[Invention] KGSS Continent Naming Committee

[HOC]

IMO, continents do need specific boundaries.

We are fortunate here on Earth that most continents are (presently, at this moment in geologic time) isolated or connected to others only by thin isthmuses (sp?). A notable exception is Eurasia, which is usually divided along mountain ranges (the Urals and/or the Himalayas.) So for us, it\'s almost a non-issue.

Kerbin, however, is highly connected and the continents and regions are much more subject to interpretation. Consider that the OP needs/includes a poll!

So yes, if we\'re going to define these things, they need to be defined.

This is the unofficial forum to decide things exactly like that. Poll, poll after poll. Once we have fully decided how many continents there should be, we\'ll decide whether or not we should have exact borders. As I mentioned in my most recent post, I am pro-border although I think they needn\'t be a massive deal- simply different shades of green to distinguish each continent.

After we have decided that, the locations of them may begin. I suspect that this\'ll either be the quickest or the longest debate we\'ll have, as many people seem to be agreeing to a similar version to Radion\'s post (myself included once more). If we can\'t agree on that, it might turn into a bit of a competition with everyone arguing their own personal version.

We\'ll see what happens.

[Radion]

While I think we should use a combination of definite borders and 'diffusion zones,' so to speak. They would be areas where the two continents that would normally have a normal border would have a zone that goes out for say 5 kilometers. Inside those 5 kilometers, the land belongs neither to one continent nor another, but after those 5 km, it would be a definite continent. The exact kilometer range could be up for debate, as really one line at 2pt is quite larger than 5 kilometers on a map, so we could just stay with the lines.

[MaverickSawyer]

If we use geography as the border for the continents, for example a mountain range, then we should NOT count the range as part of either continent.

My $0.02.

[Spearka]

I feel this is the best manner in which to divide them, based on my preferences for non-eyesore-ic lines, old roleplay borders, mountain chains, height differences, and general comparison to Earth\'s continents. There are 6 in total.

I had voted for 5, but later found that 6 were much more practical.

technically the Spearkan Island should be its own sub-continent, since it is alredy in the boundaries of two

[707-Engineering]

Be carefull with the naming here, you have the remenants of an entire roleplay thread headed your way.

as for continents, i say 6.

[cardgame]

I\'m not particularly attached to the RP names, but I would very much like to see Young and Old Kolus remain.

[togfox]

Be carefull with the naming here, you have the remenants of an entire roleplay thread headed your way.

Hence the desire for no borders. Explorers do not need borders. Roleplayers do. This is the basis for my caution.

Great thread. Keep it going.

[Imandreas]

This. So basically 7 plus a bunch of subcontinents.

[HOC]

We aren\'t using Roleplay names right from the bat. If it so happens that EVERYONE suggests roleplay names, then so be it. It is, at the end of the day, the community\'s majority vote and if most of the community are roleplayers then I\'m (as a non-roleplayer) not gonna argue.

Also, I don\'t necessarily think only RP\'ers want borders. I want them because, out of interest, I want to know exactly where one continent ends and where one begins. We have these things in real life, so we might as well have them here.

As Commander Zoom said, we\'re here to define things, so that\'s what we should do.

Just an opinion.

[CarolRawley]

We aren\'t using Roleplay names right from the bat. If it so happens that EVERYONE suggests roleplay names, then so be it. It is, at the end of the day, the community\'s majority vote and if most of the community are roleplayers then I\'m (as a non-roleplayer) not gonna argue.

-snip-

I see one problem, and one problem only.

[rant]

This is in the Fan Fiction thread, and as such, is not official. Correct me if I\'m wrong here, but I see this becoming an issue in the same way as the Kerbin/Kearth(Planet) and Kerbol/Kun(The Sun) debates were. Harvester and the team will choose this sort of thing if a story mode is added, and this is more of a petition than an official discussion.

[/rant]

Of course, the most likely explanation is I\'ve completely misunderstood the situation.

My tarnished tuppence for consideration.

[HOC]

[rant]

This is in the Fan Fiction thread, and as such, is not official. Correct me if I\'m wrong here, but I see this becoming an issue in the same way as the Kerbin/Kearth(Planet) and Kerbol/Kun(The Sun) debates were. Harvester and the team will choose this sort of thing if a story mode is added, and this is more of a petition than an official discussion.

[/rant

Of course, the most likely explanation is I\'ve completely misunderstood the situation.

Indeed, this is just a community thing. We\'re naming and deciding on the locations of the continents just for us players to have a bearing on things. It is NOT canon, just something the community is putting together for themselves. Seeing as the Kerbin Geographic and Science Society has got pretty big, their gonna take the results we come up with and recognise them in their maps and such.

[Rich]

Hopefully we can include these updated and named maps in later editions of the KGSS Journal which is now being produced.

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=14450.0

[HOC]

NEW POLL INITIATED.

Check the first two posts on this thread for details. If you\'re reading this and the poll hasn\'t actually started yet, don\'t panic! It ends in just a few hours, so I might as well post this now in preparation.

[greghorst]

I vote for Five Continents as per HOC\'s map

[Edit]

NEW POLL INITIATED.

Oh... Uh Ooops?

[HOC]

The poll is up, vote now!

[togfox]

I voted. Thanks HOC.

[MaverickSawyer]

^ what he said. 8)

[Commander Zoom]

Not seeing the new poll, so I\'ll put in my vote for five (5) here, with one suggestion/question -

Why did you draw the border between continent 1 and 3 across the middle of the isthmus, rather than at its narrowest (south-easternmost) point, where it joins the main body of 3?

[khyron42]

If we assume the 'continents' are divided up like Earth along plate tectonic boundaries, a strike boundary that transitions to a subduction boundary just offshore could very well happen along the wider part of the isthmus. The wide spot would be caused by a combination of collision uplift (like the himalayas) and volcanic activity from the subduction zone.

Or, being Kerbal, it could be due to both continents preferring to do their garbage dumping off the isthmus, gradually creating an anthropogenic (kerbalogenic?) wide spot.

[Commander Zoom]

Well, in this case, I\'m going by the visually similar example of North/Central/South America. We draw the line at the lower tip of Panama, not through the middle of Costa Rica.

[khyron42]

My point was, we drew it that way for separating south america without any real reason to, just because it looked like a good spot to draw a line. In south america\'s case the narrowest end happens to actually be on a plate boundary. There\'s another plate boundary half way up, right at the southern border of Mexico.

There are other places on Earth where we draw the continent boundaries well away from the plate boundaries, so it\'s not like we\'re consistent. I was offering one reason why it\'s perfectly ok for the boundary to be anywhere, and 'narrow spot' doesn\'t really make any more (or less) sense than 'halfway across.'

[HOC]

It IS a good point, having boundaries on as narrow stretches of land as possible makes well for distinguishing them- in fact I\'m not quite sure why I did it in the first place. Is it a small enough thing to change during the poll without affecting the map entirety as a whole? Not sure. Is it too much of a problem in the first place? Not sure \'bout that either.

Maybe we\'ll have a poll...

Also, Commander Zoom,

Not seeing the new poll, so I\'ll put in my vote for five (5) here

You\'re not seeing it? As in it hasn\'t loaded for you, or something? I\'m not sure why this is...

If at the end of the poll you still haven\'t been able to vote, I\'ll add your choice to the end results.

[togfox]

Wat r the xhances this be a dead tie?

[Zephram Kerman]

Oops. I missed the poll deadline. FWIW, I prefer the first map with five continents. It\'s already won by a single vote. But, I\'ll chime in anyway, just to make it decisive. (Be grateful I didn\'t vote it into a tie! Mwahaha!)

[Commander Zoom]

Also, Commander Zoom,

You\'re not seeing it? As in it hasn\'t loaded for you, or something? I\'m not sure why this is...

If at the end of the poll you still haven\'t been able to vote, I\'ll add your choice to the end results.

I\'m seeing the results, as if I\'d already voted. To the best of my knowledge, I only did so in the first poll.

As 'five' seems to have won, the point seems to be moot... but you might want to make sure that votes are being properly flushed between polls.