Rename Eridani Federation to Eridani Trade Zone

[Carpe Venenum]

Eridani Federation causes confusion between Eridani and Jargon, which are both federations. Moreover, it nails the point of it being a corporate hell just one hammerhead hit further.

[DeadLantern]

Well, the Jargon Federation is almost universally referred to as "the federation/Jargon", and the Eridani Federation is almost universally referred to as "Eridani", and plus, context can usually determine which country you are talking about.

Both of them are technically Federations (Eridani with its corporations, Jargon with its federalized government system), so I am fine with leaving it as it is. This change seems rather superfluous. I've never seen this problem before in game or OOCly.

[UnknownMurder]

I have not had this problem and I also voice DeadLantern's opinion. Eridani is always addressed as "Eridani" and Jargon is always addressed as "The Federation". 

[Carpe Venenum]

It not being a problem does not mean that renaming it to Eridani Trade Zone would not be an improvement. Our current human faction names more or less represent their themes (Republic of Biesel is liberal, so it's a Republic; Sol Alliance is militaristic, so it's an Alliance; Empire of Dominia is imperialistic and dated, so it's an Empire, etc.), and I fail to see how Eridani Federation does that. It's more intuitive that way, besides removing confusion. 
(I would suggest a similar improvement for Elyra, if I had any idea what to call it better.)

[Zundy]

Elyran Union :^)

[Carpe Venenum]

57 minutes ago, Zundy said:

Elyran Union :^)

not bad

[VVipEdout]

'Trade Zone' is thematic for corphell, 'Federation' by itself tells us practically nothing, 'Corporate Federation' is a lazy compromise. The change adds onto the lore's image and there's no reason not to implement it beyond 'but it's good right now!' which isn't much of an argument.

[Doxxmedearly]

The confusion between jargon and eridani both being federations barely strikes me as an argument. Trade Zone sounds more like a geographic area than it does a corporate-run government. 

I agree that "Corporate Federation" can be improved, if human lore lads feel it's necessary, though I'd personally opt for something like "Corporate Union" (or similar), which sounds a bit more like a governing body than "Trade Zone." 

But I really don't feel it's in dire need of a change. The current name is better than the suggested IMO. 

[Zundy]

Eridani Corporate Dominion (Dominion since it's a "semi-autonomous" state in the SA). 

Eridani Corporatocracy/Autonomous Eridanian Corporatocracy (because that's actually what it is).

The Eridani Based Department (because that's what it actually is).

[Carver]

I don't understand why nations need to sound wholly different. Similarity in titles is already common in real life, especially when those titles are translated to one language.

If anything, those rare moments of confusion coming from it are immersive.

[wowzewow]

Trade Zone doesn't sound like a real place, TBH.

I've come up with a few names.

Eridani Special Administrative Region

Eridani Principality

Confédération Eridani

which led me to come up with this name which probably matches the bureaucratic nonsense Eridani's striving for..

The Special Laissez-faire Economic Administration Region of the Eridani Confederation

or En France (which I feel sounds better due to the tradeband roots), La région d'administration économique spéciale du laissez-faire de la Confédération Eridani

(Eridani Confederation S.E.A.R for short)

It matches Eridani's image as a bunch of corporations in a crappy nationhood costume.

Edited July 23, 2020 by wowzewow

[DeadLantern]

I like the Eridani Special Administrative Region.

"Trade Zone" might confuse people more, as zone does not imply it holds independent authority. The term "Trade Zone" corresponds with Special Economic Zones that exist in real life, which are, as you expect, special trading zones that exist within the borders of a nation, controlled by that nation only. Zone implies it exists inside a larger entity, or is controlled by a large entity.

 

[Carpe Venenum]

4 hours ago, DeadLantern said:

I like the Eridani Special Administrative Region.

"Trade Zone" might confuse people more, as zone does not imply it holds independent authority. The term "Trade Zone" corresponds with Special Economic Zones that exist in real life, which are, as you expect, special trading zones that exist within the borders of a nation, controlled by that nation only. Zone implies it exists inside a larger entity, or is controlled by a large entity.

 

But it does exist within the borders of Sol Alliance.

[Carpe Venenum]

5 hours ago, wowzewow said:

Trade Zone doesn't sound like a real place, TBH.

I've come up with a few names.

Eridani Special Administrative Region

Eridani Principality

Confédération Eridani

which led me to come up with this name which probably matches the bureaucratic nonsense Eridani's striving for..

The Special Laissez-faire Economic Administration Region of the Eridani Confederation

or En France (which I feel sounds better due to the tradeband roots), La région d'administration économique spéciale du laissez-faire de la Confédération Eridani

(Eridani Confederation S.E.A.R for short)

It matches Eridani's image as a bunch of corporations in a crappy nationhood costume.

These do not represent the themes unless you do digging. Eridani Confederation has the same problems as Eridani Federation - it sounds bland and doesn't represent themes of the faction itself, unlike most other nations we have. Strong themes are what makes in-game factions well-written.

[VisVirific]

What about Eridani Corporate Conglomerate?

[Carpe Venenum]

3 minutes ago, VisVirific said:

What about Eridani Corporate Conglomerate?

Pretty cool, but that's not what Conglomerate means. I don't see it as an obstacle, though. Even Eridani Conglomerate by itself sounds nice.

[Zundy]

As long as it gets changed in an arc. ?

[Vulcenus]

"Eridani's status in the Sol Alliance is complex and esoteric, but that is by design. In favor of a constitution, Eridani holds the Alliance to a 303 page Terms and Conditions Treaty Regarding The Free Economic Zone of Epsilon Eridani."

I don't see why Eridani Trade Zone wouldn't work, I like it.

[stev]

As much as I hate to be anti-change, I really don't see why this is necessary. Them being a broadly federal authority is quite well-rooted in the lore, especially in regards to the federal military and Eridani's partial autonomy under the Sol Alliance; something like a 'trade zone' kinda runs counter to the super predominant theme of dystopian, horrific levels of control and surveillance over its citizens. A number of aspects, including citizenship and the authority of whatever job-federal corporate government is decided on, will need to be reworked according to the kind of governing that's decided on. 

I think it's also important to note that it's specifically the Eridani Corporate Federation, rather than simply the Eridani Federation. While it does sound a little silly, I think it pretty clearly signals that it's not merely a bog standard federation. Have 'corporate' right in the name of a nation pretty effectively communicates that it's gonna be a dystopian hellscape, probably its most central theme. 

[DeadLantern]

It does exist in the Solarian Alliance, though it firmly acts as if it were its own entity. Though, on paper, it technically is a part of the Sol Alliance (I wouldn't use the term "owned"), and that could be grounds for a term such as zone.

In the wiki, it is already referred to as "The Free Economic Zone of Epsilon Eridani", so after further thinking, I do not really see a problem with this rename. If it is useful, that is another discussion.

[Zundy]

For me, Trade Zone is just as problematic as that doesn't mean anything. Every state has trade zones. I prefer the federation simply because I'm used to it an all other variants don't tickle my pickle enough for the change.

Plus, the Eridani Corporate Federation was a federation before the Jargon Federation which was originally called the Skrell Confederation. It's lore wise older, so I'd rather we didn't just change its name because of Jargon. It'd be like if we changed Sol into an Empire in a lore arc, then saying we need to change Dominia's name to the "Dominian Kingdom" because Sol is an Empire now.

Edited July 23, 2020 by Zundy

[Azande]

this would be a pointless change and I am against it. If anything, change it to 'Eridani Corporate Confederation' because the government is controlled by the member corporations, not vice-versa.

[wowzewow]

if you really want change we can use "The Free Economic Zone of Epsilon Eridani"

 

other than that I feel like this is completely unnecessary. change for the sake of change.

[Itanimulli]

Just keep it Federation.

[Scheveningen]

I like the premise of the initial suggestion but with a mild change instead: The Eridani Trade Company. Gives off those interesting, archaic East India Company vibes but in the fuuuuuuutuuuuure. considering how dystopic and mildly imperialistic the ECF already is it would be an appropriate reference and congruence to be drawn.