a larger body, either 60 degrees ahead of it, or 60 degrees behind. But in relation to the Galactic Centre, Trojan Belt is not 60 degrees away from the human-occupied Bubble... so why give that particular name to that particular region?
Especially since there is another Region, which IS 60 degrees away from Sol... Region 38, in the South-East, currently known as Lyra's Song. It's not quite perfect - it's slightly further from the Galactic Centre than the Bubble is - but at least it is at the right angle... AND it's next to Region 36, now known as Achilles' Altar! (Achilles was killed in the Trojan wars...)
Speaking of Lyra's Song, there is another reason to change its name - it's nowhere near the constellation of Lyra! Seriously, if you were standing on Earth, the constellation of Lyra would be on one Horizon, and Lyra's Song would be on the exact opposite horizon, they could hardly be further apart!
So, where should Lyra's Song be? Well, there are two regions that line up with the constellation of Lyra... the first of them is Region 32, in the South-West, now known as Vulcan Gate. And the second? Region 28... the one that used to be called Aquila's Halo, before I suggested it be moved further North!
Now, it might be that Frontier would not want to put Lyra's Song and Aquila's Halo right next to each other, as they are very similar names... but having said that, out of 42 Regions, no fewer than NINE of them are called 'Somebody's Something' - that's more than 20% of the Galaxy! (And that doesn't include Vulcan Gate and Trojan Belt, which are also very similar...) Of course, if Lyra's Song REPLACED Vulcan Gate, that would help a little... but I think there are still too many regions with similar sounding names...
What about Hawking's Gap? That's one of the names already established by the exploration community, so I assume they are very gratified to see it immortalised in-game. But, as detailed here, Hawking's Gap was the name the explorers gave to the GAP between two of the galaxy's spiral arms... whereas now, it is the name of a region which encompasses one of those arms! It's like making a map of Europe, and calling France The English Channel. Amusing though that would be, it's just not accurate...
Honestly, if it was up to me, I would move (or outright replace!) about half of the names on the map - but I get the impression that the explorers are reluctant to rock the boat, and don't want to ask too much of Frontier, for fear of sounding entitled and whiny. However, as it stands, some of the region names are objectively wrong - and unless something is done between now and next Tuesday, they will be wrong when the update goes live, and then it will be too late! (And what are Beta's for, if not feedback like this?)
Does anyone else have a problem with the current state of the Galactic Regions...?
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